School alienation and academic achievement in Switzerland and Luxembourg: a longitudinal perspective

in Social Psychology of Education (2020), 23

Early adolescence represents a particularly sensitive period in the life of young learners, which is accompanied by an increase in school alienation. Due to its harmful nature (Hascher and Hadjar in Educ ... [more ▼]

Early adolescence represents a particularly sensitive period in the life of young learners, which is accompanied by an increase in school alienation. Due to its harmful nature (Hascher and Hadjar in Educ Res 60:171–188, 2018. https ://doi.org/10.1080/00131 881.2018.14430 21), school alienation may lead to unfavorable consequences such as low academic achievement (Johnson in J Educ Technol Soc8:179–189, 2005; Reinke and Herman in Psychol Schools 39:549–559, 2002). This study investigates the longitudinal relationship between school alienation domains, namely alienation from learning, from teachers, and from classmates, and academic achievement among secondary school students of grade 7 to grade 9 in Switzerland and Luxembourg. Data were collected from 403 students in the Swiss canton of Bern and 387 students in Luxembourg who participated in three waves of the “School Alienation in Switzerland and Luxembourg (SASAL)” research project. Cross-lagged modeling was applied to examine the correlations between school alienation domains and academic achievement at each of the three time points, the temporal stability of school alienation domains and academic achievement, and their cross-lagged effects across time, controlling for students’ gender, school track, parental occupational status, and migration background. Results show that the pattern of relationships is defined by the school alienation domain and the cultural context, pointing to the complex interplay between the multidimensional construct of school alienation and academic outcomes of secondary school students. [less ▲]

Students’ trajectories through higher education: a review of quantitative research

in Higher Education (2020), 1099-1118(79), 6

With the increasing availability of high-quality longitudinal data on students in higher education, scholars’ interest in how students proceed through higher education has risen. So far, the research ... [more ▼]

With the increasing availability of high-quality longitudinal data on students in higher education, scholars’ interest in how students proceed through higher education has risen. So far, the research field is diverse in theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches. Thus, based on 27 studies published in (higher) education research journals during the past two decades, this literature review provides an overview of the theoretical concepts, methodologies and main empirical findings in the study of students’ trajectories in higher education. The results depict a US dominated research field. Most theoretical frameworks are based on student’s decision-making. Across different country contexts and research designs—ranging from descriptions of student trajectories to studies predicting who engages in which types of trajectories to sequential trajectory reconstruction—we found that historically disadvantaged groups in higher education such as students from low social origin follow less linear and less smooth higher education trajectories. However, while the field of comparative education is growing steadily and may significantly contribute to explaining the link between the realization of students’ opportunities and the way how higher education is designed and implemented both on the national and local level, there were no cross-country comparison studies on higher education trajectories. [less ▲]

The social stratification of student trajectories in German higher education

Poster (2019, March 22)

Integration und Bildung

in Pickel, Gert; Decker, Oliver; Kailitz, Steffen (Eds.) et al Handbuch Integration (2019)

Im Rahmen des Beitrags wird die Rolle von Bildung für die Integration auf der individuellen Ebene und der gesellschaftlichen Ebene, und damit für Sozial- und Systemintegration diskutiert. Dabei wird von ... [more ▼]

Im Rahmen des Beitrags wird die Rolle von Bildung für die Integration auf der individuellen Ebene und der gesellschaftlichen Ebene, und damit für Sozial- und Systemintegration diskutiert. Dabei wird von den Funktionen von Bildung – Vermittlung von Kenntnissen und Fähigkeiten, Vergabe von auf dem Arbeitsmarkt umsetzbaren Zertifikaten, Sozialisation von Normen und Werten – ausgegangen. Im theoretischen Teil wird ein Überblick gegeben über Konzeptionen zur Analyse von Bildung und Integration. Im empirischen Teil wird der Forschungsstand im Hinblick auf integrationsrelevante Bildungsfolgen unter besonderer Berücksichtigung von Folgen der Bildungsexpansion zusammengefasst. [less ▲]

Analyzing Drawings to Explore children’s Concepts of an Ideal School: Implications for the Improvement of children’s Well-Being at School

in Child Indicators Research (2019), early online

Because not much is known about children’s subjective well-being (SWB) in educational spaces, our objective was to analyze children’s drawings of their ideal school environment, emphasizing the importance ... [more ▼]

Because not much is known about children’s subjective well-being (SWB) in educational spaces, our objective was to analyze children’s drawings of their ideal school environment, emphasizing the importance of obtaining the children’s perspective. To do so, we analyzed Luxembourgish primary school children’s drawings (n = 150; age 10) using visual grounded theory methodology. The results were centered on 10 main underlying themes that indicated children’s conceptualizations of their dream school in which particular attention was paid to the design of the school buildings, playgrounds, and classrooms. Children’s written inputs showed the boundaries of visual expression, as they mentioned different desires beyond those conveyed by the drawings. In addition to fancy aesthetics of the school environment, material conditions such as playground facilities were found to be a significant part of the children’s dream schools. Our analyses offer meaningful insights into children’s perceptions of an educational environment that fosters well-being, thereby functioning as a blueprint for adults’ efforts to improve schools in a more child-friendly manner. [less ▲]

The Crowdsourced Replication Initiative: Investigating Immigration and Social Policy Preferences. Executive Report.

E-print/Working paper (2019)

In an era of mass migration, social scientists, populist parties and social movements raise concerns over the future of immigration-destination societies. What impacts does this have on policy and social ... [more ▼]

In an era of mass migration, social scientists, populist parties and social movements raise concerns over the future of immigration-destination societies. What impacts does this have on policy and social solidarity? Comparative cross-national research, relying mostly on secondary data, has findings in different directions. There is a threat of selective model reporting and lack of replicability. The heterogeneity of countries obscures attempts to clearly define data-generating models. P-hacking and HARKing lurk among standard research practices in this area.This project employs crowdsourcing to address these issues. It draws on replication, deliberation, meta-analysis and harnessing the power of many minds at once. The Crowdsourced Replication Initiative carries two main goals, (a) to better investigate the linkage between immigration and social policy preferences across countries, and (b) to develop crowdsourcing as a social science method. The Executive Report provides short reviews of the area of social policy preferences and immigration, and the methods and impetus behind crowdsourcing plus a description of the entire project. Three main areas of findings will appear in three papers, that are registered as PAPs or in process. [less ▲]

Teachers’ images of the ideal student as a marker for school culture and its role in school alienation during the transition from primary to secondary education in Luxembourg

in Studia Paedagogica (2019), 24(2), 85-108

Particularly in highly stratified educational systems, the transition from primary to secondary school involves a substantial alteration of school culture as students leave their familiar environment of ... [more ▼]

Particularly in highly stratified educational systems, the transition from primary to secondary school involves a substantial alteration of school culture as students leave their familiar environment of primary school and encounter a fundamentally different, initially strange school context. The transition to a new secondary school culture is presumably one cause of students’ increasing school alienation as the students face specific expectations from their secondary teachers. The main aim of this paper is to shed light on the association between the change in school culture represented by the teachers’ image of the ideal student and school alienation in the educational context of Luxembourg. The methodolog y follows a qualitative approach: in-depth interviews and group discussions with teachers from primary and secondary schools were analysed applying a qualitative reconstructive approach. The results confirmed the importance of the transition for students’ educational trajectories and indicated its challenges concerning the changes in demands and values students are expected to meet. Various risk and protective factors concerning the development of school alienation over the course of the transition were identified according to the specific demands of a single school’s cultures. [less ▲]

The value of education among immigrants and non-immigrants and how this translates into educational aspirations: a comparison of four European countries

in Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies (2019), 45(5), 711-734

Starting out from the frequent empirical finding that immigrants exhibit higher educational aspirations than non-immigrants, we analyse the role of immigrants’ value of education, i.e. the subjective ... [more ▼]

Starting out from the frequent empirical finding that immigrants exhibit higher educational aspirations than non-immigrants, we analyse the role of immigrants’ value of education, i.e. the subjective belief that education is beneficial for one’s life, in idealistic and realistic educational aspirations in four distinct institutional settings, comparing Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands and England. While the first part of the analyses relates to how immigrants differ from non-immigrants in the value they assign to education, the second part centres on country differences considering immigrant integration policies and education systems as crucial factors. A third part relates to the links between the value of education and educational aspirations to gain some insight into how the value of education may contribute to educational decisions. Analyses are based on longitudinal data of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries (CILS4EU). While results show that immigrants assign a higher value to education, the value of education does play a minor role in idealistic and realistic educational aspirations. The results of the country comparison are rather ambivalent, including very weak support for the argument that immigrants strive for education to a higher extent in countries with less favourable conditions. [less ▲]

Les inégalités scolaires dans le système secondaire luxembourgeois dans une perspective dans les temps

in University of Luxembourg, LUCET; Ministère de l’Éducation nationale, de l’Enfance et de la Jeunesse, SCRIPT (Eds.) Rapport national sur l'éducation au Luxembourg 2018 (2018)

Le régime d’Etat providence joue un rôle dans le bien-être

E-print/Working paper (2018)