Classroom effect on primary school students’ self-concept in literacy and mathematics

Abstract

According to the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLP) model, high individual academic performance in a particular subject is related to high self-concept in that subject, whereas high average classroom performance has a negative effect on self-concept. In the present study, data from Finnish primary school students in grade 3 (504 students), grade 4 (487 students), and grade 6 (365 students) are used to examine whether the assumptions of the BFLP effect model hold already in primary school. Furthermore, we examined gender differences in BFLP effect. The results showed that as expected students' high performance in literacy and in mathematics was related to high self-concept in the same subject. Support for the negative classroom effect was small and it depended on the school subject and student's gender. That is, a high average classroom performance already in grade 3 had a negative but small effect on boys' self-concept in mathematics. In literacy and among girls, only little support was found for the negative classroom effect. Keywords The big-fish-little-pond effect. Classroom effect. Self-concept of ability. Academic skills. Primary school Students' achievement-related beliefs play an important role in school by directing behavior and effort in learning situations (e.g., Atkinson 1964; Bandura 1997; Eccles et al. 1983; Wigfield et al. 2006). Students who believe that they can and will do well at school are more likely to perform better and to engage in an adaptive manner in academic tasks than students who have a negative self-perception and expect to fail (Pintrich and Schunk 2002). Several

The Teacher’s Educational Psychological Game Sense (EPGS) as the Foundation of a Student’s Positive Self-Conception

“…This finding is supported also by Blazar and Kraft's (2017) study. Teachers' illustration, flexibility, and courage appreciate students to do things differently as they want to increase and enhance their self-efficacy and self-concept depending on academic performance (see also Vasalampi et al, 2020).…”

Relation entre la composition de la classe, le rendement scolaire et le concept de soi chez les élèves de quatrième année primaire.

“…Elle pourrait également provenir de l’âge des sujets impliqués dans cette étude. Selon Vasalampi et al (2020), l’effet gros poisson dans le petit étang a plus été observé chez les adolescents et chez les jeunes adultes que chez les élèves de l’école primaire. L’absence de cet effet peut enfin être expliquée par la non sélectivité du système éducatif de la RDC.…”

“…L’absence de cet effet peut enfin être expliquée par la non sélectivité du système éducatif de la RDC. Comme le constatent certains auteurs (Chiu et al, 2017; Vasalampi et al, 2020), l’effet de la classe sur le concept de soi est généralement très faible dans un système éducatif où le niveau des élèves d’une classe est hétérogène. Ainsi que nous l’avons souligné dans la description du contexte de cette étude, les classes congolaises sont généralement hétérogènes étant donné que les directeurs d’école les constituent de manière plutôt aléatoire, sans tenir compte du niveau d’habileté des élèves.…”

“…C’est l’effet « gros poisson dans le petit étang » ( Big Fish Little Pond Effect ). Suivant cet effet, les performances agrégées sont négativement associées aux croyances en soi, notamment au concept de soi, en plus de l’effet positif produit par les performances individuelles (Dicke et al, 2018; Vasalampi et al, 2020).…”

Literacy Gender in Elementary School Education

“…The children believed that it was indeed more difficult for female students to understand numbers. The opposite condition occurs in male students, class atmosphere, and teacher motivation, affecting their self-concept so that they show better abilities in mathematics than literacy [1].…”