Faktencheck #47: Großer Fisch im kleinen Teich

Nein, jetzt geht es nicht um Biologie, sondern um Pädagogik, bzw. pädagogische Pschologie: Der “Big-Fish-Little-Pond-Effect” (BFLPE) ist wissenschaftlich gut erforscht.

Hier ein paar Forschungsergebnisse, in einer Metaanalyse von 33 Studien und 56 Effektgrößen zusammengetragen von sechs Wissenschaftler/innen der School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.

Fang, J., Huang, X., Zhang, M., Huang, F., Li, Z. & Yuan, Q. (2018). The Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect on Academic Self-Concept: A Meta-Analysis. Front. Psychol. 9 (1569). doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01569

Das Akademische Selbstkonzept (ASC)

Der Lernerfolg und die Motivation von Schüler/innen hängt in starkem Maße davon ab, als wie erfolgreich sie sich selbst wahrnehmen.

In educational psychology, Academic Self-Concept (ASC) refers to students’ self-perception in specific disciplines (e.g., math self-concept, science self-concept) or more general academic areas (i.e., global/general ASC) (Marsh et al., 2008a). As a prominent construct in educational psychology, student ASC showed substantial positive relations with many desirable educational outcomes, such as academic effort (Traütwein et al., 2006), academic interest and long-term educational attainment (Marsh et al., 2005, 2007; Pinxten et al., 2010). Earlier empirical researches and a metaanalysis manifested that academic achievement and ASC are reciprocally related (Guay et al., 2003; Valentine and Dubois, 2005; Marsh and Craven, 2006). Positive ASC is an important means of facilitating student academic accomplishments and has been regarded as one of the key objectives of education (Seaton et al., 2009), therefore delving into the ASC forming process and revealing the forming mechanismmake an impact both academically and practically. (Fang et al. 2018, S. 1)

Das akademische Selbstkonzept resultiert aus Leistung und Vergleich

Die Selbstwahrnehmung und -einschätzung wird anhand bestimmter Kriterien gewonnen. Ein Kriterium sind objektive oder lehrervermittelte Maßstäbe; ein anderes wesentliches Kriterium stellt der Vergleich mit den anderen Schüler/innen der Klasse dar: Wenn der generelle Leistungsstand in der Klasse hoch ist, erlebt man sich als nicht so gut (Little-Fish-Big-Pond); sind die anderen relativ schwach, erlebt man sich als besser (Big-Fish-Little-Pond). Diese Effekte halten die Forscher für interkulturell gegeben und stabil.

It has been demonstrated that student’s ASC is shaped not only by his or her performance but also by social comparisons (Marsh, 1988; Marsh et al., 1995; Möller et al., 2009; Parker et al., 2013; Niepel et al., 2014). Students compare their own achievement with that of their class- or schoolmates, which leads them to feel more negative about their own competencies in high-achieving atmosphere than in low-achieving atmosphere. Marsh (1987) argued that this social comparison mechanism lies at the heart of the BFLPE.
Evidence accumulated for several decades supported the BFLPE (Marsh and Hau, 2003; Huguet et al., 2009; Chiu, 2012; Becker and Neumann, 2016; Areepattamannil et al., 2017). The BFLPE was proved to be intercultural and stable: (Fang et al. 2018, S. 2)

Ergebnis 1: Der Effekt erweist sich als durchgehend, auch in der umgekehrten Version

The results of the meta-analysis contribute to the BFLPE realm both theoretically and practically. First of all, confirmation of the persistence of the BFLPE demonstrates the point that students’ perception of oneself can be understood in consideration of social comparison theory, which argues that unpleasant social comparison experienced in higher ability educating environment may induce lower ASC (Marsh et al., 1995; Huguet et al., 2009). Since there lacks less able students to make favorable comparison with and overflows with more able students in a highly capable group, it is possible for students to experience uncertainty about one’s own ability and ambiguity in verifying their own competence, which may induce lower ASC. (Fang et al. 2018, S. 7)

Ergebnis 2: Wie ein durchschnittlicher Schüler ein positiveres Selbstkonzept haben kann als ein besserer

Second, the BFLPE could give explanations for educational phenomena. For example, average students in general classes or schools always have more positive ASC than those abler ones attending advanced placement, which can be interpreted by the BFLPE that the former usually rank favorably in their local environment, while the latter frequently rank unfavorably with much more highquality peers in their surroundings. (Fang et al. 2018, S. 7)

Ergebnis 3: Negative Auswirkungen des Effekts beachten!

Eltern sollten darauf achten, wie sich das Selbstbewusstsein ihrer Kinder in der geplanten Lernumgebung entwickeln könnte; die Lehrkräfte sollten den Effekt im Hinterkopf und die entsprechenden Kinder im Auge behalten.

Aus dem Fischteicheffekt schließen die Autoren der Metastudie auf die Notwendigkeit von Sonderschulen oder -klassen: Wenn benachteiligte Kinder in Regelklassen sitzen, können sie darunter leiden, ein kleiner Fisch in einem (zu) großen Teich zu sein.

Last but not least, negative consequences of being in a more competitive educational setting should not be ignored. From the perspective of parents who consider sending their children to high-achieving schools or transferring children to advanced classes, they should be informed of the potential negative consequence on ASC; as for educators, understanding how ASC might be influenced by the BFLPE can facilitate application of appropriate teaching practices, so that they can help students develop proper ASC, which is necessary for fine academic development. It has been demonstrated that differentiated instruction strategies can be used to attenuate the BFLPE (Roy et al., 2015); besides, it reveals the necessity of special education classes or schools: when disadvantaged students are put in regular schools/classes, they are very likely to suffer from low ASC for being small fishes in the big pond.  (Fang et al. 2018, S. 7; [Hervorhebung von mir])

Ergebnis 4: Der Effekt ist altersabhängig

Bei älteren Schüler/innen zeigt sich der Big-fish-little-pond-Effekt stärker als bei jüngeren.

Moreover, this meta-analysis found that student age significantly moderates the BFLPE, that is, the BFLPE is the strongest when students in high school, weaker in middle school and college, and shows the weakest in primary school. (Fang et al. 2018, S. 7–8)

Ergebnis 5: Warum der Effekt bei älteren Schülern am stärksten ist

Die größere Wirksamkeit erklären die Forscher so:

a) Die Leistungsdifferenzierung, die oft erst in höheren Klassen einsetzt, birgt für durchschnittliche oder schwächere Schüler die Gefahr, im Vergleich schlechter abzuschneiden und so ein negatives Selbstkonzept zu entwerfen.

b) In dieser Lebensphase entwickelt sich die Selbstwahrnehmung viel stärker als zuvor und bringt für viele Jugendliche deshalb auch eine erhöhte Unsicherheit in Bezug auf das, was sie sind oder leisten können, mit sich.

As for high school students’ strongest effect, we can explain it in two ways. First, the tracking effect. Academic tracking system has been the most implemented curriculum delivery model in almost all schools, which mostly happens during high school (Lüdtke et al., 2006; Falkenstein, 2007; Liu and Wang, 2008; Wouters and Fraine, 2010; Houtte and Stevens, 2015; Salchegger, 2016; Dumont et al., 2017). The academic tracking system divides students into class/school levels for low, medium, and high achievers in each grade based on past performance, which may increase the chances of experiencing unpleasant comparison for students in intermediate-track or high-track schools; second, high school students are experiencing a period of life characterized by increased self-consciousness, and they always face more academic pressure. So synthetically considering, students in this age group would be much more influenced by the class/schoolaverage ability. (Fang et al. 2018, S. 8)

Zusammenfassung: Warum es wichtig ist, auf den Fischteicheffekt zu achten

These results suggest that the BFLPE is an age-based process, which occurs at primary school age and reaches peak value during high school. Considered that ASC in high school has been found to be more salient than actual academic achievement in predicting learning effort, educational and occupational aspirations, and subsequent university course selection (Guay et al., 2004; Marsh et al., 2008a), special caution from teachers and parents should be paid for high school students, who are at risk of suffering the strongest BFLPE. (Fang et al. 2018, S. 8)

Literatur

Fang, J., Huang, X., Zhang, M., Huang, F., Li, Z. & Yuan, Q. (2018). The Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect on Academic Self-Concept: A Meta-Analysis. Front. Psychol. 9 (1569). doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01569