CHAPTER CHAPTER CHAPTER CHAPTER –––– IIII

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

OF THE STUDY

CHAPTER – I

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF THE STUDY

Sl. No. Description Page No.

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 Importance of Education 1

1.3 Aims of Higher Secondary Education 4

1.4 Self-Concept: Meaning and Definition 5

1.5 Conceptual Thinking 8

1.6 Development of Concepts 9

1.6.1 What is Self? 9

1.6.2 What are Self-Concepts? 9

1.6.3 The Human Self 11

1.6.4 Constancy and Inconstancy of the Self 12

1.6.5 Growth in Constancy of Behaviour 12

1.6.6 The Rise of the Self 13

1.7 Self-Concept and Academic Achievement 13

1.8 Theories of Self-Concept 15

1.9 Self-Concept and Student’s Performance 20

1.10 Basic Assumptions Regarding Self-Concept 20

1.10.1 Components of Self-Concept 20

1.11 Importance of Self-Concept for Students 21

1.11.1 Self-Concept is Learned 22

1.11.2 Self-Concept is Organized 23

1.11.3 Self-Concept is Dynamic 24

1.12 Development of Self-Concept 25

1.13 Assessment of Self-Concept 26

Sl. No. Description Page No.

1.14 Socio-Emotional School Climate: Meaning 27

1.15 Socio-Emotional School Climate: Definition 30

1.16 Significance of Socio-Emotional School Climate 32

1.17 The Role of Social Competence 34

1.18 The Role of Emotional Competence 36

1.19 Academic Achievement: Meaning and Definition 37

1.20 Need and Significance of the Study 40

1.21 Scope of the Study 43

1.22 Assumptions of the Study 44

1.23 Statement of the Problem 45

1.24 Operational Definitions of the Key Terms 46

1.25 Objectives of the Study 47

1.26 Hypotheses of the Study 48

1.27 Limitations of the Study 52

1.28 Organisation of the Thesis 53

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CHAPTER – I

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF THE STUDY

1.1. INTRODUCTION

Education is a process and acts also as an instrument to bring out the innate

behaviour of the individual. The students of today are the youth of tomorrow and

good future citizens of the country. Therefore, proper growth and development of the

students should be ensured even at the earliest stage. Appropriate steps are taken

at this period to ensure a healthy democracy in the country.

The role of education in the national development of a country is vital. The

Constitution of India has paid sufficient attention to the educational aspect and has

provided necessary guidelines. In India, people belong to different religions, different

languages, have different living styles and hence there is a need for secularism and

national integration. In this context, education can play a dominant role. After

independence, it was quite natural that increased attention has been paid to the

development of a notational system of education in India. The progress made during

the last few decades is a sure evidence of the keen desire of the Government and

the people of free India to move towards an educational revolution.

1.2. IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION

The word education has its origin in Latin word ‘educatum’ composed of two

terms ‘E’ and ‘Duco’. ‘E’ implies a progress from inward to outward while ‘Duco’

means developing or progressing. In its most literal sense, therefore, education

means becoming developed or progressing from inside to outside. Education, thus,

is the process of developing the inner abilities and powers of an individual. The term

is also often connected with the Latin ‘educere’, meaning propulsion from the internal

to the external. This Latin term means to educate through a change brought about by

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practice or usage. In this manner, education implies some kind of change for the

better in a person.

It is interesting to note that thousands of years ago Plato gave a meaning to

education which is even now followed in the West with slight changes here and

there. In his work “Republic”, Plato points out, that true education, whatever that may

be, will have the greatest tendency to civilize and humanize them in their relation to

one another and to those who are under their protection. Turning to the Indian

approach, thinkers have placed special emphasis upon spiritual aspect. Yajnavalkya

opined that only that is education which gives a sterling character to an individual

and renders him useful for the world. In the words of Altekar A.S., “Education has

always been regarded in India as a source of illumination and power which

transforms and ennobles our nature by the progressive and harmonious

development of our physical, mental, intellectual and spiritual powers and faculties”.

Gandhiji expressed the idea when he defined education by saying, “by education I

mean an all round drawing out of the best in child, body, mind and spirit”. It may be

synthesized from the views in West and in India that education is a life-long process,

unfolding, based on child psychology, individual as well as social and total

development.

Whatever is acquired in human life is the result of formal or informal

education. The individual’s character, personality, culture, thinking, commonsense,

skills, habits and even the other less significant thing of life depend upon education.

Thus education is important in the development of natural abilities, character-

building, personality, preparation for adult life, control and sublimation of basic

instincts, creation of useful citizens, sense of community, protection and increase of

culture and civilization, national development, use of leisure, increasing

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consciousness of other cultures, improving emotional unity, developing international

feeling…etc.

The Kothari Education Commission (1964-66) emphasized the pursuit of truth,

full development of the youth physically, intellectually, socially and morally with a

sense of social purpose to promote equality and social justice and to promote

attitudes and values needed for developing the good life. Our education system is

well known for improving the quality of mind and is recognized as a potential

knowledge hub of the world. The challenge for the education system, particularly the

high school and higher secondary education system is to make the youth to become

emotionally well balanced with positive self-concept.

The Comprehensive Dictionary of Education defines, “Education as the total

process of developing human ability and behaviour”. It implies that education should

prepare the individual to discover his talents, sharpen his abilities and realize his

potential to prepare him as a responsible citizen in the community. Education thus is

essential for the development of human rights, with equal opportunities for men and

women and to make democracy function better.

Education should always be directed to the total development of human life

and strengthen human rights and fundamental freedom. It should promote

understanding, tolerance and friendship among all the nations of the world and

promote world peace.

Education is meant to bring up or lead out and meet the inherent potentials of

the student. Education is referred to as any act or experience that has a formative

effect on the personality of an individual. The demands from science vary from time

to time. There have been great explosions of knowledge during the last few decades.

The main tasks of education in a modern society are to keep pace with the rate of

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increasing knowledge and this knowledge cannot be received passively. The main

emphasis in education should be on the awakening of curiosity, the simulations of

creativity, of the development of proper interests, attitudes and values and building of

essential skills, such as independent study, capacity to think, judge for one-self etc.

Education develops man power for different levels of economy and empowers

the poor masses to become self-reliant enough to participate in the process of

national development. Education is thus an instrument for developing an

economically prosperous society and for ensuring equality and social justice.

1.3. AIMS OF HIGHER SECONDARY EDUCATION

More than ninety five years ago the Calcutta University Commission (1917-

19) recommended replacement of the then prevailing 10+2+2 pattern by a 10+2+3

pattern. The Radhakrishnan Commission (1948-49) accepted the promises. The

Secondary Education Commission (1952-53) recommended school duration of 11

years followed by three years of the first degree course. The Kothari Education

Commission (1964-66) laid stress on the institution of higher secondary course

(classes XI and XII). The two years of higher secondary school education is meant to

provide specialized or diversified courses of studies. Education at this stage would

be divided into two streams – academic and vocational. The Commission has

suggested the following aims of education.

1. Increasing Productivity

2. Promoting Social and National Integration

3. Accelerating the process of modernization

4. Cultivating social, moral and spiritual values

National Policy on Education (1986) aims at providing National System of

Education which implies that up to a given level, all students, irrespective of caste,

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creed, location or sex, have access to education of a comparable quality; (i).

Common Educational Structure i.e. 10+2+3 (ii). National Curricular Frame Work with

a common core and other flexible components. All educational programmes are to

be carried out on in strict conformity with secular values.

1. Life Long Education

2. Development of Manpower

3. Peaceful Co-existence

4. Development of Socialism, Secularism and Democracy

5. Moral and Ethical Values

6. All round Development

7. Removal of Disparities

1.4. SELF-CONCEPT: MEANING AND DEFINITION

According to International Encyclopedia of Education, “self-concept” means

“views of oneself”. Self-concept is a person’s notion of oneself, and involves complex

and significant factor in one’s behaviour and a relatively enduring aspect of

personality. It is regarded as a motive, attitude or value by means of which an

individual relates with environment.

Self-concept is considered to comprise various dimensions, areas of facets,

some of which are more related to certain personality aspects (physical, social,

emotional), while others appear to be more linked to academic achievement (in

different areas and subjects).

It is the set of knowledge and attitudes that we have about ourselves; the

perceptions that the individual assigns to one and characteristics or attributes that

we use to describe ourselves. It is understood to be fundamentally a descriptive

assessment and has a cognitive nuance.

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The importance of self-concept stems from its notable contribution to

personality formation. Self-esteem has to do with social competence, since it

influences how the person feels, how he or she thinks, learns, values himself or

herself, relates to others, and ultimately how he or she behaves (Clerk, Clemes &

Bean, 2000).

The individual’s self-concept is one’s picture of oneself. Self-concept means

how a person thinks or feels about him/her. This is influenced by the view of others

who are significant in the person’s life.

Self-concept is an individual’s evaluation of his/her own abilities and

attributes. It includes all aspects of an individual’s personality of which he or she is

aware. Although some authors have drawn distractions between self-concept and

self-esteem (Damon and Hart, 1982), the terms are frequently used interchangeably.

There are several theoretical models of self-concept existing in the literature. For

example Coopersmith (1967) has suggested that four factors contribute to an

individual’s self-concept: significance (feeling of being loved and approved of by

others), competence (ability to perform tasks considered important), virtue

(adherence to moral and ethical principles), and power (the degree to which an

individual is able to exert control over self and other).

Children with a positive self-concept are described as imaginative, confident

in their own judgments and abilities, assertive, able to assume leadership roles, less

preoccupied with themselves, and able to devote more time to others and to external

activities. Children with a negative self-concept are described quiet, unobtrusive,

unoriginal, lacking in initiative, withdrawn, and undutiful about them (Coopersmith,

1967).

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According to Rogers (1959), self-concept is an organized, gestalt composed

of perceptions of characteristics of the ‘I’ or ‘me’ to other and to various aspects of

life, together with the value attached to these perceptions. According to Saraswat

and Gaur, (1981) “Self-concept is the individual’s way of looking at himself. It also

signifies his way of thinking, feeling and behaving”.

Generally Self-concept is defined as attitudes, feelings and knowledge that

individuals have about their skills, abilities, appearance and social acceptability.

Byrne, (1984) has defined global self-concept as the way (positive or negative)

people feel about themselves in general. Sidhu (1987) defined self-concept as those

perceptions, beliefs, feelings, attitudes and values which the individual view on

describing himself. Hoge and Renzulli, (1993) define self-concept as ‘the image we

hold of ourselves’.

“Self-concept is the set of perceptions of reference points that the subject has

about oneself, the set of characteristics, attributes, qualities and deficiencies,

capacities and limits, values and relationship that the subject knows to be descriptive

of oneself and which one perceives as data concerning one’s identity” (Hamachek,

1981 quoted by Machargo, 1991:24).

Self-concept refers to the particular cluster of ideas and attitudes we have

about our awareness at any given moment of time. Self-concept has been defined as

the descriptive and evaluative belief that a person holds about multidimensional

characteristics of self.

Harter (1982), making interesting contributions, such as that general or global

self-concept will be determined by the degree of importance that we assign to each

of its specific components. If, when describing ourselves, our value judgments are

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satisfactory, then we obtain a positive global self-concept; in the opposite case we

generate negative feeling and thus produce a negative global self-concept.

Self-concept is the organized picture of the self in relation to the environment.

Self-concept can be defined as the value judgment each person makes of himself. A

substantial part of the self-concept is a relation of how others view the person.

Cooley (1902) in his concept of the “looking glass self” maintained that we learn to

see and judge ourselves as we imagine others see and judge us. One’s self-concept

is thus an image - “the impression it made on others and the impressions it makes

on us as perceived in terms of the impression we think it makes on others” (Lindgren

1974). Social interaction plays a major role in the formation of self-concept. Mead

(1934) observed that every person is seeking to anticipate what others with whom he

interacts are expecting of him. He adapts his behaviour and his feeling and attitudes

about his self in accordance with the anticipated expectations.

1.5. CONCEPTUAL THINKING

The term ‘conception’ refers primarily to the formation of an idea in the mind;

the formation of concept involves the relating of a number of mental elements.

During the process of thinking the individual tries to benefit himself by his past

experiences. He does not depend only on things present in the environment. In

conceptual thinking the mental process becomes further complicated. Thus the

individual has to pass through reactions connected with comparison, abstraction and

generalization. On the basis of thinking an individual tries to adjust himself according

to the environment. This effort remains in an exaggerated form in his conscious mind

and he tries to make minute analysis in it. Through this minute analysis, he sees a

new relationship between objects, events, influences and his various ideas. In this

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way, he displays his original thinking process. This high order of thinking is called

conceptual thinking.

1.6. DEVELOPMENT OF CONCEPTS

A small child identifies a cow and tells that “it is a cow”. In repeating this word

many times the child develops a relation of the word “cow” with that animal and on

seeing it he himself says that “it is a cow”. If he sees a buffalo, donkey or horse he

also calls them first by name cow, because in the beginning he is unable to

understand the difference between these animals. But after some days on the basis

of experience, he begins to understand their differences and starts calling a cow as

cow and a buffalo as buffalo. Now he has developed the concepts of such animals

as cow, buffalo, bullock, ass, horse etc. Therefore, it may be said that a concept is a

form of reaction to that condition. Some parts of which are similar to certain parts of

other conditions. A concept is a form of reaction. At first the child develops concepts

for concrete things. With growth in age and intelligence, he starts developing

concepts for abstract ideas. However, his concepts are based on whatever he has

perceived earlier.

1.6.1. WHAT IS SELF?

According to Horn by self is one’s personality that makes a kind of difference

from others. He expresses this through reflective actions and changing moods and

intentions.

1.6.2. WHAT ARE SELF-CONCEPTS?

Self-concept means thought by oneself. This is divided into many divisions

namely health and sex appropriateness, abilities, self-confidence, self-acceptance,

worthiness, present, past and future, beliefs and convictions, feelings of same,

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sociability and emotion. Health and sex appropriateness is the behaviour of the

students in his health care and his modes keeping with sex discipline. Self-

confidence of a student should place reliable in his ability. Self-acceptance is a habit

through which he occupies a status in society. Present, past and future referred to

the ideas or thoughts of a student in his attempt to keep pace with all times. Beliefs

and convictions are students’ derivations of his thoughts. Shame and guilt is the

feeling of a student who arrives at the result of his actions in terms of social

behaviour. Sociability represents how much he is accepted or accommodated into

the society where he lives. A student is said to be emotional when he gives vent to

his feelings such as anger or joy. Ability of a student refers to how much he can exert

his mind and energy towards achieving his ambitions.

Self-concept of an individual is manifested through his ability to adapt and to

reconstruct the factors of his environment. Disciplined individuals form the

components of a disciplined nation. By this, sense of discipline can be inculcated in

youngsters. Also habits, the right kind of self-control, orderliness and national loyalty

can be proved. They can teach youngsters ‘respect’ for what is noble and true;

readiness for self-sacrifice, sense of duty to the society consideration and respect for

others which is the foundation of selflessness and the basis of all good manners.

The corporate life of the institutions should develop that interest for fair play and

loyalty to one another which is the nucleus for the wider sense of humour in later life.

The objectives of the school are primarily self-development, self-expression,

the pursuit of hobbies and social growth. The boy or girl who is shy, self-conscious

and repressed rarely has much opportunity to participate in activities and to needed

social skills. Thereby in the educated youngsters character and discipline become

ingrained with a faith in the dignity of manual labour and a sense of social

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responsibility. Social service and manual labour need to be clubbed with item of

acquisition of knowledge through books and lectures.

1.6.3. THE HUMAN SELF

The individual’s self-concept is his picture or image of himself, his views of

himself is distinct from other persons or things. This self-image incorporates his

perception of what he is really like (self-identity) and of his worth as a person (self-

evaluation) as well as his aspirations for growth and accomplishment (self-ideal).

Speaking on an adequate self-concept, G. Max Wingo says, “as a child grows in

years, he should be growing also in self-understanding and self-respect, for the way

he feels about himself will have much to do with the kind of learning, he can

achieve”.

The question of how far the school can expect to improve the self-concept of

a child cannot be given a categorical answer because of the involvement of many

variables.

Attitudes are always closely associated with one’s self-concept. I like this or I

am that kind of person etc. An important aspect of self-concept is self-esteem; the

degree to which one conceives of himself, as worthy or unworthy, good or bad.

According to Carl Rogers “the fully functioning self is always desirable to achieve

something and to become something in this world of action”. Unfortunately many

people in the world today suffer from inadequate concepts of self, which naturally

lead to mistaken notions of others.

Self evaluative behaviour in fact seems to be involved in the operational

definitions of certain personality concept as ego, super ego, ego ideal, self-concept,

ideal self and the like.

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The twin concept of ego and self form the core of many controversial areas in

current psychological theory. The self as the person views it and the self as the

agent for activity are probably the leading ways of approaching this concept. In the

first sense, the ego is an object, in the second a subject. There is an evolving sense

of self and it tends to encompass both knowledge about self and the self as an

organizer of behaviour. What the brain is for the organism, the self is for the

personality. It is central system for integrated and directing forces toward various

forms of interaction with persons and objects.

1.6.4. CONSTANCY AND INCONSTANCY OF THE SELF

In the biological stuff, the self’s patterning emerges as an organism and is

shaped into a person. The self has a conscience; the self makes plans, the self-

control and regulates the flow of energies.

If there were not certain constancy about a person’s behaviour we might

dispense with the concept of self altogether. As for selves there would be a mere

aggregate of parts, a collection of reflex and conditioned movements, emotional

responses to blow up and anticipations adjusted to immediate future.

1.6.5. GROWTH IN CONSTANCY OF BEHAVIOUR

Selves develop in time and immediate environment, most people live lives of

quiet desperation. Through “I don’t even like myself I am bored with me”. Pierre

Janets observed calm, confident, tough, aggressive, anxious, fearful, bored, and

depressed; all of these selves once were young learners under the eyes of watchful

teachers. Those who supervise learners read to understand these dynamic qualities

which are essence of the self in action.

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1.6.6. THE RISE OF THE SELF

The self system in the ‘I’ or ‘me’ arises in the course of the satisfaction of the

simple needs. It takes shape and acquires its dynamic properties in the face to face

contacts with the one. “Perhaps the full time settings of school and home would offer

even better opportunities provided those who deal with the children are fully aware of

the nature of their likes and are willing to make the efforts. The school’s task is to

convert them into a working community. From the child’s point of view, the mothering

one is the dominant fact in life. She is the towering one and is the world. When she

fails to pour her tenderness, the very sun is eclipsed. The infant’s state of mind

becomes melancholy and meaningless emptiness afloat on a sea of anxiety with

tension, anger, frustration and agitation”.

Davis suggests that “it was his nurse, his sociological mother, who gave

effective shape to his self system”.

1.7. SELF-CONCEPT AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

The emphasis on the study of the self as an important determinant of

behaviour both in psychology and education due to its influence on motivation,

personality and learning is of recent origin in spite of Stephenson writing in 1953 that

“the self is everywhere implied in common sense psychology” and Allport that “the

existence of the self is the one fact of which perfectly convinced”.

The recognition of the importance of the Self-Concept is on even more recent

origin and has promoted in very high and the number of variables to which it has

been related and is also numerous and extensive. The self-concept has been treated

both as an antecedent and consequent variables. The functions of the self-concept

within the self-structure as a pole of reference and its meaning to the individual of all

that is important to him, together with the value qualities by positive and negative

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balance attached to it, make it an important determinant of the value system of the

individual concerned. Since criterion of choice is an important determinant of

behaviour more than the self, it is possible to affirm that the self-concept is an

important determinant to behaviour and an important aspect that the students who

are engaged in the process of education and since it depends on its degree of

effectiveness for maximum performance it becomes possible to postulate that the

self-concept is an important determinant of academic achievement. This relationship

has been hypothesized theoretically very early an empirical studies carried out in the

west, India has served to confirm the fact that self-concept and academic

achievement are related positively and significantly. This evidence of the critical role

of self-concept in academic achievement has important applications the prediction of

achievement and the institution of remedial programmes for prevailing failure and

under achievement. This is possible because of the particular characteristics of the

self-concept.

Rogers and Others have shown that “the self-concept is a variable that is

amendable to change. The self-concept has a stronger, consistence and longer

stability than the concept of self. But it is a learned constraint, depending on

experiences and hence it is possible for the concept to undergo changes. This

change can be accidental or unintentional”. Rogers and his associates have

provided empirical evidence to show that change can also be intentional,

consciences. Through the processes of alien centered therapy it becomes possible

to change the self-concept in the reputed directions.

While the self-concept is unique and personal, it derives from social

experience. A person sees himself as successor or a failed only in relation to his

experience with others or in the way those experiences having been interpreted for

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him. Continuous discouragement, ridicule or suggestion of failure will instill in the

child’s feelings or convictions or inadequacy that will colour his general self-concept

as well as his judgment of competence in the area in question. Should it be inferred,

then, that praise and reward should be unvarying in order that a child may develop a

positive image of himself? Of course not.

The self-concept is built on a base of reality what the child actually is,

physically, mentally and emotionally, it is shaped and moulded by the child’s

experiences in the social and physical world. It is maintained as the individual strives

to “be himself”. The child accepts what is consistent with his self image and rejects

what is incompatible.

Self-concept generally refers to the totality of a complex, organized and

dynamic system of learned beliefs, attitudes and opinions that each pattern holds to

be true about his or her personal existence.

Self-concept plays an important role in the development of personality of an

individual. The positive self-concept is likely to enable an individual to lead a happy

contended and well managed life.

1.8. THEORIES OF SELF-CONCEPT

A milestone in human reflection about the non-physical inner self came in

1644, when Rene Descartes wrote Principles of Philosophy. Descartes proposed

that doubt was a principal tool of disciplined inquiry, yet he could not doubt that he

doubted. He reasoned that if he doubted, he was thinking, and therefore he must

exist. Thus existence depended upon perception.

A second milestone in the development of self-concept theory was the writing

of Sigmund Freud (1900) who gave us new understanding of the importance of

internal mental processes. While Freud and many of his followers hesitated to make

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self-concept a primary psychological unit in their theories, Freud’s daughter Anna

(1946) gave central importance to ego development and self-interpretation.

The idea of self-concept and changes in self-concept is central to the

psychology of adolescence. Adolescence has been considered as a time when self-

concept increases in prominence. The adolescent is faced with somewhat difficult

task of forming and maintaining a coherent sense of who he is and what purpose he

will ultimately serve in this world. As the adolescence progresses, the self-concept

usually becomes more stable.

The self-concept appears to play a critical role in general psychological

adjustment among adolescents (Indian Psychological Review 1988). Even infants as

young as 12 months appear to recognize themselves. For many personality

theorists, such as Carl Rogers, stated self-concept represents the single most

important aspect of one’s total personality. Many researchers maintain that low self-

concept leads to economic problems that tax the public purse. Others believe that

the economy itself contributes to personality disorders, which result in feelings of low

self-concept and low self-esteem.

There is great deal of research, which shows that the self-concept is, perhaps

the basis for all motivated behaviour. It is the self-concept that gives rise to possible

selves that create the motivation for behaviour.

The development and maintenance of self-concept through the process of

taking action and then reflecting on what we have done and what others tell us about

what we have done and can do in comparison to our expectations and the

expectations of other and to the characteristics and accomplishments of others. That

is, self-concept is not innate, but is developed by the individual through interaction

with the environment and reflecting on that interaction.

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There were several different components of self-concept namely physical,

academic, social and transpersonal. The physical aspects of self-concept relate to

that which is concrete, what we look like, our sex, height, weight etc., and our

academic self-concept relates to how we learn. The social self-concept describes

how we relate to other people and the transpersonal self-concept describes how we

relate to the supernatural or unknown.

By far the most influential and eloquent voice in self-concept theory was that

of Carl Rogers (1961) who introduced an entire system of helping built around the

importance of the self. In Roger’s view, the self is the central ingredient in human

personality and personal adjustment.

Rogers described the self as a social product, developing out of interpersonal

relationships and striving for consistency. He maintained that there is a basic human

need for positive regard both from others and from oneself. He also believed that in

every person there is a tendency towards self-actualization and development so long

as this is permitted and encouraged by an inviting environment (Purkey and Schmidt,

1987).

One of the newer and seemingly more fruitful approaches to the

understanding of personality is the observation of the human being from the point of

view of the behviour himself. This frame of reference is in sharp contrast to the frame

of reference usually used in psychology in which behaviour is observed from the

outside or from the observer’s point of views. According to the self-concept theory of

personality, an individual’s behaviour is determined by the perception he has of

himself as an individual and of the world around him.

Adequately functioning personalities see themselves in essentially positive

ways. They assume that they are persons that are liked, wanted and valued for their

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own sakes. They become self-confident, self-assured, self-reliant members of

society. Self-depreciation results in a falling off of effective functioning. Combs feel

that thousands of people in our society are victims of their own self-concepts. Seeing

themselves as inadequate and they perform inadequately.

The self consists of all the ideas, perceptions and values that deal with I and

Me. It includes the awareness of what ‘I am’ and what ‘I can do’. This perceived self

in turn influences both the person’s perception of the world and his behaviour. An

individual with a strong positive self-concept views the world quite differently from

one who possesses a weak self-concept.

Ideally a person should have a clear and accurate picture of himself as to both

his physique and his personality. For how he sees himself will determine what he

does with himself as well as how he feels about himself. Hence it is very important to

study the self-concept of an individual.

One of the most significant and recent interpretations of human personality is

located in the self-concept theory.

There are several selves, the self one thinks he is, the self one would like to

be, the self on really is and the self one appears to be to others.

According to Kimball Young, “the self is viewed or known to man within the

context of interaction”. He has further said, “An individual self is conscious of his acts

and thoughts as they are related to others. It is really a phase of internationalization

but it has its origin in every interaction”.

But if his social context is unreliable, it follows that he cannot say anything

legitimately and reliably about himself. His statement of identity has no more than

willingness of people to recognize and accept it. We need that we count on our

identity not only because of habit but also we can count on people responding to it.

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Self-concept is an important attribute of understanding and predicting

behaviour. The self-concept may be thought of as an organized configuration of

perceptions of the self-concept, which are admissible to awareness. Berk (1996) has

described self-concept as a set of beliefs about one’s own characteristics.

In today’s world creativity is fundamentally important for our personal, social,

economic and cultural well-being. The most important developments in civilization

have come about through the creative process. This world was built by practical

people who knew how to get into an imaginative frame of mind, listen to their

imagination and build on any ideas they found there. Through this study the

researcher emphasizes the significance of creativity as well as the need for

developing good and positive self-concept for fostering creativity.

Self-concept generally refers to the totality of a complex, organized and

dynamic system of learned beliefs, attitudes and opinions that each person holds to

be true about his or her personal existence.

Self-concept theory has always had a strong influence on the emerging

profession of counseling. Prescott Lecky (1945) contributed the action that self-

consistency is a primary motivating force in human behaviour. Rainey (1997)

introduced measures of self-concept in counseling interviews and argued that

psychotherapy is basically a process of altering the ways that individuals see

themselves.

While most self-concept theorists continued to write and conduct research

during the 1970’s and 1980’s general interest in self-concept declined. Fortunately,

there is a new awareness on the part of both the public and professionals that self-

concept cannot be ignored if we are to successfully address some nagging problem

as drug and alcohol abuse, dropout rates, dysfunctional families and other concerns.

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In addition to this growing awareness, new ways are being developed to strengthen

self-concepts. For example, researches by cognitive theorists (Me Adam 1986;

Ryan, Short and Weed 1986) are demonstrating that negative self-talk leads to

irrational thinking regarding oneself and the world.

1.9. SELF-CONCEPT AND STUDENT’S PERFORMANCE

A student with positive or high self-concept has high self-esteem. High self-

concept develops self-confidence and poor self-concept hinders initial school

adjustment and academic progress also. Students with high concept tend to accept

their failure as well as limitations. They are better achievers. They are more

determined to achieve their goals. They do not suffer from inferiority complex. They

are free from mental sickness and work vigorously and express their ideas and

beliefs to other with confidence and conviction. They are rational in their approach

and have an ability to impress others.

1.10. BASIC ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING SELF-CONCEPT

Many of the successes and failures that people experience in many areas of

life are closely related to the ways that they have learned to view themselves and

their relationships with others. It is also becoming clear that self-concept has at least

three major qualities of interest as counselors:

� It is learned

� It is organized

� It is dynamic

1.10.1. COMPONENTS OF SELF-CONCEPT

The concept of self has three major components and they are:

� The Perceptual

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� The Conceptual

� The Attitudinal

The perceptual component is the image a person has of the appearance of

his body and of the impressions he makes on others. It is often called the physical

self-concept. The person’s conception of his distinctive characteristics, his

disabilities, his background, his origin and his future denotes the conceptual

component. It is often called the psychological self-concept.

The attitudinal components refer to feelings a person has about himself, his

attitude about his present status and future prospects, his feeling about his

worthiness and his attitudes of self-esteem, pride and shame.

1.11. IMPORTANCE OF SELF-CONCEPT FOR STUDENTS

Self-concepts are based on what students believe their teachers, peers and

parents think of them. Positive self-concept is developed through love,

encouragement, positive comments and understanding attitude of the teachers and

parents. Teachers should adopt suitable strategies and provide self-concept.

We need to maintain rather than develop positive self-concept in students. If

we stop doing the things that damage self-concept and self-esteem, then we won’t

have to work so hard at building positive self-concept. Modeling good relationships,

respecting them as much as we demand respect going against our own prejudices

and discrimination and treating everyone equally and fairly will do more than lesson

plans that teach about tolerance and friendship. Holding high expectations in a

genuine way will nurture self-concept much better than finding token ways to reward

our standards of achievement. Revising our curriculum to suit the needs, abilities

and interest of our children will work better than trying to force them to fit into our

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square “holes”. We do indeed have a responsibility as adults to teach and guide our

young people.

Self-concept is also very important factor in interpersonal communication. It is

like an operating system (OS) that run in a computer. A computer won’t perform well

if the OS is not really good and has so many bugs. In this case, self-concept is an

OS that runs a mental computer that affects someone’s ability to think. The better

self-concept, the more the tendencies to be successful, and vice versa. Negative

self-concept would give rise to inferior behaviour such as pessimistic, low self-

confidence, having no desire to try new things, and so on. As people with good self-

concept would seem to be optimistic having desire to try new things, think and

behave positively, and capable to be a good leader. That would explain why

intelligence without good self-concept is like good software that runs in bad operating

system. Also, there is an effective connection between good self-concept and good

emotional intelligence.

1.11.1. SELF-CONCEPT IS LEARNED

As far as we know, no one is born with a self-concept. It gradually emerges in

the early months of life and is shaped and reshaped through repeated perceived

experiences. The fact that self-concept is learned has some important implications:

� Because self-concept does not appear to be instinctive, but it is a social

product developed through experience, it possesses relatively boundless

potential for development and actualization.

� Because of previous experiences and present perceptions, individual may

perceive themselves in ways different from ways others see them.

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� Individuals perceive different aspects of themselves at different times with

varying degrees of clarity. Therefore, inner focusing is a valuable tool for

counselling.

� Any experience which is inconsistent with one’s self-concept may be

perceived as a threat and the more of these experiences, the more rigidity

self-concept is organized to maintain and protect itself. When a person is

unable to get rid of perceived inconsistencies, emotional problems arise.

� Faculty thinking patterns, such as dichotomous reasoning (dividing everything

in terms of opposites or extremes) or over generalizing creating negative

interpretations of oneself.

1.11.2. SELF-CONCEPT IS ORGANIZED

Most of the researchers agree that self-concept has a generally stable quality

that is characterized by orderliness and harmony. Each person maintains countless

perceptions regarding one’s personal existence and each perception is orchestrated

with all the others. It is this generally stable and organized quality of self-concept that

gives consistency to the personality. This organized self-concept has corollaries.

� Self-concept requires consistency, stability and tends to resist change. If self-

concept changed readily, the individual would lack a consistent and

dependable personality.

� The more central a particular belief is to one’s self-concept, the more resistant

one is to changing that belief.

� At the heart of self-concept is the self-as-doer, the ‘I’ which is distinct from the

self-as-object, the various ‘Me’. This allows the person to reflect on past

events, analyze present perceptions and shape future experiences.

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� Basic perceptions of one’s self are quite stable, so change takes time. Rome

was not built in a day, and neither is self-concept.

� Perceived success and failure have an impact on self-concept, failure in a

highly regarded area lowers evaluations in all other areas as well. Success in

a prized area raises evaluation in other seemingly unrelated areas.

1.11.3. SELF-CONCEPT IS DYNAMIC

To understand the active nature of self-concept, it helps to imagine it as a

gyrocompass: a continuous active system that dependably points to the ‘true north’

of a person’s perceived existence. This guidance system not only shapes the ways a

person views oneself, others and the world, but it also serves to direct action and

enables each person to take a consistent ‘stance’ in life. Rather than viewing self-

concept as the cause of behaviour, it is better understood as the gyrocompass of

human personality, providing consistency in personality and direction for behaviour.

The dynamic quality of self-concept also carries corollaries.

� The world and the things in it are not just perceived; they are perceived in

relation to one’s self-concept.

� Self-concept development is a continuous process. In the healthy personality

there is constant assimilation of new ideas and expulsion of old ideas

throughout life.

� Individuals strive to behave in ways that are in keeping with their self-

concepts, no matter how helpful or hurtful to oneself or others.

� Self-concept usually takes precedence over the physical body. Individuals will

often sacrifice physical comfort and safety for emotional satisfaction.

� Self-concept continuously guards itself against loss that produces feeling of

anxiety.

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� If self-concept must constantly defend itself from assault, growth opportunities

are limited.

1.12. DEVELOPMENT OF SELF-CONCEPT

Self-concept is not an inborn character but it is developed through

experiences and perceptions. Those experiences and perceptions are obtained

through following:

� School Environment

� Parental Impact

The self-concept of academic ability is that school related competencies and

activities, is of particular interest through educational practices.

The impact of school and teacher variables in student’s self-concept has been

analyzed from various perspectives. Starting from the finding that there are

substantial classroom differences not only in the level of self-concept, but also in the

degree to which students under or over estimate their abilities, two self of data-one

from the research program on ability formation and one using the classroom context

approach has shown that an individualistic explanation is insufficient. Rather, the

relation between objective performance and the corresponding self-evaluation is

moderated by classroom composition, the quality of instruction and the teacher-

student relationship. For example, differential treatment that reflects achievement

related teacher explanations can be informative to students about their ability and

thus affect their self-concept of ability. Furthermore, classroom organization has

been shown to affect the ease and the silence of self-evaluation of one’s abilities:

there is a high congruence between performance and the corresponding self-

concept in classroom characterized by ability grouping, low student autonomy, high

competition, and high silence of access and failure and highly public feedback.

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Finally, the style of tufting student’s achievement also influences the comparability of

class performance differences: comparability is high when the evaluation is

normative and low when the standard of evaluation is mastery.

According to Leuis and Brooks Gunn (1979), a key to the development of a

favourable self-concept is the experience of regular consistencies between actions

and outcomes in the external environment, which allow the infant to establish

generalized expectancies about control of the world. Particularly important

behaviours are caregiver’s attempt to meet the infant’s homeostatic needs and

parental imitation of infant’s actions.

For children, self-concept has been linked to patterns of child rearing. One of

the most prominent studies was done by Coopersmith (1967), who found that the

parenting style used by parents of boys with high self-esteem was characterized by

high acceptance of their children, clearly defined limits on their children’s activities,

and within the limits set by parent’s standards and social norms, respect for

individuality.

1.13. ASSESSMENT OF SELF-CONCEPT

Procedures for investigating self-concept depends upon self-report.

Behavioral observations or reports made by others refer only to behavioral products

of the self, but not to the subjective experience that comprises self-concept itself.

Projective tests, especially drawings may allow inferences about the quality and

nature of self-concept but these are only indirect. Direct evaluation of self-concept

requires one to report and describe the context of his/her perception, then ordinarily

requiring words to communicate this reflecting the verbal ability of the subject and in

turn, resting upon such factors as age, intelligence, education and socio-economic

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status. People differ in the degree to which they were willing to reveal themselves to

others.

1.14. SOCIO-EMOTIONAL SCHOOL CLIMATE: MEANING

In the contemporary institutional psychology, the term “socio-emotional

climate” represents the emotional tone which is a concomitant of interpersonal

interaction of any institutional system. It is now an established fact that the socio-

emotional climate affects all types of activities and is a useful construct for planning,

predicting, modifying and evaluating the various institutional systems. The perception

of the members of the institution affects their motivation and behavior. In fact, an

individual perceives his/her institution in accordance with the prevailing conditions

and climate in the institution to which he/she has to interact (Schneider, 1973, 1975).

This institutional climate exists as a perceived organizational attribute. Thus

institutional climates are abstract perception of individuals within the institution

(Schneider, 1975). Knowledge about the nature and kind of institutional climate may

help the educational authorities in the growth and development of the institution.

A critical survey of the literature on the socio-emotional climate of the

academic institutions shows that the common elements of this climate are its

enduring qualities, which may be measured. It is obviously related to the role

behaviour and interpersonal relations (Dieterly and Schneider, 1974; Grainer, Leitch

and Barnes, 1979; Johnston, 1976,; Jones and James, 1979). It involves two classes

of phenomenon which are conceptually independent and interactive. They are (i).

institution, role and expectations, and (ii). individual personality and disposition

(Johnston, 1976, Tagiuri). Thus, the institutional climate is concerned with the

structure, processes and functions of the institution (Field and Abelson, 1982;

Forehand, 1968; Schneider and Snyder, 1975).

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The socio-emotional climate of an educational institution is a bridging concept

between pupils and the school in which they study and is the perception of the

structure, process and values by the students and faculty members. It is related to

their task, achievement, satisfaction and behavior in a particular schooling system to

which they belong (Lawler, Hall and Oldham, 1974; Litwin and Stringer, 1968).

There are a number of dimensions of the socio-emotional climate which are of

specific importance to a particular institution. However, researchers show that four

common dimensions are apparent (Hemphill and Westis, 1950; Howe, 1977; James

and Jones, 1974). They are (i). autonomy/control, (ii). degree of structure, (iii).

reward and (iv). consideration, warmth and support. In addition to these four

dimensions, the tolerance of conflict and need for innovation may be considered as

other dimensions. They are said to be institution specific (Pace and Stern, 1958;

Payne and Mansfield, 1973). These dimensions can be assessed interacting with

number of inter-related conditions (Payne and Pugh, 1976).

Socio-Emotional School Climate of an institution affects the role participants in

numerous ways: their perceptions, motivation, morale, behaviour, adjustments, work

effectiveness, learning and performance. Education is no more limited to the building

up of knowledge and development of skills among the pupils; it is instead concerned

with the entire social ethos. ‘The destiny of India is being shaped in her classroom’

thus began the report of the Education Commission (1964-66). The functioning of the

educational system is marked by an increasing rate of strikes, absenteeism, several

shades of violence and indiscipline; as also a sense of alienation and reluctance on

the part of the teachers to commit themselves to their work-task. There is a general

dissatisfaction with the system and low academic achievement of the pupils evident

everywhere. Unless the system of education works properly at all stages of

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education, in all part of the country the ambitious programmes of the educational

reform envisaged in the National Policy on Education (1986) will result in naught. An

open climate of freedom, innovation and creativity in the educational system fosters

observance of norms of intellectual rigour, mutual consideration among all

concerned and a creation of a new work ethics.

Lack of order and discipline in the educational system prevents achievement

of optional results from the vast investment made in it, which, in turn is the cause of

widespread despair and cynicism about the country’s future. When the teacher and

the student community is discontented, restive and reactive, when in educational

institutions all kinds of protests are being made, then there is definitely something

wrong with the educational system.

It has been observed that school climate is one of the important factors in

making the system of education more productive and satisfying. Students’ perception

of school climate is in effect the perception of the interacting of teachers with

teachers, teachers with principal, students and other human components that obtain

in the institutions. The student is undoubtedly the most important of all factors which

determine the quality of a school. Hence, students’ role in studying school climate is

the most significant. School exists to provide a better teaching-learning situation.

School climate, within the school, is the resulting condition obtained from social

interactions among and between the teachers, the principal and the students. The

style of interaction between the teachers, the principal and the pupils vary from

institution to institution.

The school climate is not totally objective. It is related to the perceiver. In the

same school, two students can perceive the climate differently. Thus perceptions of

a person play a significant role in measuring the climate of a school and in

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influencing the behaviour of all. How students perceive the total environment of a

school should have a great impact on the achievement indices of a school, which is

a major goal of all schools. School is more than a place where academic skills are

taught and learnt, it is a miniature community in itself where members interact and

influence the behaviour of each other. Unfavourable perception of school climate

coupled with dissatisfaction will possibly lead to bad result. It is, therefore, possible

that the school climate would be related to pupils’ academic achievement.

As such, perceptions of social and emotional aspects of the school climate

are considered of great significant in the betterment of educational institutions. It is,

therefore, imperative to fully understand their concepts, constructs and measurement

aspects of the school climate.

1.15. SOCIO-EMOTIONAL SCHOOL CLIMATE: DEFINITION

Guba (1960) conceptualized school climate as, “ the state of an organization

which results from interactions that take place between the organizational members

as they fulfill their roles while satisfying their individual needs”.

Similarly, Nwanko (1979) referred to climate as “the general we feeling, group

sub-culture or interactive life of the school”.

The term “school climate” describes the environment that affects the behavior

of teachers and students. School climate characterizes the organization at the school

building and classroom level. It refers to the “feel” of a school and can vary from

school to school within the same district. While an individual school can develop a

climate independently of the larger organization, changes in school culture at the

district level can positively or adversely affect school climate at the building level.

A good socio-emotional school climate can be identified by the following eight

areas namely appearance and physical plant, faculty relations, student interactions,

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leadership/decision making, disciplined environment, learning environment, attitude

and culture and school-community relations.

What school climate is will be readily understood when reference is made to

what everyone must have experienced on entering a school. Each school has a

subtle, though clearly noticeable atmosphere pervading it. In spite of similarity of

structure, facilities and functions, schools differ in the impact that they make on both

the external observer and internal participants. Such differences are elusive of

description and in many cases defy identification; nevertheless, there is a ‘feel’, an

‘atmosphere’ or a ‘tone’ unique to each school. This individuality is called the school

climate.

Schools like snowflakes differ from each other to a large extent. One may find

in one school, the teachers and principal are zestful and exude confidence, whereas,

in the other, the brooding discontent of teachers is palpable and the principal tries to

hide his/her incompetence behind a cloak of authority. The psychological sickness of

such a situation spills over to the teachers, who in their own frustration, feed back to

the students a mood of despair. Thus, when one moves from school to school, one

finds that each appears to have its own ‘personality’. This is called the climate of a

school, which is the product of interactions taking place between the participating

individual and their environment.

School climate though intangible is a very real phenomenon. In literature

several different definitions of institutional climate have been proposed which are

more or less similar. Forehand and Gilmer (1964) define school climate as a “set of

characteristics” that describe a school and that (a) distinguish one school from

another, (b) are relatively enduring over a period of time, and (c) influence the

behaviour of people in the school.

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Another definition explains school climate as “a summary perception which

people have of (or about) an institution. It is, then, a global impression of what the

institution is”, (Schneider and Snyder, 1975).

Innumerable dimensions are assigned to the meaning of school climate,

where definitions tend to be verifiable intuitively rather than empirically. There are

two principal perspectives from which a definition of school climate may be

approached. One is that proposed by Halpin (1969), where the school is viewed as

an organization and the other is the more common global view often called ‘tone’ or

‘atmosphere’. Both are the result of an interactive situation, but Halpin (1969) limits

his research to aspects of teachers’ and principals’ behaviour. The second view

focuses to a larger degree on the pupil behaviour and the interactions between the

three groups of pupils, teachers and principals. Halpin (1969) has analogously

defined school climate as “what personality is to the individual, (organizational)

climate is to the organization”. Just as there are many ways to define personality, so

also there are a variety of ways to define climate. In fact school climate includes all

the interactions between and among the pupils, teachers and the principals, which

are possible within the school setting.

1.16. SIGNIFICANCE OF SOCIO-EMOTIONAL SCHOOL CLIMATE

The comprehensive view can be used to define school climate in terms of four

aspects of the school environment: a physical environment that is welcoming and

conducive to learning, a social environment that promotes communication and

interaction, an affective environment that promotes a sense of belonging and self-

esteem, an academic environment that promotes learning and self-fulfillment.

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Socio-Emotional School Climate supports learning if,

• Interaction is encouraged. Teachers and students actively communicate with

each other.

• Teachers are collegial. Student groupings are diverse. Parents and teachers

are partners in the educational process.

• Decisions are made on-site, with the participation of teachers.

• Staff members are open to students’ suggestions; students have opportunities

to participate in decision-making.

• Staff and students are trained to prevent and resolve conflicts.

• Interaction of teachers and staff with all students is caring, responsive,

supportive, and respectful.

• Students trust teachers and staff.

• Morale is high among teachers and students.

• Teachers and students are friendly.

• The school is open to diversity and welcoming to all cultures.

• Heads, Teachers, and students are respected and valued.

• Teachers, Parents and students feel that they are contributing to the success

of the school.

• There is a sense of community.

• The school is respected and valued by Heads, teachers, students, and

members of the society.

• Parents perceive the school as warm, inviting and helpful.

• There is an emphasis on academics, but all types of intelligence and

competence are respected and supported.

• Expectations are high for all students. All are encouraged to succeed.

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• Progress is monitored regularly.

• Results of assessments are promptly communicated to students and parents.

• Results of assessments are used to evaluate and redesign teaching

procedures and content.

• Achievements and performance are rewarded and praised.

Interrelationships of these various aspects of school climate do not operate

Independently of one another. For example, the physical environment can

encourage or discourage social interaction. Similarly, social interaction facilitates a

warm, affective environment. Collectively, the physical, social and affective

environments contribute to, and are impacted by, the academic environment.

1.17. THE ROLE OF SOCIAL COMPETENCE

Social competence is the ability to use the appropriate social skills in every

aspect of life. It is possessing and using the ability to integrate thinking, feeling and

behaviour to achieve social tasks and outcomes valued in the host context and

culture. In a school setting, these tasks and outcomes would include accessing the

school curriculum successfully, meeting associated personal, social and emotional

needs and developing transferable skills and attitudes of value beyond school.

Different social competences are required and valued in different contexts.

Behaviours which are dysfunctional and disapproved of in one context might be

functional and approved of in another. Through thinking and feeling, the socially

competent person is able to select and control which behaviours to emit and which to

suppress in any given context, to achieve any given objective set by them or

prescribed by others.

The major part of social competence is a set of component skills or

procedures applied conditionally. These might include perception of relevant social

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cues, interpretation of social cues, realistic anticipation of obstacles to personally

desired behaviour, anticipation of consequences of behaviour for self and others,

generation of effective solutions to interpersonal problems, translation of social

decisions into effective social behaviours, and the expression of a positive sense of

self-efficacy.

Social competence plays an integral part in young students. Without adequate

social skills a person may experience trouble in the areas of daily living skills,

independent living and participating in the community. Poor peer relationships and

low social skills have been linked to drop-outs, juvenile delinquency, job termination,

suicide, etc (Bryan, 1997). Children and adults must display appropriate social skills

within the rules of their culture to maintain relationships that will help them to be

independent and successful. Those who display inappropriate social behaviours are

less appealing to their peers and have been found to have continual problems in life

(Pavri & Luftig, 2000).

Being socially incompetent translates into a basic inability to relate to other

and interact appropriately with the types of relationships and interactions in which

our society is based. Children, adolescents and adults must be able to deal with a

wide range of societal situations to be successful in life. The need for social

competency can be seen in almost every part of everyone’s life. The mastery of

social skills links directly to academic success, better peer relationships and greater

satisfaction in adulthood. How we interact with others often relates to innate

behaviours. However, appropriate behaviours are learned through experience and

interaction. The constructs involved in the development of social competence are

social awareness and social skills.

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1.18. THE ROLE OF EMOTIONAL COMPETENCE

Emotional competence plays a central role in illuminating our understanding

of human performance. It appears to be engaged in all aspects of human

interactions. Ciarrochi et. al. (2001) reported that an individual’s perception,

expression, understanding and management of emotions are directly related to the

major life events that they have experienced. Emotional competence is the ability to

identify and manage one’s emotions. This includes knowing how to nourish one’s

emotional state, take turns, delay gratification and cope with failure and loss. It also

involves knowing how to control impulses, use good judgment and adapt emotions in

response to others’ emotions and reactions. The better an individual resists

temptation, the more likely that individual is to have higher achievement, do well in

school and interact well with others.

Emotional competence also refers to persons’ ability in expressing or

releasing their inner feelings (emotions). It implies an ease around others and

determines our ability to effectively and successfully lead and express. Research has

demonstrated that self-regulation is an exhaustible resource. When people control

their responses with a great deal of effort, they are less able to control themselves in

a close subsequent self-regulation challenge, even in a seemingly unrelated activity.

Decreased control often gets expressed through maladaptive behaviours, including

substance abuse or aggression. Fortunately, there are simple strategies for

improving one’s ability to control impulses despite depleted self-regulation resources.

Studies have shown that positive emotion or moods counteracts depletion and

facilitates self-regulation. This is because positive emotion fosters creativity which

empowers one to override routine or automatic (i.e. uncreative) thoughts and

reactions.

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Saarni (1997) identified emotional competence as the ability to understand,

manage and express the social and emotional aspects of one’s life in ways that

enable the successful management of life. It includes self-awareness, emotional

regulation, working co-operatively and caring about oneself and others. Saarni

proposed eight skills indicative of an emotionally competent person:

• Be aware of one’s own sometimes complex emotional state;

• Able to discern others’ emotional state;

• Able to state and communicate our emotions;

• Able to feel with and for others;

• Able to understand that we, and others, don’t always show emotions

accurately;

• Able to cope with different emotional communications when relating to others;

• Aware of emotional communications in interpersonal relationship; and

• Aware that one is in-charge of one’s feeling – and may choose one’s

emotional response in a given situation.

On the basis of Goleman’s work and the views of Spencer and Spencer

(1993), Bantam (1998) has proposed the following constituents as constructs

involved in the development of emotional competence: self-awareness, self-

regulation and self-motivation.

1.19. ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT: MEANING AND DEFINITION

The term “achievement” applies specified level of proficiency in academic

work in general or a specific skill such as reading or arithmetic. “Academic” pertains

to school subjects or to fields of liberal arts or to the sphere of ideas and abstraction

(Chaudhary, 2004). Achievement is denoted by knowledge attained or skills

developed by pupils usually in the schools, measured by test scores or by marks

38

assigned by teachers (Chaudhary, 2004). Academic achievement is defined as

knowledge acquired and skills developed in school subjects, generally indicated by

marks obtained in tests in an annual examination. Achievement is the glittering

crown which reflects a sense of sincerity, candidness and perseverance on the part

of achievers and also parents, teachers and all those helping to achieve it and thus a

result of bidirectional results.

The concept of academic achievement has several references. It usually

denotes activity, mastery, making an impact on the environment rather than

fatalistically accepting it and compelling against some standard of excellence

(Dreeban, 1968). Achievement has been defined as the status of level of a person’s

learning and his ability to apply what he has learnt. Under his definition, achievement

might, at first be assumed to include only knowledge and skills. There is however a

much broader approach, which includes attitudes, interest and values, and can be

called as aspects of achievement. Complications of adjustment in the young adult

may arise out of his unrealistic ideal of what he wants and what he is capable of and

parental aspirations may also introduce difficulties. Adulthood is the period of

achievement for most people. Achievement depends upon the sustained training and

interest during adolescence. Studies of achievement have shown that the peak

period of achievement in adult years fall between thirty and forty. Achievement

differs from the ability of acquisition. Achievement in academic subjects is wholly

acquired by conscious application.

Achievement is the grasp of subject matter and acquiring proficiency in

various skills essential for learning the subject. Thorndike (1913) says, “If a thing

exists in some amount it can be measured”. An achievement test refers to any test

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that measures the attainments or accomplishments of the individual after a period of

training and learning.

Dictionary of Education (Good, 1959) defines academic achievement as “the

knowledge attained and skill developed in the school subjects which are usually

determined by test scores or by marks assigned by teacher or both”. Academic

achievement is defined by Crow and Crow (1969) as the extent to which a learner is

profiting from instruction in a given area of learning i.e. achievement is reflected by

the extent to which skill and knowledge has been imparted to him. Academic

achievement also denotes the knowledge attained and skill developed in the school

subject, usually designed by test scores.

Tyler (1964) defines school achievement scores as the best predictive of

future success of students. According to Freeman (1971), “a test of education

achievement is one that is designed to measure knowledge, understanding or skills

in specified subject”. Achievement tests are concerned with quality and quantity of

learning attained in that particular subjects. Academic Achievement is a specified

level of attainment of proficiency in academic work as evaluated by the teachers by

standardized tests or by a combination of both.

According to Smith (1969) achievement is “the task oriented behaviour that

allows the individual’s performance to be evaluated according to some internally or

externally imposed criterion that involves the individual in competing with others, or

that otherwise involves some standard of excellence”. It refers to the level of

proficiency of an individual in some walks of activity or subject matter. Achievement

is a task oriented behaviour that allows the individual performance to be evaluated.

The purpose of achievement is to measure what and how much pupil have learnt as

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a result of formal or informal instruction and measure the present level of

performance of individuals or groups in academic learning.

1.20. NEED AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The first post independence comprehensive study on the status of education

in India completed in 1966 gave a major thrust to the idea of all-round development

of the child’s personality and intellect. It elaborated on the need for physical,

intellectual and spiritual development of the child in equal measure. Our nation

cannot depend on sheer quality of manpower, but must strive to find high quality

personnel especially having self-esteem and self-confidence to deal with vital

problems. A person’s view of oneself is closely related to how one behaves and

learns. It is understood that a student’s performance depends not only on how bright

he/she actually is but also on how bright he/she feels about the self.

One of the major aims of the education is the development of wholesome

personality. Family is the socio-biological unit that exerts the greatest influence on

the development and perpetuation of the individual’s behaviour. Next to home,

school is the most important experience in the process of development of children.

Both the environments share influential place in child’s life and also contribute to the

development of children. School is the second home to children. Teachers and

parents have greater responsibility to foster mental health status of the students. At

times in adverse conditions, the school may also substitute the home situations and

meet the emotional needs of those neglected in the home. Pupil’s perception or

attitude towards the school climate or environment has got considerable influence

over their mental health. School atmosphere includes favourable attitude towards

school teachers, co-students, curriculum, methods of teaching, facilities available in

the classroom and teacher-student interaction.

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Achievement of students is the prime concern of teachers, educators and

psychologists: research workers have been busy identifying and investigating

various factors influencing achievement. The importance of achievement has raised

several important questions in educational researches: what are the factors which

facilitate and retard achievement in students? And how far do the different factors

contribute towards difference in achievement? Is there a difference between

expected outcomes of educator and the real outcomes? Thus the nature of

education itself demands research in its various areas. So in the present study, the

investigator makes an attempt to study the problem entitled “self-concept, socio-

emotional school climate and academic achievement of Higher Secondary Students

of Karaikal Region”.

As the quality of performance is the determinant factor for success in ever-

growing competitive world, everyone desires a high level of achievement. Now a

days as against the previous concept of assigning major roles to cognitive variables,

more emphasis is laid on affective outcomes of education like development of self-

concept, interest and so on. In other words, academic achievement seems to be the

ultimate goal in every one’s mind. In attempts to pursue this goal, all concerned

seem to deny the existence of the role of the affective domain in the students’

performance.

School climate as perceived by students has an advantage of characterizing

the setting through the eyes of the actual participants. Students have a good

advantage point to make judgments about classrooms because they have

encountered several learning environments and have enough time in a class to form

accurate impressions. As a workgroup, the classroom group assembles together for

the purpose of learning, which is held deliberately and in a planned manner.

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Naturally in that teaching-learning situation, social interaction, the main theme

behind the formation of any group, occurs compulsorily as well as accidentally. The

process of social interaction implies that type of relationship between persons where

the behaviour of one is the stimulus to the behaviour of other thus it becomes

reciprocal.

Students studying in poor school climate and with low self-concept may fail to

develop their potentials and skills to the optimum extent, and may have a negative

effect on their performance in school and achievements in social life, while children

growing up in conducive environment and with high self-concept may show superior

cognitive abilities and academic competence. It is therefore necessary to study the

level of self-concept and socio-emotional school climate of students and trace the

causal factors that enhance or affect the academic accomplishment of students. In

addition to self-concept and socio-emotional school climate, academic achievement

may be influenced by various socio-economic factors like age, gender, family size,

parents’ education and occupation and also by economic status of the family.

The study of self-concept and school climate is of great significance as

learning is the outcome of these factors. These strengthen the students’ level of

education. The level of self-concept and climate in school and among students

promote either a positive or a negative attitude towards their work at school. The

negative attitudes are learned to have a strong influence on their academic

performance and manifest themselves in undesirable behaviour such as

inattentiveness and truancy, which in turn further affects their academic

achievement. Academic achievement is dependent on self-concept as well as socio-

emotional school climate. Hence, it is paramount important to study the self-concept,

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socio-emotional school climate and academic achievement of higher secondary

students.

1.21. SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Educational psychologists, philosophers and sociologists hold the opinion that

education is a process through which a child can achieve natural and spontaneous

development. The process of education is influenced by many factors within and

outside the institution. It has been a constant concern of educational psychologists,

philosophers and sociologists to discover the relationship between these factors and

learning behaviour. Teachers are rather perplexed to know why certain students fare

well in the examination, while others perform poorly though the method of teaching

used and learning material taught remain the same for all the students in the class.

Educational experts indicated factors such as motivation, attitude, interest and

intelligence as constantly facilitating academic progress and attainment. Academic

performance has been shown to be based on a number of factors such as students’

attitude, interest, personality, character and social class in addition to hearing

(Lewin, 1965). General satisfaction of pupils regarding school is found to be more

closely related to pupil’s success than any other factors (Smith, 1962). One’s self-

concept and one’s socio-emotional school climate play an important role in one’s

vision even from the early stage and it influences not only the goals one sets for

oneself but also the ways in which one goes about achieving the goals. Both self-

concept, a dominant factor in personality pattern, and socio-emotional school

climate, a variable affect and contribute to learning process.

Good self-concept and conducive school climate become the positive hope for

an individual and high level of hope leads to higher order perception when compared

to the learning process. In the opinion of Buch (1991), the whole system of education

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is centered on academic achievement and has become a fertile ground for research

work to identify the factors and their influence on achievement. Self-concept and

achievement are dynamically interactive and reciprocal and each is mutually

reinforcing. The socio-emotional climate of educational institutions is a bridging

concept between pupils and the school. It is related to their task, achievement,

satisfaction and behaviour in a particular schooling system to which they belong.

Better socio-emotional school climate and high self-concept make the students to

approach school-related tasks reinforcing their confidence.

It has been observed that negative self-concept and lack of proper socio-

emotional school climate not only retards school progress of an individual but also

develops frustration, destroys initiatives and confidence and makes prominent the

feeling of worthlessness towards oneself and the subject of study, whereas a

positive self-concept and a conducive school climate ensure one’s own

development, academic performance, success, happiness and sense of

accomplishment.

This study will definitely throw more light on students at plus one level to know

their self-concept and socio-emotional school climate. The outcome of the study may

be useful to formulate appropriate strategies to improve students’ self-concept, and

to provide conducive school climate. It will also give an idea about the school climate

and the teachers who give special attention in enhancing academic achievement.

1.22. ASSUMPTIONS OF THE STUDY

The study is based on the following assumptions.

1. Students at plus one level may or may not be aware of their self-concept and

socio-emotional school climate.

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2. To make the students aware of these variables and to prepare them for good

academic achievement, the support of the teachers, management and

parents are necessary.

3. The students are expected to know previous years question papers to get

familiar with the pattern of question papers and marks allotted to each

question prior to examinations.

4. The students strive to get at higher level in their academic achievement.

5. Every student will have self-concept and every school will have its own

climate but the levels may vary.

6. The social groups, culture and value system will determine the level of self-

concept, school climate and academic achievement.

The study of self-concept and school climate is important as learning is the

outcome of these factors. These strengthen the students’ level of education and

other aspects of life such as better relationship with friends and family. Thus it might

lead one to non-scholastic achievement too.

1.23. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

To be successful in life one should achieve something in one’s life. To

achieve something in one’s life one needs interest, attitude, aptitude, sincerity and

dedication towards work and study. These qualities make one to achieve the aims

and goals which one sets for oneself.

For achieving something the basic need is to understand the aims and

objectives completely. In this context, the researcher wants to study higher

secondary plus one students’ self-concept and their socio-emotional school climate

and how far these elements influence their academic achievement. The present

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study is stated as follows, “Self-Concept, Socio-Emotional School Climate and

Academic Achievement of Higher Secondary Students of Karaikal Region”.

1.24. OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS OF THE KEY TERMS

SELF-CONCEPT

The term ‘Self-Concept’ implies the notion one has about oneself. It refers to

the picture or image a person has of himself/herself. The individual’s awareness of

his/her continuing identity as a person; develops gradually from an infant’s discovery

of the parts of his/her own body and comes to include all an individual’s thoughts,

feelings, attitudes, values and aspirations. All our thoughts and feelings about

ourselves in answer to the question “who am I?”

SOCIO-EMOTIONAL SCHOOL CLIMATE

The term ‘Socio-Emotional School Climate’ refers to overall characteristic

atmosphere in a learning situation/school. Socio-Emotional School Climate means a

close emotional bond between students and their teachers, care-givers or others at

institutional level/school level. This is categorized by right behaviours or emotional

state that has a substantial positive effect on students’ classroom performance.

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

‘Achievement’ means the accomplishment of proficiency of performance in a

given skill or a body of knowledge (Hornby, Advanced Learners Dictionary, 1948).

‘Academic Achievement’ of the students refers to the level of educational

development of an individual as determined by their scores on an achievement test

designed to measure the outcome in theoretical study acquired by formal education.

This refers, in this study, the success of distinction in school life as in the form of

scores in different subjects at higher secondary stage.

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HIGHER SECONDARY STUDENTS

These are the students entering to the higher secondary course (plus one and

plus two) after passing SSLC examination (tenth standard). It is a two year course.

After completing this higher secondary course, they will enter into degree courses or

the professional courses. Here the investigator considers only plus one students for

this study.

KARAIKAL REGION

It refers to one of the Revenue Districts of Puducherry State.

1.25. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The following are the objectives of the study.

• To study the level of self-concept of higher secondary students.

• To find out the significant difference, if any, in the self-concept of higher

secondary students in terms of gender, subject group, medium of instruction,

community, religion, type of management, locale of the school, nature of the

school, mode of stay, birth order, parents’ educational status, parents’

occupation, parents’ annual income and type of family.

• To study the level of socio-emotional school climate of higher secondary

students:

• To find out the significant difference, if any, in the socio-emotional school

climate of higher secondary students in terms of gender, subject group,

medium of instruction, community, religion, type of management, locale of the

school, nature of the school, mode of stay, birth order, parents’ educational

status, parents’ occupation, parents’ annual income and type of family.

• To study the level of academic achievement of higher secondary students:

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• To find out the significant difference, if any, in the academic achievement of

higher secondary students in terms of gender, subject group, medium of

instruction, community, religion, type of management, locale of the school,

nature of the school, mode of stay, birth order, parents’ educational status,

parents’ occupation, parents’ annual income and type of family.

• To find out the significant relationship between self-concept, socio-emotional

school climate and academic achievement of higher secondary students.

1.26. HYPOTHESES OF THE STUDY

In the light of the above objectives, the following null hypotheses were

formulated for testing.

1. The level of self-concept of higher secondary students is not high.

2. There is no significant difference in the self-concept in total and in different

dimensions between male and female higher secondary students.

3. There is no significant difference in the self-concept in total and in different

dimensions among arts, science and vocational group students.

4. There is no significant difference in the self-concept in total and in different

dimensions between Tamil and English medium students.

5. There is no significant difference in the self-concept in total and in different

dimensions between the higher secondary students of SC/STs and Non-

SC/STs.

6. There is no significant difference in the self-concept in total and in different

dimensions between the Hindu and Non-Hindu students.

7. There is no significant difference in the self-concept in total and in different

dimensions among government, aided and self-financing schools students.

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8. There is no significant difference in the self-concept in total and in different

dimensions between urban and rural school students.

9. There is no significant difference in the self-concept in total and in different

dimensions among the boys, girls and co-education school students.

10. There is no significant difference in the self-concept in total and in different

dimensions between higher secondary students of hostellers and

dayscholars.

11. There is no significant difference in the self-concept in total and different

dimensions among the students of different birth order.

12. There is no significant difference in the self-concept in total and different

dimensions between the higher secondary students of graduate and non-

graduate parents.

13. There is no significant difference in the self-concept in total and different

dimensions among higher secondary students of agriculture, business and

professional parents.

14. There is no significant difference in the self-concept in total and in different

dimensions between higher secondary students of parents with high and low

income.

15. There is no significant difference in the self-concept in total and in different

dimensions between higher secondary students of joint and nuclear families.

16. The level of socio-emotional school climate of higher secondary students is

not high.

17. There is no significant difference in the socio-emotional school climate

between male and female higher secondary students.

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18. There is no significant difference in the socio-emotional school climate among

arts, science and vocational group students.

19. There is no significant difference in the socio-emotional school climate

between Tamil and English medium students.

20. There is no significant difference in the socio-emotional school climate

between the higher secondary students of SC/STs and Non-SC/STs.

21. There is no significant difference in the socio-emotional school climate

between the Hindu and Non-Hindu students.

22. There is no significant difference in the socio-emotional school climate among

government, aided and self-financing school students.

23. There is no significant difference in the socio-emotional school climate

between urban and rural school students.

24. There is no significant difference in the socio-emotional school climate among

the boys, girls and co-education school students.

25. There is no significant difference in the socio-emotional school climate

between higher secondary students of hostellers and dayscholars.

26. There is no significant difference in the socio-emotional school climate among

the students of different birth order.

27. There is no significant difference in the socio-emotional school climate

between higher secondary students of graduate and non-graduate parents.

28. There is no significant difference in the socio-emotional school climate among

higher secondary students of agriculture, business and professional parents.

29. There is no significant difference in the socio-emotional school climate

between higher secondary students of parents with high and low annual

income.

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30. There is no significant difference in the socio-emotional school climate

between higher secondary students of joint and nuclear families.

31. The level of academic achievement of higher secondary students is not high.

32. There is no significant difference in the academic achievement between male

and female higher secondary students.

33. There is no significant difference in the academic achievement among arts,

science and vocational group students.

34. There is no significant difference in the academic achievement between Tamil

and English medium students

35. There is no significant difference in the academic achievement between the

higher secondary students of SC/STs and Non-SC/STs.

36. There is no significant difference in the academic achievement between the

Hindu and Non-Hindu students.

37. There is no significant difference in the academic achievement among

government, aided and self-financing school students.

38. There is no significant difference in the academic achievement between urban

and rural school students.

39. There is no significant difference in the academic achievement among the

boys, girls and co-education school students.

40. There is no significant difference in the academic achievement between

higher secondary students of hostellers and dayscholars.

41. There is no significant difference in the academic achievement among the

students of different birth order.

42. There is no significant difference in the academic achievement between

higher secondary students of graduate and non-graduate parents.

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43. There is no significant difference in the academic achievement among higher

secondary students of agriculture, business and professional parents.

44. There is no significant difference in the academic achievement between

higher secondary students of parents with high and low annual income.

45. There is no significant difference in the academic achievement between

higher secondary students of joint and nuclear families.

46. There is no significant relationship between self-concept and socio-emotional

school climate of higher secondary students.

47. There is no significant relationship between socio-emotional school climate

and academic achievement of higher secondary students.

48. There is no significant relationship between self-concept and academic

achievement of higher secondary students.

1.27. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The following are the limitations of the study.

1. The study was limited to the select higher secondary schools at Karaikal

Region.

2. The study has been confined only to higher secondary plus one students.

3. The size of the sample has been restricted to a maximum of 800 students.

4. Among the various boards of higher secondary level, only the students from

“Tamilnadu State Board of Higher Secondary Education” have been

considered.

5. The study was confined to the independent variables viz. self-concept, socio-

emotional school climate and the dependent variable academic achievement

of higher secondary plus one students.

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6. The study is limited to selected variables viz. gender, subject group, medium

of instruction, community, religion, type of management, locale of the school,

nature of the school, mode of stay, birth order, parents’ educational status,

parents’ occupation, parents’ annual income and type of family.

1.28. ORGANISATION OF THE THESIS

The thesis is divided into five chapters followed by Bibliography and

Appendix.

Chapter I deals with the statement of the problem, objectives, the need and

significance of the study.

Chapter II deals with the review of related literature. An attempt is made to

find the research gap of the study by reviewing the studies conducted in India and

Abroad.

Chapter III describes the detailed methodology employed for studying the

present investigation.

Chapter IV deals with the analysis and interpretation of the data.

Chapter V deals with summary of findings and conclusions. A brief summary

of the study is presented along with recommendations and suggestions for further

research in this area of study.