Personality traits have effect on the students’ attitudes towards their schoolwork and their appraisals of stress in their daily life. 

– Influence of Personality Traits, Goals, Academic Efficacy, and Stressload on Final Grades in Swedish High School Students

Difficulties with attention/impatience were reported by more other students (n = 37, 23%) than by high performing students (n = 15, 13%; χ2 = 4.435, p = .035), while being open to new experiences was reported by more high-performing students (n = 14, 12%) …

– Self-Descriptions of High-Performing and Regular-Performing Primary School Students: An Open, Exploratory Study

A number of years ago, a friend who obtained a prestigious scholarship told me that there is no need to be the leader of the pack so long as you are in the pack. His view was that to be the best, you will need outsized effort for a very transient position. Not necessary or efficient, he said.

We were talking about exam results.

One way to think about the new Achievement Level (AL) grading system is that every grade has a lower and upper bound. It makes no difference in the final analysis at which end a student is within a band, for the purposes of secondary school selection.

School is beginning and results may once again feature on the minds of students. It may be useful to have a game plan especially if they would be sitting for a major exam such as the PSLE. This could take the form of looking at their P5 End-of-Year grade point total or total score from 4 – 32 along with the entry requirements for secondary schools they are interested in. Performance is different from potential and so the game plan could take into account what currently is along with what could well be.

One year, while not a particularly long span of time is not insignificant either. A lot can change. It is also possible that nothing very much changes. Part of the game plan should be to ask how many points can be shed from the P5 total score across subjects. At this stage and especially given their age, it is not difficult to be overly optimistic or pessimistic.

Grade jumps or how many points can be shed can be determined after considering the following questions. What was my AL grade? Why did I get this grade? Do I have learning gaps? Can these gaps be closed? To what extent can I realistically improve, given the timeframe? (What is realistic is a function of a great many factors. It would be too simplistic to look at current grades alone). A very important question in this analysis would be, how much work do I need and am I willing and mentally prepared to put in this amount of effort?

When it comes to achieving targets and making improvements, learning gaps and techniques to close them are only part of a complex mix of relevant factors. Studies have been done on non-curriculum related factors and their effect on student achievement.

One such study, published in the year which just passed, was conducted with high school students in Sweden. The researchers set out to find out if and how factors such as a student’s personality and mindset affected final grades.

Factors considered were, Academic Efficacy, Extraversion, Mastery Goals, Neuroticism, Performance Approach Goals, Self-Defeating Orientation and Stressload Serious Problems.

These factors are intrinsic to the student; that is, they have to do with a student’s mind frame and general approach to life. When forming targets for this year, it may be useful to form targets on these factors as well.

Glossary of Terms (translated to simple if not simplified personal statements)

These were some of the findings.

Students with a mastery goal mindset performed better. Progress may not be smooth especially when the student engages in deliberate practice. In every subject or subject component, there are areas in which a student would perform well and others not so well. For sustained improvement or improvement that is sustained over the longer term and for long-term, bigger gains, it is important to work on the very areas which a student currently needs improvement in. This means getting feedback for correction and not feeling satisfied with performance for some time. A student with a mastery goal mindset would be able to manage difficult emotions and have patience, with the knowledge that there will be a breakthrough.

Students who were very concerned about how others viewed them did not do as well. This is described as a Self-Defeating orientation by the researchers. For example, a student may not ask as many questions in class or not try as much because they want to avoid failure. Older students or adults with some experience may have come to the conclusion that trying to please takes away freedom to be and that the criticism of others might sting only if the person concerned accepts it. Also, everyone of us is equally capable of judging someone else of falling short of our standards. Students with this orientation might avoid the struggling which is necessary for progress because they fear the negative judgement, they would pass on themselves.

Students who exhibited less extraversion, perceived fewer situations as stressful and did take measures to handle their stressful situations or stress levels did better. Quiet focus is a valuable trait when it comes to achieving targets. It should be noted that while different situations can be stress inducing, not every student would feel stressed to the same degree. Here self-efficacy (belief in one’s ability to overcome challenges) and a Mastery Goal mindset would be useful.

Academic Self-efficacy was found to be the “most-important predictor of final grades” (Ollfors & Andersson, 2021).

When it comes to grade jumps, the whole-hearted belief that one would be able to pull it off is indispensable. Without the belief, it will be difficult to sustain or increase efforts.

So, from the start of this year, students would do well to first engage on a structured and targeted reflection of their performance in 2021 if they haven’t already done so. They can then know which areas to focus on. They would also need to reflect on their mindset. To do well, they must agree with themselves to be patient and to focus on their own progress without being afraid of feedback. Finally, they need to reflect on all the successes even in non-academic areas, however small, they have enjoyed in the past to strengthen the belief that they can achieve what they set their minds to.

Also, they should remember that caring too much is careless.

The Brain Dojo