Children’s perspectives on writing competency: academic, personal and social influences

School adjustment and satisfaction of basic psychological needs are widely analysed constructs in psychological studies because of their relevance to students’ psychological well-being and overall success in school. The links between two out of three basic psychological needs as defined by the Self-determination Theory – the need for autonomy and competence, and school adjustment are almost universally acknowledged, however, the impact of the need for relatedness is less obvious. The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between perceived satisfaction of basic psychological needs in school and school adjustment. 306 (150 girls and 156 boys) 13-18-yearold students from four Lithuanian schools were tested using nine items (three items from each scale) from the Perceived Autonomy in Life Domains Scale, the Need for Relatedness Scale, and the Perception of Competence in Life Domains Scale, and twenty-two items from the Student’s Adjustment to College Questionnaire. The results proved significant relationships between perceived satisfaction of all the three basic psychological needs and social, academic and personal-emotional adjustment in school. In addition, the results suggest that perceived satisfaction of different basic psychological needs can predict different school adjustment dimensions. Keywords: adolescence, self-determination theory, psychological needs, school adjustment. How to cite: Raižienė, S., Gabrialaviciūtė, I., Ruzgaitė, U., & Garckija, R. Suvoktas psichologinių poreikių patenkinimas mokykloje: kaip tai prognozuoja 13–18 metų mokinių prisitaikymą mokykloje? [Perceived satisfaction of psychological needs in school: How does it predict school adjustment among 13–18-year-old students?]. Ugdymo psichologija, 26 , 44–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.15823/up.2015.04

The fate of small primary schools (pupils aged five–eleven years old) in England is linked to education policy reforms. This paper presents an evaluation of selected education policy reforms in England since 2010 with suggested consequences for small primary schools. The research was undertaken using a qualitative research methodology that employed a document analysis method to create a Policy Document Analysis Frame (PDAF) for the policy evaluation. The implications of the policy reforms for small primary schools were examined through the conceptual lens of Educational Isolation. Educational Isolation identifies the limiting factors of place for a school’s access to the resources required for school improvement. Education policy reform is focused on school improvement. Small primary schools in England are typically located in rural neighbourhoods with sparse populations, resulting in an average of just over 100 pupils per school. The findings suggest that the contextual factors of place and size for small primary schools in England present disadvantages in relation to the selected national education policy reforms. The national funding formula, Multi Academy Trusts (groups of schools independently regulated but centrally funded by the state), and National Standards are the key policy reforms, driven by a neo-liberal ideology, that are suggested to have implications for the future of small schools. Recommendations are offered to the new 2024 Labour government that would support the re-instatement of small primary schools as an integral part of the education landscape in England.

Self-Determination Theory (SDT) distinguishes between different types of motivation based on the reasons for engaging in a particular behaviour. Engaging in Physical Education (PE) leads to many positive physical, social, cognitive, and affective outcomes. Children’s motivation within PE starts to decline from the age of eight years. However, it is unknown whether this decline in motivation occurs earlier due to a lack of motivation tools. Understanding younger children’s motivation for PE may give researchers crucial insights into how best to support their motivation. Therefore, an exploration was conducted, through three studies, of younger children’s basic psychological needs satisfaction (BPNS), self-determined motivation, and enjoyment for PE, as well as an investigation into motivational climates within PE. Study 1 developed a novel mixed-method tool, underpinned by SDT for five to six-year-old children. The tool’s novelty lies in its mixed-method approach, which contained interactive, age-appropriate activities, where previous motivation tools have either been quantitative or qualitative. To produce motivational profiles, a codebook was developed to mix the quantitative and qualitative strands of the transcript data produced by the tool. The tool demonstrated good content validity, and the codebook was judged to have good content validity, acceptability, and excellent reliability. Study 2 presented the motivational profiles of 5- to 6-year-old children captured by the tool in Study 1 and investigated whether BPNS and behavioural regulation were important for different forms of movement in this young age group. Movement is a key aspect of young children’s development; therefore, it was important to develop a tool which could assess the different aspects of young children’s motivation in order to investigate whether motivation is important for movement development. Five to six-year-old children (n=78) reported high enjoyment of PE, high relatedness and competence need satisfaction, and moderate autonomy need satisfaction. The children had moderate to high autonomous motivation, low to moderate controlled motivation, and very low amotivation. Autonomy need satisfaction negatively and significantly predicted motor proficiency and identified regulation positively and significantly predicted MVPA. Study 3 had three aims, to explore: 1) the extent to which each intervention group were empowering and disempowering (higher-order), 2) the potential differences between intervention groups in empowering and disempowering domains (lower-order), 3) the potential differences between intervention groups in autonomy, relatedness, and competence need satisfaction, as well as enjoyment. Each intervention group demonstrated highly empowering and low disempowering motivational climates (higher-order); however, the control and Linear groups (LP) were significantly more disempowering than the Nonlinear group (NLP). When looking at the motivational climate domains (lower-order), autonomy support was significantly higher in the NLP and structure was significantly higher in the LP. Children in the NLP and LP groups reported significantly higher autonomy need satisfaction and children in the control group reported significantly higher relatedness need satisfaction. These studies demonstrate that working with young children can offer essential insights into young children’s motivational perceptions for PE, which can help inform future intervention studies and teaching practice. These studies also demonstrate 12 that PE within this age group is mostly empowering; however, practitioners should be mindful of their pedagogical practices for long-term use. In combination, these studies offer important insights regarding policy, research, and practice within PE.

Based on the self-determination theory, this study investigated the mediating role of the satisfaction of the three psychological needs (need for competence, relatedness and autonomy) in the relation between need support from the physical education (PE) teacher and autonomous motivation to engage in PE and between the physical school environment and autonomous motivation to engage in PE. Data were collected from 2418 6th grade children. Analyses were performed using bootstrapping. The results showed that perceptions of competence and autonomy mediated the relation between need support from the PE teacher and autonomous motivation. Moreover, the perception of autonomy also mediated the relation between the physical school environment and autonomous motivation. These findings suggest that not only the PE teacher but also the physical school environment is able to promote autonomous motivation by satisfying the need for autonomy.

School food in <scp>E</scp>ngland: Are we getting it right?

PurposeJob demands can contribute to nurses’ turnover intention and this can have an impact on health services among the general population. It appears important to identify the work environment factors associated with turnover intention, as well as the psychological resources liable to act on this relationship. Drawing on self-determination theory (SDT), the purpose of this study (n=1179) is to investigate the relationship between two job demands (role ambiguity and role conflict) and turnover intention, as well as the moderating role of basic need satisfaction (autonomy, competence and relatedness) within these relationships.Design/methodology/approachThis cross-sectional study was conducted among nurses (Québec, Canada). Nurses completed an online questionnaire. To test the proposed moderating effect of satisfaction of the three psychological needs (i.e. autonomy, competence and relatedness) in the relationship between job demands (i.e. role ambiguity and role conflict) and turnover intention, path analysis was conducted using Mplus v.8 (Muthén and Muthen, 2017). Two models, one for each demand, were tested.FindingsAs expected, role ambiguity and role conflict are positively related to turnover intention. Results reveal a significant interaction between role ambiguity and satisfaction of the need for autonomy in the prediction of turnover intention. The satisfaction of the need for competence and the satisfaction of the need for relatedness did not moderate the relationship between role ambiguity and turnover intention. Satisfaction of the need for autonomy moderated the relationship between role conflict and turnover intention. Moreover, results revealed a significant interaction between role conflict and satisfaction of the need for competence in the prediction of turnover intention. Satisfaction of the need for relatedness did not moderate the relationship between role conflict and turnover intention.Research limitations/implicationsThe results align with the theoretical propositions of several leading theories in occupational health which state that workers’ psychological functioning derives not only from the job characteristics of their work environment, but also from the psychological resources at their disposal. The study contributes to SDT. First, to date, this is the first study to investigate basic psychological need satisfaction as a moderator in the relationship between contextual factors and workers’ functioning. Second, the findings revealed the importance of assessing psychological needs separately, as each contributes in a specific way to workers’ work-related attitudes and adaptation to their professional environment.Practical implicationsPerceptions of autonomy and competence act as key psychological resources for nurses. Managerial support for autonomy (e.g. providing nurses with meaningful information regarding their work) and competence (e.g. providing nurses with frequent positive feedback regarding their work efforts) constitutes a series of key management practices that can foster perceptions of autonomy and competence. The findings show that two role stressors predict nurses’ turnover intention. As such, health care establishments are encouraged to focus on interventions that reduce uncertainties and conflicting situations from nurses (provide clear job descriptions and effective communication).Social implicationsBy promoting a sense of effectiveness and feelings of self-endorsement at work, health care establishments can reduce nurses’ turnover intention and help prevent staffing shortages among this important work group.Originality/valueAlthough past research shows that workers’ motivational profile can modulate the relationship between characteristics within the work environment and workers’ functioning, studying the quality of work motivation is not sufficient to completely understand the factors that can influence workers’ reactions to job demands. Need satisfaction is crucial to the development and maintenance of high quality motivation. Evaluating need satisfaction as a moderator in the stressor–strain relationship could offer a better understanding of the psychological experiences that can promote workers’ adaptation to their work environment. To date, no study has investigated the buffering role of psychological needs in the stressor–strain relationship.

The tenets of self-determination theory as applied to support were tested with structural equation modelling for 186 people with ID with a mild to borderline level of functioning. The results showed that (a) perceived autonomy support was positively associated with autonomous motivation and with satisfaction of need for autonomy, relatedness, and competence; (b) autonomous motivation and need satisfaction were associated with higher psychological well-being; (c) autonomous motivation and need satisfaction statistically mediated the association between autonomy support and well-being; and (d) satisfaction of need for autonomy and relatedness was negatively associated with controlled motivation, whereas satisfaction of need for relatedness was positively associated with autonomous motivation. The self-determination theory provides insights relevant for improving support for people with intellectual disability.

Adaptive school grounds design in response to COVID-19: Findings from six primary schools in South East England

Did legislation to regulate school meals in England widen dietary inequalities in children aged 4–7 years? A repeat cross-sectional study

Background: The importance of clarifying goals and providing process feedback for student learning has been widely acknowledged. From a Self-Determination Theory perspective, it is suggested that motivational and learning gains will be obtained because in well-structured learning environments, when goals and process feedback are provided, students will feel more effective (need for competence), more in charge over their own learning (need for autonomy) and experience a more positive classroom atmosphere (need for relatedness). Yet, in spite of the growing theoretical interest in goal clarification and process feedback in the context of physical education (PE), little experimental research is available about this topic. Purpose: The present study quasi-experimentally investigated whether the presence of goal clarification and process feedback positively affects students’ need satisfaction and frustration. Method: Twenty classes from five schools with 492 seventh grade PE students participated in this quasi-experimental study. Within each school, four classes were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental conditions (n = 121, n = 117, n = 126 and n = 128) in a 2 × 2 factorial design, in which goal clarification (absence vs. presence) and process feedback (absence vs. presence) were experimentally manipulated. The experimental lesson consisted of a PE lesson on handstand (a relatively new skill for seventh grade students), taught by one and the same teacher who went to the school of the students to teach the lesson. Depending on the experimental condition, the teacher either started the lesson explaining the goals, or refrained from explaining the goals. Throughout the lesson the teacher either provided process feedback, or refrained from providing process feedback. All other instructions were similar across conditions, with videos of exercises of differential levels of difficulty provided to the students. All experimental lessons were observed by a research-assistant to discern whether manipulations were provided according to a condition-specific script. One week prior to participating in the experimental lesson, data on students’ need-based experiences (i.e. quantitatively) were gathered. Directly after students’ participation in the experimental lesson, data on students’ perceptions of goal clarification and process feedback, need-based experiences (i.e. quantitatively) and experiences in general (i.e. qualitatively) were gathered. Results and discussion: The questionnaire data and observations revealed that manipulations were provided according to the lesson-scripts. Rejecting our hypothesis, quantitative analyses indicated no differences in need satisfaction across conditions, as students were equally satisfied in their need for competence, autonomy and relatedness regardless of whether the teacher provided goal clarification and process feedback, only goal clarification, only process feedback or none. Similar results were found for need frustration. Qualitative analyses indicated that, in all four conditions, aspects of the experimental lesson made students feel more effective, more in charge over their own learning and experience a more positive classroom atmosphere. Our results suggest that under certain conditions, lessons can be perceived as highly need-satisfying by students, even if the teacher does not verbally and explicitly clarify the goals and/ or provides process feedback. Perhaps, students were able to self-generate goals and feedback based on the instructional videos.

The aim of this article is to explore the attainment of Eastern European children in primary schools in England. The research draws on detailed National Pupil Database and school census data for 586,181 pupils who completed Key Stage 2 in England in 2016. Two methodological approaches were used to analyse the data. First, the performance of all pupils was analysed by ethnic and language background to illustrate patterns of attainment for each group. Second, attainment data were further analysed by social background factors to explore the main factors influencing performance in schools and the reasons for underachievement. The main findings from the study confirm that a number of Eastern European pupils have low attainment, and their performance in English schools has been masked by government statistics that fail to distinguish between 'White Other' ethnic groups. The empirical data suggest that speakers of Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Latvian, Lithuanian and Bulgarian are particularly underachieving, and that the difference between their educational performance and others is larger than for any other main groups. There is also a wide variation in performance between regions in England, with large attainment gaps between Eastern European and White British children. Some of the main reasons for underachievement identified from the study are the lack of fluency in English, economic deprivation, a disrupted or non-existent prior education and parental lack of understanding of the British education system. Overall, this research confirms that the underachievement of Eastern European children remains a cause for concern and is obviously an issue that policymakers and schools need to address. Implications for policy and practice are discussed in the final section.

I use Danish administrative data to investigate the consequences of summer camp participation combined with a one-year follow-up program for disadvantaged boys on academic, personal, and social competencies. My identification strategy relies on individual-level panel data that enable me to observe outcomes before and after summer camp participation. Using a difference-in-differences strategy, I find overall positive effects on academic and personal competencies that reduce the gap to a matched group of boys with similar background characteristics by 40 to 80 percent. Further, I exploit a structural change in the follow-up program to evaluate how different mentoring strategies affect outcomes. In 2017, the follow-up program was changed from individual mentoring to group mentoring. Using a triple differences strategy, I find that group mentoring in the follow-up program improves personal and social competencies, suggesting that the format of the follow-up program is crucial for effects on personal and social competencies.

It has generally been taken for granted that conceiving of ability as stable leads to negative self-evaluative processes, particularly in the face of failure. Yet, a close examination of the empirical findings suggests that the picture may be more complex. In this research, a three-wave longitudinal design spanning 12 months was employed. Older elementary school children (N = 932) indicated their conceptions of academic and social ability as stable to external forces and to internal forces. They also provided information about the importance they place on academic and social competence, their knowledge about academic and social performance, their preference for academic challenge, their perceptions of academic and social competence, and their attributions for academic and social performance. Children's grades in school and their acceptance by peers were obtained as indicators of performance. Over time, conceiving of ability as stable to external forces, particularly in the academic domain, appeared to heighten the importance placed on competence, performance knowledge, preference for challenge, perceptions of competence, and self-enhancing attributions. In contrast, conceptions of ability as stable to internal forces, particularly in the academic domain, appeared to be fostered by placing little importance on competence, a lack of performance knowledge, avoidance of challenge, negative perceptions of competence, self-deprecating attributions, and poor performance.

One third of children in English primary schools have additional learning support called special educational needs (SEN) provision, but children born preterm are more likely to have SEN than those born at term. We aim to assess the impact of SEN provision on health and education outcomes in children grouped by gestational age at birth. We will analyse linked administrative data for England using the Education and Child Health Insights from Linked Data (ECHILD) database. A target trial emulation approach will be used to specify data extraction from ECHILD, comparisons of interest and our analysis plan. Our target population is all children enrolled in year one of state-funded primary school in England who were born in an NHS hospital in England between 2003 and 2008, grouped by gestational age at birth (extremely preterm (24-<28 weeks), very preterm (28-<32 weeks), moderately preterm (32-<34 weeks), late preterm (34-<37 weeks) and full term (37-<42 weeks). The intervention of interest will comprise categories of SEN provision (including none) during year one (age five/six). The outcomes of interest are rates of unplanned hospital utilisation, educational attainment, and absences by the end of primary school education (year six, age 11). We will triangulate results from complementary estimation methods including the naïve estimator, multivariable regression, g-formula, inverse probability weighting, inverse probability weighting with regression adjustment and instrumental variables, along with a variety for a variety of causal contrasts (average treatment effect, overall, and on the treated/not treated). We have existing research ethics approval for analyses of the ECHILD database described in this protocol. We will disseminate our findings to diverse audiences (academics, relevant government departments, service users and providers) through seminars, peer-reviewed publications, short briefing reports and infographics for non-academics (published on the study website).

The findings reported in this article form part of a wider comparative research project investigating the processes of curriculum change in primary schools in England and Finland during the period 1994–97. The two countries’ policies on inspection and monitoring were moving in opposite directions. Finland has abandoned its national inspection system and is promoting school self‐evaluation, whilst in England external accountability has been imposed on schools through Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) inspections. Using data from case studies of six schools in each country, it is argued that each country has something to learn from the practice of the other. In England, the impact of OFSTED inspections has been mainly on policies and procedures, rather than on classroom practice, and the effects on teacher morale have been debilitating. In Finland, although early attempts at school self‐evaluation have lacked a whole‐school strategy, ownership of the evaluation process by teachers, together with inputs from parental feedback and pupil self‐assessment, have contributed to positive changes in classroom practice.