Session Information
05 ONLINE 40 A, Risk, Wellbeing and Mental Health
Paper Session
MeetingID: 869 9747 3170 Code: 74UCWb
Contribution
Internationally, there is increasing concern regarding the disengagement of marginalised students, particularly girls, from the formal education system, particularly since Covid-19 (OECD, 2020). Students experiencing oppression/marginalisation within urban education systems are considered at-risk from poor attendance, early school leaving, underperformance, low self-confidence and social exclusion (OECD, 2019, Smyth, 2019, Heeran Flynn, 2017). In considering Paolo Freire’s conceptualisation of education as “the practice of freedom”, this paper presents findings from an intervention, the Female Empowerment Group, a critical pedagogical approach to re/engaging at-risk female students in school. Freire (1996) argues that teaching can be considered as a political act, confronting the status quo through counter hegemonic and subversive narratives. Indeed, to truly awaken critical consciousness education should involve learning, unlearning and relearning, a process Freire (1996) refers to as conscientization.
Defining engagement has been identified within the literature as problematic, particularly among educationalists (Symonds, 2015). It is a multi-dimensional concept, described by Fredericks, Blumenfeld and Paris (2004) as comprising three distinctive interconnected dimensions including emotional, cognitive and behavioural.
Emotional engagement, defined as children’s emotional attitudes towards school (Symonds, 2015), moves beyond feeling bad about school to include more epistemic emotions such as surprise, curiosity, enjoyment, confusion, frustration, anxiety, and boredom (Frenzel, Pekrun, & Goetz, 2007; Muis et al., 2015; Pekrun, Vogl, Muise, & Sinatra, 2017). Positive epistemic emotions lead to deep learning shaping how students engage with learning strategies and impact on school attainment (Muis et al., 2015).
The Female Empowerment Group sought to create a space for the at-risk female students to re/engage and explore complex contemporary issues shaping the intersectionality of their identities as marginalised, feminised and politicised citizens in/outside school. The main aim of the research was to explore whether a critical pedagogical approach enhanced the engagement of at-risk students in a DEIS post-primary school. Could the use of generative themes utilizing their lived experience generate epistemic emotions? Of particular concern was whether the female students believed their voice, power and relationships with peers and teachers were enhanced, whether they believed they had greater power and control over the nature of their re/engagement with knowledge and whether this approach contributed to more positive relationships within and outside of school.
This paper draws on findings from a mixed methods sequential explanatory design (Creswell et al., 2003) encompassing quantitative (surveys with 22 students), qualitative (interviews with 9 students, 7 teachers, 2 parents) and creative (Ketso with 9 students) approaches. Student voice(s) were at the core of the research. Thematic analysis identified key themes emergent from the data, with initial analysis of the survey data informing the questions explored in the interviews and Ketso groups. Key findings indicate the power of critical pedagogy for empowering at-risk students and re/engaging them in school. Students expressed greater confidence in their own ideas, felt they understood the world better, were more interested in issues impacting on their lives and indicated increased motivation and voice in school. The critical pedagogical approach adopted with at-risk students in the Female Empowerment Group was reported by all research participants to have contributed to more positive relationships with adults and peers, increased re/engagement in the classroom and greater belonging and affinity with school.
Method
This research adopted an explanatory sequential mixed methods case study approach within the transformative paradigm. The case study encompassed quantitative (student questionnaires) and qualitative (ketso & semi-structured focus groups interviews) data collection in an urban school on the east coast of Ireland. The method adopted a sequential design (Creswell, 2014) not only to triangulate the data, but to use the quantitative data to shape the design and implementation of the qualitative instruments. The transformative paradigm underpinning this research design adopted assumptions to challenge oppressive social structures, to build a trust-based relationship with participants and to commit to use the results to transform/improve their experiences (Creswell, 2014). This study encompassed a questionnaire survey (n=21) and ketso group (n=9) with students and semi-structured interview schedules with students (n=9), teachers (n=4), year heads (n=2) and parents (n=2). The survey was designed to capture student experiences of this critical pedagogical approach to re/engaging them in school, with particular focus on attitudes to school, teacher and peer relations, experience of the female empowerment group and understanding constructs of power. Students (n=21) responded to the Likert scale which was conducted using SurveyMonkey. Initial analysis of this quantitative data informed the design of the qualitative instruments for the study The first phase of the qualitative methods involved Ketso workshops which are used to stimulate discussion, visually represent ideas and enable all participants to contribute and have their ideas captured (Tippett & How, 2011). Ketso uses the metaphor of a tree to help participants communicate their opinions and think strategically about the issues being examined. The activity is divided into different branches (themes) and participants use coloured leaves to identify what is working, how to improve this, barriers and solutions. The second phase of data collection involved semi-structured interviews with students (n=9) and teachers (n=4) engaging in the female empowerment group (n=4), school leaders (n=2) and parents (n=2). Data was collected using audio recordings during the semi-structured interviews and was transcribed using pseudonyms to protect anonymity. Interviews were analysed using interpretative thematic analysis, identifying key themes emergent using an iterative process of organising and collapsing codes. The 6 core critical pedagogical themes identified from thematic analysis of the qualitative data include conscientization (development of my own ideas/opinions), power and relationships (with teachers), solidarity (relationships with peers), voice agency and freedom (in expressing voice), generative themes (connecting to lived experiences) and re/engagement (with knowledge and school).
Expected Outcomes
The study shows participant perceptions of growth in areas which are significant to conscientization. The majority of students (85.7%) indicated that they had greater belief in their own ideas (66.7%), had greater interested in issues relating to equality (95.2%), gender (90.5%) and how power works within society (85.7%). The majority of students (81%) felt more motivated. Analysis from ketso also indicated that participants believed they listened to each other more, had enhanced understanding and awareness of issues and wanted to become agents of change. 66.7% of students indicated that their relationships with teachers had improved. Data from the focus groups indicated that students ‘saw a more human side to their teachers’ and thus did not feel teachers were agents of oppression but rather they were agents of support and collaboration. The survey data identified that the approach had improved peer relationships among the majority of respondents (71.4%) with 80.9% of students emphasising the importance of coming together as a female-only group. While only one third of them felt free in school, the overwhelming majority (95.3%) felt free in the Female Empowerment Group. The vast majority (85.7%) indicated that they learned about issues which were important to them when working in this critical pedagogical group. Findings indicated that most students reported being more motivated (n=80.9%). Students believed they learned more (95.2%) and learned content relevant to their studies (71.4%) when working in the Female Empowerment group. 47.6% of students believed that as a result of engaging in the group they were more involved in classroom discussions , were more likely to ask questions (42.7%) and indicated they were less bored in class (38.1%). Students believed that engaging in the Female Empowerment group ‘raised their standards’ and gave them a sense that “I know what I’m capable of doing”
References
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