The purpose of this thesis is to explore, based upon a literature survey of articles and books published primarily, though not limited to, the past fifteen years, the development of the self-concept in children during the first five years of life. This will include defining self-concept, the establishment of its significance throughout the life span, the role significant others play in the development, an examination of sex-role identity in relationship to self-concept formation, and a critique of available tests and measurements, followed by a conclusion which focuses upon implications for treatment providers.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Educational Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of cross-age tutoring by high school students on the affective perception of fourth graders in the areas of self-concept, perception of self as a student, perception of self as a social studies student, and perception of self in the school environment. The tutoring was done in social studies--specifically in Arizona history--relating to the culture, history, and environment of the students' own surroundings. A rationale for the study was based on the social learning theory. High school students modeled behavior for the elementary students and reinforced positive learning experiences dealing with their own culture. This experience would enhance the elementary students feelings of self-worth, and improve their self-perception. The literature was reviewed from three aspects: cross-age tutoring, self-concept, and affective perception. Eight elementary classrooms, four experimental and four control, in four schools in the southwest part of Tucson, Arizona were involved in this one study. Nine hypotheses were tested dealing with self-concept and perception of self. Results of the study were assessed through the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale pre- and post-measures, and the Affective Perception Inventory. An analysis of data was subjected to a two-factor analysis of variance using a hierarchical design. The primary aspect of this design is the assumption that an individual's score is partly influenced by the social unit of which the individual is a member. In all categories the treatment of cross-age tutoring had no effect on the experimental means. The hypotheses did not prove to be significant at the F = .05 level of significance. (A significant difference was found in the direction of the control group's mean score on the post self-concept scale.) It is the finding of this study that there were too many variables, other than the tutoring process, that could not be controlled. A further examination of the results shows that there were significant school within treatment effects, in the perception of self in the school environment, which indicates that the treatment interacted with classroom variables.

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The central aim of this thesis was to investigate relationships between students’ goals and self-concepts and to demonstrate how these two sets of motivational variables interact to influence academic achievement. Answers were, thus, sought for vexed questions concerning the causal ordering of students’ goal orientations, academic self-concepts and academic achievement by hypothesising three competing models of causality: a/ goal orientations affect academic self-concepts, which in turn affect subsequent academic achievement, b/ academic self-concept affect goal orientations, which in turn affect subsequent academic achievement, and c/ goal orientations, academic self-concepts, and academic achievement affect each other such as they are reciprocally related over time. Findings from this research hold important implications for our theoretical understanding of factors affecting student motivation, and also for educational practice and research relating to students’ goals and academic self-concepts. These implications, in turn, provide new perspectives for promoting optimal motivation and academic achievement amongst secondary school students. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This study was designed to determine degree to which self concept and reading readiness of kindergarten children might be affected through a bibliotherapeutic intervention program. The procedure employed oral reading of selections by the teacher, retelling of stories by children, discussion questions, and follow-up activities.The population consisted of ten kindergarten sections (six experimental and four comparison) in four elementary schools within Harrison District #2, Colorado Springs, Colorado.Assessment instruments included scales from the Stanford Early School Achievement Test,, and three subcategories and total self concept measures from the I Feel . . . Me Feel: Self Concept Appraisal.The procedures followed by classroom teachers who used the bibliotherapy program during a four-month experimental period were explicitly described in a handbook provided.A one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) tested the null hypotheses of no significant differences between bibliotherapy and comparison groups on measures of (1) self concept and (2) readiness. Univariate F statistics revealed that factors contributing to the significant F included three measures of self concept--Self, Others, Surrounding--and one reading readiness measure--Word Reading.The hypothesis of correlation between self concept employed a one-tailed t statistic. Statistically significant correlations were evidenced between self concept total and two readiness subtests--Math and Environment.Findings included:1. Significant differences for all three self concept measures favoring the bibliotherapy group.2. Statistically significant differences between the bibliotherapy and comparison groups for one of the two reading readiness measures with no significant difference for general areas of readiness.No statistically significant correlations between self concept and reading readiness measures; statistically significant correlations for two areas of general readiness.Among the population studies, it was concluded that bibliotherapy appeared to have a favorable impact on pupil perceptions and achievement. Use of bibliotherapy by teachers was recommended as well as further research to establish potential effectiveness.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 135-143). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (M.Ed.), Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2000. / Bibliography: leaves 92-106.

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