Academic Buoyancy in Second Level Schools: Insights from Ireland

Abstract

Academic Buoyancy has been described as a students’ ability to successfully navigate the everyday challenges that are typical of school life. This project sought to ascertain whether there are distinguishing features of this buoyancy that can be identified in young people in the Irish second level context, and if so, what these were. Additionally, this research investigated whether the concept of buoyancy can help understand the decisions to stay in school/leave school early, against a backdrop of a persistent disparity in school completion rates between young people of advantaged and disadvantaged backgrounds in Ireland. A mixed methods approach was utilised to achieve these aims. Ethnographic methods were employed in two case study schools comprising 31 students. Buoyant students displayed a noteworthy ability to examine their own experiences, and contrast them with others in society. The characteristics of this evident buoyancy were termed: “Confidence”, “Control”, “Planning”, “Autonomy” and “Persistence”, and these became the focus of the development of the Student Buoyancy Instrument (SBI). The SBI questionnaire allowed students to reflect on their buoyancy, and was administered to 581 students in 17 Irish second level schools. The data obtained from this cohort suggested that the instrument is both valid and reliable, and displays some qualified predictive validity. The students who reported themselves as least likely to leave school early, scored significantly higher on the Confidence, Planning and Persistence measures. It is recommended that refinement and wider deployment of the SBI may yield greater insights the buoyancy of students in school – once the instrument is deployed responsibility in a way which is affirming for young people's competencies, rather than to negatively label deficiency.