Relationship between Self-Concept and Academic Performance among Secondary School Students - A case of Mwala Division, Machakos District, Kenya

Abstract

There is a need to help secondary school students to attain higher academic achievements in the national examinations. This is because good performance in these examinations acts as a channel through which students proceed to higher education levels and good jobs. This study sought to find out the relationship between self-concept of students and their academic performance in Mwala division of Machakos district. The study employed an ex post facto research design. The target population included all the 360 Form Four students in the six public secondary schools. A proportionate random sample of 186 students was selected from the six schools. Data was collected through administration of questionnaires to the respondents. The collected data was then processed and analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics with the aid of Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS) version 11.5 for windows. The findings showed that: students' academic achievement depends on their level of self-concept; students have the ability to attain higher levels of self-concept regardless of their gender and the type of school; and the kind of teachers' feedback about academic performance and ability of the students influences their self-concept. The findings of this study could help teachers to boost the level of self-concept of the students and this in turn may will lead to the improvement in academic performance. It could also help the Ministry of Education to see the necessity of training more teacher counselors to enhance positive self-concept in students. Further, the findings could help both parents and teachers to demystify traditional stereotypic gender-role dispositions about the ability of students so as to boost the level of self-concept and academic achievement. Lastly, it may help teachers to focus on positive feedback about academic performance of students in order to encourage them to work hard. This may in tum enhance improvement in students' performance.