*Norhafezah Yusof, Minah Harun, Nursafwah Tugiman, Che Su Mustaffa, Marini Kasim

Abstract:

The central focus of this paper is on students’ meaning-making of relations with others in daily encounters. Making sense of how school students frame themselves and others requires understanding their well-being given that these students are considered academically competent and some of their peers are facing the risk of dropping out. Thus, drawing from the relational communication perspective, we argue that the way these students view themselves in daily relationships with others might affect or impact their attitudes towards schooling. This paper seeks to understand how school students who are considered achievers construct images of themselves and others in daily interactions. How they articulate their relations and interpret such encounters are impactful not only to them but also others around them. Six (6) focus group discussion sessions with twenty-eight (28) students were conducted. Interview protocols were developed based on literature review. The data were analysed using Atlas.ti software.

Keywords: Framing of self and others, meaning making, relational communication theory