INTRODUCTION
Education
is the key to success. Across cultures and civilisations, education has always
been considered as important and as such, pursued by many. When asked, everyone
will affirm that education is good; yet people acquire it up to different levels and degrees. Some persons go further and
achieve more than others. This therefore means that there are some factors
which can either motivate or de-motivate educational aspirants from either
achieving higher or lower than others. Different
scholars have measured and elaborated on educational aspirations through varied
plans, such as career and other social aspects. Some of such scholars include: Bora
(2016), who studied educational aspiration with school environment among
students. The result indicated that there exists significant relationship
between the school environment and the educational aspirations of students.
Bashir & Kaur (2017) also studied educational aspiration with school
environment among students. The result indicated that rural and urban students
differ from each other in school environment but in educational aspiration
there is no difference among rural and urban students. Moreover school
environment and educational aspiration correlates positively. The study
projected that school environment plays a significant role in predicting
educational aspirations. Furthermore, (Hoffer & Coleman, 1987) in Gupta and Bashir (2017) concluded that
closeness of social relationship among student’s schools and families increase
the educational aspiration of students. Bashir et al., (2016) in Gupta and Bashir (2017) examined
educational aspiration in relation to parental encouragement. The results
indicated that educational aspiration and parental encouragement correlates with
each other. It means that if parents support and encourage their children, then
aspiration of students towards education should be high. Shahidul et al., (2015). Gupta and Bashir (2017) studied social capital and
educational aspiration of students and the role of school social capital and
family social capital.
As cited in Stadler-Altmann
(2015), among the first studies to discuss the potential influences of the
learning environment are those of Moos (1979), Steele (1973) and Bronfenbrenner (1981, 2005). These studies present models
of the relationship between environments and students’ outcomes, as well as
reflect on the importance of the environment to learning. Before looking at
the concept of educational aspiration, it is first necessary to look at the
socio – educational environment and the role it plays in the attainment of
students’ educational aspirations.
The Socio – Educational Environment
The socio – educational environment
refers to the social and the educational environment of the learner. This means
that the concept can be broken into two for easy understanding: the social
environment and the educational environment. The social environment includes
the interactions in the family, peer groups, the media and other agencies of
socialisation like the government and its policies regarding education; the
religious bodies and the role they play in enhancing education. The educational
environment refers to the school environment including the curricular and co –
curricular activities. Each of these environments plays a vital role on the
attainment of students’ educational aspirations. We shall begin by looking at
the social environment and the different components that make up the social
environment; we shall after that look at the educational (or school)
environment.
The Social Environment
By
the social environment, one is referring to the different agencies that are
involved in the socialization of learners such as family and peer groups. Socialization is a lifelong
process during which we learn about social expectations and how to interact
with other people. Socialization helps people learn to function successfully in
their social worlds. Social
groups often provide the first experiences of socialization. Families, and
later peer groups, communicate expectations and reinforce norms. Other agencies
of socialization include religious bodies and government. Apart from the school
environment, these other agencies of socialization also play a fundamental role
in the attainment of students’ educational aspirations. Some of the key
agencies of socialization and the role they play in the attainment of students’
educational aspirations can be seen below:
The Family
The
family is the smallest unit of the society and as such, critical to its
development. It is, as stated in Gupta
& Bashir (2017) a socio-biological unit that employs the most impact
on the progress and maintenance of the person’s growth and performance.
According to the Florida Institute of Education (2010), the family provides the
primary educational environment for children and in doing so it has a
tremendous impact on children’s future learning and academic success. Patterns
of family interactions and the relationships between family members influence
children’s attitudes toward education and can motivate children to develop more
positive attitudes toward education and to be more successful in school. The
involvement of the family members may vary from discussions of topics related
to their school activities to assisting them with learning basic facts. Based on Henderson (1994) as cited in Bashir
& Kaur (2017), the amount of parental involvement in the child’s education
influences the child’s educational aspirations. Macbrayne
(1987) asserts that children’s own aspirations are influenced by their parent’s
aspirations or expectations for them. When children perceive their parents to
have high educational expectations for them, they are likely to have higher
aspirations for themselves and consequently, higher achievements. Bashir &
Kaur (2017) therefore concludes that active parental involvement contributes to
the overall performance of students in school due to increased aspiration
level.
Peer Groups
This is a group made up of
people who are similar in age and social status and who share interests.
According to Kang (2006) it is a small group of friends which have close
relations with each other and they have regular interactions. Socialization is
common in peer group and begins in the earliest years of the life of a child. Peer groups provide adolescents’ first major socialization experience
outside the realm of their families. This socialization continues to school and
even influence their choice of school. Such interactions with age mates
contribute to their learning over and above the provisions of adult educators.
In fact, as Kindermann (2015) indicated, many children appear to go to school or to like school
(better), precisely because their peers and friends are there. With such an
influence therefore, it is not inconceivable that peer groups play a role in
the formation and attainment of students’ educational aspirations either
positively or negatively, depending on the objectives of the group.
Mass media
Mass media distribute impersonal information to a
wide audience, via television, newspapers, radio, and the Internet. Taking into consideration the wide mass-media
spreading over the contemporary society, especially with the growing and mass
use of the social media, it is easy to reach the conclusion that this may have
a major influence upon the citizens’ education, being a potential means of
education and modelling for all generations. The ambivalent nature of the
effects mass-media has upon the youth should also be given serious
consideration, as it can be both positive and/or negative. This is because as Treapăt (2017) said,
the youth (students in our case) may be, due to their age, are more easily
influenced upon by it; this, as they spend more time on it.
The Government
Government
according to Burke (2008), as a political organization comprising the
individuals and institutions authorized to formulate public policies and
conduct affairs of state. Governments are empowered to establish and regulate socialisation:
that is, the interrelationships of the people within their territorial
confines, the relations of the people with the community as a whole, and the
dealings of the community with other political entities. Governments also
ensure and provide education for its citizens. Government’s efforts to enhance
education can be seen in the signing of conventions like the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) with goal number two which is to achieve universal
primary education. Some governments go further to make secondary and university
education tuition free and also award scholarships and grants for academic
purposes. Such measures create and promote high educational aspiration among
the citizens, as the political environment is enabling and education friendly.
It will also aid in the attainment of already existing/acquired educational
aspirations. In societies where the government hasn’t provided a conducive and
affordable educational environment may be due to wars, corruption, etc, there
is low attainment of educational aspirations. This can account for why the
literacy level is higher in some countries (especially Western countries) than
others.
Religious Bodies
Religion
is an important avenue of socialization for many people in the community. The
society is full of churches, mosques, prayer ministries and cells, as well as
similar religious communities where people gather to worship and learn. Like
other institutions, these places teach participants how to interact in the
society and also influence a lot of norms, cultures and values which people in
the society uphold. For some people, important ceremonies related to family
structure—like marriage and birth—are connected to religious celebrations. Many
religious institutions also uphold gender norms and contribute to their
enforcement through socialization. These religious bodies exert much influence
on the educational, moral and social life of their followers through their
teachings, preaching and laws. Some of them own educational and vocational institutions
through which they impart knowledge and morality. This all play a role in the
attainment of the educational aspirations of especially their followers.
The Educational (or School)
Environment
The educational (or school) environment
which can also be known as the learning environment has been defined by
Anderson (1982) as the academic, psychological, and social atmosphere of a
school. This is composed of the learner, other students, the teachers and the
physical environment. This school environment plays a fundamental role in the
attainment of students’ educational aspiration. This is because, as Snyder
(2006) says “students spend more time in school than they do participating in
any other activity and in many cases more than they do in their homes (during
waking hours)” It is therefore not surprising that the school environment plays
an important role in the general well-being of students. A positive school
environment according to Gupta &
Bashir (2017) enhances health, and also
promotes learning among students.
Different
researches have showed that students’ academic performance can be influenced
both negatively and positively by the school environment.
According to Bashir (2017), a
number of literatures have revealed that the school environment is related with
students’ wellbeing and educational achievement. For instance, (Crump,
Simons-Morton, Saylor, & Haynie, 1999) in Bashir
(2017) have recommended that an optimistic school environment could improve
students’ ability to improve a social relationship with their school, which in
turn, predicts educational achievement. To fully grasp the concept of the
educational (or school) environment, it has been broken into the different
components that make up the school environment such as the physical, social, psychological and the actual teaching/learning environment.
This is in line with Bashir & Kaur (2017), who postulated that the School
environment can be of different types such as: social environment, physical environment,
educational environment, and psychological environment. These different
components of the school (or educational) environment can be seen below.
The School Social
Environment
This has to do with
the interactions within the school as well as the available human resources. It
includes association among students in different class, in same class, student
participation in different school activities, relationship among staff members,
the staff with the community, students and parents, relationship of school
officers, discipline, school employees, and the general atmosphere during
school competitions. A very positive and exciting social environment in school
makes students to consider the school as their “other home”. This sense of
belonging curbs students’ alienation from school and also reduces the rate of
school dropout cases; thus helping students in the attainment of their
educational aspirations.
The School Physical
Environment
The Physical
environment of the school includes planning, location, staff quarters,
facilities in building, site of construction, suitability in terms of
accommodation, proper ventilation in classroom, classrooms which can be used in
all weathers, provision of toilets, facility for indoor games, provision of
hall for co-curricular and other activities, clean drinking water, provision of
proper furniture, facilities for library, laboratory, sewage and drains
facilities, workshops, provision of pathways, and greenery garden (Bashir &
Kaur, 2017). A beautiful physical environment with the availability functional
materials for curricular and co – curricular activities creates a sense of
pride and belonging to a particular school. This will also make possible the
attainment of students’ educational aspirations, as the school will be seen as
a place to be.
The School Learning Environment
This involves the
smooth functioning of the actual teaching and learning activities. It also
includes arrangement of teaching – learning material, discipline, arrangement
for absent teachers as well as students, timetable, aid and evaluation of
teaching learning activities etc. The seriousness and integrity of a school is
generally judged from the effectiveness of the teaching – learning process. A
school with a good educational environment will lead to good performance by the
students, which will be a motivation for them to attain their educational
aspirations.
The School Psychological
Environment
According to Bashir
& Kaur (2017), a good quality psychological environment assists in making
the students such that they like to join in different activities, they appear
to be internally motivated, show dedication towards their work, they are very
active, they participate in curricular and co – curricular activities according
to their individual differences. Such a psychologically healthy environment
will go a long way to assist students attain their educational aspirations, as
they find the school to have a conducive psychological environment.
The Concept of
Educational Aspirations
Aspirations refer to an individual’s desire to
obtain a status, objective or goal such as a particular occupation or level of
education (Tefere, 2010). This makes the concept to
be vital in any human endeavour; be it in education or career development. In
the domain of education, it is referred to as educational aspiration. This is in line with
Garg et al. (2002) who state that when level of aspiration is centred on the
field of education we may refer to it as level of educational aspiration. At
present there is no universally accepted description for the term educational
aspirations, as different scholars hold different opinions as to what it really
is. Tefere (2010) for example, referred to it as the quest
to achieve certain level of education, depending on the circumstances around
the particular individual. Watt et. al. (2012)
considers educational aspiration to be the level of self-set academic learning
goals. In addition,
Brian & Tamara (2010) referred to it as the
educational expectations that an individual has for the self or for others. And
Bandura (1991) regarded it to be an individuals’ self-appraisal of ability
translated into school attainment. However the term is generally used as
referring to an individual’s plans and aims inside an educational setting (Trebbels, 2015) in Gupta and Bashir (2017). And for the purpose
of this study, the term ‘Educational Aspiration’ is used to refer to the
students’ academic desires, that is, the number of years they intend to study
and, necessarily, the academic level they wish to reach. It can also be seen as
the highest educational level a student or learner would like to attain in
order to get the job or status he/she desires in the society.
The
essence of the idea behind students’ aspirations is that desired future events
will direct and motivate effort in the present and thereby increase students’
chances to succeed in the educational system (Trebbels,
2015). Research by (Domina et al. 2011; Rojewski 2005) in Trebbels (2015) has shown that educational
aspirations contribute to disparities in educational attainment in a community.
One can only achieve as much as he/she aspired in education. This as such,
makes educational aspiration a vital component in education. The socio –
educational environment in which a student finds himself/herself can directly
or indirectly promote a high or low educational aspiration; and also play a
vital role in its attainment. High educational aspiration will undoubtedly lead
to high educational achievement; and the reverse is true for low educational
aspiration. It therefore becomes important for learners to develop high
aspirations in education – that is, aspire for high academic level.
CONCLUSION
Education
is a process and kind of activity common to human beings. According to Bashir
and Kaur (2017), it is a continuous attempt to develop all capacities of the
students to control their neighbouring environment and to fulfil their needs.
Even though education is seen as part of human life, it cannot help the
pursuers unless they have the required amount of educational aspirations. This
is because aspirations motivate for better achievements, as people can only
achieve what they have aspired. Thus, aspirations are important inputs for
achievements. The importance ascribed to student aspirations derives from the
acknowledgment that human behaviour is not only regulated by external
influences but that it is also extensively motivated by self-influence; though
the role played by the surrounding environment cannot be ignored, because every
learner lives and interacts in a particular environment. And our direct
interactions with social groups, like families and peers, teach us how others
expect us to behave. Likewise, a society’s formal and informal institutions
socialize its population. Formal institutions like schools and the government
as well as other institutions like the media, contribute to socialization by
inundating learners with messages about norms and expectations which go to
influence the attainment of their educational aspirations.
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