The Hopes Carry Them On: Early Educational Expectations and Later Educational Outcomes in Rural Gansu, China

Abstract

It is commonly held in the education literature that parents' and children's educational expectations are important factors in predicting children's educational achievement and attainment. However, very little is known about the significance of parents' and children's early expectations in developing country settings. This study employs a case study of children in 100 rural villages in a poor province in Northwest China to explore the impact of parents' and children's early expectations on children's later school persistence and completion of compulsory and secondary education. I pay special attention to the agreement and disagreement in early educational expectations between parents and children. Results from analyses of longitudinal data from the Gansu Survey of Children and Families (GSCF) from 2000 to 2009 reveal two main results. First, parents' and children's early expectations are strong predictors of children's chances of staying in school, completing compulsory education and completing secondary education. Second, there are substantial discrepancies in expectations between parents and children in many families, but children whose high expectations aligned with their parents' fared best in later educational outcomes. This positive impact held even for children from the most impoverished families. Results also show that parents' expectations are tied to the local village cultural environment. Abstract It is commonly held in the education literature that parents' and children's educational expectations are important factors in predicting children's educational achievement and attainment. However, very little is known about the significance of parents' and children's early expectations in developing country settings. This study employs a case study of children in 100 rural villages in a poor province in Northwest China to explore the impact of parents' and children's early expectations on children's later school persistence and completion of compulsory and secondary education. I pay special attention to the agreement and disagreement in early educational expectations between parents and children. Results from analyses of longitudinal data from the Gansu Survey of Children and Families (GSCF) from 2000 to 2009 reveal two main results. First, parents' and children's early expectations are strong predictors of children's chances of staying in school, completing compulsory education and completing secondary education. Second, there are substantial discrepancies in expectations between parents and children in many families, but children whose high expectations aligned with their parents' fared best in later educational outcomes. This positive impact held even for children from the most impoverished families. Results also show that parents' expectations are tied to the local village cultural environment. However, among the large number of studies of parents' and children's educational expectations, only a few explore the influence of parent-child agreement and disagreement in expectations on children's sc...

Educational Aspirations and Expectations of Adolescents in Rural China: Determinants, Mental Health, and Academic Outcomes

“…Family SES (i.e., family economic status and parents' education levels) was not associated with discrepancies, which conflicts with previous research [33] which indicates that economically disadvantaged adolescents are more likely to have educational aspirations that exceed their expectations as they perceive more barriers. However, our results are consistent with previous research [26], which demonstrated that family SES was not related to rural students' educational outcomes and choices. In addition, the measure of family SES in the present study used a combination of indicators, which is commonly used in research from the US and the UK.…”

“…In the Chinese context, many parents in rural areas recognise education as the means for upward mobility [25] and subsequently set high educational aspirations for their children, which may in turn influence children's aspirations. However, educational resources are more limited in rural areas [26], and lack of parental support (especially for LBC) makes it more difficult to achieve good educational outcomes [27].…”

Dreams, aspirations and related behavior in children and adolescents: impacts on child developmental outcomes

“…Zhao and colleagues [33] examined correlates of problem behaviors among children affected by HIV and found that low educational aspirations had direct negative effects on school adjustment. Children's early expectations were strong predictors of children's chances of staying in school, completing compulsory education and completing secondary education as well [34]. Zhang [34] found that future orientation had positive influences on junior secondary school students' learning attitude, academic help-seeking behavior and academic achievement.…”

“…Children's early expectations were strong predictors of children's chances of staying in school, completing compulsory education and completing secondary education as well [34]. Zhang [34] found that future orientation had positive influences on junior secondary school students' learning attitude, academic help-seeking behavior and academic achievement. Chen [35] also found that university students who were more future-oriented were more engaged in their studies.…”

Academic Resilience in Rural Chinese Children: Individual and Contextual Influences

“…For Chinese rural children, getting into higher education is considered as the only opportunity to change their fate (commonly known "jump into the dragon gate" Tiao long men 跳龙门) by permanently leaving the poor countryside (Annunziata et al 2006). In the Chinese context, Zhang's (2012) longitudinal study found that parents' and children's shared high expectations of educational attainment and college completion predict success for poor rural students.…”