Children And Young People At Risk Of Disengagement From School
Children and young people at risk ofdisengagement from schoolCompleted by:Kirsten J. Hancock and Stephen R. ZubrickTelethon Kids InstituteUniversity of Western Australiafor the Commissioner for Children and Young People WAJune 2015 (Updated October 2015)ISBN: 978-1-74052-337-0
ContentsContents. 2Executive Summary. 4Background . 4How do we define disengagement?. 4Why is disengagement important? . 5What are the risk factors for disengagement?. 5How many Australian students are ‘disengaged?’ . 6What do students have to say about engagement? . 7What do teachers have to say about engagement? . 7What do parents have to say about engagement? . 7What does the literature say about disengagement interventions and programs?. 8Integration of main themes . 8Background . 10Introduction . 10Terminology . 11Literature review methodology . 11Outline of literature review . 13What does disengagement mean?. 14Dimensions of disengagement . 15Disengagement is both a process and an outcome. 17Contexts beyond school are important for understanding disengagement processes. 18Impacts of disengagement for children and young people . 22Impacts of disengagement at school . 22Post-school impacts of disengagement . 23Risk factors associated with student disengagement . 25Summary of risk factors associated with disengagement . 262
What does disengagement look like for Australian students? . 27Year 12 retention and attainment rates in Australia . 27Summary: Year 12 retention and attainment as indicators of disengagement . 32Unproductive classroom behaviours as indicators of disengagement - The PipelineProject . 32Student attitudes, belonging and connectedness as disengagement indicators –findings from PISA . 35Patterns of absence for Western Australian students . 38Summary of Australian disengagement indicators . 40What do students, teachers, and others have to say about engagement? . 41What do students have to say about engagement? . 42What do teachers say about engagement? . 48What do parents have to say about engagement? . 51What does the literature say about interventions, programs and potential educationalreform? . 54Promoting early years engagement . 55Programs for disengaging students . 57Re-engaging early school leavers and alternative pathways . 61Discussion – Integrating themes . 63What do schools expect of parents of children and young people attending theirschools? . 64What do parents of children and young people expect from the schools theirchildren attend?. 67Can schools create the meaningful relationships that disengaged or disengagingstudents say they need? . 68Is the reform agenda for education addressing the needs and expectations ofchildren and young people who are disengaged or at risk of doing so? . 70Conclusion . 73References . 743
Executive SummaryBackgroundThis literature review on student disengagement was commissioned by theCommissioner for Children and Young People of Western Australia. The brief was toprovide an overview of current evidence on the profile, extent, and impact ofdisengagement in children and young people from school, along with evidence ofprograms and strategies to reduce disengagement and promote re-engagement.The review first examines international literature to determine how disengagementcan be defined and understood, and then narrows the scope of the literature toexamine student disengagement in Australia to address the following questions:1.2.3.4.5.Why does disengagement matter?What are the risk factors associated with disengagement?How many Australian students are disengaged?What do students, teachers and others have to say about disengagement?What does the literature say about interventions and programs addressingstudent disengagement?It then describe the themes emerging from the review in a discussion that identifiesthe integrative questions that focus on what schools and families expect from eachother in terms of engaging students.How do we define disengagement?Disengagement has been defined and redefined many different ways, both withinand across disciplines. ‘Disengagement’ is typically used interchangeably with‘engagement’, where each term represents two ends of the same continuum. Theconcept could therefore be defined according to engagement, (i.e. how do wecharacterise engaged students?) or disengagement. This review focuses ondisengaged students.The literature shows that disengagement is a nuanced and multifaceted construct,and defining disengagement coherently was no simple task. The following conceptswere identified as being core to understanding the complexity surroundingdisengagement in children and young people: Students can be disengaged at different levels (e.g. with content, in class,with school, and/or with education as a whole).There are different types or domains of engagement (e.g. emotional,behavioural, and cognitive).Where levels of disengagement intersect with types of disengagement,different indicators of disengagement can be identified (e.g. behaviouraldisengagement with class content may be indicated by poor classroom4
behaviour; emotional disengagement with school in general may be indicatedby poor school connectedness). Disengagement can therefore be indicatedand measured in multiple ways.Disengagement is both a process and an outcome. For example, studentabsenteeism may reflect disengagement from school, but it is also a riskfactor for other disengagement indicators such as early school leaving.Contexts beyond the educational setting (i.e. family) are an integral part ofdisengagement processes for children and young people.Why is disengagement important?Disengaged students are at risk of a range of adverse academic and socialoutcomes. Most forms of disengagement, such as absence, disruptive behaviour,and poor school connectedness, are associated with lower achievement, which hassignificant implications for the school experience for students. Importantly, theengagement-achievement relationship tends to be reciprocal, cyclical and reinforcedover time, meaning that while low achievement may be represented as an adverseoutcome of disengagement, it can also contribute to the process. Early schoolleaving is more often the end-point of a long process of disengagement over time.Therefore, it is important to identify problems with disengagement early.Disengagement also has implications for the lives of young people beyond thecompulsory school years. For a significant minority of students, the end-point ofdisengagement culminates in school dropout, which has implications for life coursetrajectories once young people leave school. Students who leave school early are atgreater risk of unemployment, low income, social exclusion, risky health behaviours,and engaging in crime. When the young people go on to have their own families,their ability to support their children at school is diminished and the children are alsofaced with an increased likelihood of disengagement. Of course, not all young peoplewho ever disengage from school will end up on such a pathway, however,engagement at school remains a significant issue for the intergenerationalpersistence of disadvantage.What are the risk factors for disengagement?Student disengagement is strongly associated with the home and family context andthe degree to which parents can economically, socially, and emotionally supportchildren and young people to engage at school. A large volume of both Australianand international research consistently shows that children and young people fromdisadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to experience markers ofdisengagement.5
Children and young people at risk of experiencing one or multiple indicators ofschool disengagement include: students living in families with limited resources, including human,psychological and social capital, income or timestudents who arrive at school with limited school readinessstudents who do not form a connection with school, peers or teachersstudents with frequent absences or who are not achieving wellstudents with chronic illness, disability or mental health issuesAboriginal studentsstudents living in more remote areasstudents living in areas of concentrated disadvantage (independent of familylevel disadvantage)students attending schools with a concentration of disadvantaged students.How many Australian students are ‘disengaged?’There is no ‘one indicator’ to measure the prevalence of student disengagement, butsingle markers may be used as indicators of different types of disengagement. Inthis report, Year 12 completion rates, unproductive classroom behaviours, surveys ofstudent attitudes and school connectedness, and student absence rates areexamined. Using these indicators it was found: about 25 per cent of students do not complete Year 12, though this variesfrom state to state and by demographic characteristics.Australian Bureau of Statistics data show that of the 25 per cent who do notcomplete Year 12, the most common reason for not doing so was becausethey either got or wanted a job or apprenticeship (35%). A further 25 percent said it was because they did not like school, and 9 per cent said it wasbecause they did not do well at school.about 20 per cent of students are consistently disengaged when consideringclassroom behaviours. These students may find their schoolworkuninteresting, are inclined to give up on challenging tasks, will look fordistractions and opt out of class activities. These disengaged studentstypically perform one to two year levels below their productive counterpartson achievement measures.an measures of attitudes and connectedness, over 90 per cent of 15 year-oldstudents believe that investing effort would lead to success at school and 95per cent believe that trying hard at school is important and will help them geta good job. However, 25 per cent of 15 year-olds also say that school has notprepared them for life after school and 10 per cent believe school has been awaste of time. Over one-fifth (22%) feel they do not belong at school.6
between 72 and 75 per cent of primary school students attend school at least90 per cent of the time. By Year 10, only half of students attend school thisfrequently.Taken together, the majority of Australian students are engaged at school, attendregularly, see the value education provides for their future, and achieve abovebenchmark levels. About 10 per cent of students might be regarded as having lowengagement, another 7 per cent or so have very low engagement, and another 3per cent have persistent, serious disengagement with additional challenges such asmental health distress. This would suggest that overall about one in five students(20%) could be considered to have some level of disengagement with school.What do students have to say about engagement?The literature is notable for the general absence of student experiences, voices,guidance and participation in defining and addressing engagement with school. Thecommon thread running through the studies is what students say aboutrelationships. These are the key to engagement as seen by students. Students cited personal safety, being listened to and being respected asleading requisites for their engagement at school.Students less often cite their family as being instrumental to their schoolengagement (some do), instead most locate the responsibility in theclassroom and/or school setting.What do teachers have to say about engagement?There is no clear consensus among teachers about the nature of studentdisengagement or engagement and what will make a difference.Teachers clearly see they have a dominant role to play in creating the conditions forstudent engagement. Most (but not all) of what they cite as important forengagement is linked firmly with: pedagogy, curriculum, streaming and setting thecontext for expectations and responsibilities.While students see relationships as foundational to their ongoing engagement or tobecoming engaged and maintaining engagement, teachers are much less likely tocite relationship formation and maintenance as instrumental to the studentengagement process.What do parents have to say about engagement?While there is a large literature attesting to the importance of parents to theeducational experience and engagement of their children, direct studies of parentviews of student engagement and disengagement are largely absent.7
Most of this literature is based upon studies of parental engagement in schoolsrather than studies of parental attitudes, values and behaviours directly related tothe engagement of their children in school.What does the literature say about disengagementinterventions and programs?The sheer number of indicators of disengagement, and the risk factors associatedwith them, poses a significant challenge when it comes to assessing best practiceprinciples for reducing the risk of disengagement from school.Broadly, approaches to addressing student disengagement can be grouped into oneof three developmental periods. The key features of successful programs are brieflynoted:1. Programs that promote and facilitate engagement in the early years– Examples of successful programs include intensive early childhoodeducation programs that provide a comprehensive range of early education,parenting and family supports and services that target children from early inchildhood through to the early primary years and which boost the skills ofchildren prior to entering school.2. Programs for disengaging students who are still at school but at riskof leaving early – Largely in the domain of secondary schools, the keyfeatures of these programs were that they provide opportunities to developpractical skills, provide flexible or individualised learning programs tailored tostudent interests, or they developed adult-student relationships throughmentoring.3. Programs that help disengaged students re-engage with school orcomplete Year 12 or equivalent through other pathways – Theseprograms need to allow for a diversity of interests and goals, allow flexibility,have quality teachers who understand the circumstances of their students andrespect them (i.e. build relationships), and work in combination andcoordination with support services that help disengaged young people withtheir broader wellbeing.Integration of main themesAt the outset, education systems, schools and teachers understand the significanceof student disengagement and want to implement strategies for preventing itsoccurrence, for identifying those students at risk for disengaging, and for addressingproblems when they occur. The review identifies multiple obstacles for implementingdisengagement strategies.First, addressing disengagement requires resources and this is a significant challengefor educators. The creation and operation of strategies to address student8
disengagement requires a significant proportion of the education effort and budgetfor a relatively small proportion of students.Second, education systems have evolved higher expectations of parents and familiesto ’ready’ their children for school and socialise them with academic and learningvalues and behaviours. Some families are not equipped with the resources (includingtime, income, and human, social and psychological capital) to do this.Third, there is a struggle to position responsibility for student disengagement.Families and family circumstances are predominately cited by teachers as the causalbasis for student disengagement. Parents (i.e. families) are seen by schools as thecritical, if not the primary source, of a student’s school engagement.For students, however, disengagement is about disaffection. Students uniformlyindicate that their engagement with school is founded on relationships at school –with both friends and teachers. For students, the causes for disengagement arelargely seen to be at school – not typically at home with or in the family.Therefore, student views of the causes of their disengagement do not support theschool view of the causes of their disengagement.Relationship formation is central to the engagement pathway for students. Withoutthis, excellence in pedagogy, curriculum flexibility, and policy, while necessary, willnot be sufficient to re-engage the disengaged or disengaging student.9
BackgroundIntroductionFew would deny the transformative power of education in changing the capabilitiesof individuals to choose lives that they value. Throughout the world, education andlearning are sought after and revered. The importance of the opportunity to partakein education, and indeed, the requirement that children and young people do so isnot questioned. It is recognised as a fundamental human right that is essential forthe exercise of all other human rights. It is a right that is enforced through theimplementation of laws requiring children to enrol and attend school, with apervasive societal expectation that they participate and ‘ma
Student disengagement is strongly associated with the home and family context and the degree to which parents can economically, socially, and emotionally support children and young people to engage at school. A large volume of both Australian and international research consistently shows that children and young people from
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Level 3 Diploma for the Children & Young People's Workforce (4227 -03/04/05) (England) 3 Contents 1 Introduction to the qualification 7 1.1 Qualification structure 8 2 Optional units (mandatory and pathway units in separate handbook) 18 Unit 032 Support the creativity of children and young people 22 Unit 033 Understand the needs of children and young people who are vulnerable
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