Meeting their potential: the role of education and technology in overcoming disadvantage and disaffection in young people

This report is a review of literature, policy and reported practice, exploring the potential of technology to mitigate disaffection and disadvantage in education and raise attainment of those young people who are under-achieving in school or other educational settings

To what extent is behaviour a problem in English schools?:Exploring the scale and prevalence of deficits in classroom climate

The working atmosphere in the classroom is an important variable in the process of education in schools, with several studies suggesting that classroom climate is an important influence on pupil attainment. There are wide differences in the extent to which classroom climate is considered to be a problem in English schools. Some ‘official’ reports suggest that behaviour in schools is ‘satisfactory or better’ in the vast majority of schools; other sources have pointed to behaviour being a serious and widespread problem. The paper details four studies conducted over the past decade which aimed to explore these disparities. The aim of the research was to gain a more accurate insight into the extent to which deficits in classroom climate limit educational attainment and equality of educational opportunity in English schools. The findings question the suggestion that behaviour is satisfactory or better in 99.7% of English schools and the concluding section suggests ways in which deficits in classroom climate might be addressed. Although the study is limited to classrooms in England, OECD studies suggest that deficits in the working atmosphere in classrooms occur in many countries. The study therefore has potential relevance for education systems in other countries

Disengagement 14-16: Context and Evidence

This paper presents an overview of our current state of knowledge regarding poor motivation of 14-16 year oldschool pupils in the UK. A number of experts in the field from a variety of disciplines presented papers on thistopic to a series of seminars held at the London School of Economics between 2002 and 2003. These papers,summarised here, present evidence from a historical, comparative, and social science perspectives and report theresults of evaluation of government intervention programmes to improve motivation. International comparisons(PISA) show UK disengagement below the OECD average but the UK has the strongest link between socioeconomicdisadvantage and disengagement. We identify a very small 'out of touch' group who have practicallylost touch with school and a larger group - around one fifth of the cohort - who could be characterised as'disaffected but in touch'. Finally, we identify a further group - perhaps 15 per cent of the cohort who gainbetween 1 and 4 GCSE passes at Grades A*-C but who have not reached full potential as a result of loss ofinterest in learning. The 'out of touch' group often requires intensive one-on-one mentoring outside the schoolcontext. Evaluation of government intervention programmes has not so far shown an obvious way forward forthe 'disaffected but in touch' group, targeted principally by workplace learning measures. For the '1-4 Grade C'group, there may be something of a magic bullet - namely better vocational options.disengagement, motivation, under-achievement

Study design and protocol for a mixed methods evaluation of an intervention to reduce and break up sitting time in primary school classrooms in the UK: the CLASS PAL (Physically Active Learning) Programme

Introduction: Children engage in a high volume of sitting in school, particularly in the classroom. A number of strategies, such as physically active lessons (termed movement integration (MI)), have been developed to integrate physical activity into this learning environment; however, no single approach is likely to meet the needs of all pupils and teachers. This protocol outlines an implementation study of a primary school-based MI intervention: CLASS PAL (Physically Active Learning) programme. This study aims to (A) determine the degree of implementation of CLASS PAL, (B) identify processes by which teachers and schools implement CLASS PAL and (C) investigate individual (pupil and teacher) level and school-level characteristics associated with implementation of CLASS PAL. Methods and analysis: The intervention will provide teachers with a professional development workshop and a bespoke teaching resources website. The study will use a single group before-and-after design, strengthened by multiple interim measurements. Six state-funded primary schools will be recruited within Leicestershire, UK. Evaluation data will be collected prior to implementation and at four discrete time points during implementation: At measurement 0 (October 2016), school, teacher and pupil characteristics will be collected. At measurements 0 and 3 (June-July 2017), accelerometry, cognitive functioning, self-reported sitting and classroom engagement data will be collected. At measurements 1(December 2016-March 2017) and 3, teacher interviews (also at measurement 4; September-October 2017) and pupil focus groups will be conducted, and at measurements 1 and 2 (April-May 2017), classroom observations. Implementation will be captured through website analytics and ongoing teacher completed logs. Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval was obtained through the Loughborough University Human Participants Ethics Sub-Committee (Reference number: R16-P115). Findings will be disseminated via practitioner and/or research journals and to relevant regional and national stakeholders through print and online media and dissemination event(s)

The pursuit of self-esteem and its motivational implications

Although recent studies have found contingent self-esteem (CSE) to be negatively related to individuals' well-being, research concerning its implications for motivation and engagement is scarce. In two studies, we investigated the relation between CSE, motivation, and engagement in achievement-related situations. A first cross-sectional study among second year high school students (N = 641; 54.1% female) confirmed the hypothesized motivational ambiguity associated with academic CSE. Beyond the contribution of academic self-esteem, academic CSE was positively related to behavioral and emotional engagement, but also to emotional disaffection and test anxiety. These associations could partially be explained by motivational quality, as CSE was also positively related to both autonomous and controlled types of motivation. In a second experimental study among university students (N = 72; 70.8% female), who participated in a tangram puzzle task under varying feedback circumstances, global CSE related to more tension, while predicting less behavioral task perseverance. These effects were not moderated by the type of feedback provided (i.e., positive vs. negative). Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed

Differences Between First-Generation and Continuing-Generation College Students in Psychological Need Fulfillment, Academic Engagement, and Retention

First-generation college students (FGCS) often struggle to find academic success unlike continuing-generation college students (CGCS) who often obtain higher GPA by the end of the semester. Using self-determination theory (SDT) as a lens, differences between FGCS and CGCS both at the beginning and end of the semester were investigated. Measures included psychological need fulfillment (autonomy, competence, relatedness), academic self-regulation (relative autonomy index), stress, academic engagement (learning involvement), academic performance (GPA), and retention. Between groups t-tests were used to assess differences in FGCS and CGCS, whereas multiple regression analyses were conducted to test relationships among the measured variables. FGCS reported being more stressed than CGCS. Psychological need fulfillment significantly predicted higher academic self-regulation and lower stress. Academic self-regulation and lowered stress significantly predicted higher academic engagement. Academic engagement significantly predicted academic performance, but did not predict retention. Implications for these results help to reinforce that by increasing psychological need fulfillment within students, stress can be reduced and academic self-regulation along with academic engagement can increase leading students to perform better in college

The Relationship Between Teacher Cultural Competency and Student Engagement

This exploratory study investigated teachers\u27 cultural competency and their students\u27 engagement within international high schools located in Hong Kong. Cultural competency is defined as a combination of knowledge about cultural groups as well as attitudes towards and skills for dealing with cultural diversity (Betancourt, 2003). The literature indicates that cultural competency will continue to play an increasingly important role in the professional work place as culturally diverse people become more interdependent. When examining the classroom experience, cultural competency equates to a teacher\u27s ability to successfully instruct and engage culturally different students. The students in this study reported over 30 different nationalities. Many of these students were internationally mobile and lived outside of their home country for a significant portion of their lives. As Third Culture Kids, these students grew up between cultures and reflect our global society (Pollock & Van Reken, 1999). In turn, the teachers in these international schools worked with a culturally diverse population of students. An unsubstantiated assumption follows that as educators increase their cultural competency, student engagement and achievement also increases. Thus, this study sought to determine if a relationship exists between teachers\u27 cultural competency and their students\u27 engagement. The study involved 70 high school teachers and 520 high school students within two international schools in Hong Kong. Two survey instruments were used to measure teacher cultural competency and student engagement. The Multicultural Awareness Questionnaire (Culhane-Pera, et al., 1997) measures cultural competency along three subconstructs: knowledge, skills and attitude. The Student Engagement Survey (Skinner, 1991) measures a four factor model of engagement. A quantitative analysis determined several salient findings. International school teacher perceptions of their cultural competency are primarily in an ethnorelative frame. The study also revealed that teacher self-reported cultural competency does not have a significant correlation with student engagement. However, students\u27 perceptions of their teacher\u27s cultural competency does bear a strong positive relationship with student engagement. This study has ramifications for both educators and researchers. There are recommendations for instructional practice and school leadership. As a foundational study, additional research is required to further explore the impact of teachers\u27 cultural competency on student success

The role of affective teacher-student relationships in adolescents’ school engagement and achievement trajectories

This longitudinal study investigated the role of teacher-student closeness and conflict in adolescents' school engagement trajectories, and how school engagement dimensions predict achievement trajectories. A sample of 5,382 adolescents (Mage.wave1 = 13.06, SD = 0.51; 49.6% boys) were followed from Grade 7 to 9. Yearly measures included student reports on school engagement dimensions, teacher reports on closeness and conflict, and standardized tests for math achievement. Latent growth models revealed that closeness positively and conflict negatively predicted students' school engagement. Furthermore, adolescents' behavioral and emotional engagement, and disaffection in particular, played an important role in predicting achievement within the same schoolyear. Moreover, increases in behavioral disaffection and emotional engagement aligned with reduced and steeper increases in achievement between Grade 7 and 9, respectively. In general, this study underscores the importance of adolescents’ affective teacher-student relationships for their engagement in school, and the role of school engagement in predicting achievement