Adolescent Educational Acheivement

The study of child and adolescent psychology in terms of educational achievement is a complex one. This is because students’ educational achievements depend on a complex and interwoven set of factors that include their intrinsic characteristics like physical and genetic makeup, the environment they are brought up in, the emotional status of their parents, the outlook of their teachers and peers, and their cultural, ethnic and socioeconomic factors.

Influence of cultural, ethnic and socioeconomic factors on student achievement:

Student achievement is largely affected by the socio-demographic variables of their families, with socioeconomic factors being the largest predictor of student achievement (Casanova et al., 2005). Poverty and a low socioeconomic status affect children’s confidence, subjecting them to inferiority complexes that hinder their school life and education. It may also lead to developmental challenges because of the lack of basic amenities. Cultural factors and different ethnicities predispose children to cultural bias and discrimination from their peers and teachers, which becomes a hindrance in their educational development even if the child is totally competent (Bowman, 1994). Differences in mother tongue and the medium of instruction at school also pose a challenge to students’ learning. A child learns best when taught in its mother tongue. Therefore, if a subject is taught in a language other than what the child has grown up listening to, the child faces difficulty in processing what is being taught, as its mind does the dual task of translating the language and assessing its meaning. Another factor that influences students’ achievement is the pressurization they face from parents and teachers to reach a ce...

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...conceived notions about the abilities of a student, based on his ethnicity and cultural background. Teachers and parents should be able to identify the fine line between “motivation” and “pressurization” while encouraging children to accomplish a certain level of achievement in education.

Works Cited

Bowman, B.T. (1994). Cultural Diversity and Academic Achievement. North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. Retrieved from http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/educatrs/leadrshp/le0bow.htm

Casanova, P.F., Garcia, M.C., de la Torre, M.J., and de la Villa Carpio, M. (2005). Influence of Family and SocioDemographic Variables on Students with Low Academic Achievement. Educational Psychology, 25(4), 423-435. Retrieved from http://www.viriya.net/jabref/resilience/Influence_of_family_and_socio-demographic_variables_on_students_with_low_academic_achievement.pdf