05. Children and Youth at Risk and Urban Education
Paper
Youth In Changing Society: Persistences And Changes Among Young Adults In Switzerland Between 2010/11 And 2018/19
Stephan Gerhard Huber, Manuela Egger
Pädagogische Hochschule Zug, Switzerland
Presenting Author: Huber, Stephan Gerhard;
Egger, Manuela
The adolescent phase is characterized in psychology as a period of strong upheaval due to the developmental tasks that adolescents face. At the same time, adolescents are confronted with strong social changes. These include, on the one hand, megatrends such as digitalization and climate change and, on the other, temporary and regional social upheavals and challenges special phases such as pandemics or wars.
It is of great social importance to focus on the group of young people, as they are the future adult generation that will strongly shape society. Education and support in the educational mission are important for the well-being of the individual as well as for society as a whole: On the one hand, young adults are equipped with competencies and resources such as resilience, which help them to shape their lives in a way that makes sense for them. On the other hand, young people are the social group and subsequent generation that are engaged in diverse sectors such as work, politics, society and contribute to overcoming social crises.
Thus, analyses of stability and change serve to generate both, findings for research, as well as indications and recommendations for action in practice. As different as the individuals are, an entire generation always shows some similarities due to current trends or societal, political and structural circumstances. Hence, with the Young Adult Survey Switzerland (YASS), we could monitor the trends of young Swiss adults of both genders on the central topics of education, work and occupation, health and sports, politics and civic responsibility, as well as on cross-cutting topics such as values and value orientations, and capabilities and life perspectives in 2010/11, 2014/15, and 2018/19. At ECER, we would like to present findings to the research questions:
1) In which of the recorded subject areas have the mean values remained stable between 2010/11 and 2018/19?
2) In which of the recorded subject areas have the mean values changed between 2010/11 and 2018/19?
We refer to different theoretical frameworks that characterize the relevant developmental aspects of adolescence, i.e. the constructs of Quality of Life (Jenney & Campbell, 1997), identity formation (Erikson, 1973; Mead, 1991), developmental tasks (Havighurst, 1948), capability approach (Sen, 1993), and Bronfenbrenner's bio-ecological model (1996).
The development of a human being in his different systems (micro-, meso-, exo-, macro- and chronosystem) depends on various influences, which are shown on the basis of the bio-ecological model after Bronfenbrenner (1996). According to Erikson (1973), identity formation is an essential part of development during adolescence. In his stage model, he defines stage V (12-20 years old) as an area of tension between identity and identity diffusion.
According to Havighurst (1948), the respective challenges that arise in the context of identity development in certain stages of life are referred to as developmental tasks. Recognizing, understanding and accepting them are prerequisites for mastering them (Hurrelmann & Quenzel, 2016).
In extension to purely resource-oriented approaches, the capability approach focuses on the realization opportunities (capabilities) that individuals perceive on the basis of available resources (Anand & Van Hees, 2006; Sen, 1993). In the capability approach, social inequality is not evaluated on the basis of available resources, but on what can be done with them. The term Quality of Life means what belongs to a good quality of life for the individual. According to Bradlyn et al. (1996), this includes social, physical and emotional functions, which must also be able to change congruently with the development of the individual or the context in which he or she finds himself or herself.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedThe core indicator project of the Federal Youth Survey ch-x, which was established in 2006 and has been called the Young Adult Survey Switzerland, or YASS for short, since 2015, aims to establish a longer-term monitoring of young Swiss adults of both genders on the cen-tral topics of education, work and occupation, health and sports, politics and civic responsi-bility, as well as on cross-cutting topics such as values and value orientations, and capabili-ties and life perspectives. So far, data have been collected at three points in time: 2010/11 (Huber, 2016), 2014/15 (Huber, 2019), and 2018/19 (Huber, 2022), with which trends and tendencies among 19-year-old Swiss people could be illuminated. In each case, the data were analyzed descriptively and in terms of their differences, similarities and correlations, as well as changes between the different points in time. For each cohort, about 33,000 young adult males and a supplementary sample of about 2,000 young adult females participated in the survey.
Compared to other youth studies in Switzerland, the following strengths and differences of YASS are particularly noteworthy:
First, unlike many other youth studies, YASS focuses exclusively on young adults aged 19 to 21. This allows for a profound analysis of the transition from adolescence to young adult-hood.
Second, the large sample allows for a desegregation of the statistical data down to very small units, which allows the analysis of even very small, specific groups of young adults in a reliable way, which is usually not possible in smaller samples. Thus, success in school ca-reers can be explained not only by individual but also by structural factors.
Third, YASS has the advantage of an almost full survey of young men and a representative sample of women because of the survey setting. The survey setting of ch-x of young men at the time of their recruitment allows all social class groups to be represented in the popula-tion according to their proportions, including groups with low education and income. The female sample is significantly smaller, but still large enough to analyze different groups among women.
Fourth, YASS allows the same data to be collected at repeated time points. To date, YASS has been conducted repeatedly at two-year intervals (2010/11, 2014/15, and 2018/19).
Fifth, the YASS data are analyzed in a multi-step process and by an interdisciplinary team: First by the disciplinary teams according to specific questions of their discipline, then inter-disciplinary according to overarching questions.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsThe analyses provided us with the following results:
1. Persistence / stability of mean scores:
- Health literacy
- value dimensions
- Value types
- Political interest
- Political participation
2. Change / Differences in mean scores:
- Political orientation
- Increase in psychological stress
- Change in lifestyle (smoking, alcohol, sports)
There was a stable mean score among health literacy, value dimensions value types, politi-cal interest and political participation. We saw, that the self-assessed health literacy was >90% and that 1/3 of the young adults had trouble understanding instruction leaflets or in-formation brochures. Regarding the value dimensions, it could be shown that private harmo-ny and independence still have the highest relevance for young adults. Moreover, there is the gender tendency of young women prioritizing idealistic values and young men prioritizing materialistic values. Political interest was shown among about the half of the sample (2010/11: 44%, 2014/15: 46%, 2018/19: 45%) and the political participation lies in all three points of time at 64%.
A change can be seen in the political orientation, i.e. towards a left-wing oriented political opinion. Regarding their lifestyles, we can see that the psychological stress increased from 11% (2014/15) to 19% (2018/19). Negative thoughts could be seen among 16% of young women in 2010/11 and among 24% of them in 2018/19. Furthermore, there are changes in the lifestyles, i.e. that less people smoke (2010/11: 25%, 2018/19: 17%), but more people excessively consume alcohol (2010/11: 10%, 2018/19: 17%) and less people do sports (2010/11: 84%, 2018/19: 74%). What we can also see is that there is a strong relationship between education and life satisfaction: Young adults without education are less satisfied than young adults with post-compulsory education.
ReferencesAnand, P., & Van Hees, M. (2006). Capabilities and achievments: An empirical study. The Journal of Socio-Economics, 35(2), 268–284.
Bradlyn, A., Ritchey, A. K., Harris, C. V., Moore, I. M., O’Brien, R. T., Parsons, S. K., Pat-terson, K., & Pollock, B. H. (1996). Quality of life rsarch in pediatric oncology: Research methods and barriers. Cancer: Interdisciplinary International Journal of th American Can-cer Society, 78(6), 1333–1339.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1996). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard University Press.
Erikson, E. (1973). Identität und Lebenszyklus. Suhrkamp.
Havighurst, R. J. (1948). Developmental tasks and education. University of Chicago Press.
Huber, S. G. (Hrsg.). (2016). Young Adult Survey Switzerland. Junge Erwachsene heute. Band 1. BBL / OFCL / UFCL.
Huber, S. G. (Hrsg.). (2019). Young Adult Survey Switzerland. Junge Erwachsene heute. Band 2. BBL.
Huber, S. G. (Hrsg.). (2022). Young Adult Survey Switzerland. Junge Erwachsene heute. Band 3. BBL / OFCL / UFCL.
Hurrelmann, K., & Quenzel, G. (2016). Lebensphase Jugend. Eine Einführung in die sozial-wissenschaftliche Jugendforschung (13. Aufl.). Beltz Juventa.
Jenney, M. E., & Campbell, S. (1997). Measuring quality of life. Archives of disease in childhood, 77(4), 347–350.
Lussi, I., Gassmann, Y., & Huber, S. G. (2019). Sprachregionale und geschlechterspezifische Unterschiede in den Werten. In S. G. Huber (Hrsg.), Young Adult Survey Switzerland (Bd. 2, S. 106–111). BBL / OFCL / UFCL.
Lussi, I., Huber, S. G., & Ender, S. (2019). Wie die Bildungswege junger Erwachsener ihre Zufriedenheit beeinflussen. In S. G. Huber (Hrsg.), Young Adult Survey Switerzland (Bd. 2, S. 20–24). BBL / OFCL / UFCL.
Mead, H. (1991). Geist, Identität und Gesellschaft aus der Sicht des Sozialbehaviourismus. Suhrkamp.
Sen, A. (1993). „Capability and well-being“. In M. Nussbaum & A. Sen (Hrsg.), The Quality of Life. Clarendon Press.
05. Children and Youth at Risk and Urban Education
Paper
Caring Encounters – applying Nel Noddings’ ethics of care within an afterschool program
Anna Ambrose
Södertörns högskola, Sweden
Presenting Author: Ambrose, Anna
Abstract
Previous research on first-generation students and social mobility has primarily been concentrated on trajectories and how different resources (specifically economic, social and cultural capital) can be significant for a student’s willingness to pursue higher studies (see for example Anders & Micklewright, 2015; Bathmaker et al., 2016; Behtoui, 2017; Coertjens, Brahm, Trautwein, & Lindblom- Ylanne, 2017; Ivermark & Ambrose, 2021; Reay, David, & Ball, 2001; Siraj & Mayo, 2015). Furthermore, qualitative research has also primarily investigated how students adapt to university life and how they perceive social mobility while studying (see for example Bathmaker et al., 2016; Granfield, 1991; Lee & Kramer, 2013; Lehmann, 2013; Reay, Crozier, & Clayton, 2009). There has not to my knowledge been any investigation of how to engage and encourage first-generation students early in life to aim for higher studies, even though encouraging underrepresented groups to apply for university has been a long-standing political goal in many Western countries. For example, since the early 2000s, all Swedish universities are obligated under the Swedish Higher Education Act (SFS, 1992:1434 chap. 1 5§) to work actively to increase access to higher education among underrepresented groups, most often first-generation students. As a result, several Swedish universities have widening participation programs directed at students who are unlikely to pursue higher studies. One such program is the studied afterschool program, directed at students attending middle school (ages 13-16). Within the program, university students, henceforth referred to as student ambassadors, attend middle schools in the afternoons to help with schoolwork and to talk about university studies. These afternoons are voluntary for the middle-school students, and analysis shows that participants have a wide range of reasons to attend. Participation has been seen to increase students’ motivation for doing schoolwork and at times even for continuing to university. This article will, through microanalysis of everyday practices, try to unfold possible reasons for this increase in motivation.
The starting point is that schooling today has a multifold purpose: it is not only a place to get the right qualifications, but also somewhere students can express their dreams and thoughts about a possible future. One way of discussing this multifold purpose is through the lens of American educational philosopher Nel Noddings’ and her ethics of care (Noddings, 2005, 2012, 2013). Through dialogue, listening and caring, student ambassadors can create a safe space for learning, and the analysis shows that caring encounters can inspire students to pursue their dreams. The results therefore suggest that caring encounters can be an important factor for awakening dreams among young students, dreams that can include higher education.
The data is based on interviews and fieldwork, and is drawn from a larger mixed-method research project focusing on access to higher education, trajectories and widening participation. All data was gathered between 2018 and 2020; further detail on data collection is provided in the methodological section.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedMethod:
Data emanates from a two-year mixed-method research project where widening participation and trajectories to higher education were studied using both qualitative and quantitative methods. In this article, qualitative data is used and the analysis emanates from interviews and fieldwork in schools placed in socioeconomically strained areas where most parents do not have tertiary educations. During the fieldwork, pedagogical and social processes within the program were observed, deepening knowledge of the practice of the afterschool program (Hammersley & Atkinson, 2007). In total sixty in-depth interviews were conducted with students (12), teachers (26), student ambassadors (14) and staff members from university (8) and the overall purpose was to gain an understanding of how a wider-participation program can motivate students to pursue higher education.The students interviewed were both current and former students and each interview lasted around an hour. Eight of the twelve students had parents who had not attended any higher education, while the remaining four had parents who had studied at university outside Sweden.
As a complement to the in-depth interviews, focus-group interviews were conducted: 42 students (20 girls and 22 boys, age 15) took part, where the joint reflections deepened the knowledge about the impact of the afterschool program (Kitzinger, 1995). Each focus-group interview lasted approximately 30 minutes. It is important to point out that the format of focus groups makes it inappropriate to ask about parental background and migration experiences; it is therefore not possible to know any explicit details about family background, but 15 of the 42 students mentioned having a family member that had studied at university, most often an older sibling. All interviews have been recorded and transcribed, with field notes and interviews analyzed thematically using NVivo in several steps to elucidate, interpret and understand what a caring encounter can be. The study follows the ethical recommendations of the Swedish Ethical Board and has received ethical approval.
Within the project, the aim was to understand the importance of a widening participation program and what might lead to underrepresented groups applying for university. In this article, the analyses are concentrated on microanalyzing the importance of encounters with student ambassadors, and other adults, predominantly teachers who listen, see and encourage dreams. The analysis of encounters provides important understanding of how students can be supported within an educational setting, understanding that is hard to gain in other ways (Aspers, 2011; Willis & Trondman, 2000)
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsConclusions
The article focuses on analyzing aspects of a caring encounter – how a meeting between significant other and a young student can provide opportunities for unfolding dreams and desires. The main finding is that the afterschool program can be a valuable extra resource beyond its primary mission of widening participation. Furthermore, the results shows that an ethic of care theory provides valuable insights for a broader understanding of education: as well as giving students the right qualifications, the afterschool program also needs to be relational, where the educator (or student ambassador) is both a mentor and a person who allows the students to express their dreams and wishes. The results show that educators need to give students a sensitive level of support, responding with an ethic of care where both the carer and the cared-for are involved. A general conclusion can be drawn from the analyses, that educational relationships need to be built on trust, engagement and continuity; and that schools of today need to combine learning goals with a quest for caring where the educators are student-focused, communicative, active and engaged. With this broader perspective, support programs like the studied one here can be a safe place for students to develop. For such programs to succeed, however, educators need to understand the interrelated aspects of learning and relations, as well as recognizing that establishing, building and nourishing relationships are all important forms of education. Programs that work with widening participation are more likely to succeed when they work through the prism of an ethic of care.
ReferencesAnders, J., & Micklewright, J. (2015). Teenagers’ Expectations of Applying to University: How do they Change? Education Sciences, 5(4), 281-315.
Aspers, P. (2011). Etnografiska metoder (Vol. 2:a upplagan). Malmö: Liber.
Bathmaker, A.-M., Ingram, N., Abrahams, J., Hoare, A., Waller, R., & Bradley, H. (2016). Higher Education, Social Class and Social Mobility. The Degree Generation. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Behtoui, A. (2017). Social capital and the educational expectations of young people. European Educational Research Journal, 9, 487-503.
Coertjens, L., Brahm, T., Trautwein, C., & Lindblom- Ylanne, S. (2017). Students’ transition into higher education from an international perspective. Higher Education 73(3), 357-369. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-016-0092-y
Coffey, A. (1999). The Ethnographic Self: Fieldwork and the Representation of Identity. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Emerson, R. M., Fretz, R. I., & Shaw, L. L. (2011). Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Granfield, R. (1991). Making It by Faking It: Working-Class Students in an Elite Academic Environment. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 20(3), 331-351.
Hammersley, M., & Atkinson, P. (2007). Ethnography: Principles and practice. London: Routledge.
Ivermark, B., & Ambrose, A. (2021). Habitus Adaptation and First-Generation University Students’ Adjustment to Higher Education: A Life Course Perspective. Sociology of Education, 94(3), 190-207. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/00380407211017060
Kitzinger, J. (1995). Qualitative Research: Introducing Focus Groups. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 311, 299-302. doi:10.1136/bmj.311.7000.299
Kvale, S., & Brinkman, S. (2014). Den kvalitativa forskningsintervjun. Lund: Studentlitteratur.
Lee, E. M., & Kramer, R. (2013). "Out with the Old, In with the New? Habitus and Social Mobility at Selective Colleges’". Sociology of Education, 86(1), 18-35.
Lehmann, W. (2013). Habitus Transformation and Hidden Injuries: Successful Working-Class University Students. Sociology of Education, 87(1), 1-15.
Noddings, N. (2005). The Challenge to Care in Schools (Vol. 2). New York: Teachers College Pres.
Noddings, N. (2012). The caring relations in teaching. Oxford Review of Education, 38(6), 771-781.
Noddings, N. (2013). Caring. A Relational Approach to Ethics and Moral Education (Vol. 2). California: University of California Press.
Reay, D., Crozier, J., & Clayton, J. (2009). Strangers in Paradise’?: Working-class Students in Elite Universities. Sociology 43(6), 1103-1121.
Reay, D., David, M., & Ball, S. J. (2001). Making a difference? Institutional habitus in educational research. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 25(4), 432-444.
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Siraj, I., & Mayo, A. (2015). Social Class and Educational Inequality: The Ímpact of Parents and Schools. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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