Application d’un modèle motivationnel à l’école primaire en milieu défavorisé : effets différentiels selon les caractéristiques des élèves

Les élèves provenant de milieux défavorisés sont plus à risque de vivre des échecs et de décrocher de l’école avant l’obtention d’un diplôme. Conséquemment, les intervenants scolaires cherchent des moyens pour favoriser leur engagement et leur réussite scolaire. Le modèle motivationnel de Connell et Wellborn (1991) identifie certaines pratiques enseignantes et perceptions de soi qui mènent à un engagement plus élevé chez les élèves. Cependant, à ce jour, aucune étude empirique n’a déterminé si les liens théoriques proposés dans ce modèle s’appliquent également aux élèves de milieux défavorisés au primaire. De plus, certaines des caractéristiques de ces élèves, comme leur anxiété, leur rendement scolaire et leur statut migratoire, ont été identifiées comme influençant leur parcours scolaire, mais n’ont jamais été étudiées comme pouvant interagir avec les variables du modèle. Conséquemment, la présente thèse a pour objectif d’examiner si les liens proposés par Connell et Wellborn s’appliquent aux élèves de milieux défavorisés et diffèrent selon certaines de leurs caractéristiques, soit leur anxiété, leur rendement ou leur statut d’immigrant. Dans le but de répondre à ces objectifs, nous avons eu recours à des échantillons tirés d’une large étude réalisée auprès d’élèves de 1re à 6e année et d’enseignants provenant de cinq écoles primaires en milieux pluriethniques défavorisés. La première étude de cette thèse porte sur 424 élèves de 3e à 5e année et leurs 45 enseignants, alors que la deuxième étude porte sur 256 élèves de 3e à 5e année. Tous les élèves et les enseignants ont répondu à des questionnaires au début et à la fin de deux années scolaires consécutives. La première étude de cette thèse s’est intéressée aux liens entre les pratiques de structure, de soutien à l’autonomie et d’implication des enseignants et les perceptions de compétence, d’autonomie et d’affiliation d’élèves du primaire. Cette étude a aussi évalué si ces liens variaient selon l’anxiété et le rendement scolaire des élèves. Les résultats ont d’abord démontré que la plupart des élèves de milieux défavorisés se sentaient compétents et affiliés à leur enseignant lorsque ce dernier encadrait leurs comportements et entretenait des relations chaleureuses avec l’ensemble de la classe. De plus, les élèves anxieux ayant un faible rendement sont ceux qui ont le plus bénéficié des pratiques structurantes de l’enseignant. i Le deuxième article de la thèse a examiné les liens entre les perceptions de soi et l’engagement comportemental, cognitif et affectif toujours auprès d’élèves du primaire de milieux défavorisés. Cette étude a aussi examiné en quoi le niveau d’anxiété et le statut migratoire des élèves modifiaient les liens du modèle de Connell et Wellborn. Les résultats ont permis de faire ressortir l’importance de la perception d’autonomie et d’affiliation pour l’engagement de la majorité des élèves. Ils ont aussi démontré que les perceptions d’autonomie et de compétence étaient plus importantes pour l’engagement des élèves anxieux immigrants. En conclusion, les deux études de la thèse ont permis de valider partiellement le modèle de Connell et Wellborn. De plus, ces études ont pu identifier les pratiques enseignantes et les perceptions de soi les plus importantes pour l’engagement d’élèves ayant diverses caractéristiques. Nous en concluons que l’amélioration de ces pratiques et de ces perceptions pourrait servir de cible d’intervention afin de favoriser l’engagement et la réussite scolaire des élèves, particulièrement chez les élèves les plus vulnérables.Students from disadvantaged backgrounds are more at risk of academic failure and dropping out of school. As a result, school workers are now searching for effective ways to enhance these students’ engagement in school in order to favor their academic success. The motivational model of Connell and Wellborn (1991) identifies specific teaching practices and self-perceptions that lead to higher student engagement. However, no studies have determined whether the theoretical links proposed in this model also apply to students from disadvantaged backgrounds. In addition, some student characteristics, such as their anxiety, academic performance, and immigration status, have been identified as influencing their academic success. Yet, few of them have been studied as factors influencing the associations proposed in Connell and Wellborn’s model. Consequently, this thesis aims to test the associations proposed in the Connell and Wellborn model in a sample of disadvantaged elementary school students and to examine whether these links differ as a function of student anxiety, academic achievement, or immigration status. In order to meet these objectives, we used different samples taken from a large longitudinal study in five elementary schools where grades 1 to 6 students and their teachers were surveyed. The first study of this thesis concerns 424 pupils from 3rd to 5th grade and their 45 teachers. The second study is based on a sample of 256 students from grades 3 to 5. All students and teachers answered questionnaires at the beginning and end of two consecutive school years. The first study examined the associations between teachers’ structure, autonomy support, and involvement, and elementary school pupils’ perceptions of competence, autonomy, and affiliation. This study also investigated whether the links between these teaching practices and student self-perceptions varied according to students’ anxiety and academic achievement. The results of this study first demonstrated that most students from disadvantaged backgrounds felt competent and affiliated with their teachers when the latter structured students’ behaviors and maintained warm relationships with the whole class. Moreover, results showed that low- achieving anxious students benefited the most from their teacher’s structuring practices. iii The second article of this thesis examined the links between student self-perceptions and their behavioral, cognitive and affective engagement. This study also examined how students’ anxiety and immigration status changed these associations. The results of this article highlighted the importance of perceiving oneself as autonomous and affiliated in class for the majority of students. They also identified specific self-perceptions as more important for the engagement of immigrant anxious students. In fact, these students benefited more than other students from perceiving themselves as autonomous and competent in the classroom. In conclusion, the two studies of this thesis lend partial support to the model of Connell and Wellborn. In addition, they have identified the most important teaching practices and self- perceptions for engaging students with varying levels of anxiety, academic achievement, and different migratory status. The improvement of these practices and perceptions could be targeted in interventions in order to promote the engagement and academic success of these students, especially the most vulnerable ones

How toddlers' irritability and fearfulness relate to parenting : a longitudinal study conducted among Quebec families

Although child difficult temperament is a well‐known risk factor for parenting quality, few studies have focused on the association between specific temperament dimensions and parental behaviours. This study focused on negative emotionality, one of the best‐accepted dimensions of temperament, and its subdimensions of irritability and fearfulness. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the predictive value of irritability and fearfulness at 17 months upon parenting practices (involvement, coercion, and overprotection) at 29 months, beyond the influence of other well‐known risk factors (e.g., socio‐economic status and maternal depression). The study used data from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development, a longitudinal study conducted upon 1,829 families from Quebec (Canada), using self‐report questionnaires and medical files. Structural equation modelling identified irritability as a predictor of coercion, an externally controlling practice, whereas fearfulness predicted overprotection, an internally controlling practice. No significant associations were found after modelling between dimensions of negative emotionality and involvement. These results underline how certain aspects of child temperament may differentially “pull for control” and lead parents to act in a certain way, which may thwart young children's development and need for autonomy. Highlights This article investigates the associations between negative emotionality (i.e., irritability and fearfulness) and parenting (i.e., involvement, coercion, and overprotection). Structural equation modelling was used on data collected during a longitudinal study with a representative sample of 2,223 families. Each dimension of negative emotionality was associated to a different form of controlling parenting 1 year later (i.e., irritability with coercion and fearfulness with overprotection)

Brewing up a storm: developing Open Research culture through ReproducibiliTea

ReproducibiliTea Reading is a group of researchers and students who meet regularly to discuss Open Research practice. Our aim is to reduce the perceived costs of adopting open and reproducible practices by increasing Open Research literacy. We have developed our technical skills and promoted open practices that have been taken up in our research. We are also exploring ways in which Open Research objectives can be integrated into student learning activities and researcher incentives

The Joint Effect of Peer Victimization and Conflict With Teachers on Student Engagement at the End of Elementary School

The present study examined the unique and joint effects of peer victimization and conflicts with teachers on student behavioral and affective engagement across the school year among a sample of 333 fifth- and sixth-grade students. Results first showed that peer victimization was not a significant predictor of students’ affective engagement, whereas conflicts with teachers were negatively associated with this outcome, but for girls only. Moreover, experiencing contentious relationships with teachers did not play a moderating role in the association between victimization and the affective dimension of engagement. However, conflictual relationships with teachers did moderate the link between boys’ victimization and the behavioral dimension of engagement such that greater behavioral adjustment was evidenced by boys who had low levels of peer victimization only if they also reported low levels of conflict with the teacher. Sensitizing teachers to this reality and encouraging them to modify their demeanor with vulnerable children who pass under their radar remains a productive focus of intervention

Differential stress response to psychological and physical stressors in children using spatial versus response-dependent navigation strategies

Previous work from our lab has shown that basal cortisol levels are different between healthy young adults who spontaneously use caudate nucleus-dependent response strategies compared to young adults who use hippocampus-dependent spatial navigation strategies. Young adults who use caudate nucleus dependent strategies display lower basal cortisol levels compared to those who use hippocampus-dependent strategies. In the current study, we assessed navigation strategies in children using a virtual navigation task and measured cortisol at baseline as well as cortisol reactivity to both a psychological and to a physical stressor. Replicating what is observed in adults, we found that children who used caudate nucleus-dependent navigation strategies displayed lower cortisol levels at baseline compared to those who used hippocampus-dependent strategies. The psychological stressor, knowledge that a blood draw would be performed by a nurse, caused a significant increase in cortisol uniquely in response learners. The physical stressor, the actual blood draw, produced a significant increase in cortisol amongst spatial learners that was then comparable to levels observed in response learners. Lower baseline cortisol and higher cortisol psychological stress response observed amongst children who used response strategies may therefore reflect early biological changes during development which may have an impact later in life when considering risk for neuropsychiatric disorders

Basic psychological need satisfaction in parents and adolescents

This project aims to longitudinally examine the interplay between parents’ own basic psychological need satisfaction (BPNS), their perception of their child’s BPNS, and their child’s self-reported BPNS

Transmission of Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction between Parents and Adolescents: The Critical Role of Parental Perceptions

While studies have documented the importance of basic psychological need satisfaction in parent-child relationships, a gap remains in understanding how parent and adolescent need satisfactions are associated. Using two longitudinal intergenerational datasets (200 parent-adolescent dyads and 408 mother-adolescent dyads; two waves), we examined whether (1) parents’ need satisfaction predicts adolescents’ need satisfaction (parental needs effect), (2) adolescents’ need satisfaction predicts parents’ need satisfaction (child’s needs effect), and (3) parental perception of adolescent’s need satisfaction predicts adolescents’ need satisfaction (parental perception effect). Findings from cross-lagged path models analogous to actor-partner interdependence models only supported parental perception effects: parents’ T1 perception of their adolescent’s need satisfaction predicted their adolescent’s T2 self-reported need satisfaction, especially for autonomy and competence needs. Findings highlight the importance of parents’ perceptions, which may benefit the design of new interventions for basic psychological needs