A Longitudinal Examination of Changes in Students’ Enjoyment of School and Influences of Teachers and Parents During the Primary-Secondary School Transition: An Integrated Compulsory Education School Compared to Non-Integrated Schools

In Japan, an integrated compulsory education system was implemented in response to difficulties in school adjustment associated with students' transition from elementary to junior high school. Aspects needing further examination include relationships between the extent of environmental change from before to after the transition to students' sense of adjustment to school, and longitudinal effects of teachers and parents on students' adjustment to school during this transition. The present article reports a longitudinal survey of 121 students (54 boys, 67 girls) from 1 unified primary-secondary school and 173 students (104 boys, 69 girls) from regular elementary and junior high schools. Students completed questionnaires at the end of the sixth grade and 3 times during the following school year, i.e., at the beginning, middle, and end of the year. Analysis of the data revealed no significant differences in the trajectory of school enjoyment between the 2 types of school transitions, although the extent of environmental change was less during the transition in the unified primary-secondary school than in the change from regular elementary schools to regular junior highs. The mean of the change in school enjoyment tended toward slightly negative; the variance of the change was significant. The distribution of the change in school enjoyment revealed that only a few of the students markedly increased or decreased their school enjoyment. A longitudinal reciprocal influence was found between the teacher-student relationships and school enjoyment during the first year of junior high school. No longitudinal effect of the parent-child relationships was found to be significant.