Student Absenteeism in Mathematics Lessons: Social Variables in the PGS of Namibe
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Methodology
3. Results of Statistical Tests
3.1. Social Variables That Cause Student Absenteeism in Mathematics Classes
3.2. The Relation between Social Variables That Cause Student Absenteeism in Mathematics Lessons
3.3. Student Absenteeism Variability in Mathematics Lessons Explained by Social Factors and Variables
4. Conclusions and Recommendations
- There was a high level of agreement, both by teachers and students, that the absence of a positive relationship between students and their community, the lack of communication between teachers and politically influential people, the job responsibilities of the students, student frustration surrounding socio-economic aspirations, students’ insubordination against institutional regulations, and insufficient communication between educational community members through ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) are the causes of school absenteeism in mathematics lessons in the PGS. This has previously been pointed out in research on the subject [32,33]. The factorial analysis highlighted that for the teacher population these are the variables that affect absenteeism and that these variables are highly interconnected. It is recommended that research be undertaken to identify a way to reduce these deficiencies as an effective way to reduce student absenteeism.
- The lack of economic and emotional support from students’ families and the inconveniences that students face when moving to the educational centre were found to be factors that the teachers most strongly agreed with as causes of absenteeism in mathematics lessons in the PGS. Additionally, teachers considered that these factors strongly influence student absenteeism and that they are positively and strongly related. The students also considered these variables to be causes of absenteeism, but with lower levels of agreement. It is recommended that these limitations be studied in greater depth to identify an appropriate way to reduce student absenteeism. Absenteeism studies conducted in other contexts also pointed to a strong relationship between lack of family support and absenteeism [19].
- In the student population there was a high level of agreement that bad interpersonal relationships between students outside the school, disputes between their religious affiliation and the PGS, the poor quality of communication between parents/tutors and teachers, and insufficient collaboration between the members of the PGS with other social institutions are factors that cause student absenteeism in mathematics lessons. However, the students did not clearly stress these as being factors that explain absenteeism. There was not significant agreement among teachers concerning these factors; however, teachers who did consider them to be causes of student absenteeism rated them highly. These divergences open research areas for the further understanding of causes of absenteeism in mathematics lessons in the PGS. It would be beneficial to initiate lines of research in this area. These results are also consistent with researches that highlighted the relationship between maltreatment against students and absenteeism [9,15].
- For the students, factors such as lack of emotional support from their family and lack of communication between teachers and politically influential people in education were positively and strongly related, and were related to the poor quality of communication between parents/tutors and teachers as well as insufficient collaboration between the school and other social institutions. This is in accordance with the findings of other investigations [34]. Likewise, the lack of emotional support for students from their families and the lack of communication between teachers and political influential people in education were strongly and inversely related to the discomforts that affected the students when moving to the educational centre and the shortcomings in collaboration between educational community members; both of these factors were positively correlated. For this population, the poor quality of communication between parents/tutors and teachers was directly and strongly correlated with the students’ insubordination against the institutional regulations and the students’ job responsibilities. These responsibilities were related to student frustration with socio-economic aspirations, and this frustration was related to the lack of emotional support for the student from their family. Finally, the student population considered that bad interpersonal relationships between students outside the school and disputes between the students’ religious affiliation and the PGS were directly and strongly related. It should be noted that the lack of student aspirations as a negative factor in mathematics education has been pointed out as a factor in student absenteeism in recent research [23].
Author Contributions
Funding
Conflicts of Interest
References
- Johns, G.; Miranglia, M. The reliability, validity, and accuracy of self-reported absenteeism from work: A meta-analysis. J. Occup. Health Psychol. 2015, 20, 1–14. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Simpson, A.; Maltese, A. Failure Is a Major Component of Learning Anything: The Role of Failure in the Development of STEM Professionals. J. Sci. Educ. Technol. 2017, 26, 223–237. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Martínez-Valdivia, E.; Molina-Ruiz, E. Incidence of academic factors in school failure. Reflections derived from experience of retired teachers. Profesorado Revista de Currículum y Formación del Profesorado 2017, 21, 191–211. [Google Scholar]
- Petridou, A.; Karagiorgi, Y. Cross-sectional predictors of “risk’’ for school failure. Int. J. Res. Method Educ. 2016, 39, 365–382. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Márquez, C. Associated Factors the School Failure in the Secondary Education of Huelva [Associated Factors the School Failure in the Secondary Education of Huelva]. REICE Revista Iberoamericana Sobre Calidad, Eficacia y Cambio en Educación 2016, 14, 131–144. [Google Scholar]
- Pflug, V.; Schneider, S. School Absenteeism: An Online Survey via Social Networks. Child Psychiatry Hum. Dev. 2016, 47, 417–429. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- González-Rodríguez, D.; Vidal, J.; Vieira, M.J. Psicología y Educación: Presente y Futuro [Psychology and Education: Present and Future]; ACIPE (Asociación Científica de Psicología y Educación): Madrid, Spain, 2016. [Google Scholar]
- Kearney, C.A. School absenteeism and school refusal behavior in youth. Clin. Psychol. Rev. 2008, 28, 451–471. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Hagborg, J.M.; Berglund, K.; Fahlke, C. Evidence for a relationship between child maltreatment and absenteeism among high-school students in Sweden. Child Abus. Negl. 2018, 75, 41–49. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Prakash, R.; Beattie, T.; Javalkar, P.; Bhattacharjee, P.; Ramanaik, S.; Thalinja, R.; Murthy, S.; Davey, C.; Blanchard, J.; Watts, C.; et al. Correlates of school dropout and absenteeism among adolescent girls from marginalized community in north Karnataka, south India. J. Adolesc. 2017, 61, 64–76. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Tamiru, D.; Belachew, T. The association of food insecurity and school absenteeism: Systematic review. Agric. Food Secur. 2017, 6, 5. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Engin-Demir, C. Factors influencing the academic achievement of the Turkish urban poor. Int. J. Educ. Dev. 2009, 29, 17–29. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- de Groot, R.; van Dijk, M.; Savelberg, H.; van Acker, F.; Kirschner, P. Physical Activity and School Absenteeism Due to Illness in Adolescents. J. Sch. Health 2017, 87, 658–664. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed] [Green Version]
- Grinshteyn, E.; Yang, Y.T. The Association between Electronic Bullying and School Absenteeism among High School Students in the United States. J. Sch. Health 2017, 87, 142–149. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Önder, E. Student absenteeism in secondary education, absenteeism-related school practices and recommended policies. Egitim ve Bilim 2017, 42, 361–378. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Demirutku, K.; Tekinay, S. The relationships between human values, absenteeism attitudes and reasons. Hacet. Egit. Derg. 2016, 31, 505–519. [Google Scholar]
- Thornton, M.; Darmody, M.; McCoy, S. Persistent absenteeism among Irish primary school pupils. Educ. Rev. 2013, 65, 488–501. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Strand, A.; Granlund, M. The School Situation for Students with a High Level of Absenteeism in Compulsory School: Is There a Pattern in Documented Support? Scand. J. Educ. Res. 2014, 58, 551–569. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Balkıs, M.; Arslan, G.; Duru, E. The school absenteeism among high school students: Contributing factors. Kuram ve Uygulamada Egitim Bilimleri 2016, 16, 1819–1831. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Şahin, Ş.; Arseven, Z.; Kiliç, A. Causes of student absenteeism and school dropouts. Int. J. Instr. 2016, 9, 195–210. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Askeland, K.G.; Haugland, S.; Stormark, K.M.; Bøe, T.; Hysing, M. Adolescent school absenteeism and service use in a population-based study. BMC Public Health 2015, 15, 626. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Kwame, B.P.; Mary, D. Teachers’ perceived causes of poor performance in mathematics by students in basic schools from Ningo Prampram, Ghana. J. Soc. Sci. Res. 2018, 4, 423–431. [Google Scholar]
- Butakor, P.K.; Ampadu, E.; Cole, Y. Relationship between contextual factors and mathematics performance. Afr. J. Res. Math. Sci. Technol. Educ. 2017, 21, 316–326. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Wolbring, T.; Treischl, E. Selection Bias in Students’ Evaluation of Teaching. Causes of Student Absenteeism and Its Consequences for Course Ratings and Rankings. Res. High. Educ. 2016, 57, 51–71. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Fernández, B.G. Indicadores de abandono escolar temprano: Un marco para la reflexión sobre estrategias de mejora [Indicators of early school leaving: A framework for reflection on improvement strategies]. Perf. Educ. 2016, 38, 191–215. [Google Scholar]
- Quintana, J.C.M.; Falcón, J.A.; Gómez, R.M.; Hernánez, R.S. Educación parental y competencias parentales para prevenir el abandono escolar temprano [Parental education and parenting skills to prevent early school leavers]. Bordón 2015, 67, 73–92. [Google Scholar]
- Steinberg, C. Abandono escolar en las escuelas secundarias urbanas de Argentina: Nuevos indicadores para el planeamiento de políticas de inclusión educativa [Dropout in urban high schools in Argentina: New indicators for the planning of educational inclusion policies]. Educ. Policy Anal. Arch. 2014, 22, 1–29. [Google Scholar]
- Martínez-Seijo, M.L.; Rumayor, L.R.; Torrego-Seijo, J.C. Las familias ante el abandono escolar [Families facing school dropout]. Bordón 2017, 69, 59–78. [Google Scholar]
- Kahya, O.; Saricaoglu, H.; Yakar, A. A mixed research on cheating and absenteeism behaviors of teacher certificate program students. Eur. J. Educ. Res. 2019, 8, 267–284. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Gokce, A.T.; Acar, E. School principals’ and teachers’ problems related to the education of refugee students in Turkey. Eur. J. Educ. Res. 2018, 7, 473–484. [Google Scholar]
- Asikhia, O.A. Implications for couselling for national development. Eur. J. Soc. Sci. 2010, 13, 229–242. [Google Scholar]
- Williams, J.; Choudry, S. Mathematics capital in the educational field: Bourdieu and beyond. Res. Math. Educ. 2016, 18, 3–21. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Rosário, P.; Lourenco, A.; Paiva, O.; Rodrigues, A.; Valle, A.; Tuero-Herrero, E. Predicción del rendimiento en matemáticas: Efecto de variables personales, socioeducativas y del contexto escolar [Prediction of performance in mathematics: Effect of personal variables, socio-educational and school context]. Psicothema 2012, 24, 289–295. [Google Scholar]
- Van Houtte, M.; Stevens, P.A. Vocational students’ intention to drop out in flanders: The role of teacher beliefs. Br. Educ. Res. J. 2015, 52, 912–923. [Google Scholar]
Population/Sample | Speciality | Subtotal | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Physics | Chemistry | ||||
Second Level | Third Level | Second Level | Third Level | ||
Students | 38/27 | 17/13 | 41/30 | 35/29 | 131/99 |
Subtotal | 55/40 | 76/59 | |||
Teachers | 12/11 | 10/10 | 12/11 | 10/9 | 44/41 |
Subtotal | 24/22 | 20/19 | |||
Total | 175/140 |
Relative Frequencies | (1) | σ (2) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Variables (Acronyms) | Strongly Disagree | Disagree | Agree | Strongly Agree | ||
Lack of emotional support for the student from their family (LES) (3),(4) | 7.5 12.1 | 10.0 16.2 | 35.0 46.5 | 47.5 25.3 | 3.23 2.85 | 0.91 0.94 |
Lack of financial support for the student from their family (LFS) (3),(4) | 5.0 14.1 | 17.5 15.2 | 47.5 47.5 | 30.0 23.2 | 3.03 2.80 | .083 0.95 |
Absence of a positive relationship between students and their community (APR) (4) | 17.5 13.1 | 22.5 21.2 | 20.0 36.4 | 40.0 29.3 | 2.83 2.82 | 1.15 1.00 |
Bad interpersonal relationships among students outside school (BIR) (3),(4) | 14.6 12.1 | 36.6 20.2 | 34.1 46.5 | 14.6 21.2 | 2.49 2.77 | 0.93 0.92 |
Poor quality of communication between parents and teachers (PQC) (3),(4) | 24.4 7.1 | 14.6 15.2 | 39.0 51.5 | 22.0 26.3 | 2.59 2.97 | 1.09 0.84 |
Lack of communication between teachers and politically influential people in education (LCT) (4) | 14.6 10.1 | 17.1 16.2 | 36.6 49.5 | 31.7 24.2 | 2.85 2.88 | 1.04 .90 |
Insufficient collaboration between the school and other social institutions (ICS) (3) | 22.0 13.1 | 9.8 19.2 | 36.6 30.3 | 31.7 37.4 | 2.78 2.92 | 1.13 1.05 |
Discomforts that affect students moving to the school (DAS) (3),(4) | 7.3 10.1 | 14.6 12.1 | 36.6 51.5 | 41.5 26.3 | 3.12 2.94 | 0.78 0.89 |
Insufficient collaboration among members of the educational community (ICM) (3),(4) | 26.8 9.1 | 17.1 15.2 | 24.4 52.5 | 31.7 23.2 | 2.61 2.90 | 1.20 0.86 |
Conflict between students’ religious affiliation and the Pedagogical Graduate School (SRA) | 17.1 17.2 | 34.1 17.2 | 24.4 41.4 | 24.4 24.2 | 2.56 2.73 | 1.05 1.01 |
Students’ work responsibilities (SWR) (4) | 9.8 8.2 | 22.0 13.3 | 39.0 50.0 | 29.3 28.6 | 3.00 2.88 | 0.95 0.86 |
Student frustration with socio-economic aspirations (SFA) (4) | 7.3 11.1 | 29.3 18.2 | 29.3 47.5 | 34.1 23.2 | 2.90 2.83 | .97 .92 |
Student insubordination against institutional regulations (SIR) | 14.6 8.1 | 17.1 25.3 | 43.9 53.5 | 24.4 13.1 | 2.78 2.72 | 0.99 0.80 |
Insufficient communication among members of the educational community through Information and Communication Technologies (ICA) (4) | 17.1 11.1 | 19.5 14.1 | 31.7 58.6 | 31.7 16.2 | 2.78 2.80 | 1.08 0.85 |
Variables | Pearson’s Coefficient ρ | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | ||
1 | Lack of emotional support for the student from their family (LES) | |||||||||||||
2 | Lack of financial support for the student from their family (LFS) | 0.86 0.14 | ||||||||||||
3 | Absence of a positive relationship between students and their community (APR) | 0.91 −0.25 | 0.86 0.36 | |||||||||||
4 | Bad interpersonal relationships among students outside school (BIR) | 0.89 −0.05 | 0.84 0.17 | 0.89 0.35 | ||||||||||
5 | Poor quality of communication between parents and teachers (PQC) | 0.82 0.54 | 0.87 0.29 | 0.92 0.04 | 0.87 0.02 | |||||||||
6 | Lack of communication between teachers and politically influential people in education (LCT) | 0.88 0.73 | 0.93 0.10 | 0.92 −0.13 | 0.88 −0.26 | 0.91 0.68 | ||||||||
7 | Insufficient collaboration between the school and other social institutions (ICS) | 0.85 0.54 | 0.94 0.11 | 0.91 −0.23 | 0.84 −0.01 | 0.93 0.44 | 0.97 0.53 | |||||||
8 | Discomforts that affect students moving to the school (DAS) | 0.93 −0.62 | 0.93 0.05 | 0.93 0.40 | 0.86 0.26 | 0.86 −0.32 | 0.90 −0.55 | 0.91 −0.44 | ||||||
9 | Insufficient collaboration among members of the educational community (ICM) | 0.84 −0.62 | 0.89 0.08 | 0.93 0.42 | 0.87 0.22 | 0.94 −0.44 | 0.93 −0.56 | 0.95 −0.38 | 0.87 0.72 | |||||
10 | Conflict between students’ religious affiliation and the Pedagogical Graduate School (SRA) | 0.89 −0.42 | 0.88 −0.04 | 0.92 0.48 | 0.94 0.51 | 0.90 −0.26 | 0.90 −0.45 | 0.88 −0.16 | 0.88 0.33 | 0.91 0.34 | ||||
11 | Students’ work responsibilities (SWR) | 0.86 0.48 | 0.92 0.38 | 0.89 −0.06 | 0.86 0.06 | 0.90 0.57 | 0.97 0.27 | 0.95 0.31 | 0.89 −0.12 | 0.91 −0.23 | 0.89 −0.24 | |||
12 | Student frustration with socio-economic aspirations (SFA) | 0.87 0.64 | 0.90 0.29 | 0.93 −0.25 | 0.86 −0.09 | 0.90 0.30 | 0.93 0.34 | 0.91 0.35 | 0.90 −0.38 | 0.93 −0.40 | 0.89 −0.33 | 0.93 0.59 | ||
13 | Student insubordination against institutional regulations (SIR) | 0.86 0.36 | 0.89 −0.08 | 0.89 0.03 | 0.88 0.13 | 0.93 0.55 | 0.97 0.42 | 0.94 0.40 | 0.87 −0.38 | 0.89 −0.34 | 0.91 0.11 | 0.95 0.36 | 0.89 0.29 | |
14 | Insufficient communication among members of the educational community through Information and Communication Technologies (ICA) | 0.88 −0.11 | 0.92 0.27 | 0.95 0.30 | 0.88 0.33 | 0.93 0.14 | 0.97 −0.04 | 0.96 0.00 | 0.90 0.07 | 0.95 0.13 | 0.92 0.25 | 0.94 0.11 | 0.95 −0.23 | 0.93 0.20 |
Variable | Teachers (1) | Students (2) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Factor | % Variability that the Factor Explains | Correlation Coefficient with Its Factor | % Variability that the Variable Explains | Factor | % Variability that the Factor Explains | Correlation Coefficient with Its Factor | % Variability that the Variable Explains | |
Lack of emotional support for the student from their family (LES) | 1 | 91.09 | 0.92 | 84.17 | 1 | 28.64 | 0.71 | 20.42 |
Lack of financial support for the student from their family (LFS) | 1 | 91.09 | 0.94 | 85.99 | 2 | 15.7 | 0.68 | 10.66 |
Absence of a positive relationship between students and their community (APR) | 1 | 91.09 | 0.96 | 87.54 | 3 | 13.31 | 0.71 | 9.50 |
Bad interpersonal relationships among students outside school (BIR) | 1 | 91.09 | 0.93 | 84.26 | 4 | 13.08 | 0.78 | 10.22 |
Poor quality of communication between parents and teachers (PQC) | 1 | 91.09 | 0.95 | 86.44 | 1 | 28.64 | 0.67 | 19.25 |
Lack of communication between teachers and politically influential people in education (LCT) | 1 | 91.09 | 0.98 | 88.99 | 1 | 28.64 | 0.78 | 22.25 |
Insufficient collaboration between the school and other social institutions (ICS) | 1 | 91.09 | 0.97 | 88.27 | 1 | 28.64 | 0.66 | 19.02 |
Discomforts that affect students moving to the school (DAS) | 1 | 91.09 | 0.95 | 86.08 | 3 | 13.31 | 0.26 | 3.43 |
Insufficient collaboration among members of the educational community (ICM) | 1 | 91.09 | 0.96 | 87.26 | 3 | 13.31 | 0.28 | 3.75 |
Conflict between students’ religious affiliation and the Pedagogical Graduate School (SRA) | 1 | 91.09 | 0.95 | 86.63 | 4 | 13.08 | 0.79 | 10.37 |
Students’ work responsibilities (SWR) | 1 | 91.09 | 0.96 | 87.72 | 2 | 15.7 | 0.80 | 12.48 |
Student frustration with socio-economic aspirations (SFA) | 1 | 91.09 | 0.96 | 87.08 | 2 | 15.7 | 0.76 | 11.96 |
Student insubordination against institutional regulations (SIR) | 1 | 91.09 | 0.96 | 87.36 | 1 | 28.64 | 0.74 | 21.08 |
Insufficient communication among members of the educational community through Information and Communication Technologies (ICA) | 1 | 91.09 | 0.98 | 89.18 | 3 | 13.31 | 0.69 | 9.18 |
© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
Chaves-Barboza, E.; Marín-Marín, J.-A.; Sarmento-dos-Santos, A.-P.; Trujillo-Torrres, J.-M. Student Absenteeism in Mathematics Lessons: Social Variables in the PGS of Namibe. Educ. Sci. 2019, 9, 130. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci9020130
Chaves-Barboza E, Marín-Marín J-A, Sarmento-dos-Santos A-P, Trujillo-Torrres J-M. Student Absenteeism in Mathematics Lessons: Social Variables in the PGS of Namibe. Education Sciences. 2019; 9(2):130. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci9020130
Chicago/Turabian StyleChaves-Barboza, Eduardo, José-Antonio Marín-Marín, Ana-Paula Sarmento-dos-Santos, and Juan-Manuel Trujillo-Torrres. 2019. "Student Absenteeism in Mathematics Lessons: Social Variables in the PGS of Namibe" Education Sciences 9, no. 2: 130. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci9020130
APA StyleChaves-Barboza, E., Marín-Marín, J. -A., Sarmento-dos-Santos, A. -P., & Trujillo-Torrres, J. -M. (2019). Student Absenteeism in Mathematics Lessons: Social Variables in the PGS of Namibe. Education Sciences, 9(2), 130. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci9020130