Changes in school alienation profiles among secondary school students and the role of teaching style: Results from a longitudinal study in Luxembourg and Switzerland

What students think about school has a major impact on learning and academic achievement. The
multi-domain concept of school alienation distinguishes between alienation from learning, from
teachers and from classmates. We aim to study a) alienation patterns among secondary school
students, b) how school alienation profiles change from year 7 to year 9 and how secondary
school students transition between profiles, and c) the role of teaching style for transitions between school alienation profiles. We draw on panel data of secondary school students from
Luxembourg and Switzerland. Results of latent profile/latent transition analyses reveal distinct
school alienation profiles, country differences and support for the idea that student-oriented,
supportive teaching styles might prevent students from transitioning towards more-highly
alienated profiles.