Courses others cafs 1477309755 2016 Community and Family Studies HSC PDF

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Independent Research Project By Phoenix Aguila | HSC Community and Family Studies This Independent Research Project researched the question “What is the impact of performance expectations on the emotional wellbeing of HSC students?” through the use of two separate formal questionnaires and two structured interviews. The results indicated that performance expectations generally have a positive impact of raising the levels of emotional wellbeing in HSC students, as did a positive attitude to undertaking the HSC. The highest levels of emotional wellbeing were experienced by students who had high performance expectations and a positive attitude towards the HSC.

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Table of Contents Acknowledgements...............................................................................................................................2 Key Definitions.......................................................................................................................................2 Introduction...........................................................................................................................................3 Literature Review...................................................................................................................................5 Research Methodology..........................................................................................................................9 Results.................................................................................................................................................10 Respondent Details across Both Surveys.........................................................................................10 Responses to Questionnaire One – Current HSC Students..............................................................11 Responses to Questionnaire Two – Past HSC Students....................................................................20 Summary of Results.........................................................................................................................26 Discussion and Analysis.......................................................................................................................28 Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................31 References...........................................................................................................................................32 Appendix.............................................................................................................................................34 Transcript of Interview with Counsellor...........................................................................................34 Transcript Interview with HSC High-Achiever..................................................................................41 Link to Questionnaire One...............................................................................................................46 Link to Questionnaire Two...............................................................................................................46

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Acknowledgements I have been very fortunate to have been given assistance by some wonderful people in the creation of my Independent Research Project. I would like to express my gratitude to the following people: My teacher, Ms Vis, for going above and beyond in guiding me throughout the development of my research project; from formulating the research question to assisting me in analysing data to proofreading (many times). My mum, Rosalie Aguila, for endless emotional support and regularly driving me to the library to work on this IRP. My dad, Gerard Aguila, also for emotional support and for teaching me the basics of Microsoft Excel. The Bored of Studies online HSC forum, for allowing me to post my questionnaires to its bulletins. All the kind and willing research participants, interviewees and questionnaire respondents alike.

Without your assistance the creation of this IRP would not have been possible.

Thank you! Key Definitions The following are definitions of key terms used in this report. All were obtained from the Merriam-Webster online dictionary (http://www.merriam-webster.com/). Affective: Relating to, arising from, or influencing feelings or emotions ATAR: Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank HSC: Higher School Certificate Performance: The act of doing a job, an activity, etc. Expectations: A belief that something will happen or is likely to happen; a feeling or belief about how successful, good, etc., someone or something will be Emotional wellbeing: The extent to which a person’s emotional state of mind is happy and healthy. 3|Page

Introduction The Higher School Certificate (HSC) is the highest academic award that can be received by students in New South Wales secondary schools. It is awarded to approximately 70,000 students each year who undertake an academic programme of school-based assessments and final examinations. The impact of the HSC on students varies significantly as the demand it places upon their daily life is dependent upon the subjects they have selected, amount of units studied, whether a TAFE course is studied and whether an ATAR will be received. While some students complete the HSC and immediately join the workforce, many students use the HSC to gain admission into tertiary institutions such as universities. To do this the students must receive an ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank) which ranks their performance against their HSC cohort. As gaining placement in university courses can be highly competitive, university courses have a minimum ATAR entry requirement that is determined by the number of places available for the course, the number of students who have applied and their ATARs. Gaining the required ATAR for a university course can be a strenuous ordeal for students, commonly involving long hours of study, out of school tutoring, dealing with stress and coping with external sources of pressure. If not managed carefully, these aspects can have a detrimental effect on students’ wellbeing, with 40% of students experiencing some psychological problem during the HSC (Duffin,2012). The objective of this Independent Research Project is to research the impact of the Higher School Certificate (HSC) on the wellbeing of students. More specifically, the purpose is to investigate the research question:

“What is the effect of performance expectations on the emotional wellbeing of HSC students?”

This research question was developed in accordance with the Community and Family Studies syllabus and relates as follows: Resource Management: The project examines the factors contributing to the development of the students’ goals and performance expectations. It also explores the students’ stress and resource management techniques. The discussion proposes effective stress and resource management strategies for students’ to enhance their emotional wellbeing.

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Families and Communities: The project investigates the impact of families and schools upon the socialisation of students, particularly in regards to influencing the students’ goals. It also looks at the impact that the HSC has on the students’ relationships with family and friends. Parenting and Caring: The project considers the influence of parenting style on the performance expectations of students. It also investigates the students’ utilisation of available support networks, and evaluates the effectiveness of these networks in the discussion.

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Literature Review A literature review was undertaken to examine existing information on the impact of the HSC on the emotional wellbeing of students. SOURCE 1 – “Transforming the HSC” The report article, titled “Transforming the HSC: Affective Implications”, published in 2000 by Smith and Sinclair of the University of Sydney, outlines a study conducted at a Sydney high school that researched “the nature of negative affective responses and their relationships with student motivation and goal orientation” in regard to the HSC. The data collection was obtained through primary research; researchers gave questionnaire packages to sixty-seven Year 12 students, in the period between completion of the trial HSC exams and prior to the final HSC exams, and to sixty-three Year 11 students, in term four. This report provided the basis of this IRP as it outlined some of the issues regarding pressure and the HSC, but also provided statistics of depression, stress and anxiety in HSC students that could provide a correlation with the statistical findings of this IRP. It also proved a correlation between affective responses to the HSC and the students’ goals (although the type of goal, not necessarily the difficulty). This report article has high validity as it was researched and published by the University of Sydney, and has no apparent bias. It was incredibly helpful to the development of this IRP in that it summarised the overall impact that the HSC can have on students, and used primary research in order to provide a statistical basis for this. Sourced from: http://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/bitstream/2123/4376/1/Vol3No2Article5.pdf SOURCE 2 – “The Weekly with Charlie Pickering” Series 2 Episode 3 The episode was broadcasted on Wednesday 17th February 2016 at 9:00pm. The episode contains an article featuring Tom Gleeson who visits a Sydney high school and interviews the principal about the school’s strategies for helping students cope with HSC stress. He also presented a satirical speech to the Year 12 students. This article was useful in the development of this IRP as it provided an example of a school having strategies to assist Year 12 students with coping with stress. It also showed the ludicrous nature of society’s expectations of HSC students through satire. The article appears to be fairly valid as it is produced by a reputable television company, and is purposely highly biased, for example Gleeson speaking into the school’s PA system saying “Just reminding you all that with your exams, everything’s riding on it, there are no second chances” which by showing such extreme exaggeration highlights the ludicrous nature of societal attitudes. 6|Page

SOURCE 3 – “Students encouraged to stay calm on first day of HSC exams (School captain shares depression battle to help fellow students)” The ABC News article titled “Students encouraged to stay calm on first day of HSC exams (School captain shares depression battle to help fellow students)” was published on the 13 th October 2015. The article reports on a speech given by the school captain of St. Ignatius College, Riverview, who spoke regarding his battle with depression at a school assembly. This article was useful to this IRP in that it gave a first-hand account of the impact that HSC stress can have upon emotional wellbeing; the captain was quoted saying “There’s a lot of kids out there sitting the HSC right now… this has really been a trigger for their depression or their mental health conditions.” The article has a high validity in that the student was quoted directly, ABC News is a reputable organisation and does not stand to gain anything from this article. Obviously this article has an element of bias in that it only highlights the negative aspects of the HSC but at the same time it highlights an important issue that the general community should be aware of. Sourced from: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-12/hsc-exams-begin-across-newssouth-wales/6845848 SOURCE 4 – “Daily life in Japanese high schools” The New York Times article titled “How do Japan’s students do it? They cram” by Steven Weisman was published on 27 th April 1992. The article reveals the startling study habits of many Japanese students, involving attending afterschool ‘jukus’ (cram schools) that assist in passing entrance examinations to schools and colleges. Children as young as 2 years of age are enrolled in jukus in the aim of gaining admission to a prestigious elementary school, then high school, then university. Many students said that “it was common for them to get to bed close to midnight, only to rise the next morning at 6:30 A.M. for regular school”. This article was useful in that it exposed the extreme societal pressure and expectation for students to get ‘good results’, to the level where it severely impacted upon students’ wellbeing in regards to their leisure time and sleeping habits. While the subject of the article was Japanese students, parallels can surely be made with HSC students receiving tutoring. The validity of this article is high as it was researched and published by the New York Times, a respectable media corporation. It has no apparent bias. Sourced from: http://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/27/world/how-do-japan-s-studentsdo-it-they-cram.html?pagewanted=all

SOURCE 5 – “HSC: Hopelessly Stupid Concept!” 7|Page

The ABC News opinion piece titled “HSC: Hopelessly Stupid Concept!” was written by Susan Merrell on the 29th September 2010. Merrell writes as the mother of a HSC student and shares the impact that the HSC has had on her family. The opinion piece was useful to this IRP as it displayed a ‘ripple effect’ of the impact that a stressed HSC student can have on the wellbeing of immediate family, in this case the mother. The piece is valid in that it comes from the author’s real-life experience, but presents only the negative impacts of the HSC on the familial situation. Additionally, as the article is an opinion piece, bias is assumed. Sourced from: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-10-16/32636 SOURCE 6 – “School’s back and so are lucrative tutoring businesses” The Sydney Morning Herald article written by Sylvia Pennington was published on 1 st February 2016. It summarises the emergence of the “shadow education system”, or the growing demand for out-of-school tutoring. The article was useful to this IRP as it showed the length that many parents are going to, to ensure their child’s academic achievement. The article quotes education commentator David Gillespie who says “Poorer families are affording tutoring somehow, even if they don’t have the economic capacity… It seems like something people afford, whether they can afford it or not” which shows the immense societal pressure that parents face to have their children achieve academically. The article is valid in that it gives statistical evidence and directly quotes tutoring businesses. The article is not particularly biased in that it does not express a particular opinion about any perceived benefits of tutoring; it merely highlights the growing trend of people seeking tutoring services. Sourced from: http://www.smh.com.au/small-business/growing/schools-back-and-soare-lucrative-tutoring-businesses-20160128-gmfqse.html SOURCE 7 – “Is the drive for success making our children sick?” The article by Vicki Abeles for The Straits Times was published on the 4 th January 2016. It summarises a study conducted by Dr Stuart Slavin, a paediatrician and professor at the St Louis University School of Medicine, in a Californian high school. The study anonymously surveyed approximately 1,400 students using two standard measures, and found that 54% of students showed moderate to severe symptoms of depression, and 80% suffered moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety. The article then refers to several other studies that all demonstrate the powerful impact that school-related stress and expectations are having on students’ wellbeing. This article was incredibly useful to this IRP as it showed the wide spectrum of students that are affected by school-related stress, as well as providing a range of relevant statistics that show the detrimental impact of school-related stress on students, which could form a correlation 8|Page

with the statistical findings of this IRP. The article has high validity in that it is based on studies conducted by reputable organisations such as the St Louis University School of Medicine and the American Psychological Association, as well as quoting a professor from the University of Berkeley and a paediatrician from New Jersey. However the article also has an element of bias, as it only considers the negative effects of school on students’ wellbeing. Sourced from: http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/is-the-drive-for-success-makingour-children-sick

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Research Methodology This IRP was conducted using two main research methodologies: formal questionnaires and structured interviews. A literature review of secondary sources was also conducted to provide an overview of existing research into the topic. Two different questionnaires were designed in order to examine two different groups’ experiences. One questionnaire was aimed at current (2016) HSC students, asking the students’ goals and then assessing their levels of emotional wellbeing; the purpose being to compare their performance expectations to their levels of emotional wellbeing. The respondents were selected by a mixture of convenience and purposive sampling, as the questionnaire was emailed to Year 12 students at Molong Central School but was also uploaded to an online HSC forum. The second questionnaire was aimed at high school graduates who had completed the HSC in previous years, asking their Year 12 goals and examining their experience of the HSC, again to compare their performance expectations to their emotional wellbeing in Year 12. The sampling method was again by a mixture of convenience and purposive sampling, as the questionnaire was uploaded to an online tertiary education forum. Two structured interviews were also conducted. One was with a past HSC student who required a high ATAR in order to receive a prestigious scholarship. The student was chosen by expert sampling for their informed judgement of the issue, following their personal experience of the impact that a high performance expectation had on their personal emotional wellbeing. The second structured interview was with a school counsellor, who was also selected by expert sampling, as the interview was regarding their professional experience of the impact that performance expectations can have on HSC students’ emotional wellbeing. Ethical considerations were taken in that all research participants were over the age of 16 and gave their informed consent. The names of all research participants were also kept anonymous so as to protect their privacy. The researcher acknowledges that a level of bias may be present in the results, as the participants selected through convenience and purposive sampling are unlikely to be an accurate representation of the views and opinions of the entire HSC student population. There may also be a conflict of interest as many of the research participants were known to the researcher.

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Results Respondent Details across Both Surveys

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Responses to Questionnaire One – Current HSC Students Question 1 – Gender

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Question 2 – What is your general attitude towards the HSC?

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Question 3 – What qualifications do you hope to receive at the end of Year 12?

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Question 4 – If you are getting an ATAR, what is your goal ATAR?

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Question 5 – What level of education was reached by your family?

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Question 6 – What control do you feel you have over your personal circumstances?

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Question 7 – If you are getting an ATAR, what university course do you wish to study?

Health (7)

Other (10)

Education (4) Responses (25)

Mathematics (2)

Science (2)

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Question 8 – How would you rate your relationships with your family?

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Question 9 – How would you rate your relationships with your ...