To healthy growth: a developmental perspective of adolescents' perceptions about school
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Abstract
Several researchers argue that the school, while place of discovery and promotion of development, should not limit the object of evaluation/intervention to knowledge, but also have to give relief to the domain of skills, attitudes and values. In that sense, we can have a school that motivates for lifelong learning and contributes to prevention of emotional and behavioural problems. It is therefore essential to study the school as an institution that promotes human development as a whole. The present study was aimed at examining the relationships between adolescents’ positive and negative perceptions about some aspects of school environment promoters of favourable or unfavourable development, sense of belonging and acknowledgment of the school’s ability to provide students with opportunities for achievement of objectives and personal goals. More specifically, we intended to understand the students’ perceptions of school’s importance assuming a developmental perspective. The sample consists of 184 participants (63% female) from High School in Portugal, with ages ranging from 15 to 21 years old. Students completed the Questionário de perceções acerca da escola [Questionnaire of perceptions
about school] specially devised for this study. The confirmatory factor analysis of the instrument revealed four factorsthatexplained 45,9% of thetotalvariance(positiveand negative perceptionsaboutsomeaspects ofschool environment; sense of belonging; and achievement of objectives and personal goals). It was possible to conclude that there is a positive and strong relation between positive perception and sense of belonging related to school.
We also concluded that there is a positive and median relation between sense of belonging and achievement of objectives/personal goals, and between this last one and positive perception. In addition, there were statistically significant differences according to gender, school failure, area of study, private or public school, and rural or urban schools. Assuming that a positive perception and sense of belonging to school are important to the development and academic success of students, our findings provide relevant information for planning and implementing school intervention programs.
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