Interrelationships among teacher care, students' life skills development, and academic achievement: implications for school guidance work

Abstract

This is a report of a study examining the interrelationships among teacher care, students’ life skills development, and academic achievement of Hong Kong junior secondary students. Specifically, the study aimed to examine: (a) the relationships between teacher care and the four domains of students’ life skills development, namely academic, personal, social, and career and talent development; (b) the relationship between teacher care and students’ academic achievement; and (c) the student gender difference in the effect of teacher attitudes on students’ life skills development. A cross-sectional survey was conducted to collect data through self-reported questionnaires. Data from a total of 15,113 student questionnaires and 635 teacher questionnaires were collected successfully from 86 secondary schools. Findings indicated that teacher care is a significant factor contributing to all domains of students’ life skills development and to their academic achievement. Comparing the student gender difference on the influence of teacher care, findings reflected that the impact of teacher care on male junior secondary students is less significant. This article reports these findings with practical implications for school counseling professionals, teacher educators, and school administrators.

本文報道一項研究，探索教師關懷對學童生活技能發展及其學業成就的影響。研究的主要目的包括：（1）探討教師關懷對學童生活技能發展中四個範疇（即學術發展、個人發展、群性發展及事業發展）的影響；（2）探討教師關懷與學童學業成就的關係；及（3）探討教師關懷與學童生活技能發展的關係是否因學童性別不同而有所影響。是項研究為橫貫式研究，透過參與者自填問卷收集相關數據。研究成功收集了86 所中學合共15,113 份學童問卷及635 份教師問卷。結果顯示，教師關懷對學童生活技能發展中各個範疇及其學業成就均有正面影響，而教師關懷對女學童的影響亦較男學童明顯。在推動學校輔導工作方面，是項研究對學生輔導專業人員、教育工作者及教育行政人員有一定啟示。