Peer pressure, school pressure, distractions and teachers: Student perspectives on the barriers to school success.

Author(s):

Jonathon Sargeant

Conference:

ECER 2010

Network:

25. Research on Children's Rights in Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

25 SES 03, Childrens' Voices, Participation and Agency

Paper Session

Time:

2010-08-25

14:00-15:30

Room:

AUDITORIUM IV, Päärakennus / Main Building

Chair:

John I'Anson

Contribution

Across educational settings there are vast discrepancies between teachers’ perceptions of what contributes to disruptive behaviour in schools. Despite reports of an increasing population of children exhibiting behaviours that are unsafe and disruptive (Jacob, 2005; Porter, 2007), a literature review of challenging behaviours by Jacob (2005) revealed that compared with studies 20 years ago, ‘the estimated percentage of children with difficult behaviour remains approximately the same’. The paucity of research that actually explores pre-adolescent children’s perspectives reveals an unfounded tenet that children, perhaps because they are also the presenters of appropriate and inappropriate behaviour are unreliable commentators on their own lifeworld. This paper presents the findings of a study of the perspectives of Australian, English and New Zealand “tweens” in response to the question, “what makes people muck up at school?”. In developing a personal perspective, the sense each child makes of their world is idiosyncratic and will be influenced by many factors including peers, teachers, parents, other adults, and the media (Strasburger, 2001). However, it is the actual nature of this personal understanding that is often poorly understood and consequently ignored by adults. By affording these children the opportunity to freely express their views, this study aimed to deconstruct the beliefs held by many in the adult community that “tween” children are predominantly limited in their capacity to understand, process, and contribute to the resolution of issues arising in their lifeworld. Cook-Sather (2002) urges educators to reconfigure power dynamics and discourse practices within existing realms of conversation about education to create new forums within which children can embrace the political potential of speaking out on their own behalf both in the critique and in the reform of education. This paper provides evidence and an impetus for a broadening of teaching practice that embraces rather than assumes the range of a child’s knowledge and perspective on their own school success.

Method

An open questionairre was chosen as the tool for data collection because of the enablement of participants to write a free account in their own terms and explain and/or qualify their responses (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2007). The question was intentionally framed (so as) to elicit from students a personal response (Burns, 2000) and catch the authenticity, richness, depth of response, honesty and candour which, are the hallmarks of qualitative research. Using a thematic content analysis the responses were coded by an inductive method into emergent general themes (Denzin & Lincoln, 2000). The data were then grouped according to related themes in order to find the most effective way to allow for the richness of each child’s perspective to be examined. The collection of responses assisted in gathering a broad sense of majority views; however, the individuality of each response is of most interest to this research.

Expected Outcomes

The key intent of this question was to gather from the children their perspective on the causes of disruptive behaviour. Using the term “muck up” was considered an appropriate colloquialism that would not lead the participants to respond in a particular way. During analysis however, it became apparent the some children did not interpret “muck up” in terms of behaviour but in terms of academic performance. As a result some of the children’s responses such as those referring to distraction, family issues and school performance are contextualised in term of school success. Upon further analysis it became apparent that fortuitously, either interpretation of the question resulted in similar emergent themes. The responses offered by the children overwhelmingly point to the critical factors, from a student perspective, that impact on school success; environmentally, academically, socially and behaviourally.

References

Archard, D. (2004) Children, Rights And Childhood, New York, Routledge. Beaman, R., Wheldall, K., & Kemp, C. (2007). Recent Research On Troublesome Classroom Behaviour: A Review. Australasian Journal Of Special Education, 31(1), 45-60. Cook-Sather, A. (2002) Authorizing Students' Perspectives. Educational Researcher, 31, 3-14. Cook, D. & Kaiser, S. (2004) Betwixt And Be Tween: Age Ambiguity And The Sexualisation Of The Female Consuming Subject. Journal Of Consumer Culture, 4, 203. Cullingford, C. (1999) The Causes Of Exclusion : Home, School And The Development Of Young Criminals, London, Kogan Page. Cullingford, C. (2006) Children's Own Vision Of Schooling. Education 3-13, 34, 211-221. Danby, S. & Farrell, A. (2004) Accounting For Young Children's Competence In Educational Research: New Perspectives On Research Ethics. The Australian Educational Researcher, 31, 35-50. Doyle, W. (1986). Classroom Organisation And Management. In M. C. Wittrock (Ed.), Handbook Of Research On Teaching (3rd Ed., Pp. 392-427). New York: Macmillan. Eckersley, R. (2001) Being Young - Never Better, Or Getting Worse? Fattore, T., Mason, J. & Watson, E. (2007) Children’s Conceptualisation(S) Of Their Well-Being. Social Indicators Research, 80, 5-29. Haroun, R., & O'hanlon, C. (1997). Teachers' Perceptions Of Discipline Problems In A Jordanian Secondary School. Pastoral Care In Education, 15(2), 29-36. Kids Help Line (2007) Kids Help Line 2006 Overview - Issues Concerning Children And Young People. Kids Help Line. Komulainen, S. (2007) The Ambiguity Of The Child's 'Voice' In Social Research. Childhood, 14, 11-28. Lundy, L. (2007) "Voice" Is Not Enough: Conceptualising Article 12 Of The United Nations Convention On The Rights Of The Child. British Educational Research Journal, 33, 927-942. Qvortrup, J. (2005) Varieties Of Childhood In Studies In Modern Childhood: Society, Agency, Culture, Palgrave Macmillan. Sargeant, J. (2007) Children Being Children: The Value Of An 'Importance Filter'. Journal Of Student Wellbeing, 1, 15-30. Sargeant, J. (2008) Australian Children: Locally Secure, Globally Afraid? In Gerber, R. & Robertson, M. (Eds.) Children's Lifeworlds: Locating Indigenous Voices. New York, Nova Science Publishers.

Author Information

Jonathon Sargeant

University of Southern Queensland

Education

Annerley

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