TRAN Thu Huong^a[*], NGO Thanh Hue^b, TRAN Thu Huong^c, NGUYEN Hanh Lien^d

^aFaculty of Psychology, VNU-University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi, Vietnam; ^bVNU-International School, Hanoi, Vietnam ; ^cFaculty of Psychology, VNU-University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi, Vietnam ; ^dFaculty of Psychology, VNU-University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi, Vietnam

School climate: A quantitative study of middle high school students in Vietnam

Background: The middle high school is not only a place that students come to learn, but also an environment where happen the socialization process in which they develop their soft skills, build their social relationships, self-esteem, and projects for the future. Based on the model of Randolph, Kangas & Ruokamo (2009), this study is therefore aimed to understand the general perception of school climate as well as it specific dimesions evaluated by middle high school students in Vietnam (in Hanoi).

Methods : This study uses the scale NJSCS-MSHS (New Jersey School Climate Survey Middle - High School Students), an instrument elaborated and developed by the University of New Jersey in 2014. It is composed by 48 items of the satisfaction of students in seven different dimensions: 1/physical environment (3 items), 2/teaching and learning (11 items), 3/morality at school community (9 items), 4/relationships of students (4 items), 5/parenting support (3 items), 6/school security (4 items), 7/emotional ambience (feeling of belonging) (14 items). The results of a survey of 535 middle high school students showed that they have their school climate at a medium level. Response time for each student is 30 minutes. The collection of data is done in class by the researchers and collaborators being teachers in the school. The data have been processed with the software SPSS 24.0 by a copyright and MS-Excel. Descriptive statistical analyses were performed initially to apprehend the assessment of the dimensions of the school climate by students. Secondly, the links between quantitative variables have been studied by comparisons of average (M), different tests have been used: Independent Sample T-test for the variables in two ways, One way ANOVA to several factors. In all cases, the significance threshold adopted is 5%.

Results: The assessment of school climate is significantly correlated to the evaluation of the school related to the assessment of the quality of different types of interpersonal relationships: relationships to teachers, relationships to parents and relationships between students. In general, the level of satisfaction of students at school remains in medium (M = 3.27, SD =. 42). From the descriptive analyses, we have found that among the seven main areas, social relationships and school safety are two aspects that do not evoke a good satisfaction among students. So to speak, in considering correlations between factors of school climate, and between them and the total climate at school, research data reflected a positive but weak correlation between relations of students and school climate (r = .183, p = .000). The physical environment, the teaching and learning, the morality at school community and the emotional ambience have positive and very strong relationships to the climate in total with successively correlation coefficients as follows: r = .67, .89, .78 and .84 to the p-value < .01. On the other hand, parenting support and school safety are correlative to the climate at school but it is not strong. At the same time, there is also an impact of relationships between students on academic performance and an impact of the physical, emotional, of teacher’s practices, of the morality at school community on school security. Results of the analysis of statistical linear regression by Enter method, with dependent variable being the school climate and seven components factors being independent variables, indicate that the teaching and learning activities portends the most change of the satisfaction and the climate of the pupils in school environment. While school security and relationships of students have no sense to change their level of happiness.

Conclusions: In summary, the school satisfaction, happiness or school climate did not submit to the domination of the quality of school friendships and school safety; it is especially and closely related to the teaching and learning activities organized at school. It is particularly necessaire to determine how we can reduce the discomfort of the minority of students in suffering. This study should be extended in order to refine the understanding of the constitutive parameters of climate at school in Vietnam and becomes a sustainable “bridge” for intercultural researches in the future.

Keywords: satisfaction at school, school climate, Vietnamese middle high school

Word count: 670 words

Presentation: Oral

[*] Assoc.Prof.PhD of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, VNU-University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi, Vietnam. Email : tranthuhuong@ussh.edu.vn, Tél : +84 946750293.