The Mediating Role of Academic Self-Concept in the Relationship Between School Ethical Climate and Sense of Belonging to School in High School Students Interested in Mathematics

Subject Areas : Educational Psychology

Seyyed Sadegh Gholami ^{1 *} , Rahim shaban ² , Kobra Habibnejad ³

1 - Assistant Professor، Department of Mathematics Education, Farhangian University, P.O. Box 14665-889, Tehran, Iran
2 - Assistant Professor، Department of Psychology and Counselling, Farhangian University, P.O. Box 14665-889, Tehran, Iran. r. shabani @cfu.ac.ir
3 - Master's degree, Educational Management

Received: 2024-08-27 Accepted : 2025-01-07 Published : 2024-09-21

Keywords: school ethical climate, sense of belonging to school, academic self-concept,

Abstract :

The aim of this study was to determine the mediating role of academic self-concept in the relationship between school ethical climate and students’ sense of belonging to school in students. The present study was a descriptive-correlational study using structural equation analysis. The statistical population of the study included all high school students in Maku city of 2000 people. The statistical sample consisted of 370 students who were selected using Slovin formula and stepwise cluster sampling. Data collection tools included school ethical climate index (SECI), students’ sense of connectedness with school (SSCS) and academic self-concept questionnaire (ASCQ). Data analysis was performed using Pearson correlation and structural equation analysis in SPSS and AMOS programs. Findings showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between school ethical climate and academic self-concept with the sense of belonging to school (p <0.05). The results also showed that academic self-concept has a significant mediating role in the relationship between school ethical climate and school belonging. The results of this study indicated that the effect of the school's ethical climate on students' sense of belonging to school depends on their academic self-concept, and also indicated the importance of paying attention to the role of the school's ethical climate and academic self-concept in increasing students' sense of belonging to school.

References:

احمدی، سهیلا.، حسنی، محمد.، موسوی، میرنجف. (1397). رابطه جو اخلاقی مدرسه با حس تعلق به مدرسه و پیشرفت تحصیلی دانش‌آموزان. فصلنامه اخلاق در علوم و فناوری، 13 (4)، 132-125.
امیدی کرکانی، مهسا.، عصاره، علیرضا. (1396). مدل یابی تاثیر سبک های هویت بر احساس تعلق به مدرسه با میانجیگری خودپنداره تحصیلی در دانش‌آموزان دختر. فصلنامه خانواده و پژوهش، 14 (4)، 136-119.
پورپاریزی، معصومه.، توحیدی، افسانه.، خضری مقدم، نوشیروان. (1397). تاثیر ذهن آگاهی بر پیشرفت تحصیلی و سازگاری تحصیلی: نقش واسطه ای خودپنداره تحصیلی. پژوهش نامه روانشناسی مثبت، 4 (3)، 44-29. 10.22108/PPLS.2018.111795.1464
حکیم‌زاده، رضوان.، درانی، کمال.، ابوالقاسمی، مهدی.، نجاتی، فرهاد. (1393). بررسی رابطه احساس تعلق به مدرسه با انگیزه پیشرفت و عملکرد تحصیلی دانش‌آموزان دوره متوسطه نظری شهر اصفهان. مجله علوم تربیتی، 21 (1)، 166-151.
عسکری، محمدرضا.، مکوندی، بهنام.، نیسی، عبدالکاظم. (1398). پیش بینی عملکرد تحصیلی براساس درگیری تحصیلی، خودکارآمدی تحصیلی، اهداف پیشرفت و ادراک از جو مدرسه در دانش‌آموزان تیزهوش. فصلنامه روانشناسی افراد استثنایی، 9 (36)، 149-127.
https://doi.org/10.22054/jpe.2020.44149.2016
کاظم‌زاده، عابد. (1394). مقایسه احساس تعلق به مدرسه در مدارس فنی حرفه ای، کاردانش و نظری: نقش اعتماد به معلم و مدیر. پایان نامه کارشناسی ارشد، دانشگاه علامه طباطبایی.
کرامتی، انسی.، شهامت ده سرخ، فاطمه.، خسروی، حسین. (1390). بررسی رابطه محیط اجتماعی (جو مدرسه) و میزان خودتنظیمی در دانش‌آموزان دبیرستانی. فصلنامه پژوهش های نوین روانشناختی، 6 (23)، 153-133.
گورویی، محمد.، خیر، محمد.، هاشمی، لادن. (1390). بررسی رابطه بین کمال گرایی و خودپنداره تحصیلی با توجه به نقش واسطه ای اهمال کاری تحصیلی در دانشجویان. روش ها و مدل های روانشناختی، 2 (1)، 149-137.
میرزابیگی، احمد.، بختیارپور، سعید.، افتخار صعادی، زهرا.، مکوندی، بهنام.، پاشا، رضا. (1397). مقایسه سرزندگی تحصیلی، احساس تعلق به مدرسه، انگیزه پیشرفت تحصیلی در بین دانش‌آموزان دختر و پسر مدارس متوسطه دوم شهر ایلام. پژوهش در نظام های آموزشی، ویژه نامه، 1104-1086.
Ahmadi, S., Hasani, M., & Mosavi, M. N. (2019). The relationship between ethical climate school and school's sense of belonging and students' academic achievement, Journal Ethics in Science and Technology, 13(4), 125-132. [In Persian]
Allen, K.-A., Greenwood, C. J., Berger, E., Patlamazoglou, L., Reupert, A., Wurf, G., May, F., O'Connor, M., Sanson, A., Olsson, C. A., & Letcher, P. (2024). Adolescent school belonging and mental health outcomes in young adulthood: Findings from a multi-wave prospective cohort study. School Mental Health: A Multidisciplinary Research and Practice Journal. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-023-09626-6
Askari, M. R., makvandi, B., & neisi, A. (2020). The prediction of Academic performance based on Academic Engagement, Academic Self- efficacy, the Achievement Goals and Perception of School Atmosphere in Gifted Students. Psychology of Exceptional Individuals, 9(36), 127-149. [In Persian]
Beld, M. H. M., Kuiper, C. H. Z., Van Der Helm, G. H. P., De Swart, J. J. W., Stams, G. J. J. M., & Roest, J. J. (2019). Classroom Climate, Identification with School, and General Self-worth Predict Academic Self-Concept in Students Attending Residential Schools for Special Education. Residential Treatment for Children & Youth, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/0886571X.2019.1696262
Birtch, T. A., & Chiang, F. F. T. (2014). The influence of business school's ethical climate on students' unethical behavior. Journal of Business Ethics, 123(2), 283–294. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1795-y
Dotterer, A. M., & Wehrspann, E. (2016). Parent Involvement and Academic Outcomes among Urban Adolescents: Examining the Role of School Engagement. Educational Psychology, 36, 812–830.
doi:10.1080/01443410.2015.1099617
Fabris, M. A., Settanni, M., Longobardi, C., & Marengo, D. (2023). Sense of belonging at school and on social media in adolescence: Associations with educational achievement and psychosocial maladjustment. Child Psychiatry and Human Development. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-023-01516-x
Goroee, M., Khayer, M., & Hashemi, L. (2011). relationship Between perfectionism and self-concept IN REGARD TO academic procrastination AS A MEDIATOR variable in students. Journal of Psychological Models and Methods, 2(SPECIAL ISSUE), 137-149. [In Persian]
Gregory, A., Hastings, R. P., & Kovshoff, H. (2020). Academic self-concept and sense of school belonging of adolescent siblings of autistic children. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 96, 103519.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2019.103519
Gutiérrez, N., Mercader, I., Carrión, J. J., & Trigueros, R. (2022). Self-concept and feeling of belonging as a predictor variable of the attitude towards the study from the PISA 2018 report. Education Sciences, 12(2), 1–7.
https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12020091
Hakimzadeh, R., Dorani, K., abolghasemi, M., & Nejati, F. (2014). An investigation concerning the relationship between school connectedness, academic motivation and academic achievement among high school students of Isfahan. Journal of Educational Sciences, 21(1), 151-166. [In Persian]
Ham, S.-H., Yang, K.-E., & Cha, Y.-K. (2017). Immigrant integration policy for future generations? A cross-national multilevel analysis of immigrant-background adolescents’ sense of belonging at school. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 60, 40-50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2017.06.001
Harter, S. (2012). The construction of the self: Developmental and sociocultural foundations (2nd ed.), Guilford Press, New York, NY.
Huang, C. (2011). Self-concept and academic achievement: A meta-analysis of longitudinal relations. Journal of School Psychology, 49(5), 505–528.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2011.07.001
Ibrahim, A., & El Zaatari, W. (2020). The Teacher-Student Relationship and Adolescents’ Sense of School Belonging. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 25, 382-395. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2019.1660998
Johnson, R. M., Strayhorn, T. L., & Parler, B. (2020). “I just want to be a regular kid:” A qualitative study of sense of belonging among high school youth in foster care. Children and Youth Services Review, 111, Article 104832. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.104832
Kashy-Rosenbaum, G., & Aizenkot, D. (2020) ‘Exposure to cyberbullying in WhatsApp classmates ‘groups and classroom climate as predictors of students ‘sense of belonging: A multi-level analysis of elementary, middle and high schools’, Children and Youth Services Review. Elsevier, 108(November 2019), p. 104614 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.104614
Kazemzadeh, A. (2015). Comparing the feeling of belonging to school in vocational, technical and theoretical schools: The role of trust in teachers and administrators. Master's thesis, Allameh Tabatabaei University. [In Persian]
Keramati, E., Shahamatsorkh, F., & Khosravi, H. (2011). The Relationship between School Social Environment (School Climate) and Students’ Level of Self-regulation at high Schools in Mashhad. Journal of Modern Psychological Researches, 6(23), 133-153. [In Persian]
Keiser, K. A., Schulte, L. E. (2007). The development and validation of the elementary school ethical climate index. The School Community Journal, 17(2), 73-88.
Kiefer, S. M., Alley, K. M., & Ellerbrock, C. R. (2015). Teacher and peer support for young adolescents’ motivation, engagement, and school belonging. RMLE Online, 38(8), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/19404476.2015.11641184
Kim, Y. K., & Sax, L. J. (2014). The effects of student–faculty interaction on academic self-concept: Does academic major matter? Research in Higher Education, 55(8), 780–809. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-014-9335-x
King-Sears, M. E., & Strogilos, V. (2020). An exploratory study of self-efficacy, school belongingness, and co-teaching perspectives from middle school students and teachers in a mathematics co-taught classroom. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 24(2), 162-180.
DOI:10.1080/13603116.2018.1453553
Kuttner, P. J. (2023). The Right to Belong in School: A Critical, Transdisciplinary Conceptualization of School Belonging. AERA Open, 9.
https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584231183407.
Li, C., & Jiang, S. (2018). Social exclusion, sense of school belonging and mental health of migrant children in China: A structural equation modeling analysis. Children and Youth Services Review, 89, 6-12.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.04.017
Luo, M., Huang, W., & Najjar, L. (2007). The relationship between perceptions of a Chinese high school's ethical climate and students' school performance. Journal of Moral Education, 36(1), 93–111.
https://doi.org/10.1080/03057240601185489
Marsh, R. Steinglass, J. E, Gerber, A. J. O’Leary, K. G. Wang, Z. Murphy, D. (2009). Deficient activity in the neural systems that mediate self-regulatory control in bulimia nervosa. Arch Gen Psychiatr, 66(1), 51-63.
Maxwell, S., Reynolds, K. J., Lee, E., Subasic, E., & Bromhead, D. (2017). The impact of school climate and school identification on academic achievement: Multilevel modeling with student and teacher data. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, Article 2069. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02069
Mirzabeigi, A., Bakhtiarpour, S., Eftekhar saadi, Z., Makvandi, B., & Pasha, R. (2018). Comparison of educational vitality, feeling of belonging to the school, the motivation of academic achievement among male and female students of secondary schools in Ilam. Journal of Research in Educational Systems, 12 (Special Issue), 1085-1104. [In Persian]
Omidi Karkani M, Assareh, Ph.D. A. (2018). The Impact of Identity Styles on Sense of Belonging to School with the Mediation of Academic Self-Concept among Female Students: A Structural Modeling Analysis. QJFR, 14(4): 119-136. [In Persian]
Porparizi, M., Towhidi, A., & Khezri Moghadam, N. (2018). The Effect of Mindfulness on Academic Achievement, and Academic Adjustment: The Mediation Role of Academic Self-concept. Positive Psychology Research, 4(3), 29-44. [In Persian]
Rost DH, Feng X. (2024) Academic Self-Concept Wins the Race: The Prediction of Achievements in Three Major School Subjects by Five Subject-Specific Self-Related Variables. Behav Sci (Basel). 5;14(1):40.
https://doi.org/10.3390/bs14010040
Rubie-Davies, C., Asil, M., & Teo, T. (2016). Assessing measurement invariance of the Student Personal Perception of Classroom Climate across different ethnic groups. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 34(5), 442–460.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0734282915612689
Scherer, R., & Nilsen, T. (2016). The Relations Among School Climate, Instructional Quality, and Achievement Motivation in Mathematics. In T. Nilsen & J.-E. Gustafsson (Eds.), Teacher Quality, Instructional Quality and Student Outcomes: Relationships Across Countries, Cohorts and Time (pp. 51-80). Cham: Springer International Publishing. 10.1007/978-3-319-41252-8_3
Schulte, L. E., Thompson, F., Talbott, J., Luther, A., Garcia, M., Blanchard, S., & Conway, L., et al. (2002). The development and validation of the ethical climate index for middle and high schools. The School Community Journal, 12(2), 117-132.
Sewasew, D., & Schroeders, U. (2019). The developmental interplay of academic self-concept and achievement within and across domains among primary school students. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 58, 204–212.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2019.03.009
Singh K., Chang M., & Dika S. (2010). Ethnicity, self-concept, and school belonging: Effects on school engagement. Educational Research for Policy and Practice, 9(3), 159-175. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10671-010-9087-0.
Strayhorn, T. L. (2012). College students' sense of belonging: A key to educational success for all students. Routledge, New York, NY.
Surayanah, A., & Karma, L. (2018). The contribution of school climate, achievement motivation, and self-concept to science learning achievement. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1040 012041.
Suteja, I. W., Holman, M., Wedagama, D. P., & Suthanaya, P. A. (2018). The influence of age and gender of student motorcycle riders on traffic violations and accidents using a structural equation model. In MATEC Web of Conferences (Vol. 195, p. 04015). EDP Sciences.
Walker, C. O., & Greene, B. A. (2009). The relations between student motivational beliefs and cognitive engagement in high school. The Journal of Educational Research, 102(6), 463–471. https://doi.org/10.3200/JOER.102.6.463-472
Wong, T. K. Y., & Siu, A. F. Y. (2017). Relationships between school climate dimensions and adolescents’ school life satisfaction, academic satisfaction and perceived popularity within a Chinese context. School Mental Health: A Multidisciplinary Research and Practice Journal, 9(3), 237–248.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-017-9209-4
Wong, T. K. Y., Parent, A.-M., & Konishi, C. (2019). Feeling connected: The roles of student-teacher relationships and sense of school belonging on future orientation. International Journal of Educational Research, 94, 150-157. doi:10.1016/j.ijer.2019.01.008