BECE. Newsletter 

Vol.18, No.2, 2024, BECE 1917 

 

 

 

 

Labor Participation of Primary and Secondary School 

Students and Influencing Factors: An Empirical 

Study of 164 Schools 

By Yang, X., Liu, R., Liu, J., & Hong, W. 
Correspondence to: Rude Liu, Beijing Normal University, China. E-mail: 

rdliu@bnu.edu.cn  

RAWING on the self-determination theory and social learning theory, 

this study aims to examine the current state of labor participation in 

primary and secondary school students and influencing factors, with a sam-

ple of 34644 students from 164 schools in central China. Descriptive statis-

tics, the heterogeneity test, and the hierarchical linear regression are adopted 

in the analysis. 

Research Findings: 

• Descriptive statistics indicate: the students spent less-than-

expected time on labor activities both in homes and schools; 

there was a smaller variety of labor activities in the school than 

in the home; the majority of the schools surveyed paid inade-

quate attention to labor education; there existed significant dif-

ferences in labor motivation, with the intrinsic motivation pre-

dominating, social motivation related to peer influence being less 

impactful, and extrinsic motivation like encouragement and re-

wards from the teacher and parents being insufficient. 

• The results of the hierarchical linear regression based on correla-

tion analysis reveal: (i) After demographic variables being con-

trolled for, intrinsic motivation and encouragement and rewards 

from the teacher and parents as extrinsic motivation could posi-

tively and stably predict the content and time of the student’s la-

bor participation at home, with intrinsic motivation having the 

strongest predictive power. Teacher dictation as a form of extrin-

sic motivation posed significantly negative effects on student 

home labor participation. Parental dictation as another form of 

extrinsic motivation could positively predict the varieties of labor 

activities of the child. Social motivation could positively predict 

the duration of home labor participation of the student. (ii) After 

demographic variables being controlled for, the school’s atten-

tion on labor education could significantly positively predict the 

D 

mailto:rdliu@bnu.edu.cn


 

Vol.18, No.2, 2024, BECE 1918 

varieties of labor activities and duration of labor participation of 

the student. 

• The results of the heterogeneity tests and hierarchical linear re-

gression reveal that there were demographic differences in labor 

participation among the primary and secondary school students. 

Female students experienced more varieties of labor activities 

than their male counterparts. The eighth graders conducted more 

varieties of home and school labor activities and spent more time 

on school labor activities than the fourth graders. The students 

with siblings engaged in more varieties of home and school labor 

activities and spent more time on school labor activities than 

those without siblings. 

The study concludes that a more comprehensive labor education pro-

gram should be developed to promote student all-round growth by establish-

ing coordination mechanisms between the school, home and community, 

heightening students’ labor motivation and school attention on labor educa-

tion, and by diversifying labor activities while fully considering individual 

differences among students. 

 
Source: Journal of Schooling Studies, 2024; 20(4):79-91.