The Role of Personal Standards in Students’ Moral and Academic Engagement

Theresa A. ThorkildsenUniversity of Illinois at Chicago

PAEPS10 Conference, 2005, Halle, Germany

OverviewThis work is designed to strengthen knowledge of how children and adolescents understand and accept responsibility for their education.

The value of adopting a developmental approach is supported by addressing an important methodological issue and three key questions.

1. How can we best discern individuals’ practical knowledge about the nature and purposes of education?

2. Do children and adolescents understand the complexity of issues related to organizing an ideal school?

3. Are there common structural features apparent in students’ conceptions?

4. How much consistency is apparent in how children and adolescents utilize the various dimensions found in their answers?

Virtue is an aspect of character concerned with choice and is only learned though activity.

It is not enough to read about virtue or observe it in others.

There are two categories of virtue.IntellectualMoral

Virtue is acquired through perception, instruction, and habituation as individuals learn to coordinate their passions, functioning, and values.

We learn virtues via formal education and interactions with the world. In so doing we invent personal standards that guide our experience.

Personal standards reflect practical knowledge such as that associated with ethics and politics.

They are habitual ways of interpreting new situations and evaluating past experiences—part of the force that drives individuals’ social participation (Bandura, 1999; Thorkildsen, 2004).

Personal standards contain state-like and trait-like properties.

They may be modified over timeThey include enduring structural features They help individuals coordinate emotional reactions, attitudes, and beliefs.

Personal standards evolve from individuals’ semantic representations of their experience.

Semantic representations are mental structures used to Extract informationEstablish relations between informational unitsCoordinate emotional reactions with particular patterns of thought and behavior (Thelen & Smith,1998).

Semantic representations help individuals achieve excellence in whatever endeavors they direct their energies toward because they allow individuals to formulate ends, means, and acts.

Mental models are most often inferred from looking at how individuals respond to practical problems.

We asked children and adolescents to consider two practical problems.

When do you feel successful in school? (competence orientations)How should an ideal school be organized?

Personal standards and semantic representations are features of engagement.

Academic Engagement—regulating the acquisition and use of new academic knowledge.

Moral Engagement—regulating humane behavior and inhibiting inhumane behavior.

Identity Epistemology

Fairness

Moral Agency

Moral Engagement in School

Participants

145 children and adolescents, ages 8 to 15 71 males 74 females

Ethnicity proportional to the school67 Asian (eastern, southern, southeastern and southwestern) 40 European (eastern and western)29 Hispanic (Mexican or Puerto Rican) 1 African American 8 Dual ethnicity

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Age group

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Task orientation

Ego orientation

Work avoidance

Motivational Orientations for Females by Age

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Age group

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Task orientation

Ego orientation

Work avoidance

Motivational Orientations for Males by Age Group

Mode Median

Scales 8-11 12-15 8-11 12-15

Task orientation (α=.72, M=4.14, sd=.57)

I solve a problem by trying hard. 5 4 5 4I think a lot. 5 4 4 4I work hard all day. 5 4 5 4I keep busy. 5 4 4 4Something I learn makes me want to find out more.

5 5 5 4

I find new ways to solve a problem. 5 5 5 4I put ideas together in my mind. 5 4 4 4I learn something that really makes sense. 5 4 5 4 Sample size 76 69 76 69

Sample of Scale’s Restricted Range

Preliminary Conclusions

Gender differences in the complexity of girls’ competence orientations relative to boys are also consistent with the idea that girls may be better able to describe the intrapersonal changes that they are experiencing and with findings that this emerges in early adolescence (Thorkildsen & Nicholls, 1998).

The age-trends are consistent with those found in other studies of students’ motivation (Eccles et al., 1993), but we should be careful to remember that surveys of this nature are not designed to measure magnitude.

New Card Sorting Task

Learning Situations Students explain things to one another. Students look for help when they need it. Students offer suggestions in class. Students gain understanding. Students explore topics in depth. Students discover how things work.Test Situations Students pass tests. Students choose the best answer. Students earn a grade. Students get answers right. Students’ knowledge is rated.Contest Situations Students strive to earn a title. Students try to win games. Students defeat their opponents. Students win debates. Students compete on teams.

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8-9 yrs. 10-11 yrs. 12-13 yrs. 14-15 yrs.

Age Group

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LearningTestContest

Card Preferences by Age Group

Key Findings

Fairness and effectiveness rankings showed similar patterns.

Learning, test, and contest practices were ranked differently (η2=.79).

Older students showed more variance in these decisions than younger students (η2=.15).

Preliminary Conclusions

Students’ decisions on the card sorting task showed a restricted range similar to that found with their survey responses.

While it is interesting to know that students place the highest value on practices that promote learning, it is difficult to discover why they made these choices or how these decisions might affect their engagement in school.

Student Generated Themes

What constitutes a fair environment? What knowledge is most valuable?

Who am I and what do I need?

Fairness

Corrective Justice

DistributiveJustice

Procedural Justice

Moral Engagement

Commutative Justice

Justice typesCorrective The regulation of students’ behavior, with

particular attention to judging and correcting individuals.

Distributive The allocation of opportunities and intellectual resources within a class.

Procedural How particular routines are organized and how those routines connect to particular educational goals.

Commutative The role of school in helping individuals become productive citizens in society.

Cluster Patterns

Cluster 1: Corrective and distributive justiceCluster 2: Corrective and procedural justiceCluster 3: Corrective, distributive, and procedural justiceCluster 4: All four justice types

Intellectual Conventions

Factual Knowledge

Controversial Knowledge

Moral EngagementEpistemology

Learning Strategies

Knowledge TypesLearning strategies Students’ knowledge of the learning process

and how to go about learning.

Intellectual conventions

The arbitrary features of an academic discipline such as spelling, writing, or designing projects.

Facts Knowledge as static, discrete entities to be memorized.

Logic Deep learning and the evidence that confirms particular beliefs.

Opinions Personal ideas and beliefs about the world or individuals functioning in it.

Controversies Learning about multiple belief systems, topics, or activities that are inherently debatable or contentious.

Cluster Patterns

Cluster 1: Learning strategies onlyCluster 2: Learning strategies, facts, logic, and intellectual conventionsCluster 3: All types of knowledge

Identity

Conduct

Moral Systems of Thought

Intentions and Goals

Moral Engagement

Motivational NeedsCompetence

Task orientation Students’ commitment to task mastery and the pleasure of discovering new ideas.

Ego orientation Students’ commitment to demonstrating intellectual superiority or avoiding the appearance of inferiority.

Work avoidance Avoiding schoolwork or academic tasks.

Self-determination

Self-efficacy Students’ sense of agency in achieving goals that others set for them.

Autonomy Students’ sense of agency in setting their own goals and defining personal interests.

Affiliation

Exchange Maintaining positive relationships with individuals, often by minimizing the harmful effects of competition or complying politely with requests.

Intimacy Students’ obligations to friends, parents, and other individuals in a close and meaningful way.

Additional Identity ThemesSelf-system Some aspect of the self or a students’

identity formation.

Aesthetics

Rewards The attainment of concrete prizes, titles, awards, or recognition for their achievements.

Positive emotion Emotions that are associated with pleasure.

Negative emotion Emotions that are associated with pain.

Conceptions Definition

Understanding school routines

Respondents emphasized students’ obligation to understand educational practices. They coordinated either distributive or procedural justice concerns with those of corrective justice. Preoccupied with the daily operations of school, they did not focus on the inner life of the student. Emphasizing the need for competence, they made relatively few references to different types of knowledge, other motivational needs, the self system, or aesthetic possibilities.

Critiquing school routines

Respondents critiqued educational activities and introduced either students’ needs for autonomy when evaluating school routines or the kinds of knowledge that should be emphasized in school, but not both sets of concerns. They commonly considered two forms of justice, corrective and procedural or corrective and distributive. References to competence and self-determination needs were most salient, but there was also a strong commitment to maintaining healthy exchange relationships. These respondents also emphasized the reduction of negative emotions and the pleasure of obtaining rewards for their achievements.

Personal Standards for School

Conceptions Definition

Imagining an ideal school

Respondents coordinated instructional practices and the welfare of individuals. They introduced corrective, distributive, and procedural justice concerns, but did not describe the role of school in society. They emphasized those types of knowledge that are commonly measured on standardized tests, making relatively few references to how such knowledge might enhance personal goals. Motivational needs and the aesthetics of learning were treated as a means to the end of ensuring high test scores or other academic outcomes.

Connecting school and community

Respondents incorporated distal as well as proximal goals when reviewing instructional practices. They mentioned all four types of justice and how students could connect the knowledge valued in school with personal agendas. They valued practices that elicit positive emotions while meeting individual needs for competence, self-determination, and autonomy. References to the self-system were also prevalent along with a commitment to maintaining friendships and positive social exchanges.

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8-9 yrs. 10-11 yrs. 12-13 yrs. 14-15 yrs.

Age group

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Understand routines

Critique routines

Imagine an ideal

Connect school and community

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Corrective justice

Distributive justice

Procedural justice

Commutative justice

Learning strategies

Intellectual conventions

Facts

Logic

Opinions

Controversies

Task orientation

Ego orientation

Work avoidance

Self-efficacy

Autonomy

Intimacy

Exchange

R2=.29

R2=.47

R2=.48

R2=.53

R2=.56

Conclusions

Researchers have much to learn by taking seriously the perspectives of children and adolescents.

These findings are consistent with other forms of information on how children’s understanding of intentions and theories of mind evolve over time (Astington, 1993; Zelazo, Astington, & Olson, 1999).

They are also consistent with the idea that functioning moves through cycles of simplicity to complexity and back to simplicity (Thelen & Smith, 1998). In childhood and early adolescence, the movement in personal standards seems to be toward greater complexity.

Students’ personal standards did not correspond with adolescents’ previously examined beliefs about the purposes of school (Nicholls et al., 1985; Thorkildsen, 1988).

Students did not choose between the ideas that school should…

Help everyone understand the worldExhibit creative achievementsAttain wealth and status

Age trends in the standards for imagining an ideal school and connecting school and community include dimensions coincident with themes of separation and individuation found in the second decade of life (Eccles et al., 1993).

Older participants could describe the deep learning that comes with exploring the logic of academic problems, defending opinions, and examining controversial topics.Older participants were less preoccupied with distributive justice, maintaining comfortable exchange relationships, and task mastery for its own sake.

Future Research

In a longitudinal study we can learn:Common patterns in students’ beliefsHow these beliefs change over timeHow moral standards are associated with other aspects of motivationHow moral engagement is associated with achievement

In large-scale studies we can discover:Cultural and community variation in students’ beliefsPedagogical effects on students’ beliefsHow moral and academic engagement are fused in students’ mindsWhether students who cheat or otherwise take short-cuts hold problematic assumptions about school

Some Predictions

Fairness themes are central when individuals consider authority, intentions, expediency, and equity issues while considering the welfare of all community members.

Epistemological themes are central when individuals consider the task values, strategies, and incentives associated with particular activities.

Identity themes are central when individuals are focused on their needs, intentions, and personal well-being.

Practical Advice

When educators focus only on students’ character development, they overlook many of the features of schooling that can elicit high levels of intellectual and social commitment.

If educators are overly preoccupied with epistemological concerns, they can organize classroom that encourage students to see schooling as something independent of living.

If educators are not vigilant about creating fair classroom structures, they can encourage students to become morally-disengaged rather than committed to life-long learning.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Claudia Dalbert for this wonderful invitation and to you for listening to my intellectual curiosities.

Former students Deborah Reese, Dale Richesin, and Amy Weaver offered assistance with the technical features of this project and the students and staff of Peterson Elementary School in Chicago.

Albert Bandura was a willing participant in meaningful discussions about how moral engagement might differ from moral disengagement.

For more information, please e-mail thork@uic.edu