School identification is defined as the sense of belongingness in a school, which means valuing school and school-related outcomes. Failure to identify with school relates to school withdrawal. Therefore, studies suggest that school makes the effort of increasing student identification. On the other hand, school burnout refers to students fatigue due to excessive academic demands. School burnout relates to absenteeism, low motivation, low achievement, and school dropouts. Schools should, therefore, address school burnout for the benefit of the students. This descriptive quantitative study aimed at analyzing and describing the school identification and school burnout among students of three faith-based high schools in eastern states of Malaysia—Sabah, and Sarawak. Correlation between school identification and school burnout was also investigated along with their effect size. The subjects were 230 students of Form Four and Five, who were studying in the academic year of 2019. This study employed two research instruments. School identification was measured using Identification with School Questionnaire (ISQ) which was developed by K. Voelkl. School burnout was measured using School Burnout Inventory (SBI) developed by K. Salmero-Aro, N. Kiuru, E. Leskinen, and J. Nurmi. The instruments consisted of 7 demographics and 25 Likert scale items. Questionnaires were translated into Bahasa Melayu. For the correlation, data analysis was conducted using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (Pearson’s r). Both statistical analysis, descriptive and inferential, were processed using SPSS. The result also supports previous findings on gender differences in school burnout and school identification. Pearson r test on the data for student burnout and student identification suggest a correlation. Findings suggested a couple of pointers at the disposal of school administration to increase student’s school identification.
Keywords: school burnout; school identification; faith-based, high school