Who makes it to secondary school? Determinants of transition to secondary schools in rural India

Despite considerable progress made, a significant proportion of children continue to drop out before reaching secondary school in India. This study investigates factors influencing parental decision-making with regard to children's secondary schooling in the context of a rural area of Uttar Pradesh. The study finds that cost, distance to the nearest secondary school, membership in traditionally marginalised social groups, and being a girl child have a significant effect on a child's chance of transition. It also finds that factors influencing participation at the primary level may influence the transition decision, having key implications for education policy formulation across education levels.     

The transition to secondary school geometry: can there be a “chain of school mathematics”?

Students mainly perceive the transition to secondary school as an opportunity to start their school career anew. Reality often proves them wrong, especially in the case of mathematics. In our paper, we briefly discuss children’s transition to secondary school as both an opportunity and a problem, with reference to the Greek context. In discussions about the transition to secondary school and its effect on the teaching and learning of mathematics, primary and secondary school teachers in Greece often depict school mathematics as a “chain” of concepts and procedures. With this metaphor as our reference point, we discuss how ideologies about the teaching of mathematics are enacted in both school levels. We will base our discussion on the analysis of extracts taken from dialogues in primary and secondary school mathematics classrooms in Greece. In our analysis, we employ a Peircean view of semiotics in an attempt to conceptualize students’ rushed introduction to rigor in justifying mathematical statements in secondary school. These extracts are part of a longitudinal study that aimed, on the one hand, to pinpoint discontinuities and continuities in the teaching of geometry between primary and secondary schools and, on the other, to investigate whether a set of curriculum material that we designed could serve as a link in the teaching of geometry between the two school levels.     

Implementation Issues: a ‘FRIENDS for life’ course in a mainstream secondary school

“FRIENDS for life” is a manualised, 10 week, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) based programme designed to be run in school and community settings. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of “FRIENDS for life” when implemented in a mainstream secondary school by school staff. Data regarding implementation of the programme were collected and analysed using activity theory. A Single Case Experimental Design was used to monitor the impact of the intervention on the emotional distress and coping strategies of five secondary school participants. The findings suggest that participation in FRIENDS did not result in the hypothesised reductions in emotional distress, or improvement in coping skills. However programme implementation was incomplete. Analysis using activity theory suggested that factors such as lack of time, space for delivery, and experience and training impacted upon implementation and could be further supported by educational psychologists when developing these interventions.     

The transition from primary to secondary school: Teachers’ perspectives

The transition from primary school to secondary school has long been recognised as one of the most challenging times in a young adolescent students’ education, particularly in regard to their academic achievement. Research evidence from the last 30 years has identified a consistent pattern in students’ academic achievement across transition, suggesting that student achievement stalls or even declines in the first year of secondary school. The focus of this research was to identify teachers’ perceptions of the best practices to prepare students for a successful transition to secondary school. The findings were based on 12 one-on-one interviews with primary (Year 6) and secondary (Year 7) teachers. Teachers’ responses were analysed qualitatively through a process of thematic analysis. Findings from the research identified three key methods which primary and secondary school teachers believed were essential for facilitating successful transition experiences for students: curriculum continuity and awareness, communication between primary and secondary schools, and adequate teacher support.     

Progressing towards a model of intrinsic inclusion in a mainstream primary school: a SENCo’s experience

This article explores a Special Educational Needs Coordinator’s experience of progressing from a ‘mainstream + SEN’ approach to inclusion, defined as an extrinsically inclusive model, and perhaps more closely aligned to integration, towards a model of intrinsic inclusiveness. A three-tiered reading/spelling programme was implemented, using a structured, cumulative, individualised, multi-sensory approach for all children, with accompanying shared strategies and methods. Progress was evaluated through standardised tests, pupil questionnaires/interviews and discussion with staff. In addition to recorded progress in reading and spelling ages, the data revealed the majority of staff and children’s satisfaction with the methods/strategies used, and the shared ownership of them. The article concludes by discussing areas for development.     

‘Possible selves’ of young people in a mainstream secondary school and a pupil referral unit: a comparison

This research uses the psychological construct of ‘possible selves’ to investigate the aspirations of 25 students in Year 11. ‘Possible selves’ provide a conceptual link between self-concept and motivation. The study compared the positive, negative and impossible possible selves of Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) attendees with participants from a secondary school. Whereas 100% of the school students generated positive possible selves, only 69% of the PRU participants did so. The school students were more able to provide sub-goal strategies to achieve positive possible selves and could articulate alternatives if their first aspiration eluded them. PRU participants generated divergent impossible selves. The findings suggest that in comparison with those in school, PRU attendees have fragile positive selves and more negative perceptions of their prospects. This may indicate a lack of internalisation of positive future options. There are implications for practice as those who work in the PRU context aim to provide meaningful experiences.     

Do resource bases enable social inclusion of students with Asperger syndrome in a mainstream secondary school?

This research identifies the way in which one secondary school with a resourced provision for students with Asperger syndrome promotes social inclusion for them, and the perceptions of staff members and parents on the social experience of schooling for these children. Interviews were conducted with five teachers, two learning support assistants, and the head of the resourced provision. Questionnaires were completed by eight parents of students with Asperger syndrome who attend the provision. The research found that a positive social experience of schooling was perceived by members of staff and parents due to the additional support of the resource in teaching social skills, providing a safe place and support from the learning support assistants. Some negative perceptions of social experience were also reported, which highlighted the need for educational provision for students on the autism spectrum to be considered at an individual level.     

The development of students’ achievement emotions after transition to secondary school: a multilevel growth curve modelling approach

This empirical study focuses on students’ development of positive and negative achievement emotions during the first year and the beginning of the second year of secondary school. Using multilevel growth curve modelling, the development of the achievement emotions enjoyment, pride, anxiety, hopelessness and boredom during class in general was investigated. Data from 584 students (taken at three different time points during the first year and the beginning of the second year of secondary school in Germany) was analysed by controlling for gender and the type of school. The results confirm the main assumption: positive achievement emotions decline, whereas negative achievement emotions increase after transition to secondary school. The assumption regarding the effects of type of school was also confirmed: students entering a higher track school (German Gymnasium) experience more positive achievement emotions than students in middle track schools (German Realschule) do. However, the decline in these achievement emotions in higher track schools is comparatively worse than for students in middle track schools. The results are discussed with regard to students’ further studies, as well as the wider educational implications.

     

“Better to be a pessimist”: A narrative inquiry into mathematics teachers' experience of the transition to the Common Core

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are a focus of state education policy today influencing curriculum implementation and assessment in public schools. The purpose of this narrative inquiry is to understand how high school mathematics teachers experience the transition period. Based on interviews with mathematics teachers in a high school in the Midwest, we aim at bringing teachers' voices to the forefront. Through teachers' stories, we find that: a) Teachers live in the different zones of enactment; and b) Teachers' ecological view of agency should be used as a link to a transition to the CCSS for creating a genuine dialogue. This article is significant in two ways. First, it informs the administrators and policy makers of how there will be inconsistencies across states, districts, schools and classrooms in the implementation and assessment, and second, it helps to explain the need for new professional development approaches.     

Understanding what makes a positive school experience for pupils with SEND: can their voices inform inclusive practice?

Since the advent of the ideology of inclusion, several concerns have been raised worldwide regarding the effectiveness of its implementation. In the UK, governmental evidence suggests that maintaining pupils with special educational needs and/or disability (SEND) within mainstream school settings, is one of the greatest challenges (DfE, 2018). There is now, more than ever, the need to explore pupils with SENDs’ mainstream experiences and understand the challenges they encounter. This study explores the voices of secondary‐aged pupils with social emotional mental health difficulties and moderate learning difficulties as a way of understanding their needs and thus, facilitating their inclusion. Thematic analysis was employed to analyse data from semi‐structured interviews with 37 pupils with SEND and 8 typical pupils as a comparable group. The findings indicate that the school experiences of pupils differ based on their type of need. Yet, despite the differences, all the pupils expressed similar views on what makes a positive school experience. The four emerged themes were interesting lessons, effective control of challenging behaviour, equal allocation of teachers’ support and positive relations. The study concludes by proposing that listening to the voices of pupils with SEND can be a powerful tool to inform inclusive practice.     

‘What really matters to freshers?’: evaluation of first year student experience of transition into university

Measuring student experience in terms of satisfaction is a national measure used by prospective students when considering their higher education choices. Increasingly league tables are used as a means to rank universities with a limited interrogation of the reality of students’ experiences. This study explored the question ‘What really matters to freshers?’ during their transition into higher education through to completion. Students on an academic undergraduate Early Childhood Studies degree (n = 530) over a five-year period completed a Student Experience Evaluation in their first term and this data was correlated with the National Student Survey data collected about their cohorts in the final term of their degree. During the five year period, a number of interventions were undertaken by the academic staff to develop a learning community, based on the values linked to ‘being, belonging, and becoming’. The results of this study suggest that three things matter to students about their experience, that is, the academic staff they work with, the nature of their academic study and feeling like they belong. A model is proposed which aims to demonstrate the impact of academic staff, studies and the learning community that develops through social and academic experiences at University.     

Does self-efficacy contribute to the development of students’ motivation across the transition from secondary to higher education?

European Journal of Psychology of Education - The transition from secondary to higher education is a challenging process, in which the development of students’ motivation plays a pivotal...     

From mainstream school to pupil referral unit: a change in teachers’ self-understanding

As teachers are at the heart of education, a substantial number of studies have researched the perception that mainstream school teachers have of themselves in relation to their work. This investigation extends this field of inquiry by examining how teachers’ self-understanding is altered when they transfer from mainstream to special school education. This study adopts the methodology of interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) to examine in detail how three female teachers in inner London experienced the transition from mainstream secondary schools to teaching in alternative provision for excluded students referred to as a pupil referral unit (PRU). Central to IPA is how an individual experiences a substantial change in life and the influence this may have on his or her world views. The research approach adopted is, therefore, idiographic and reliant on the experiences of a small number of participants. The findings from this investigation indicate that the participants chose to leave mainstream school education when they came to the self-realisation that they wanted to engage in more creative and personally engaging professional practice with a stronger moral purpose. When they started to teach at a PRU, the more persistent and personal relationships with their students brought about a substantial change in self-understanding.     

Expanding access to secondary education: Can India catch up?

In the last decade the national Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) programme has focussed on universaling access to elementary education (Grades I–VIII). Most recently the Right to Education Act provides the legislative framework to guarantee schooling to all children between 6 and 14 years of age. It remains the case however that less than half of all children attend and complete secondary school especially in the Northern states. Under the 11th National Plan Rastriya Madhyamic Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) has been launched to increase the numbers entering secondary school. This paper explores some of the key issues in planning and managing the growth in participation that is envisaged so that 75% or more enjoy the benefits of transition to Grades IX and X. The issues include the constraints on expansion that arise from the restricted output of elementary school graduates, the continued exclusion of the poorest and those from disadvantaged groups from progression to Grade VIII, the costs to households and government of universal secondary schooling as currently structured, the limits to growth of private provision, the massive infrastructure needs, and the problems associated with increasing teacher supply and deployment. Policy dialogue around secondary school expansion is a central concern if India is to close the gap between itself and China and other rapidly developing countries in educating most of its population beyond the elementary level.     

Sustainability and distance learning: a diverse European experience?

Higher Education (HE) is experiencing disruption from technologies, demographics, the globalising world and longer life expectancy. Historically Higher Education has had a legacy of being seen as the requirement for an educated ‘elite’, there has been a policy ambition set in various countries (including the UK) for it to become the expectation for much wider segments of the population as a whole. As students become ‘everyone’ and learning becomes ‘all the time’ Distance Teaching and Research Institutions have a tremendous opportunity but there are also many disruptions and barriers to overcome. Higher Education institutions have an important role within Education for Sustainable Development and sustainable lifestyles; one of the important goals and targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development goals for 2030. Higher Education can contribute to sustainability in many ways – social, technical and environmental; globally and locally. In particular distance-learning universities due to the flexibility in the learning process, use of technologies, and inter-disciplinary approach to teaching and learning, constitute key factors in education for sustainable development. But what will this contribution look like? In this paper, the responses from senior leaders in four major European distance-learning universities are presented, compared and discussed. The tentative conclusions draw out some strategic imperatives for sustainable higher education in the twenty first century.     

Expectation vs experience: might transition gaps predict undergraduate students’ outcome gaps?

Drawing on thematic analysis of one-to-one interviews with 85 undergraduate students, this paper offers initial, exploratory analysis of whether known outcome differentials may be partly attributable to students’ transition into university. The study is located in the English higher education sector, where fee increases have been accompanied by wider availability of metrics and outcome differentials have become a particular focus of attention. Specifically, this paper examines (in)congruence between students’ expectations of higher education and their experience while at university, tracking how recalled pre-arrival expectations correlate with socio-economic status and school type. In the case of students from ‘widening participation’ (WP) backgrounds, the effect of attendance on an intervention (access) programme is also considered. Findings point to a complex web of factors influencing the undergraduate experience of students within the same institution. For WP students, the widest gaps arise in relation to pedagogy, as the culture and curricula of higher education are initially found inconsistent with expectations. Intervention programmes make a small positive difference, primarily because social and academic confidence is enhanced. For students educated at independent schools, the widest gaps arise in relation to assessment, for which university-level support and guidance are felt to be less personalised than expected. On a structural level, findings question the reliability of output metrics as proxies for teaching quality given the extent to which they are predicted by students’ backgrounds and by the nature of their individual transition into higher education.     

Young people with high‐functioning autism and Asperger's syndrome planning for and anticipating the move to college: what supports a positive transition?

For many young people in England, the move into continuing education involves a transfer from the school where they were educated to a further education college. For those with high‐functioning autism or Asperger's syndrome, this can be a challenging process. Past research has demonstrated some of the problems that these young people can encounter. This article by Wendy Mitchell and Bryony Beresford, both based in the Social Policy Research Unit at the University of York, adds to the evidence base by describing how best to support these young people, focusing specifically on ‘young person endorsed’ practice. Data are gleaned from qualitative interviews with 18 young people with high‐functioning autism/Asperger's syndrome. Findings reveal that young people welcomed the involvement of practitioners; however, specific forms of help and knowledge were particularly valued. In addition, it was parents, as opposed to professionals, who typically emerged as the most significant and valued source of support. Implications for practice are discussed, including the support needs of parents.     

Preparing pupils to cooperate during cooperative controversy in grade 6: a way to increase positive interactions and learning?

Research has underlined the necessity to prepare pupils to cooperate in order to boost cooperative learning benefits. However, this kind of training may appear very demanding. The present study aims to demonstrate that a short preparation related to social support and targeted cooperative rules relevant for the task increases constructive interactions. Thirty-two pupils from grade 6 (11.8 years) were involved in dyadic cooperative controversy (Johnson and Johnson 2007) on argumentative texts for one session. All pupils were presented with three targeted rules for controversy. Half of the pupils had a short intervention related to the demonstration of social support, and the three targeted cooperative rules for controversy were explained and discussed (listening carefully while affirming understanding, criticizing ideas, but not people, and focusing on common goal). The pupils' interactions during cooperative controversy were videotaped and coded and the individual learning regarding the content of the studied texts was assessed. Results indicated that those pupils who had been prepared to cooperate displayed more support, asked more questions, and paid more attention to their partner. The overall quality of cooperation inside the dyad was also evaluated as more positive, though no difference in learning outcomes was observed. In summary, a short preparation for cooperation elicited more constructive interactions.     

‘Poetry is not a special club’: how has an introduction to the secondary Discourse of Spoken Word made poetry a memorable learning experience for young people?

This paper explores the impact of a Spoken Word Education Programme (SWEP hereafter) on young people’s engagement with poetry in a group of schools in London, UK. It does so with reference to the secondary Discourses of school-based learning and the Spoken Word community, an artistic ‘community of practice’ into which they were being inducted. It focuses on what happened when secondary students, already enculturated into school Discourses about learning (in their English lessons especially), learned about new ways of being readers, writers, listeners, and performers through the SWEP Discourse. The paper draws on qualitative data collected during the first three years of programme development to consider how an introduction to the social practices of this artistic community appeared to influence 11–18 year old students’ attitudes to poetry study, discussion, writing, and performance both in school and beyond the parameters of traditional secondary school learning.