14. Communities, Families and Schooling in Educational Research
Paper
Go to a Place Where you Know People: Reflections on Piloting a STEM Tutoring Project in Post-industrial Scotland.
Alison Hennessy, Sarah Galloway
University of Stirling, United Kingdom
Presenting Author: Hennessy, Alison
We present findings from a pilot project aimed at creating community-based opportunities for one-to-one tutoring in STEM subjects, in the aftermath of the global pandemic. Based in a post-industrial Scottish village, the project resides in a local church hall, with tutoring undertaken by volunteers. This is participatory action research (Chevalier & Buckles, 2013), purposed towards understanding how a sustainable and community-based STEM tutoring model might be developed, with potential for instigating similar projects in local communities.
Background
Research across Europe has established a link between school closure and the exacerbation of existing inequality in school outcomes (Blaskó, Costa, & Schnepf, 2022). In some nation contexts, e.g. Germany (Freundl, Lergetporer & Zierow, 2021) and England (Major & May, 2020), national tutoring programmes are intended to offer redress, with low levels of translation into practice. In some contexts, e.g. Serbia (Kubíček, 2020), the capacity for tutoring may have reduced for excluded groups. Emerging research suggests that teachers prefer having input around how any additional tutoring resource is allocated (Nelson, Lynch & Sharp, 2021) and highlights the importance of schools’ relationship with tutoring projects (EEF, 2022).
We note that in the European context, research into tutoring of school pupils mostly focuses on the negative impact on schools when affluent families purchase private tutoring (e.g. Bray, 2011, Hajar, 2020) also known as ‘shadow education’. In contrast, our project seeks to increase community capacity for volunteer tutoring that might strengthen a school’s educational endeavours, with the aim of benefiting the STEM learning of children from excluded groups. Pivotal to our approach is the role of a volunteer who liaises between the school, the tutee’s family, the tutees and their volunteer tutors.
This participatory action research was undertaken over two phases, in a six month period. The first phase investigated development of tutees’ STEM identity i.e. the extent to which they saw STEM as something they could enjoy, be good at and have a career in (Kim, Sinatra & Seyranian, 2018). We explored this through administering brief surveys at the end of each tutoring session, and a series of informal interviews with both tutor and tutee present. We anticipated that the potential for the children to feel at home with STEM might rest upon tutoring experiences where their identity was nurtured (Talafian et al., 2019), implying a significant role for the tutor. The second phase of the pilot therefore, additionally, focused upon the relationship between the tutor and tutee with an accompanying translation towards ethnographic research methods.
We acknowledged that the theorising of the teacher student relationship is often conceptualised in idealised terms (e.g. Todd, 2014; Hoveid & Finne, 2014), perhaps underplaying the challenges posed where young people are experiencing adversity in life or education and where trust and hope may be fragile. In response, our project incorporated two strands of conceptual influence. Firstly, recent Scottish Government interest in ‘trauma informed approaches’ to engagement with excluded groups (Scottish Government, 2022) led to initial training being offered to the project’s volunteer tutors. Secondly, we were influenced by Biesta’s (2015) conceptualisation of education as inherently weak in terms of predictability of outcomes and where risk-taking is unavoidable. In this vein, we revisited Buber’s (2020) I and thou, as an inspirational tool for reflection upon ethnographic data gathered in the second phase of the pilot.
Our research questions are:
What are the significant factors in creating a sustainable community-based volunteer STEM tutoring programme for care experienced children?
How does tutoring affect tutees’ STEM identities?
What is significant about the character of the relationship between tutor and tutee?
How might volunteer tutors be prepared and supported for the tutoring role?
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedThe project is a partnership between the University and the Church of Scotland (CoS), who agreed free use of halls and recruitment and police checking of volunteer tutors. Although tuition takes place in church buildings, it is given and received by those of all faiths and none and all genders, ethnicities and sexual orientation, in line with CrossReach (CoS SSC, 2023), the CoS’s national social care provider. For the purposes of the pilot, the partnership recruited four volunteer tutors, with backgrounds in software development, cyber security and mathematics teaching. A volunteer organiser was recruited and liaised with a local High School which recommended tutees all resident within a small village community associated with multiple deprivation (Scottish Government, 2020). Researchers took the role of warden, sitting within the hall, alongside multiple tutor/tutee pairs, which the space accommodated.
The Participatory Action Research approach overlaps with community learning approaches to youth work in Scotland (e.g. Furlong, 1997) where dialogue between young people and workers is integral to planning and evaluating community-based learning projects. The aim was to establish a collaborative approach, involving reflection in and on action with young people, self and researchers. This included critical examination about the learning and teaching taking place, with the aim of supporting volunteer tutor practitioners so that they might make a positive difference. The action research reflection process necessitated evaluation to be embedded from the start, and a dynamic opportunity for practitioner development through shared professional reflections in and on action.
During the first phase of the six-month pilot, tutor and tutee, together, completed a short reflection task after each session. The tasks were the starting point for monthly recorded dialogues around the development of self-efficacy and identity in STEM, with a focus on the role of relationships and trust. Reflection upon this first phase identified the potential significance of the character of the tutor tutee relationship which became a central focus for the second phase of the pilot, where ethnographic research methods were employed. This included extensive use of field notes, which were reflected upon, with researchers in dialogue with each other and conceptualisations of the potential for the teacher/student relation (Todd, 2014; Buber, 2020). At the close of the pilot, all tutees engaged in a final dialogue, with tutors participating in a dialogic focus group.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsRegarding significant factors necessary to the sustainability of community-based STEM tutoring programmes, rootedness within an already established and stable community has proven key. As well as offering a structure of provision of halls and a pool for volunteer recruitment, the CoS offered stability. For example, volunteers remained committed to the tutor relationship with no end date planned for tutoring. CoS also offered tutoring in close proximity to the where the young people belonged, though none were church members. This has raised questions about the characteristics and features of organisations offering stability and rootedness in communities, that might also offer solid foundations for sustainable tutoring projects.
We would concur that development of STEM identities is a process of nurture, where the tutor relationship may be of sustenance. During the pilot, tutees developed more adventurous plans for their STEM journeys, both in learning and potential career choices. These preliminary findings imply potential importance attached to the tutors’ vocation or employment, where the tutor with a STEM vocation may serve different role to tutors whose primary skills are teaching related. This in turn would have implications for how volunteers might be better prepared and supported for a tutoring role.
From early stages of the pilot, accumulating data further convinced us that the quality and characteristics of the relationship between tutor and tutee was of key importance to beneficial and sustainable and STEM tutoring. This was also a key theme identified by tutors during the final focus group. We are inclined to further research this educational relationship, which has recently been of lesser interest to European researchers. We therefore seek to critically re-engage with foundational conceptualisations, notably those of Rousseau (White, 2014) and Buber (2020), in our next phase, in the anticipation that these will inspire critical reflection of the project as it evolves.
ReferencesBiesta, G. (2015) The Beautiful Risk of Education, New York: Taylor & Francis
Buber, M. (2020) I and Thou (Scribner Classics) Translated by Smith, R. Scribner Book Company
Adoption UK https://www.adoptionuk.org/
Bray, TM. The Challenge of Shadow Education: Private Tutoring and its Implications for Policy Makers in the European Union. Luxembourg: European Commission. 2011
Chevalier, J., and Buckles, D. (2013) Participatory Action Research: Theory and Methods for Engaged Inquiry. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge
Church of Scotland Social Care Council (2023) CrossReach https://www.crossreach.org.uk/
CLD Standards Council, 2022 https://www.i-develop-cld.org.uk/course/view.php?id=23
EEF (2022) Making a difference with effective tutoring, https://d2tic4wvo1iusb.cloudfront.net/documents/pages/Tutoring_Guide_2022_V1.2.pdf?v=1668439120
Education Scotland (2022) A National Model for Professional Learning (education.gov.scot)
Furlong, A. (1997). Evaluating Youth Work with Vulnerable Young People. Glasgow: The Scottish Council for Research in Education.
Hajar, A. (2020) The Association Between Private Tutoring and Access to Grammar Schools: Voices of Year 6 pupils and Teachers in South-East England, British Educational Research Journal Vol. 46, No. 3, pp. 459–479.
Hoveid, M & Finne, A (2014) ‘You Have to Give of Yourself’: Care and Love in Pedagogical Relations, Journal of Philosophy of Education, Vol. 48, No. 2.
Kubíček, A (2020) Social Aspects of Covid-19 Pandemic in Informal Roma Settlements: Specific Challenges and Solutions in Yearbook Human Rights Protection the Right To Human Dignity, Republic of Serbia: Institute of Criminological and Sociological Research.
Blaskó, Z., Costa, P. da, & Schnepf, S. V. (2022). Learning Losses and Educational Inequalities in Europe: Mapping the Potential Consequences of the COVID-19 crisis. Journal of European Social Policy, 32(4), 361–375.
Freundl, V., Lergetporer, P. & Zierow, L. (2021) Germany’s Education Policy During the COVID-19 crisis. Z Politikwiss 31, 109–116. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41358-021-00262-7
Major, L., & May, S. (2020) Covid-19 and social mobility CEP COVID-19 ANALYSIS Centre for Economic Performance
Nelson,J., Lynch, S., & Sharp, C. (2021) Recovery During a Pandemic: the Ongoing Impacts of Covid-19 on Schools Serving Deprived Communities, Slough:NFER.
Scottish Government (2022) Trauma Informed Practice: A Toolkit for Scotland, https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/advice-and-guidance/2021/03/trauma-informed-practice-toolkit-scotland/documents/trauma-informed-practice-toolkit-scotland/trauma-informed-practice-toolkit-scotland/govscot%3Adocument/trauma-informed-practice-toolkit-scotland.pdf
Talafian, H., Moy, M.K., Woodard, M.A. and Foster, A.N. (2019), STEM Identity Exploration through an Immersive Learning Environment, Journal for STEM Education Research, Vol. 2, pp. 105-127.
Todd, S. (2014) Between Body and Spirit: The Liminality of Pedagogical Relationships, Journal of Philosophy of Education, Vol. 48, No. 2, pp231-245
White, R. (2008) Rousseau and the Education of Compassion, Journal of Philosophy of Education, Vol 42, No. 1
14. Communities, Families and Schooling in Educational Research
Paper
Developing Pre-Service Teachers' Understanding of Culturally Responsive Mathematics Teaching Through Community Walks
Gizem Güzeller1, E. Gül Celebi2
1TED University, Turkiye; 2TED University, Turkiye
Presenting Author: Celebi, E. Gül
Population movements and migrations, which are increasingly prevalent worldwide, have led to classrooms becoming multicultural environments, with children from diverse languages, religions, ethnicities, and social classes (Chou et al., 2018; OECD, 2011). This societal transformation also impacts schools and places new expectations and responsibilities on teachers. Consequently, one of the crucial qualities expected of teachers in today's world is their ability to create a culturally responsive teaching (CRT) environment (Aguirre et al., 2013). However, there is a growing gap between the lack of preparation and training of current teachers in CRT and the increasing need for qualified teachers in this area (Acquah et al., 2016; Hollie, 2018). This highlights the necessity for teachers who possess effective teaching strategies to meet the diverse needs of students while demonstrating cultural and linguistic awareness (Grossman et al., 2005; Sowder, 2007; Zembylas, 2010). It is crucial for teacher training programs to systematically prepare pre-service teachers about CRT and provide them with ample experiences in this area (Hollie, 2018). Creating opportunities for teachers to gain a better understanding of their students' life experiences allows them to leverage this knowledge and incorporate it into their instructional designs (Hedges, 2015). One effective tool for achieving this is the use of community walks. Community walks, as defined by Turner et al. (2015), involve one or more visits to the community surrounding the school to gather information about the local environment, identify problems, and to investigate community-related issues. Being immersed in such environments allows pre-service teachers to gather information about the community-based activities of their students (Turner et al., 2015). It also enables them to acquire knowledge about the activities and practices that may be relevant to teaching mathematics within these environments, thereby enhancing their understanding of the communities they engage with (Goodwin, 2011). Moreover, community walks provide opportunities for pre-service teachers to expand their perspective and comprehension of their students' abilities by gaining insights into how mathematics is perceived and utilized by students at home and beyond the school setting (Turner et al., 2015). Additionally, participating in community walks helps pre-service teachers rectify any misconceptions they may hold about the community (Gay, 2002). During the process of developing a lesson plan based on insights gained from the community walk, pre-service teachers prioritize incorporating their students' perspectives and establishing connections with their experiences outside of school (Gay, 2010). From this standpoint, exploring the use of community walks as a tool to enhance pre-service teachers' understanding of the cultural elements that influence students' learning in mathematics lessons is believed to make a valuable contribution to the existing literature.
In this context, the primary objective of the current study is to examine the impact of community walks on the process of pre-service mathematics teachers' designing and implementing culturally responsive mathematics lessons. Additionally, the study aims to determine how the experiences gained from community walks influence the perspectives of pre-service teachers towards creating a culturally responsive environment in mathematics education.
To address these objectives, the following research question will be explored:
How did pre-service teachers benefit from their community walk experiences in the process of designing and implementing culturally responsive mathematics lessons?
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedThe study group for this research consists of 16 pre-service mathematics teachers who were enrolled in the Mathematics and Culture course at a state university in Turkey during the 2021-2022 academic year. These participants volunteered to take part in the study. The convenience sampling method, a non-random sampling technique, was employed for participant selection (Merriam, 2015). The research design utilized in this study is qualitative, aligning with the objectives of the research. The multiple case study approach, as described by (Yin 1994; Creswell & Poth, 2016), served as the framework for the study. To collect data in accordance with the research design, various data collection tools were employed. These included the community walk reports prepared by the pre-service teachers, the reflections they wrote about the process, and tasks they have prepared in relation to the community walk reports and reflections. The "Community Exploration Module," developed by Turner et al. (2015), was utilized as an assessment tool to evaluate the CRT design of the pre-service teachers. The data collection process was conducted in three stages. Initially, the pre-service teachers observed an elementary school in Turkey for a period of four weeks. During one week of this observation period, they organized a community walk in groups (comprising five different groups) around the school and conducted interviews with individuals they encountered after school hours. Following the completion of the community walk, each group prepared a report documenting their observations. Subsequently, the pre-service teachers engaged in reflective writing, capturing their experiences during the community walk. Finally, they designed their mathematical tasks they will implement in the classroom in relation to their community knowledge they gained via their community walk. The collected data was then analyzed using content analysis methods.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsThe anticipated outcomes of this study are twofold. Firstly, the findings are expected to provide valuable insights into the extent to which pre-service teachers consider their students' mathematical thinking styles and incorporate diverse sources of information when designing and implementing culturally responsive lesson plans. This will shed light on the level of attention given to these dimensions in their teaching practices. Secondly, the study aims to uncover how teacher candidates utilize the cultural understanding gained through the community walk experience to enhance their students' learning outcomes. By examining the impact of the community walk on their instructional approaches, the study will reveal the ways in which pre-service teachers effectively leverage cultural insights to improve the educational experiences of their students. Furthermore, it is anticipated that the findings will contribute to the development of a comprehensive understanding of the topics and situations that pre-service teachers find beneficial or challenging in implementing culturally responsive tasks across different levels and sub-learning areas of mathematics. This will provide valuable insights for teacher education programs and curriculum development, enabling them to address the specific needs and difficulties encountered by pre-service teachers in implementing culturally responsive approaches. In summary, this study aims to generate valuable insights into the considerations made by pre-service teachers when designing and implementing culturally responsive tasks, their utilization of cultural understanding obtained through community walks, and the challenges they face in implementing these tasks across various levels and sub-learning areas of mathematics.
ReferencesAcquah, E. O., M. Tandon, and S. Lempinen. (2016). Teacher diversity awareness in the context of changing demographics. European Educational Research Journal, 15(2), 218–235.
Aguirre, J. M., & del Rosario Zavala, M. (2013). Making culturally responsive mathematics teaching explicit: a lesson analysis tool. Pedagogies: An International Journal, 8(2), 163–190. https://doi.org/10.1080/1554480x.2013.768518
Chou, P. I., Su, M. H., & Wang, Y. T. (2018). Transforming teacher preparation for culturally responsive teaching in Taiwan. Teaching and Teacher Education, 75, 116–127.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.06.013
Gay, G. (2002). Preparing for culturally responsive teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(2), 106–116.
Gay, G. (2010). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice. New York: Teachers College Press.
Goodwin, B. (2011). Simply better: Doing what matters most to change the odds for student success. ASCD.
Grossman, P. L., Wilson, S. M., & Shulman, L. S. (2005). Teachers of substance: Subject matter knowledge for teaching. Profesorado, Revista de currículum y formación del profesorado, 9(2), 1-25. Recuperado a partir de https://revistaseug.ugr.es/index.php/profesorado/article/view/19746
Hedges, H. (2015). Sophia’s funds of knowledge: Theoretical and pedagogical insights, possibilities and dilemmas. International Journal of Early Years Education, 23(1), 83–96. https://doi. org/10.1080/09669760.2014.976609
Hollie, S. (2018). Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teaching and Learning. 2nd ed. Huntington Beach, CA: Shell Educational.
Merriam, S. B. (2015). Qualitative research: Designing, implementing, and publishing a study. In Handbook of research on scholarly publishing and research methods (pp. 125-140). IGI Global.
OECD. (2011). Pisa in Focus. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisaproducts/pisainfocus/ 49264831.pdf
Sowder, J. (2007). The mathematical education and professional development of teachers. In F. Lester (Ed.), Second handbook of research on mathematics teaching and learning (pp. 157–224). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing
Turner, E., Aguirre, J., Drake, C., Bartell, T. G., Roth McDuffie, A., & Foote, M. Q. (2015). Community Mathematics Exploration Module. In C. Drake et al. (Eds.), TeachMath Learning Modules for K-8 Mathematics Methods Courses. Teachers Empowered to Advance Change in Mathematics Project. Retrieved from: http://www.teachmath.info
Yin, R. K. (1994). Discovering the future of the case study. Method in evaluation research. Evaluation practice, 15(3), 283-290.https://doi.org/10.1177/109821409401500309
Zembylas, M. (2010). Teachers’ emotional experiences of growing diversity and multiculturalism in schools and the prospects of an ethic of discomfort. Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice, 16(6), 703–716.https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2010.517687
14. Communities, Families and Schooling in Educational Research
Paper
Significant Others in Mathematics Education: Connection Between Parental Motivational Practices, Mathematics Identity and Performance
Katarina Mićić1, Jelena Radišić2, Barbara Blažanin1, Ksenija Krstić1
1Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade; 2Department of Teacher Education and School Research, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Oslo
Presenting Author: Mićić, Katarina
Many European educational systems are still facing the issue of a large number of mathematically illiterate students (Schleicher, 2019). Policy makers, researchers, and educators are working hard on improving mathematics education and its outcomes, being that students’ educational and career paths often depend on their success in mathematics (Douglas & Attewell, 2017) and that mathematics is essential part of scientific and technological progress (Hanushek, 2013). In that endeavor some lines of research, as the current study, focus on a part of mathematics education that takes place at students’ homes and looks into the quantity or quality parental involvement in learning and the home learning environments (Dimosthenous et al., 2022). This study aims to investigate how different parental approaches to supporting their children in learning mathematics impact elementary students’ mathematics identity and performance.
Looking into parental involvement in mathematics education with a lens of parental motivational practices, authors distinguish between process-oriented and performance-oriented practices (Pomeranz et al., 2005; Gottfried et al., 2009; Moorman and Pomeranz, 2010). Parents who use process-oriented practices tend to put emphasis on value and utility of mathematics, developing their children curiosity, persistence, autonomy, and interest in mathematics. Those relying on performance-oriented practices insist on high achievement, often control their children’s schoolwork by external rewards and interfere with the learning process (Gottfried et al., 2009; Moorman and Pomeranz, 2010).
Drawing from currently the most influential theories of academic motivation, authors consider the set of strategies included in process-oriented practices to be more beneficial for a child’s educational outcomes than the ones included in performance-oriented practices (Pomeranz et al., 2005; Gottfried et al., 2009; Moorman and Pomeranz, 2010; Eccles & Wigfield, 2020). Empirical evidence show that process-oriented practices are linked with higher performance (Levpuscek & Zupancic, 2009), but also with the contributing factors such as intrinsic motivation (Gottfried et al., 1994; Gottfried et al., 2009), while performance-oriented strategies show connection with math anxiety (Macmull & Ashkenazi, 2019), lower achievement and a lower probability of opting for a STEM major in college (Levpuscek & Zupancic, 2009).
One important contributing factor to mathematics achievement, and at the same time - an outcome of mathematics education is students’ mathematics identity. Studying mathematics low performance from the perspective of mathematics identity enables researchers to consider a lack of sense of belonging within the mathematics classroom as a cause, instead of focusing on the lack of ability (Darragh, 2013). Mathematics identity refers to a person’s self-understanding in the domain of mathematics that is to a great extent influenced by the perception of how significant others see that person in the context of doing mathematics (Martin, 2009). The way parents approach learning mathematics reflects directly and indirectly on their children mathematics identity, but also a student’s relationship with mathematics might define the parental approach and the nature of their involvement (Kafoussi et al., 2020; Cunningham, 2021; Ingram & Meaney, 2022).
The goal of the current study is to understand the home learning diversities and their value in creating different pathways in mathematics education. Being that chosen parental strategies impacts mathematics achievement, by affecting its supporting elements, one possibly being mathematics identity, identification of beneficial strategies is an important input for policy measures and intervention programs. Thus, the study was guided by following research questions. What patterns of motivational practices utilized by Serbian parents when doing mathematics activities with their children can be distinguished? How are different patterns of motivational practices related to students’ mathematics performance? How are different patterns of parental motivational practices related to students’ mathematics identity?
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedThe current study is a part of an international project focused on development of mathemtics motivaiton in primary education. A total of 50 elementary schools from Serbia took part in the project. A sample for this particular study consists of 1580 elementary school children enrolled in grades 3 and 4 (50% girls, average age 9.8) and their parents (84,3% employed; 45.8% finished undergraduate studies or higher levels of education). Both parents’ and students’ measures were collected in Spring 2022.
Parents’ measures consisted of four scales from Parental motivational practices instrument. The instument is based on the Expectancy-value theory (Eccles & Wigfield, 2020) and consists of 13 items. The scales are: Interest and value (e.g., “I use examples to show my child that learning math matters for everyday life.”, α=.70), Structure (e.g., “I help my child to organize work when learning math.”, α=.80), Support (e.g., “I help my child with strategies how to learn math.”, α=.70), and Cost (e.g. “I tell my child to make time for learning math.”, α=.71). Items were followed by a 4-point Likert scale assessing the frequency of practice occurrence (1- never, 4-often). CFA showed a good fit of the data (χ2(59)=334.448; CFI=0.937; RMSEA= 0.055 (0.049–0.061); SRMR=0.043).
Students’ measures consisted of Mathematics test and Mathematics Identity Scale. Math achievement was measured by a test covering major curricular topics comprised of released TIMSS items (Approval IEA-22-022). A joint scale of math competence was established across grades due to overlapping items in the grade-specific tests created for grades 3 and 4 respectively. The Mathematics Identity scale represents a combination of perceived personal mathematics identity items and perceived recognized mathematics identity items, where students perceive that significant others (i.e., friends, family, math teacher) see them as math persons (e.g., “My family thinks of me as a math person”, χ2(7)= 25.968; CFI= 0.989; RMSEA= 0.043 (0.026–0.062); SRMR= 0.017; α=.75).
We clustered parents based on their scores on the four parent motivational practices scales. To distinguish and describe groups of parents with distinct motivational practices we utilized hierarchical cluster analysis based on Ward’s method and squared Euclidean distance. ANOVA with Scheffe post and Paired sample t-test were used to define clusters. Further, we used ANOVA with Scheffe post hoc tests to investigate how different clusters of parents are related to their students mathematics identity and performance score.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsBased on the dendrogram, three groups of parents were distinguished. The largest group named High-achievers gathered 52.4% of parents. Main feature of this group is structuring their child’s schoolwork and emphasizing that learning mathematics takes sacrifice. This group promote the intrinsic aspect of learning mathematics and support their children in learning, however Paired-samples t-tests showed that these practices were used less often than the first two (p=.00). The second group, named Math-enthusiasts, gathered 15.5% of parents. They emphasized the intrinsic value of mathematics to the same extent as the High-achievers (p>.05), while they dramatically rarely describe mathematics as something that takes sacrifice - significantly less often than the other two groups (p=.00). Also, they structured their children’s learning and interfere with it less often than High-achievers (p=.00). The third group consisted of 32.1% of parents. These parents had a strickingly low average on the Structure dimension, while all other values were lower than for the other two groups (p=.00) (except for Cost in the group of Math-enthusiasts) therefore we named them Laissez-faire.
ANOVA results show differences among the children of the three groups in performance (F(2, 1378) = 3.04, p<.05). Scheffe post hoc test showed that children of Math enthusiasts had higher math score than children of High achievers (p<.05). There were no differences in the overall score of mathematics identity (F(2, 1433) = 2.37, p=.09), however, children of the three groups of parents differ in how they perceive their teachers see them in the domain of mathematics (F(2, 1378) = 3.04, p<.05). Children of High-achievers felt recognized as math persons by their teachers more than the other two groups of students (p<.05). These results shed light on the intricate relationship among teachers’ and parents’ practices and its tangled influence on students’ educational pathways.
ReferencesCunningham, J. (2021). "We Made Math!": Black Parents as a Guide for Supporting Black Children's Mathematical Identities. Journal of Urban Mathematics Education, 14(1), 24-44.
Darragh, L. (2013). Constructing confidence and identities of belonging in mathematics at the transition to secondary school. Research in Mathematics Education, 15(3), 215-229.
Dimosthenous, A., Kyriakides, L., & Panayiotou, A. (2020) Short- and long-term effects of the home learning environment and teachers on student achievement in mathematics: a longitudinal study, School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 31(1), 50-79, DOI: 10.1080/09243453.2019.1642212
Douglas, D., & Attewell, P. (2017). School mathematics as gatekeeper. The Sociological Quarterly, 58(4), 648-669.
Eccles, J. S., & Wigfield, A. (2020). From expectancy-value theory to situated expectancy-value theory: A developmental, social cognitive, and sociocultural perspective on motivation. Contemporary educational psychology, 61, 101859.
Gottfried, A. E., Marcoulides, G. A., Gottfried, A. W., & Oliver, P. H. (2009). A latent curve model of parental motivational practices and developmental decline in math and science academic intrinsic motivation. Journal of educational psychology, 101(3), 729.
Hanushek, E. A. (2013). Economic growth in developing countries: The role of human capital. Economics of Education Review, 37, 204-212.
Ingram, N., & Meaney, T. (2022). “My parents are pretty pleased with my maths”: students’ navigation of identity stories about mathematics. Research in Mathematics Education, 24(1), 51-68.
Levpušček, M. P., & Zupančič, M. (2009). Math achievement in early adolescence: The role of parental involvement, teachers' behavior, and students' motivational beliefs about math. The Journal of Early Adolescence.
Kafoussi, S., Chaviaris, P., & Moutsios-Rentzos, A. (2019). Investigating parental influences on sixth graders’ mathematical identity in Greece: A case study. International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education, 15(2), em0572.
Macmull, M. S., & Ashkenazi, S. (2019). Math anxiety: The relationship between parenting style and math self-efficacy. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1721.
Martin, D. B. (2009). Researching race in mathematics education. Teachers College Record, 111(2), 295-338.
Moorman, E. A., & Pomerantz, E. M. (2010). Ability mindsets influence the quality of mothers' involvement in children's learning: an experimental investigation. Developmental psychology, 46(5), 1354.
Pomerantz, E. M., Grolnick, W. S., & Price, C. E. (2005). The role of parents in how children approach achievement: A dynamic process perspective. In A. J. Elliott & C. S. Dweck (Eds.), Handbook of competence and motivation (pp. 259–278). New York: Guilford Press.
Schleicher, A. (2019). PISA 2018: Insights and Interpretations. oecd Publishing.
14. Communities, Families and Schooling in Educational Research
Paper
Educational Factors Affecting Diversity in Marginalised Rural Communities: Familial Socialisation and Male Second Level Students’ Perception of Biology.
Paul Flynn, Veronica McCauley, Carmen Kealy
University of Galway, Ireland
Presenting Author: Flynn, Paul
This study is set in the North/NorthWest region of Ireland which, under the European NUTS classification framework, is considered to be a transition region (where GDP per capita falls between 75 and 90 percent of the EU average) (EuroStat, 2021). This region has experienced significant population growth moving from 650,000 in 2020 to 903,000 in 2022. Since 2017, the same region has experienced an increase in the prevalence of poverty and social exclusion rising from 2.9% in 2017 to 4.9% in 2020, above the rest of the country (EuroStat, 2023). Young people from such marginalised rural settings across Europe experience significant disadvantage compared to their urban counterparts when it comes to opportunities to enter the workforce (Flynn et, al., 2022; Erdogan et al., 2021; Mujčinović et al., 2021) ultimately reinforcing existing perspectives on the relevance of education. In Ireland, measures to address the impact of poverty and social exclusion are responding to the European Smart Specialisation Platform, which aims to boost employment across Europe in areas that require a diverse set of skills, that move the population beyond the dominance of agriculture. In the North/Northwest, this means being part of a strategic move towards a knowledge economy where the second level subject of science has a key role to play. The relationship between education and diversity for prosperity in marginalised rural communities couldn’t be clearer.
As part of a broader project to explore how science education, an ever-increasing requirement for progression to employment in the Irish economy, could be enhanced in marginalised second level schools, the project team uncovered a disproportionate participation rate across gender in upper secondary school science education at a national level. It was found that males were participating at a ratio of approximately 1:2 ( male: female), half the numbers of their female peers (SEC, 2020). While work has been done to promote opportunities in Science in the 12-18 year age group, it is evident that many male students from rural areas, such as the North/NorthWest region, continue to struggle to see the study of science subjects such as Biology as being relevant to their lives. Hence, considering their future entry to the workforce in growth areas under the S3 framework, disengagement with Science as a subject leads to immediate disadvantage and an increased risk of poverty and social deprivation in a region that is already disadvantaged.
Considering the idea of Science Capital, or a student’s view of the relevance of science to their identity and life aspirations (Archer et al., 2015), lived experience such as community/school engagement and socialisation within the familial setting, can play a role in limiting the aspirations that any student might hold (Bourdieu, 2018). Thus, important considerations regarding the teaching of science in regions such as the North/NorthWest of Ireland emerge. Bourdieu (2018) suggests that the totality of the environment which somebody inhabits directly influences the development of an individual and their orientation to the world around them. In the case of prospective upper second level male biology students in the North/NorthWest region, this may hold true as there appears to be a tension between the students perception of the relevance of science to their career trajectory, and the future career opportunities under a national alignment with the EU Smart Specialisation Platform.
The work reported on here seeks to unpick the influence of familial socialisation in relation to the perception of science, as part of a broader social ecosystem, as it relates to future opportunities for male secondary school students within a marginalised European transition region - the North/NorthWest of Ireland.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedThe data collection strategy for this study was a student survey with both closed and open questions to explore the relevance of Science and future career ambitions as well as descriptors including parental occupation. The survey included measurable constructs of Science Capital (Godec et al. 2017; Moote et al., 2021) as well as the Theory of Planned Behaviour (attitude towards science, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, intention to study science) as proposed by Salleh (2013). Further, this data collection approach allowed for anonymity, measurable variables but also provided opportunities for respondents to articulate additional insight and accumulate as rich a dataset as possible (Cohen et al., 2017).
The survey was extended to a purposive sample of second level students in two marginalised rural schools in the North/NorthWest region of Ireland. The schools were selected based on geography and designation as schools which have significant numbers of students who experience educational disadvantage. In addition, both schools are multi-gender and have a Transition Year (TY) programme, during which students must decide what subjects they will study at upper secondary school in the following year. Prior to engagement, students and parents were provided with information sheets detailing the study and ethical considerations (e.g. consent, anonymity, confidentiality etc.). Participation was voluntary and formal sanction for this study was sought and granted by the University Ethics Board.
The first school, School A, is located in the very north of the region and has a pupil enrolment of 600. School B is located in the most western area of the region and has a pupil enrolment of 112. There is a participation rate in TY of approximately 65% within such schools for both genders (DES, 2022). The response rate for the survey in School A was 74% (N=48; 21 males, 26 females and 1 preferred not to say) and for School B 100% (N=23; 11 males, 14 females).
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsData collected from the larger school, School A, revealed that the influence of familial settings, in particular the perception of Biology, as an interesting subject or as a useful subject towards future career choice, had a significant impact on the perspective of participating male students. This was evident when asked if they would choose Biology at upper secondary school resulting in 2/21 positive responses in comparison to the female students where 13/21 indicated they would study Biology. Students in School B were asked the same questions with only 2/11 males indicating that Biology was considered interesting or useful for future career choice, and 0/11 said that they would study biology in the following year compared to 9/14 of their female peers. Further, students in both schools were also asked to identify their science subject of choice for upper secondary school. Many of the male students chose Agricultural Science as an alternative to Biology as it was related to rural activities and employment.
Findings presented indicate that parental attitudes towards Biology, and Science subjects more generally, have a significant impact on the perceived relevance of science to the everyday lives of students and the science capital that students may have. In addition, contemporary employment patterns in the region such as farming, although farming is largely a part-time occupation in the North/NorthWestern region of Ireland, plays a significant role in how male second level student relate science to their future prosperity and ultimately any diversification of opportunity for employment in the region. Data analysis is ongoing, and the authors aim to present further insight into influence of familial socialisation in relation to the perception of science, as part of a broader social ecosystem within a marginalised European transition region - the North/NorthWest of Ireland.
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