Upper-secondary School Research Articles

Socioeconomic inequality in breakfast skipping among Norwegian adolescents

BackgroundSkipping breakfast is associated with negative health-related and school-related outcomes. Breakfast is the most frequently skipped meal among adolescents. Thus, there is a need to explore the reasons for breakfast skipping across population subgroups to better inform policy makers. The purpose of this study was to present the prevalence of adolescents skipping breakfast on schooldays, analyse the reasons for skipping breakfast and assess associations between the prevalence of skipping breakfast and the reasons for skipping breakfast according to sociodemographic variables.MethodsThe data of a random sample of 10 000 upper secondary school students (aged 16–18 years) from Viken County, Norway, were collected. Students completed a questionnaire measuring breakfast skipping, reasons for skipping breakfast, and sociodemographic variables. Chi-square tests were used to assess differences between the independent groups (family affluence scale (FAS), parental education, and gender) and skipping breakfast and reasons for skipping breakfast.Results22% of adolescents reported that they usually skipped breakfast on all schooldays. Skipping breakfast was more prevalent among females, older students, students with lower socioeconomic status and students in vocational education programmes. The difference in breakfast skipping between students with low and high FAS scores was 31% versus 16%, respectively. The most common self-reported reasons for skipping breakfast were time (59%) and not wanting to eat breakfast (48%). Furthermore, 9% reported health issues, and 3% reported economic constraints as a reason for skipping breakfast. Not wanting to eat breakfast was related to a higher FAS score, health issues were more common among girls, and economic constraints were more common among those with low socioeconomic status.ConclusionsSkipping breakfast was common among Norwegian upper secondary school students. Lack of time and not wanting breakfast were clearly the most cited reasons for skipping breakfast. Health issues and economic constraints were also cited but were less common. The results showed diverging associations between different demographic characteristics and reasons for skipping breakfast. These results are important for developing effective programs to improve diet among adolescents.

Spegeln som resurs i hår- och makeupstylistklassrummet: Yrkesämnesundervisning på hantverksprogrammet

This study explores the interaction between students and teachers in subject-specific vocational education, specifically focusing on the hair and make-up stylist classroom within the handicraft programme in Swedish upper secondary school. The aim is to understand the role and significance of the mirror in enabling teacher-student interaction and mutual understanding. By integrating Conversation Analysis and Variation Theory into a unified approach (CAVTA), the study seeks to provide comprehensive insights into the ‘what’ and ‘how’ aspects of learning. CAVTA enables the identification of the visible content in teaching and how it manifests in the staged vocational education setting. The findings reveal the teacher’s strategic use of the mirror to emphasise critical aspects of the Object of learning, in this study referring to the application of eye shadow. This utilisation of the mirror serves as a valuable teaching tool in the interaction between the teacher and student.

Being a big fish in a little pond: student group composition, perceived academic standing, and young people’s academic self-concept

Upper secondary school students with a strong academic self-concept are more likely to complete their studies and thus increase their well-being in the future. Previous research on the big-fish-little-pond-effect (BFLPE) has thoroughly established the negative contrast effect of average group academic achievement on students’ academic self-concept. Many of these studies have been criticised for assuming the underlying social comparison without testing it. Here, survey and registered data from 1,047 Icelandic adolescents are used to explore the role of social comparison in the BFLPE. Models of hierarchical regression showed that students’ ideas about their relative position within their group of students mediated the effect of group average achievement on academic self-concept. This strengthens the assumption of social comparison being the underlying factor of the BFLPE. No assimilation effect between the type of school and academic self-concept was found. Implications for educators, school authorities, and policymakers are discussed.

Facilitating and following school leaders’ work on reframing the teachers’ activity across time: tracing the objects of a formative intervention

ABSTRACT This article examines a formative intervention conducted as a series of workshops in partnerships between school leadership teams and researcher-interventionists. The intervention focused on leading reform work in upper secondary schools. This paper contributes to increased knowledge about the processes involved in the development of a joint and durable purpose of collective activity (object) over time. Qualitative content and interaction analyses were employed on video data involving the leadership teams of three upper secondary schools and a team of university researcher-interventionists. The researcher-interventionists applied specific tools to trigger processes of development in the schools. The empirical context is the current curriculum reform in Norway. The study is anchored in cultural historical activity theory. Zooming in on one school leadership team, I have traced the object over two years showing how the initially abstract object expanded during the intervention, and how the leadership team developed transformative agency by double stimulation in the workshops when planning and reporting on reframing the teachers’ work activity. I argue that studying object-oriented processes over time is necessary for capturing the slow but observable transformation of a local activity system through double stimulation.

Promoting institutional collaboration through a joint project-based learning course: a case study of upper secondary school and university students’ experienced relevance

There is a great need to develop research-based models for supporting collaboration between educational institutions. Collaboration models are needed, for example, to assist the transition from lower educational level to higher education or from higher education to working life. In this research, collaboration was conducted through a joint course between upper secondary school and university, which addressed global challenges by using a project-based learning approach. There is a shortage of research exploring students’ perceptions of collaboration. Therefore, the main purpose of this qualitative case study is to explore the relevance of the joint course for upper secondary school students and university students. The research was guided by the following research question: What kind of relevance did the students experience in the joint project-based learning course? The data were gathered using questionnaires, interviews, and reflective study reports. The data were analyzed via theory-based content analysis, where research-oriented relevance model was used as the analysis framework. The analysis framework enabled categorizing experienced relevance on individual, vocational, and societal dimensions. Altogether, the analysis produced seven relevance categories for upper secondary students and nine for university students. According to the analysis, upper secondary school students felt that the course offered the most on an individual relevance dimension, whereas university students experienced the vocational relevance dimension a the most diverse. As the main conclusion, this research produced new insights on the experienced relevance of upper secondary level and higher education cooperation from the students’ point of view. The acquired knowledge can be useful for everyone developing new cross-institutional collaboration models.

Peer Social Genetic Effects and the Etiology of Substance Use Disorders, Major Depression, and Anxiety Disorder in a Swedish National Sample.

There is growing interest in how peers' genotypes may influence health (i.e., peer social genetic effects). The authors sought to clarify the nature of peer social genetic effects on risk for drug use disorder, alcohol use disorder (AUD), major depression, and anxiety disorder. Cox models were used with data from a population-based Swedish cohort (N=655,327). Outcomes were drug use disorder, AUD, major depression, and anxiety disorder registrations between ages 17 and 30 from medical, criminal, and pharmacy registries. The authors indexed peer social genetic effects with peers' family genetic risk scores (FGRSs) for the same disorders, which are personalized measures of genetic risk inferred from diagnoses in first- to fifth-degree relatives. Across disorders, peer FGRSs predicted increased risks of proband registration (hazard ratio range, 1.01-1.59), with stronger effects for drug use disorder and AUD than for major depression and anxiety disorder. Peer social genetic effects were stronger for school classmates than for geographically proximal peers, and for peers from upper secondary school (ages 16-19) versus peers from lower secondary school (ages 7-16). Peer social genetic effects remained significant following statistical control for sociodemographic confounders, whether peers were affected, and peers' FGRS for educational attainment. Peer social genetic effects were more pronounced for probands at higher genetic risk. The genetic makeup of adolescents' peers has long-reaching consequences on risks for drug use disorder, AUD, major depression, and anxiety disorder. Individuals at high genetic risk are more sensitive to social genetic effects. Alternative hypotheses such as sociodemographic stratification, exposure to affected peers, and genetic predispositions for educational attainment did not explain the risk associated with peer social genetic effects for substance use and psychiatric disorders.

Teachers’ Attitude towards the Use of Excel Software, to Teach and Learn Statistics on Learner’s Performance in Rwanda's Kicukiro Public Upper Secondary Schools

Teachers’ Attitude towards the Use of Excel Software, to Teach and Learn Statistics on Learner’s Performance in Rwanda's Kicukiro Public Upper Secondary Schools

Navigating formative assessment as professional development in digital contexts: insights from teachers’ experiences

ABSTRACT As digital technology transforms education, investigating shifts in teachers’ formative assessment practices within digital contexts becomes essential. This study explores upper secondary school teachers’ experiences in an 18-month professional development intervention focused on formative assessment in digital contexts. Data from a baseline survey (n = 26) and reflection logs (n = 12) were analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Teachers exhibited a preference to provide digital feedback for student learning but expressed uncertainty about its effectiveness. Thematic analysis revealed four main themes: the importance of a shared language for formative assessment; challenges tied to real-time distance learning; the paradoxical nature of digital feedback in fostering dialogue; and strategies for seeking and improving digital feedback. The professional development intervention enhanced teachers’ understanding of formative assessment, including its timing and impact on student learning. The study contributes to the discourse on digital formative assessment, offering insights for educational practices and research.

“On Mars, we will speak Arabic”: Negotiating identity in upper secondary physics in Denmark

AbstractSeeking to make upper secondary school physics more relevant and engaging, an online collaborative learning curriculum was designed. Each of the curriculum's lessons was structured as a goal‐based scenario about human scientists on Mars. Video and audio data from the curriculum's implementation in Denmark was collected. This study utilized the theoretical lenses intersectionality, repertoires of practice, and epistemic agency. The use of comics as an analytical tool provided a novel and accessible way to depict the complex dynamics within the physics classroom. It allowed for a multimodal representation of the data and enabled a nuanced examination of the students' interactions. Findings suggest that interactions were shaped by the students' identities and these dynamics shaped their repertoires of practice. Moreover, the interactions had a profound impact on students' epistemic agency in physics. Collaborative learning with a goal‐based scenario can include and empower diverse gender, racial, and language identities. It can also, however, work to disempower and exclude when the hegemonically white and masculine culture of physics is left unproblematized. This leads to the conclusion that if reform‐based science education is untethered from a critical stance on socioscientific issues, students and teachers may reproduce social problems as much as they also may challenge them.

Pedagogical infrastructures in multidisciplinary technology education

AbstractIn multidisciplinary technology education, teachers work together to support pupils in designing with technology. The different forms of support are based on establishing pedagogical infrastructures for pupils’ learning of technology. Although previous studies have identified the main forms of pedagogical infrastructure, how they can be leveraged in collaborative technology education remains elusive. This study adopts the perspective of teaching teams in exploring the kinds of pedagogical infrastructures involved in the collaborative planning and implementation of support for learning by collaborative designing (LCD). The data consist of semi-structured interviews with 11 technology education teaching teams. The participants were 21 experienced in-service teachers who worked in primary, secondary, and general upper secondary schools. A multiple case study approach was applied to identify the differences between the teaching teams in the planning and implementation phases. The data were analyzed following the principles of qualitative content analysis. The findings revealed that the application of pedagogical infrastructures varied during the teaching teams’ process of collaboration. In the planning phase, support was mainly based on establishing material-technological infrastructures. In the implementation phase, teachers often leveraged scaffolding and epistemological infrastructures. Pedagogical infrastructures were mostly targeted for the early stages of the LCD process, as well as in the stage of experimenting and testing design ideas.

Participation in shadow education and academic performance: A comparison of upper secondary school students in Ireland and Germany

This article uses two longitudinal cohort studies (Growing Up in Ireland and the National Educational Panel Study) to examine how shadow education relates to academic performance in Ireland and Germany. Patterns of take-up of, and outcomes from, shadow education are found to reflect the particular country context—aimed at maintaining performance to avoid grade retention in Germany and preparing for a high-stakes upper secondary exam in Ireland. Participation enhances academic performance but only for students with lower levels of prior achievement. However, the relationship is not much stronger than with engagement in structured out-of-school activities. Thus, shadow education appears to be one of a number of strategies used by more privileged families to secure educational advantage.

The working conditions of Icelandic upper secondary school teachers during the first year of the COVID‐19 pandemic: A gender inequality against all odds

AbstractIn Iceland, and around the world, the working environment in upper secondary schools changed dramatically with the onset of the COVID‐19 pandemic. In our research, we aimed to illuminate the ever‐changing working conditions of teachers in Icelandic upper secondary schools during the first year of the pandemic, especially in the context of gender and family composition. Data came from interviews with 12 teachers and surveys administered to upper secondary school teachers in 33 out of 37 upper‐secondary schools in Iceland with participation from approximately one‐third of the teacher population. The results show that teachers felt increasingly stressed throughout the pandemic and that gender played a significant role. Women, who often also served as primary caregivers at home, found it more strenuous to fulfil their teaching duties than men. The results raise important questions about teachers' working conditions and gender's role therein, especially in a country considered an emblem of success when it comes to gender equality.

Teaching as a Profession in Albania

This paper aims to analyse teaching as a profession in Albania. Also, the paper aims to answer two research questions: 1. Is the teaching profession gender based in Albania? 2. What are some of the common features in patterns of students attending a study program in teaching in preschool? The first findings show that it is very difficult to state that teaching profession has achieved the full status of a regulated one, at least in practice, in Albania. Second, based on data collecting through a questionnaire, with a sample of 21 teacher-students attending a preschool teaching program study, 9 (42.9%) of them declare that this program study is a second one, listing as reason of choosing the actual status of employing - this training is a condition to change the status, from assistant teacher to teacher; the others evaluate the short time of entering in the labour market and the no need for a licence; also, the average age of entering the labour market is 31.1 years old (the students were between 21-54 years old). Third, the teaching profession in Albania remains dominated by women. Data from four Albanian universities, across 14 study programs that graduate teachers, indicate that only 37 students are male; also, findings reveals a pattern in the teaching workforce: it is gender-based, not a priority in student’s decision making after the graduation from upper secondary school, average age of entering the profession is relatively high. Received: 2 June 2024 / Accepted: 25 July 2024 / Published: 29 July 2024

The Role of Social Support in the Transition from Lower- to Upper-Secondary School in Slovenia: Anxiety in Focus

The Role of Social Support in the Transition from Lower- to Upper-Secondary School in Slovenia: Anxiety in Focus

Spoken word choreographies in additional language learning practices in upper secondary school: Entanglements between languaging‐and‐dancing

AbstractThere are calls for developing ways to teach language that can inspire and motivate students to study additional languages. While previous research has pointed toward benefits of arts‐based activities in language learning, combining language and dance has mainly been studied with younger language learners. Contextualized within the course “Dance with language,” this study explores spoken word choreographies—word‐ and movement‐based choreographies—that combine dance and the learning of Swedish as an additional language at a Finnish upper secondary school. The study engages with new materialist theories to understand languaging as an activity and relational, embodied, and material processes. Using diffractive analysis with comics‐based research strategies, the analysis suggests that languaging‐and‐dancing become entangled through four doings: exploring, re‐working, co‐creating, and negotiating‐and‐switching. The spoken word choreographies offer a potentially valuable way to teach language in their move beyond students’ potential restrictions of vocabulary, structure, and grammar in the language to emphasize playfulness and creative explorations as part of language‐learning processes. In conclusion, the study proposes that dancing and spoken word, and the combination thereof, bring specific qualities to creating smooth languaging spaces that embrace wild, playful, creative, and unpredictable forces and movements in language‐learning practices.

“I can join a sport class, but school has to come first”: adolescent athletes’ dual career construction styles in lower secondary sport schools

ABSTRACT In this longitudinal qualitative study, we explored the automatic and controlled processes underpinning adolescent athletes’ dual career (DC) construction styles in lower secondary school and how these styles influenced the continuation of sports in upper secondary education. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 16 Finnish adolescent lower secondary school DC athletes (nine females, seven males) aged 14.5 years at baseline, interviewed them one year later, and then analyzed the data using reflexive thematic analysis based on dual-process theory. Most adolescent athletes (11 of 16) constructed their DCs in Grade 8 (T1) using a contrapuntal DC construction style, attempting to balance sports and academic studies. Eleven adolescent athletes maintained their DC styles, but five shifted their career styles between T1 and T2. Exemplifying the dynamic and individual construction of their DCs, seven adolescents had a contrapuntal style, three a dissonant style, and six a monophonic style in Grade 9 (T2). Four of sixteen continued their DCs in sports-oriented upper secondary education, all of them exhibiting a contrapuntal style. The remaining 12, representing all 3 styles, transitioned to general upper secondary schools. Dual-process theory facilitated the identification of specific automatic and controlled processes that influenced decision-making among adolescents with different career construction styles. This understanding can aid in tailoring individual DC services to effectively support adolescents in balancing their school and sports pursuits during lower secondary school and assist them in transitioning to their preferred study options in upper secondary school.

Language quality, content, structure: What analytic ratings tell us about EFL writing skills at upper secondary school level in Germany and Switzerland

Argumentative writing in English as a foreign language (EFL) is an important skill in upper secondary education in Germany and Switzerland. This article provides insights into students’ EFL writing skills in the aspects of language quality, content, and structure (N = 2314 TOEFL argumentative essays from two time-points, beginning and end of Year 11). These essays were analyzed by trained human raters using analytic assessment rubrics for each aspect and evaluated in a cross-sectional as well as a longitudinal perspective. Results show that there were significant variations between these aspects in learners’ texts, suggesting that they represent separate dimensions of the argumentative writing ability. Scores were lowest for language quality, suggesting that this was the most challenging aspect for EFL learners. Learning gains over one year were largest for structure, smaller for content and smallest for language quality. Overall, learners in Switzerland showed higher skills in all three aspects, but German learners showed larger gains in structure over the school year. Implications for classroom learning and further research are discussed.

Peer relationships and study wellbeing: upper secondary students’ experiences

AbstractThe role of peer relationships in a student’s study wellbeing has been emphasised in research. However, the development of functional relationships with peers in educational settings cannot be taken for granted. In this study, we aimed to understand the variations in upper secondary school students’ experiences of peer relationships in terms of sense of relatedness, cognitive and affective empathy skills and peer support for studying, and whether variation in these regards are related to study wellbeing. Two hundred and eighty Finnish upper secondary education students participated in the study. The data were analysed using latent profile analysis (LPA). Three distinct peer relationship profiles were detected among the students. Most of the students belonged to the functional peer relationship profile, while a minority belonged to either isolated or emotionally unrelated profiles. The students in the latter two profiles had a higher risk of experiencing challenges in study wellbeing in terms of reduced levels of study engagement and higher levels of study burnout symptoms. The findings imply that students in upper secondary education might need different kinds of support in building functional peer relationships. For example, some of them might benefit from learning empathy skills, while others might need support to meet their need for a sense of relatedness among peers.

Newly qualified teachers as a resource in school in a micropolitical perspective

ABSTRACT It is well known that newly qualified teachers (NQTs) need support during their induction period. However, emphasising support can be perceived as a deficit approach. Going beyond deficit thinking, this study investigates how NQTs are perceived as a resource in schools in a micropolitical perspective. Based on interview data collected from NQTs, mentors and school leaders in Norwegian upper secondary schools, findings show that NQTs’ contributions include a high level of commitment, flexibility, an outside perspective and new knowledge. Furthermore, the study reveals some differences between the groups in terms of how they perceive NQTs as a resource. The study concludes that the notion of NQTs as a resource is influenced by micropolitics in the school. Finally, we address the implications of the study.

Political emotions in a literature classroom

ABSTRACT The democratic potential of literature education has often been accentuated. In this article, we draw on Gert Biesta’s subjectification conception of democratic education, and view democracy as a concept open for (re)negotiation in the classroom. We are informed by Chantal Mouffe’s agonistic democratic theory, and its view of dissent as a foundational aspect of democracy, in that the struggle itself constitutes the identities of the opponents. Agonistic proposals for democratic education also pay attention to political emotions in the classroom. We pair agonism with Sara Ahmed’s view of emotion as performative to explore how power, identity and emotions are entangled in a student group and how this entanglement is integrated in the students’ conceptions of democracy. The students were in their last year of upper secondary school in Sweden. We analysed audio recordings from three group interviews with a total of eleven students. The interviews followed a literary discussion about the short story ‘Farangs’ by Rattawut Lapcharoensap, which was video recorded. The analysis shows that students referred to emotion when constructing the collective identities of themselves and their opponents, and that the power relations between these collective identities influenced what literary interpretations were centred in the discussion.