Do Filipino Youth Really Value Education? Exploring Filipino Adolescents' Beliefs About the Abstract and Pragmatic Value of Education and its Relationship to Achievement Goals and Learning Strategies
Allan B.I. Bernardo
De La Salle University-Manila
E-mail: bernardoa@dlsu.edu.ph
Reprinted with the permission from the Philippine Journal of Psychology (vol. 36, no. 2) December 2003, the official publication of the Psychological Association of the Philippines

An exploratory study was conducted to investigate how Filipino young adult students perceive the abstract and pragmatic value of education, and how these perceptions or beliefs about the value of education relate to the students' academic goal orientation (mastery, performance and work avoidance) and learning strategies (rehearsal, elaboration, organization, critical thinking and metacognition). A questionnaire was administered to determine college students' self reported beliefs, goals, and learning strategies. The key results indicate (a) strong positive beliefs about the abstract value of education; (b) weaker positive beliefs about the pragmatic value of college education; (c) somewhat negative beliefs about the pragmatic value of academic achievement; (d) weaker associations between the abstract and pragmatic beliefs, compared to the stronger associations among the different pragmatic beliefs about the value of education. In addition, (e) abstract beliefs were correlated only with performance goals, whereas pragmatic instrumental beliefs were correlated with all the goal orientations; (f) abstract beliefs were correlated only with the lowest level learning strategies, whereas pragmatic beliefs were more strongly associated with other higher level strategies; and (g) multiple regression analysis linked pragmatic beliefs and mastery goal orientation with the higher level learning strategies of critical thinking and metacognition. The results are discussed in terms of the possible importance of looking at the Filipino youth's beliefs about the personal relevance and importance of education and how they shape students' academic aspirations, motivations, performance, and achievement.