The attitudes of Maltese primary school children toward school and school subjects

Abstract

The aims of the present study were to develop an instrument in Maltese which gives a measure of primary school children's attitudes towards school and five major school subjects: mathematics, English, Maltese, social studies and religion. The study also sought to investigate the relationship between children's attitudes and scholastic attainment as a function of age and sex. The sample consisted of 677 children ( 336 boys and 341 girls) in Year 4, Year S and Year 6 of three local primary schools. Results indicated that girls score noticeably higher than boys on the attitude scales. In Year 4 and Year S a significant relationship exists between attitude and achievement; there is absence of relationship in Year 6. With regards to attitudes to school, no significant correlations were observed.