The role of school and educator variables in selected learner outcomes

[摘要] English: Education has been earmarked as the key to social upliftment and economic prosperity in South Africa. Eighteen years after the demise of Apartheid, much progress has been made in the South African education system, but many challenges still remain. Whereas equity has largely been attained in educational spending and almost universal enrolment has been achieved, vast discrepancies persist in the quality of education received by learners in different school types. This cross-sectional survey study investigated both contextual and individual factors related to educational effectiveness in South Africa. The contextual variables examined were school type (i.e., Advantaged, Transitional, Disadvantaged Black, and Disadvantaged Coloured), school environment, classroom environment, and average class size. At the person level, two educator variables (i.e., burnout and motivating style) and two learner variables (i.e., motivational aspirations and Grade 12 achievement) were included. The sample consisted of 1040 Grade 12 learners from the Motheo District in Bloemfontein and 106 Grade 12 educators from the same nine randomly selected schools. The main outcome variable under consideration was learners' Grade 12 matriculation examination marks, which represent the primary barometer of the health of the South African education system. Five specific research questions were formulated and investigated. The first research question concerned the relationships between school environment, classroom environment, educator burnout and educator motivating style. Hypotheses were largely confirmed and several significant correlations were identified (small to medium effect sizes). The second research question investigated whether school environment could predict educator burnout, and multiple regression results indicated that school environment was indeed an important predictor of educator burnout. Research question three examined whether learners' motivational aspirations and the average class size per school could predict Grade 12 learner achievement. Using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), a good fit was found for the specified model and all hypotheses were confirmed. Average class size was negatively related to Grade 12 learners' achievement as well as learners' relative intrinsic aspirations. Learners' relative intrinsic aspirations were positively related to their Grade 12 achievement. Research question four concerned whether school type could predict Grade 12 learner achievement. Multiple regression analysis results confirmed that school type was a significant and important predictor of Grade 12 achievement. Learners in Advantaged schools performed best, followed by those in Transitional schools, and learners in Disadvantaged Black and Coloured schools performed most poorly. Finally, research question five investigated whether the four school types differed in their school, classroom, educator and learner variables. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) results indicated that significant differences existed in school environment, classroom environment, learners' motivational aspirations and learners' Grade 12 achievement across the four school types. No significant differences were found for the educator variables. By identifying differences between the four school types, it was possible to identify which variables may be important for Grade 12 learner achievement in South Africa. Results for the five research questions were interpreted and discussed against the backdrop of relevant theory and research and with consideration to the South African educational context. Potential implications of the findings for education in South Africa were presented and the importance of the school environment as a focus area for assessment and intervention was highlighted.

[发布机构] University of the Free State