Peer Groups And The Left-behind Children’s Education Research

The left-behind children are the special populations that spawned out of theurbanization process of China’s reform and opening up. Education of childrenleft-behind attracted international attention in recent years. However, the majorityhold negative stereotypes of children left-behind in recently media reports andacademic articles. They think children left-behind have poor academicperformance and inadequate psychological development. All aspects develop in aweak position. The left-behind children are stigmatized as a "problem child".Through the Survey of children left behind at Shifeng village of Guling town inMashan county in Nanning city in Guangxi, we find that the education of childrenleft-behind is not a complete failure. There are successful cases as well. After theinterviews and in-depth observation on living environment and interaction status ofthe children left behind, we find that, in the background of the absence of familyfunctioning, peer group impact the educational outcomes of children left behind.And the following factors have a significant impact on the learning behavior andpersonality and psychological develop of the children left-behind: Ascription andthe purpose of cross-cutting of rural children left-behind; The stability betweenmembers and the freedom way; Highlights of the influence of opinion leaders inpeer group; Peer group has a geopolitical and tribal feature. Analyze withsociology and social psychology and combine with the characteristics of the peergroup of rural children left-behind, we find that the mechanisms of peer group tothe education of the children left-behind includes three effects: cycle to strengthenthe ownership of drive effect; Group pressure contributed to the obedience effect;Mutual help between members and the inhibitory effect. These three mechanisms, which are different from the normal peer group effects, influent and contribute tothe development of education of the children left-behind. It can deepen the study ofpeer group education of rural children left-behind and provide a basis to find asuccessful way to the education of rural children left-behind. To have the ruralchildren left-behind receive a good education and grow up healthily and timber,which promote the harmonious development of the new socialist countryside inChina and stable the future of the rural areas of the motherland.