EVIDENCE IN THE NEWS


Does it matter if pupils enjoy school?


TWO RECENT PIECES OF RESEARCH have focused on pupil enjoyment, of reading and of secondary school respectively. The National Literacy Trust (NLT) has


explored the assumption that there is a positive relationship between enjoyment, attitudes, behaviour, and attainment. Do pupils who enjoy reading have more positive attitudes towards it, read more, and therefore get better at it? Mapping the Interrelationships of Reading Enjoyment, Attitudes, Behaviour and Attainment: An Exploratory Investigation combined a review of existing literature on the subject with attainment data and a survey of more than 4,500 primary and secondary pupils (aged 8 to 16).


Although the authors found that existing literature on the subject gave a


complex picture, they were able to draw some fi rmer conclusions from their own research. They found reading enjoyment to be a “doubly powerful source of infl uence” in that it affected attainment directly, and indirectly through its relationship with reading behaviour. They suggest that children who don’t come from a literacy- rich environment need an “event” to kick- start a positive relationship with reading, such as being given a book, enjoying an interesting book, or a stimulating visit to the library. The other report looking at enjoyment was published in the British Educational Research Journal. It used a range of data, including offi cial statistics and 45 case studies of educational settings. The study found that enjoyment of school


Disadvantaged teens do aspire


THE JOSEPH ROWNTREE FOUNDATION examined the educational and occupational aspirations of young people in three disadvantaged UK locations in London, Nottingham, and Glasgow, and the factors that shaped their ambitions. The fi ndings varied across the three


areas, which the report attributes to ethnic diversity. In the London area, which has a diverse population, the young people had very high aspirations towards professional jobs, whereas in the white working-class Nottingham area the young people’s aspirations were focused on traditional skilled occupations. However, the authors found that knowledge of the pathways to


achieve their ambitions, amongst both teenagers and their families, was limited. It therefore argues that policies to increase social mobility should address the barriers that prevent young people achieving their ambitions, and not make assumptions about a lack of aspirations. For the study some 490 secondary school pupils aged approximately 13 were interviewed during 2007–2008, and 288 of the same group were interviewed again in 2010 at around age 15. The interviews were supplemented by focus groups with young people, and by interviews with parents, teachers, and community representatives. Source: www.jrf.org.uk/publications


UK disappoints on social mobility


A REPORT BY THE SUTTON TRUST, which compared social mobility in several countries, found that the UK performs poorly.


The key findings were that:


● Gaps in school readiness in England between disadvantaged children and their counterparts were wider than in similar countries, such as Canada and Australia, but narrower than in the United States.


● Formal preschool education can have lasting effects in reducing the educational gap between high and low income children.


● Disparities in early child outcomes persist into adolescence.


● Unlike other countries, the achievement gap in England actually widens in secondary school.


● None of the countries in the study reduce the disparity as children age.


The report concludes that addressing the social stratifi cation in secondary schools remains one of the key challenges for improving social mobility in the UK. Source: www.suttontrust.com/research/ summary-what-prospects-for-mobility- in-the-uk/


tends to be promoted by factors such as successful social relationships, small classes, variation in learning, and pupils having some control of their learning. On the fl ip side, it found that enjoyment was restricted by a perceived lack of respect or concern by teaching staff, and passive pedagogy. The authors suggest that as enjoyment (unlike many other factors) is not necessarily infl uenced by a pupil’s background or by school effect, it should be “easy to enhance more widely”. Sources: The NLT report is available from their website www.literacytrust.


org.uk/research (see research reports). The secondary school article is available through the publisher’s website


www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0 1411926.2010.488718


Are vocational courses the answer for disengaged pupils?


A NEW RESEARCH STUDY did not fi nd evidence to support the notion that vocational courses motivate disengaged young people, The Impact of KS4 Vocational Courses on Disengaged Young People’s Engagement with Education 15–18 was commissioned by the Department for Education and conducted by the Centre for Analysis of Youth Transitions. Disengaged young people who reported


following vocational courses did not differ from those who chose not to take these courses in terms of their subsequent engagement or destinations after Year 11. Nor was there evidence that young people with borderline attainment (achieving 1–4 GCSEs grades A*–C) who followed vocational as opposed to academic pathways after Year 11 may have better outcomes. The data came from the the Longitudinal


Study of Young People in England (LSYPE), which brings together data from a number of sources, including annual interviews with young people and their parents. LSYPE started in 2004, with the initial sample comprising 21,000 young people aged 13 and 14. The defi nitions of disengagement include underachievement at KS3, poor attitudes to school, aspiring to leave education and training at the age of 16, and playing truant. Source: The report is available through the Department for Education website www.education.gov.uk/publications/ eOrderingDownload/DFE-RB165.pdf


winter 2012 Better: Evidence-based Education 25


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