If schools in Education Action Zones (EAZs) are going to make real strides in raising behaviour and academic standards then they need to start consulting pupils, according to the authors of this research report. The Government established the first (EAZs) in 1997 to raise standards of behaviour and academic attainment in areas of significant disadvantage. Education Action Forums (EAFs), the local decision making bodies within EAZs, were asked to empower people and communities to find radical, innovative solutions to problems of underachievement. But few zones have explicitly involved students in this process. So what do students think about their learning? This research aimed to find out.
The researchers set out to explore the views of students on the factors which they thought helped or hindered their learning. The 139 Year 8 pupils came from two schools in an EAZ. In this first stage report, the researchers found that students preferred learning activities which enabled them to work in friendship groups through practical work and discussion with peers. Many students disliked whole class work. They were motivated by a variety of factors, including future prospects. 80% of pupils identified poor behaviour by others as the main factor hindering their learning. The research found the majority of pupils responded positively to being consulted about their learning environment.
The researchers collected the students’ views on:
Activities which students felt were helpful to their learning included:
They preferred working in self-chosen groups or pairs to working in groups chosen by the teacher, whole class settings or independent work.
Factors which students felt were unhelpful to their learning included:
“If the teacher doesn’t explain properly.”
“Some teachers expect too much and others think I am not bright and don’t give me much.”
It may be unsurprising that high numbers of students identified others’ poor behaviour as a key factor that was unhelpful to their learning. The authors wanted to unpack students’ concerns regarding behaviour in more detail.
The widespread student dislike of whole class teaching seemed to flow from concerns about behaviour (“In a whole class, people mess around more”) as well as concerns about understanding (“If you don’t understand something in the whole class, you can’t ask, ‘cos it’s embarrassing”).
Some students held unequivocal views on how misbehaviour should be addressed. They saw it as the school’s responsibility to “sort out” disruptive students.
“Split difficult kids up.”
“Exclude people that disturb the class.”
The most frequently cited factor affecting student motivation was how positively each student regarded the effect of having good qualifications on their future prospects.
“It’s worth learning when you are young – you have the advantage. You can get a good job and a nice car.”
Girls were less likely to say they were motivated by future prospects than boys (25% as opposed to 38%). Rather more pupils from a white ethnic background stated they were motivated to learn by the possibility of improved future prospects than students from black/ethnic minority groups (36% compared with 30%). The researchers noted differences between minority ethnic groups: 83% of a small number of Black African students cited future prospects as a motivating factor in learning.
The researchers found that 80% of students had a fairly clear idea of what they wanted to do when they left school. Black and ethnic minority males and white females were more likely to cite a profession they hoped to enter than their counterparts and white male students least likely to do so.
Other factors which students stated had an effect on their level of motivation included teachers, lesson content and friends and family.
The researchers were interested in which of the three core subjects students chose to discuss in detail during their interviews. They assumed that the students’ choice of subject for discussion reflected their enjoyment of the subject itself.
During the process of data collection, the students chose whether to answer questions on English, mathematics or science and were then asked why they had chosen that subject. Many stated that they had chosen their favourite subject.
The study found differences between ethnic groups, with white students showing a marked preference for talking about science and ethnic minorities showing a higher preference for discussing mathematics. Boys were less likely than girls to choose English. The researchers noted that the low rating for English was of interest, in that it reflected the pattern of GCSE results in Y11 within the two schools studied. They suggested that there could be a relationship between students’ early disposition to the subjects and their subsequent attainment.
When asked to rank which methods of learning they thought helped them most, students showed a wide range of opinion. They saw different learning activities as appropriate for different subjects. Many said that practical experiments were helpful.
“Practical work – it’s easier to learn hands-on than copying from a book.”
“Practical experiments which are fun and stick in your head.”
Finally, the researchers asked students whether there was anything they thought they could do to help themselves learn. The majority of students (87%) were prepared to take some responsibility for their own learning, suggesting that they could chat less, listen more or do more homework to improve their learning. They expressed responses such as:
“Pay attention, open my brain. Watch and listen more to teacher.”
“I could spend more time over my work and not get distracted.”
“Not let other people disturb me and respect the teacher.”
The researchers argue that schools need to recognise pupils “...as key participants in the process of democratic education reform.” If zone schools are to “empower people and communities”, decision makers need to listen to pupils’ views. This would allow the possibility that policies can be:
The researchers interpret DfES and OfSTED advocacy for pupil voice as positioning “the student as a consumer, with rights to a quality of education service for which teachers alone are held accountable.” They propose a model of learning that recognises that pupils share the work and the responsibility for constructing their learning with their teachers; in order that, through dialogue and negotiation with their teachers, students achieve goals that are more meaningful to them.
The researchers speculate that the process of pupil consultation will:
The aim of the study was to explore what could be learned from pupils in Education Action Zones (EAZs) to inform practice and raise attainment. The researchers suggested that previous research which has collected pupils’ views on discipline, behaviour policies and school has proposed that this process can be beneficial. (Click to Where can I find out more?).
University staff worked with learning mentors, parent co-ordinators, inclusion workers and other Education Action Zone staff to interview 139 Year 8 pupils (half the entire year group) in two inner city schools in an EAZ. They used a semi-structured questionnaire which had been piloted with pupils and which asked questions about the three core subjects and generic questions on learning, including questions on learning at home and school. Interviews were held on a one-to-one basis and answers written on the forms during the interview for transparency and to reassure participants about confidentiality.
The participants who conducted interviews filled in questionnaires and attended focus groups at the completion of the enquiry, to discover whether the exercise had changed their views or understanding.
The students enjoyed taking part in the research, being able to express their feelings and views and to be listened to:
“It’s good to know some adults take on what children say – they should do it more often.”
In completing this digest, the authors began to ask the following questions about implications for head teachers:
The digest authors also began to ask the following questions about implications for teachers:
As EAZs come to the end of their statutory life, they will transform into Excellence in Cities Action Zones (EiCAZs) or Excellence Clusters. All EAZs will have transformed by May 2005. As zones transform, their details will be taken off of the Standards website and further information about EiCAZs and Excellence Clusters will be available on the Excellence in Cities (EiC) part of the School Improvement and Excellence site at: www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/sie/eic
Charlton and David (1997) Orchestrating success in personal, social and educational areas: using peer support, Journal for Pastoral Care and Personal & Social Education, 15 (1), 22-29.
Cook-Sather, A. (2002) Authorising students’ perspectives: towards trust, dialogue and change in education, Educational Researcher, 31 (4), 3-14.
DfES Personalised Learning website: www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/personalisedlearning/
Macbeath et al (2003) Consulting pupils: a toolkit for teachers. Pearson publishing. http://www.pearsonpublishing.co.uk/education/catalogue/498461.html Some sample sheets are available free on this website.
Two digests on this website:
McDonald & Boud “The impact of self-assessment on achievement: the effects of self-assessment training on performance in external examinations”
Wiliam, D., Lee, C., Harrison, C. and Black, P. “Teachers’ and students’ roles in formative assessment.”
NCSL – Pupils involvement in teaching and learning http://www.ncsl.org.uk/index.cfm?pageid=nlg-nlc-development-pupil Work by teachers and students from the Networked Learning Communities
Rudduck, J (2003) Consulting pupils about teaching and learning: process, impacts and outcomes. Available on the Regard research database http://www.regard.ac.uk/regard/home/index_html
UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Network Project: Consulting pupils about teaching and learning. www.consultingpupils.co.uk