Transitional and Pedagogical Considerations for Mobile Students
Author(s):
Robyn Henderson (presenting / submitting)
Conference:
ECER 2014
Network:
14. Communities, Families and Schooling in Educational Research
Format:
Paper

Session Information

14 SES 02 B, School-Related Transitions Within a Life Course Perspective (Part 2)

Paper Session: continued from 14 SES 01 B and to be continued in 14 SES 08 B, 14 SES 09 B

Time:
2014-09-02
15:15-16:45
Room:
B326 Sala de Aulas
Chair:
Rune Kvalsund

Contribution

Mobility has become a feature of today’s world, with families moving for a range of reasons, including work-related moves, family separation and sometimes political necessity (Titus, 2007). As a result, many school-aged children change schools, sometimes on multiple occasions during their school lives. However, schooling is generally predicated on residentially-stable or sedentary student populations and this would seem to be problematic for mobile students. Indeed, research from many countries of the world suggests it is not unusual for mobile students to underachieve academically in comparison with their non-mobile peers (e.g. in Australia, Department of Education & Department of Defence, 2002; in Ireland, Inspectorate of the Department of Education and Science, 2005; in Spain, Souto-Otero, 2009; in USA, Eddy, 2011; Rumberger, 2002). This is of particular concern in relation to literacy learning, which is regarded as not only crucial for success for later schooling but also predictive of future life chances. 

Research has indicated that deficit views about mobile students proliferate in many schools and that mobile students can be marginalized within school settings (e.g., Danaher & Henderson, 2011; Henderson, 2008a; Lynch, 2012). Additionally, Henderson (2008a) suggested that deficit discourses can help to narrow the pedagogical options available to teachers, leading to the adoption of skills and drills approaches to learning in order to ‘catch up’ mobile students. In today’s “current policy settings” where teachers are “pushed to take on the new common sense of accountability through narrow metrics” (Luke, 2013, p. 145), it seems that students who sit on the margins of ‘regular’ schooling may be even further disadvantaged

With increasing mobility and consequent numbers of students changing schools, it seems timely to consider how classroom pedagogies might be tailored to better cater for students transitioning into a new school. Most countries, including those in Europe, have experienced population mobility at various points in their histories and finding ways to enhance school experiences for mobile students has wide relevance to educators. To date, the study of teachers’ pedagogies does not seem to have been a focus of research relating to mobile students and their schooling, although some researchers have discussed theoretical considerations around pedagogies for mobile students (e.g., Henderson & Danaher, 2012) and some consideration of suitable strategies for the classroom (Titus, 2007).

To investigate pedagogies that can be used with mobile students, a research project was set up to consider the following questions: How do school teachers who are experienced in teaching mobile students cater for the (English) literacy learning of students who have transitioned into a new school? What strategies and pedagogies do teachers regard as successful for helping students make this transition and become successful literacy learners? 

The study is framed by an understanding of the social world as a dialectical relationship between text and context, and it uses Fairclough’s (2001) context-interaction-text model. This provides a way of theorizing and analyzing relationships between teacher actions/associated discourses and context in relation to mobile students’ transitions into ‘new’ schools.

Method

This paper draws on data from an Australian primary school that was recognized within its local community as working successfully with ‘new’ and mobile students. In light of research evidence that deficit discourses are often taken-for-granted, the research project deliberately focused on a school where mobile students were welcomed and teachers attempted to prevent students being marginalized. The researcher spent two weeks collecting data at the school, which had an enrolment of approximately 450 students, from preparatory to Year 7 level. Data were collected through ethnographic techniques, including semi-structured interviews with the teachers and school leaders at the school, as well as informal staff room conversations. The interviews and discussions were recorded and transcribed for analysis. Critical discourse analysis, based on the work of Fairclough (2001), is used to conduct a textual/llinguistic and social analysis of the data. As a method of analysis, this works to denaturalise the assumptions underpinning teachers’ talk about their work with mobile students and the pedagogies that they enacted. The researcher also observed some of the teachers in their classrooms, accompanied teachers as they conducted other school activities, and took detailed field notes.

Expected Outcomes

The study found that teachers talked at length about how they created particular social conditions within their classrooms and the school to ensure the well being of mobile students. These strategies were reported as being very successful and the researcher’s observations supported the teachers’ assessments of the effects of these strategies. The emphasis on social rather than academic aspects of transition was evident. It was also apparent, however, that many of the teachers seemed to find it difficult to articulate pedagogical considerations that may have been useful to their teaching of mobile students. This highlights the challenges of collecting data about teachers’ specific pedagogical actions for teaching mobile students. Indeed, it raises the question as to whether there are specific pedagogies for students who are mobile or making the transition into a ‘new’ school. The paper concludes by discussing how a rethinking of pedagogies is essential if schools are going to ensure that mobile students can achieve academically alongside their non-mobile peers. It also considers the methodological challenges that presented when trying to extend understandings about pedagogies in school contexts.

References

Danaher, P. A., & Henderson, R. (2011). Moving beyond sedentarism: Conceptual and empirical developments. In W. Midgley, M. A. Tyler, P. A. Danaher & A. Mander (Eds.), Beyond binaries in education research (pp. 60-78). New York: Routledge. Department of Education, Science and Training, & Department of Defence. (2002). Changing schools: Its impact on student learning. Canberra: Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training. Fairclough, N. (2001). Language and power (2nd ed.). London: Longman. Henderson, R. (2008a). A boy behaving badly: Investigating teachers' assumptions about gender, behaviour, mobility and literacy learning. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 31(1), 74-87. Henderson, R. (2008b). Mobilising multiliteracies: Pedagogy for mobile students. In A. Healy (Ed.), Multiliteracies and diversity in education: New pedagogies for expanding landscapes (pp. 168-200). Melbourne: Oxford University Press. Henderson, R., & Danaher, P. A. (2012). Moving with the times: Pedagogies for mobile students. In C. Day (Ed.), International handbook: Teacher and school development (pp. 360-371). New York: Routledge. Inspectorate of the Department of Education and Science. (2005). Survey of Traveller education provision. Dublin: Department of Education and Science. Luke, A. (2013). Generalizing across borders: Policy and the limits of educational science. In A. Luke, A. Woods & K. Weir (Eds.), Curriculum, syllabus design and equity: A primer and model (pp. 144-161). New York: Routledge. Lynch, A. (2012). Seeking visibility: Action research with teachers of mobile Indigneous students. (Doctoral thesis), James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland. Rumberger, R. W. (2002). Student mobility and academic achievement. Retrieved from http://ericeece.org/pubs/digests/2002/rumberger02.html Souto-Otero, M. (2009). Against the odds: Roma population schooling in Spain. In P. A. Danaher, M. Kenny & J. Remy Leder (Eds.), Traveller, nomadic and migrant education (pp. 171-185). New York: Routledge. Titus, D. N. (2007). Strategies and resources for enhancing the achievement of mobile students. NASSP Bulletin, 91(1), 81-97. doi: 10.1177/0192636506298362

Author Information

Robyn Henderson (presenting / submitting)
University of Southern Queensland
Toowoomba

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