| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立政治大學 === 教育研究所 === 97 === The purpose of this study is to explore the school experience (including attitude toward school, interpersonal adaptation, academic adaptation, regulation adaptation, and self-concept) of an economically disadvantaged child who is a high-grade elementary school student from a low-income family. Educators and welfare policy makers can refer to this study to better understand the outlook and feelings of children from similar backgrounds.
This is a qualitative case study that uses participant observation as the main source of data, complemented by interviews and document analysis. After collecting the relevant information on this economically disadvantaged child, her school experience is presented in accordance with her attitude toward school, interpersonal adaptation, academic adaptation, regulation adaptation and self-concept.
The character of this story expresses her powerlessness and fear in school physically, behaviorally and psychologically, and exhibits fear and unwillingness with respect to her studies. She is often tardy and is unable to attend school regularly. This not only affects her academic performance, but also results in that she is tending to be excluded from class activities by classmates, especially when the teacher gives her special treatment. By treating her differently, even if out of goodwill, the teacher is making her situation worse in that her classmates increasingly identify her as belonging to a “minority group”. In a sense, exclusion in the classroom is no different from social exclusion. Though teachers are willing to help, there is still no improvement in her school life. It seems that value differences between the middle class and the economically disadvantaged, as well as attempts to bring about change without fully understanding the circumstances in a student’s life, are not conducive to effective teacher-student communication. She is energetic, yet resists going to school and shows a poor academic performance. Even though she occasionally exhibits motivation for learning, the sense of helplessness she brings from home robs her of confidence in her schooling. In regulation adaptation, she takes pride in abiding by school rules and staying out of trouble. However, this implies that she might be enduring bullying from her classmates and that she lacks confidence in the ability of her teachers and her school to prevent it. Due to the resulting sense of isolation and helplessness, she exhibits depression and self-deprecation in her school life.
In addition to a discussion on the original intent of this study, recommendations for educators and for future studies are also offered. In education practice, school social workers can help families, teachers and schools to collectively address the problems that disadvantaged children face. At the same time, we should lighten the burden on teachers and improve relationships between teachers and economically disadvantaged students. Furthermore, teachers should try to be “transformative intellectuals” who can empower these children, by considering methods that can surpass the limitations of contemporary institutions. In future studies, researchers may explore teacher-student relationships, interactive processes between teachers and economically disadvantaged children, as well as feasible strategies that can empower economically disadvantaged children. Another topic for future studies would also be to understand the street life of economically disadvantaged children.
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