Framing Choice Between School Tracks: An Attempt to Apply Frame Selection Model in Mixed-Method Design of Educational Surveys

Author(s):

Ksenia TenishevaKsenia Tenisheva(presenting / submitting)Daniel Alexandrov(presenting)Svetlana Savelyeva

Conference:

ECER 2011

Network:

14. Communities, Families and Schooling in Educational Research

Format:

Paper

Session Information

14 SES 04 A, Educational Trajectories of Young People – Attempts to Describe and Explain

Paper Session

Time:

2011-09-14

08:30-10:00

Room:

KL 25/134,G, 70

Chair:

Rune Kvalsund

Contribution

Educational decision-making in general and at the stage when students are divided into different tracks (between and/or within the schools) is one of the major foci of educational research. Between school tracking when students change schools according the chosen track occur at different educational levels, e.g. in Germany after the primary school, in Italy and Russia after the secondary level. Three sets of agents play significant role in the choice of further education: teachers, parents and children. In case of 11 years old students the decision is made primarily by teachers (and in case of Rhineland-Palatinate by parents and teachers together); with 14-15 years student the decision is made primarily by parents and students themselves. Regardless the type of a tracking system the main research questions are the same: which factors influence the decision, how the choices are perceived and framed and what are the outcomes of these decisions?

Our analysis follows – to a certain extent – the Model of Frame Selection (Esser, 2003, 2006; Kroneberg, 2006, 2007; Kroneberg, Stocke, Yaish, 2006) by defining frames as "mental models of situations, which equip an individual with pre-fabricated answers to critical questions [in] a particular situation” (Kroneberg, 2006) - in the case, the situation of choosing educational paths. This model was successfully applied to the analysis of German educational system by V.Stocké using original survey data (Stocke, 2007).

The proposed paper takes a complementary approach to the above-cited publications. We elicit frames used by decision-makers (parents and students) from qualitative interviews with them. We make an attempt to distinguish several frames contextually and suggest the contextual factors which influence the selection of particular frames by individuals. We would claim that FSM theoretical approach allows educational researchers to find out what frames educational choice (and thus limits step-by-step decision-making).

Our Laboratory of Sociology of Education and Science conducted in 2008-2010 a survey of mobility and stratification in local educational system in a rural region adjacent to the Saint-Petersburg’s metropolitan area. The project was mainly focused on educational choices and trajectories of students after the 9^th grade, at which point Russian students have to choose a track. The goal was to analyze the relationship between resources, aspirations, expectations, socio-economic positions and other factors and trajectories of the students. Parents and students have free choice of a track, and teachers and administration do not have formal authority to assign students to the tacks. In other words, local socio-economical situation creates demands for particular tracks among rural population. Such perspective is important for educational policy and planning in metropolitan area and adjacent regions.

Method

A mixed-method design was chosen. On the first stage over 100 focused interviews with students, parents and teachers concerning educational choices were collected. Then we carried out a quantitative survey of all 500 9th-graders living in the district and their parents in order to find out which of the factors are statistically significant for their educational choice. Some more narratives were collected to fill in the gaps. The design allows the comparison of the perspectives of students and their parents in qualitative data and quantitative statistical results. In the proposed paper we will present results mainly from the qualitative part of the research. The interviews were coded in the QSR NVivo. The coding strategy was to elicit motives, modes of reasoning and justification, the representation of costs and benefits of educational paths, long-term and short-term goals etc. High-level theoretical constructs (such as frames, resources and costs-benefits) were matched with practical circumstances of the informants (e.g. money, time, roads, relatives, apartments in the city etc). It allows us to understand concerns in choosing tracks by the students and their parents.

Expected Outcomes

Four major frames can be distinguished: “military draft”, “getting a job”, “education as a value” and “urban appeal”. Some frames are gender specific, e.g. the perspective of military draft frames boys’ choices. The opposition between urban perceived as full of future promises and rural life as dull and futile powerfully frames choices for many students and their families. Finally, students and their parents can perceive higher education as a value per se and look for the shortest or cheapest way to get it. Frame Analysis (Frame-Selection Model in particular) works in the analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data as well in formulating questions for survey instruments. The analysis of frames from interviews demonstrated to us certain deficiencies of our own survey instruments. The proposed paper will not only discuss particular frames and their contextual importance in Russian educational system, but provide methodological discussion of the role of frame-analysis for formulating quantitative surveys for international educational researchers from countries with different educational tracking systems.

References

Esser H Die Rationalität der Werte. Die Typen des Handels und das Modell der soziologischen Erklärung. In: Das Weber-Paradigma. Ed.: G. Albert et.al. Mohr Siebek Tübingen, 2003. Esser H. Rationalität und Bindung. Das Modell der Frame-Selektion und die Erklärung des normativen Handelns// Sonderforschungsbereich 504. 2005. No. 05-16 Esser H. Soziologische Anstösse. Campus Verlag, Frankfurt/New York, 2004. Kroneberg C. The Definition of the Situation and Variable Rationality: The Model of Frame Selection as a General Theory of Action. // Sonderforschungsbereich 504. 2006. No. 06-05. Kroneberg C. Wertrationalität und das Modell der Frame-Selektion // Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie. 2007. Jg. 59 (2). S. 215–239. Kroneberg C. Die Erklärung der Wahlteilnahme und die Grenzen des Rational-Choice-Ansatzes. Eine Anwendung des Modells der Frame-Selektion. In: Jahrbuch für Handlungs- und Entscheidungstheorie. Band 4: Schwerpunkt Parteienwettbewerb und Wahlen. 2006. 79-111pp. Kroneberg C., Stocké V., Yaish M. Norms or Rationality? The Rescue of Jews, Electoral Participation, and Educational Decisions // Working Paper. Stocké V. Entstehungsbedingungen von Antwortverzerrungen durch soziale Erwünschtheit. Ein Vergleich der Prognosen der Rational-Choice Theorie und des Modells der Frame-Selektion // Zeitschrift für Soziologie. 2004. Jg. 33 (4). S. 303–320 Stocké V., Explaining Educational Decision and Effects of Families’ Social Class Position: An Empirical Test of the Breen–Goldthorpe Model of Educational Attainment // European Sociological Review, Volume 23, Number 4 (2007). pp. 505–519

Author Information

Ksenia Tenisheva

Sociology of Education and Science Lab, Higher School of Economics – St. Petersburg

Sociology

Saint-Petersburg

Ksenia Tenisheva (presenting / submitting)

Sociology of Education and Science Lab, Higher School of Economics – St. Petersburg, Russian Federation

Daniel Alexandrov (presenting)

Higher School of Education - St. Petersburg

Sociology

St.Petersburg

Svetlana Savelyeva