Fidelma Hanrahan and Robin Banerjee University of Sussex
description
Transcript of Fidelma Hanrahan and Robin Banerjee University of Sussex
Fidelma Hanrahan and Robin Banerjee
University of Sussex
‘I think education is bulls**t’: Understanding the pathway to
disaffection in school-excluded young people.
Background
What does school disaffection look like?Disruptive behaviour, emotional difficulties,
and academic failure (DETR, 1999; Skinner, Kindermann, & Furrer, 2008).
Behavioural/emotional profile associated with disadvantaged backgrounds (Daniels et al., 2003;
Jimerson, Egeland, Sroufe, & Carlson, 2000; Steer, 2000) as well as non-optimal future trajectories (Coles et al., 2002; DFE, 2012; Henry, Knight, & Thornberry, 2012; SEU, 1999).
Theoretical frameworksRecent theoretical work
Attempt to understand and explain link between environmental experiences and school engagement or disengagement.
Some plausible models such as the self-system model of motivational development (SSMMD; Connell & Wellborn, 2009; Skinner and colleagues, 2008; 2009).
Theoretical model of the development of disaffection
Social Environme
nts
Self
Motivation and cognitio
ns
Behaviour and emotio
n
Attribution theory
(Weiner, 1985)
Achievement goal theory
(Dweck & Leggett, 1988)
Possible selves
(Markus & Nurius, 1986)
Self-discrepancy
theory (Higgins, 1987)
Self-determination theory (SDT) (Ryan & Deci, 2000)
Support for an integrated model of school disaffection
Association between parental support of basic psychological needs and optimal outcomesdropping out of school associated with
perceptions of teachers and parents as less autonomy-supportive and perception of self as less autonomous and competent (Hardre & Reeve, 2003; Vallerand, Fortier, & Guay, 1997).
Social Environme
nts
Link between achievement goals and attributions, and behavioural outcomes ‘performance goal orientations’ – failure
results in threat to self-esteem leading to feelings of anxiety, depression, and shame, leading to self-handicapping and disruptive behaviour (Ames, 1992; Dweck & Leggett, 1988; Thompson, 2004).
Motivation and cognitio
ns
Link between multiple self-construals and disaffectionschool-excluded pupils generate more
impossible future selves and have more negative perceptions of their futures compared to non school-excluded pupils (Mainwaring & Hallam, 2010).
Self
Study I: Aim and research question• Aim:
• Address the lack of qualitative research, underpinned by psychological frameworks, which examines the lived experiences of school excluded pupils.
• Evaluate, and further develop, a model of disaffection
• Do the experiences of school-excluded pupils fit with an understanding of the psychological processes of self-discrepancies and achievement goals as mediating the link between troubled social backgrounds and a problematic behavioural/ emotional profile?
MethodParticipants
ten PRU and ex-PRU pupils (6 female, 4 male; aged 14-20 years; mixed ethnicity: 4 mixed race, 4 black, 1 white, 1 South-Asian)
six staff (2 female,4 male; 5 white, 1 black)Semi-structured interviews
Questionsexperiences at school and PRU the experience of being excludedrelationships with teachers, peers and othersattitude to education aspirationsself-concepts
AnalysisTranscripts analysed using theory driven thematic
analysis
Key findings – Model of school disaffection
Social Environm
ents
Self-construa
ls
Aspirations
Orientation to
school
Orientation to
school
Behavioural disengagement
from school
Disinterest
Anti-social behaviour
Resistance to authority
Absence
Distraction
Helpless behaviours
YP-1: […] I went to college to do A-Levels; I think I lasted about two weeks. […] I was just like, aw this is just like school, why bother, so I didn’t bother with it (Female, 20).
Negative emotions
Anger
Sadness
Hopelessness
Frustration
Anxiety
Embarrassment
YP-6: When it’s really hard I don’t understand it and I get frustrated (Male, 16).
AspirationsExtrinsic
motivation
Money as motivator
Lack of intrinsic motivation and task enjoyment
Performance goals
Focused on outcomes of learning i.e.
qualification for job
‘Fixed’ mindset
Intelligence as ‘fixed’
YP-6: I think [education] is bulls**t. [...] Int: And what keeps you doing it then?YP-6: The money really, till you get a job (Male,16).
YP-1: I’ve tried to go to college, [...] I don’t think it would’ve ever worked out… because there’s nothing that I’d say I’m so interested in that I’d go and study for years and stick to it […] it’d just piss me off, I wouldn’t be able to do that… if I’m going to do something now I’d want to know, well that’s going to get me a job right at the end of it (Female, 20).
YP-1: I’m not as smart as you think, [...] there’s a certain limit there… that’s as smart as I can get (Female, 20).
Self-construa
ls
Self as Failure
Lack of believed in ‘hoped-for’
self
YP-4: I thought [getting sent to the PRU] meant that I didn’t… I wasn’t going to get nothing, go nowhere in life[...] I wasn’t going to be able to achieve anything [...] that’s what I thought anyway (Female, 17).
YP-6: I see myself in the future as, like, not getting a job and stuff. Something really bad (Male, 16). Possible
selves
Lack of ideal self
Unrealistic ideal self or ideal self and no realistic
strategies
Feared self as expected self
YP-3: I’ve always got a brick wall around me. [...] you’ll never see me … you’ll never see the true – who I really am, who I always want to be but don’t feel that I’m able to (Female, 16).Inauthentic/’False’
self
Detached self-reliant self
Conflict between wanting to be
perceived as ‘nice’ and wishing to be feared
Social Environm
ents
School Environments
Failure to understand circumstances and
experiences of young people
Controlling responses
Peer Pressure
To be perceived as ‘bad’
Pursue needs through anti-social behaviour
and relationships with deviant peers
YP-4: [The school staff] didn’t care. [...] They knew that the school was bad; they knew that the people there was bad, so they just didn’t really care [...] (Female, 14).YP-3: [Pupils who have
been excluded] probably don’t even care that they’ve been kicked out of school. They’re more worried about what’s going on at home (Female, 16).
Chronic instability at home and
community disadvantage
Lack of positive parenting
No positive, realistic role models
Norm of disadvantage and anti-social
behaviour in community
Parental expectations lacking or unachievable
Social Environm
ents
YP-3: I mean I was involved with a gang when I was like 13 [...] I was just running around with like people, just doing bad things but… y’know, you don’t have to be in a gang to, beat someone up or, y’know, rob someone. […] Had problems at home [...] it’s a way of dealing with things really, a coping mechanism (Female, 16).
Chronic instability at home and
community disadvantage
Lack of positive parenting
No positive, realistic role models
Norm of disadvantage and anti-social
behaviour in community
Parental expectations lacking or unachievable
Peer Pressure
To be perceived as ‘bad’
Pursue needs through anti-social behaviour
and relationships with deviant peers
School Environments
Failure to understand circumstances and
experiences of young people
Controlling responses
Room for hope
Positive responses to the PRU environment
Supportive school environment
Focus on building relationships between staff and pupils
Teachers’ understanding of pupils’ experiences outside of
school environment
Realistic goals set
Recognition of achievements
Staff belief in pupils’ competence and positive futures
YP-4: I felt people [in the PRU] listened to you more [...] obviously they’re more understanding because they know people that’s coming there is got… problems, or troubles [...] so… if something was wrong they’ll try and find out or they’ll tell you to calm down or they’ll make you go and speak to someone and… stuff like that. So it was really really good (Female, 17).
Positive choices
Realistic positive hoped-for self
Sense of autonomy in making positive choices
Conclusion and questions for future research
• Initial attempt looking at possible mediators of the link between social background and behavioural and emotional outcomes supports an integrated model of disaffection.
• Future research• Systematically investigate the links between
these different psychological processes • How do they interact? Are links reciprocal?
Study II: Aim and research question
Survey study aim:Quantitative investigation of links between
psychological processes in modelAddress the lack of research into
engagement/disengagement with school-excluded pupils.
Research question• What does the pathway between the
psychological processes implicated in the development of disaffection look like?
• How do the these processes interact? Are links reciprocal?
Method
Participants102 PRU pupils (62 male, 33 female, 7
unknown), years 7 – 11Age range 11 – 17 years (M = 14.97, SD =
1.37)Ethnicity: 74% White, 10% Black, 5% mixed,
11% other/unknown
• Scales
Global self worth scale Harter
(1988)
The Perception
of False Self Scale (Weir &
Jose, 2010)
Life event scale Ystgaard
(1997); Swearingen and Cohen (1985);
Attar, Guerra, & Tolan, (1994)Perception
of Parents Scale
(POPS) (Grolnick, Ryan, & Deci, 1991)
Learning Climate
Questionnaire (LCQ) (Williams &
Deci, 1996)
Patterns of Adaptive
Learning Scale (PALS) (Midgely et
al., 2000)
Sydney Attribution Scale (SAS) (Marsh, 1984)
Aspiration Index (AI)
(Grouzet, Kasser, et al., 2005);
Social vignettes
Social Environme
nts
Self
Motivation and
cognitions
Behaviour and
emotion
Preliminary findings
POPS
The Perception
of False Self Scale
Global self worth scale
.52***
-.35**
* = p < .05; ** = p < .01; *** = p < .001
AI intrinsicAI
extrinsic
-.27*
.26*
PALS (Mastery)
.30**
-.28*
POPS
Preliminary findings
* = p < .05; ** = p < .01; *** = p < .001
Social vignette
s
Angry
Neg better
Neg liked
Neg respect
Neg solve prob
-.30**
-.32**
-.23*
-.24*
-.31**
POPS
Preliminary findings
* = p < .05; ** = p < .01; *** = p < .001
Tentative conclusions and unanswered questions
Some early support for the qualitative study and theoretical model of school disaffection more generally
Pathway analysis
How do they interact? Are links reciprocal?
With thanks to:
Robin Banerjee