EFFECTS OF PARENTS’ CIRCULAR MIGRATION ON STUDENTS’ SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT: EXPLANATORY VARIABLES
Keywords:
circular migration, students left behind, school achievement, explanatory style, parental behaviorsAbstract
The failure of educational systems to accommodate the needs of
circular migrant students determined increases in numbers of school-aged Romanian
children “left behind†by their migrant parents. The present study focuses on school
achievement among children left behind, as well as attributional style and perceptions
of parental behaviors, two dimensions previously associated with educational
attainment. Two hundred and five high-school students participated in the study, out of
which one hundred thirty-four have at least one migrant parent. The average grade for
one semester was taken into account as an indicator of school achievement level, while
attributional style and perceptions of parental behaviors were investigated with two
adapted, self-administered instruments: Attributional Style Questionnaire (Peterson et
al, 1982), respectively Parent Perception Inventory (Hazzard et al, 1983). Results are
apparently mixed: parents’ migration has limited effects on students’ school
achievement, while both perceptions of parenting behaviors and attributional style are
affected. Based on these findings, we suggest deeper concerns for training students left
behind towards adaptive explanatory styles and for maintaining good transantional
family relations.
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