An Educational Approach to Elementary School Students' Free Time

The aim of this research was to examine the relationship between sociodemographic characteristics and elementary school students' (grades 5 - 8) estimates of the importance of particular secondary needs. The sample comprised 196 participants. The starting premise was the concept of "Four wishes"for defining the situation by W I. Thomas (1863 - 1947). The research instrument used in this research was a specifically designed questionnaire founded on the four wishes by Thomas: the wish for security, wish for response, wish for recognition and wish for new experience. The Mann-Whitney U test, factor analysis, descriptive statistical analysis, linear regression analysis, Kruskal Wallis test and correlation analysis were applied. The research results show statistically significant differences in the estimate of importance of particular needs with respect to gender, i.e. participants' age. A correlation was established between expressing the importance of the need for security with respect to age, and a positive correlation between recognition and participants' age. Furthermore, a correlation was found between age and expressing the need for new experience among participants. The research established that female participants have a significantly greater need for recognition.