The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationships between personal responsibility, emotional intelligence and self-esteem in adolescents and young adults and explore the psychometric properties of the Personal Responsibility Questionnaire. One hundred and fifty high school students and 186 university students completed self-report questionnaires examining personal responsibility, emotional intelligence and self-esteem. Results revealed that older students reported higher levels of personal responsibility, emotional intelligence and self-esteem than the Year 11 students. The Personal Responsibility Questionnaire was found to significantly correlate with emotional intelligence and self-esteem suggesting strong construct validity.

Research highlights the importance of designing primary school classroom environments that promote self-regulated learning (SRL). Teachers play a crucial part as learning process facilitators in the development of pupils’ self-regulated learning competence and skills. The aim of this study was to explore teachers’ actions towards the development of self-regulated learning practices in primary school. The results of a survey of 399 primary school teachers in Brussels and the surrounding area (Belgium, Europe) are presented. Findings appeared to be consistent with theoretical assumptions about the development of self-regulated learning suggesting that teachers gradually introduce SRL over primary school grades. When comparing both groups of teachers scoring high and low in stimulating pupils’ self-regulated learning, similar patterns of SRL encouragement were recorded. Furthermore, teachers were found to promote self-regulated learning as a total concept with a comparable emphasis on all phases of the self-regulated learning process. The adjustment of the teaching environment was found to be similar in all grades and for both high and low self-regulated learning practices.

Despite being the cornerstone of behaviour change interventions, a review of the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) highlights that younger populations have been excluded in the development of this model. It is not surprising then that interventions underpinned by the TTM have not been shown to be effective when applied to younger populations. Cognitive development was proposed to account for this age discrepancy. One such construct, adolescent egocentrism comprising of the imaginary audience and the personal fable was explored in relation to both unhealthy behaviour participation and behavioural change. It appeared plausible that the cognitive distortions associated with this construct could affect individuals’ utilisation of those cognitive processes of change proposed by the TTM as being necessary for successful behaviour change. This may provide a fertile avenue for future behaviour change research, extending the interventional scope of the TTM.

The present research investigated the relationship between extra-curricular involvement (ECI) and self-regulated behaviours in 8 to 9 year old children, and identified sex, location, and socio-economic status (SES) differences in their ECI and self-regulatory behaviours. 550 children from 44 schools in Queensland and New South Wales, Australia completed the Child Self-Regulatory Process Inventory and questions about their ECI. Nearly 90% of students were involved in at least one extra-curricular activity with the mean number of activities being 1.27. Girls and urban children were significantly more involved in school-based extra-curricular activities than their male and rural counterparts; there were no significant differences among SES groups. Urban children and children in the high SES group reported significantly greater involvement for non-school based activities. For the three self-regulation strategies, girls scored significantly higher than boys. Moreover, children in the high ECI group reported significantly greater use of self-regulation strategies than children in the low ECI group and were more efficacious-persistent than children in both the low and medium ECI groups. implications of findings are discussed in light of the need for quality extra-curricular programs, especially in terms of emotional climate and self-directed activities.

Self-ranking of results on tests of reading, strength, dexterity, and grip in educational and vocational guidance were compared with test Performance for 49 adults undergoing educational and vocational guidance. Only some self-rankings were significantly correlated with the ranking of the standardised results. There were no influences of age, gender or years of schooling on self-ranking but there were marked inter-individual differences in the accuracy of self-assessment. The results have implications for the use of self-assessment in an educational context.

During the last decade there has been a call for schools to become more active in the promotion of students’ social and emotional learning (SEL). Given that teachers are significant adults in young people’s lives, they are often in the best position to deliver SEL programs. This small in-depth study investigated the impact of implementing a specific SEL program, “The Best of Coping”, on both the teacher and a class of 26 Year 9 (15-16 years) students. The study used a mixed methodology to evaluate the impact of the program. Both quantitative and qualitative data, including two case studies and entries from the teacher’s reflective journal, are reported. Changes in coping for both teacher and students as well as a positive impact on relationships between teachers and students were demonstrated. The study highlights the importance of the teacher’s role in implementing SEL programs and the challenges for teachers of delivering these programs. Issues associated with the implementation of school-based coping skills programs and the role of educational psychologists in supporting teachers in this work are discussed.

From 20 primary schools in Hong Kong, a sample of 59 boys and 62 girls in 4th grade and 98 boys and 99 girls in 5th grade (N = 318) responded to a survey about their learning-to-learn capabilities including (a) reading to learn, (b) self-management, (c) desire for knowledge, and (d) originality of ideas, and two facilitating factors for enabling such capabilities, including (e) academic self-concept, and (f) effort goal orientation. Confirmatory factor analysis provided support for the validity of the six psychological constructs. Analysis of variance found that although boys and girls did not differ in academic self-concept, desire for knowledge and originality, girls scored higher in effort goal orientation, reading to learn, and self-management. There was a gender x grade interaction effect in reading to learn, indicating that 5th grade girls were more willing than 4th grade girls to acquire knowledge through reading whereas 5th grade boys were less willing than 4th grade boys to do so. Advocates of education reform need to consider gender differences when formulating policies to promote students’ learning-to-learn capabilities and particularly to encourage boys to read.

Cyber-bullying has emerged as the latest Permutation of school bullying. The growing number and the level of severity of cyber-bullying call for our educators, researchers, administrators, and authorities to take action. But before we can tackle this problem, a better understanding of the issue and how we can best support students is necessary. This study of 652 young people aged 11–17 years from Melbourne independent and state government schools, provides data on bullying that uses information and communication technologies (cyber-bullying), general bullying, and overall patterns of coping. Results revealed significant gender and school differences – with girls from independent schools reporting more cyber-bullying problems. These findings contrast with those of ‘real-world’(general) school bullying. Further analyses suggest that young people who are persistently victimised have most likely exhausted their strategies for responding. Of note, apprehensive and avoidant coping profiles exemplified girls reporting greater levels of cyber-bullying while boys reporting cyber-bullying problems were characterized by apprehensive, but active coping actions. The findings offer clear avenues of support for school practitioners and may also facilitate the identification of young people who are at high risk for negative outcomes.

Investigation into positive youth development has led researchers to focus on the context of leisure as one that provides youth with opportunities to develop the skills and competencies desired for successful adulthood. This study surveyed 53 (14 males, 39 females, mean age 14.6) Western Australian high school students using an adapted version of the Youth Experience Survey (YES) 2.0. Participants were asked to report their perceived developmental experiences in both structured and unstructured activities across 2 domains: identity work and initiative development. Structured activities were found to offer adolescents more opportunities for the development of initiative than unstructured activities. In addition more adult involvement was found to be associated with higher levels of both identity work and initiative development experiences. No differences were found in developmental experiences between different structured activities. However comparisons among different unstructured activities suggest that some forms of unstructured leisure may be particularly beneficial to youth development Unstructured activities such as hobbies and unstructured sports offered adolescents more initiative and identity experiences than alternate unstructured activities such as media use and communication activities. Results are discussed in reference to theories of initiative development and the implications to the wider community.

Two key assumptions fundamental to theories and research that explain the learning of tertiary students is that students readily know and can articulate which behaviours of academics positively influence their learning. In this study open-ended questions were used to elicit responses from 200 students, one group enrolled in psychology as a major, and another group studying psychology units as an elective. Results showed that there was no difference in the perceptions of students as a function of their major in psychology. Clear and professional delivery of material was most frequently identified as best practice for academics. Students knew this because it was most frequently associated with student understanding and performance. The teaching approach of academics and the aids to learning used by academics were nominated most frequently as staff activities that enhanced student learning. Students knew this was effective because it enhanced understanding and performance and because of the provision of information from staff. It was suggested that academics could be more effective and students would learn more effectively if lectures and tutorials were delivered more carefully and facilities and aids were improved. For each question, between 12% to 40% of respondents did not know how to appropriately respond. The discussion focused on the meaning of the no responses, the identified factors of instructional metacognitive knowledge, the areas that academics might improve, and the necessity for instructional metacognitive knowledge to accompany information transferred in lectures and tutorials.