Transcript Connecting Strengths of School, Family and Community and

Connecting Strengths of School, Family and Community and
Implementation of Recommendations of the Evaluation of
the Report of the Initiative
Dr Paul Downes
Director, Educational Disadvantage Centre
Senior Lecturer (Psychology)
St. Patrick’s College
Drumcondra
Monday 26th March 2012
BKA (2012) Evaluation of Ballymun School
Attendance Community Action Initiative

Over the course of the two years of the
initiative, there were 1.3% less children (34
less children) falling into this category. In other
words, the initiative was successful in almost
halving the number of children in this chronic
non-attendance group, with 44.7% less in this
group in year 2 compared with the baseline
group (BKA 2012).

The major success was in the school with
the lowest baseline figure, which
achieved a two year change of 4.8%,
which amounts to in excess of two and a
half more days attendance per year on
average per child (BKA 2012).

Previously it was almost one in three
children in Ballymun with poor school
attendance, now it is closer to one in
four, and the initiative is likely to
continue to decrease this in the years to
come, with the supports in place, as the
decreases have not yet levelled off (BKA
2012).

Poor attendance rates in Ballymun after
two years of the initiative are almost
comparable with the rate for other
disadvantaged schools (24.7% compared
with 24.3%), having previously been far
in excess of other disadvantaged schools
(30.5% compared with 24.3%) (BKA
2012).

In terms of reductions in the number of
children falling into a pattern of chronic
school non-attendance, the initiative was
successful in almost halving the number
of children in this chronic nonattendance group (BKA 2012).

It is noted however that improvement in
attendance from year 1 to year 2 in the
case of children from Traveller
backgrounds was very high (3.9
percentage points) (BKA 2012).

There was considerable progress
between years 1 and 2 of the initiative
relating to boys from Traveller
backgrounds with the poor attendance
rate reducing from 58.3% to 34.9%,
which was lower than the rate for boys
from overseas backgrounds for that year
(BKA 2012).

It was evident from on-site visits to the
schools that the initiative is very much
alive. Charts mapping attendance,
posters, photographs of class of the
month were visible in all of the schools
visited (BKA 2012).

The two way supporting relationship between
school attendance and other positive
behavioural change initiatives at primary level
such as Incredible Years was expressed. For
example, 70% of teachers surveyed assessed
other classroom programmes such as
behaviour management initiatives as having a
high impact on school attendance (BKA 2012)

Many teachers acknowledged that the
big impact has been the sense of loyalty
that children now feel towards their class
attendance record. This was expressed
by teachers, principals and other support
services to schools on several occasions
(BKA 2012).

One of the challenges mentioned was the
reintegration of children who have missed
significant amounts of school. They can
sometimes find that the other children in the
class have established friendship groups and
they can feel excluded. This can then
negatively impact their experience of school
and their willingness to return. The role of
teachers in identifying and supporting these
children is seen as critical (BKA 2012).


The negative impact of bullying on school
attendance at both primary and post primary
level was expressed as a potential challenge to
attendance.
Also at post primary level, complex issues for
some chronic non-attenders from very
marginalised backgrounds were mentioned,
including cycles of low self esteem, alcohol
and drug misuse and mental health difficulties
(BKA 2012).
This sense of belonging was important
and the children highlighted difficulties in
‘fitting in’ if school absence is regular
(BKA 2012).
 Some of the catchy communication
messages displayed on the initiative’s
posters had very high positive impact
with children, particularly ‘Hip, hip,
hooray...’ (BKA 2012).


Late bed times appears to be one of the major
challenges with fostering consistent school
attendance at primary level (and possibly also at post
primary level). There were significant numbers of
children interviewed aged eight years of age and
older who stated in focus groups that they regularly
stayed up until after midnight on school nights,
watching TV, playing games. Many share bedrooms
with older siblings. This late bedtime was validated
separately with classroom teachers. It allows an
approximate average of seven hours sleep, which is
low. It is well known from numerous international
research studies and also from teachers’ direct
classroom experience, that children who consistently
get less than the required amount of sleep
experience concentration (BKA 2012).

A further block to consistent school
attendance at the post primary level is
the experience of bullying in school. Fear
of or avoidance of bullying was
mentioned in the interviews with young
people as a reason why they miss school
(BKA 2012).

Parents’ assessments of the poster campaign
were mixed, with not all parents comfortable
with what they regarded as an association of
Ballymun and poverty conveyed in the image
on the ‘Ask Why!’ poster, and not all in favour
of acting on the message of the ‘Ask WHY!’
poster. Discussion highlighted that only a small
minority would take any proactive steps if
they saw a young person out of school on a
school day. However they also acknowledged
that the posters can be positive in triggering
discussion and debate about the issues of
attendance which they wouldn’t have
engaged in previously (BKA 2012).

Other parents spoke of the negative ‘rut’
that can arise when a child becomes
unhappy at school, either resulting from
bullying, from difficulties in the
child/teacher relationship or their ability
to keep up with class work. The negative
impact of undiagnosed learning
difficulties or mental health issues were
also highlighted through interviews (BKA
2012).

Principals of schools involved in the
initiative spoke about how children now
have a different attitude towards school
attendance and how “they are putting
pressure on their parents to bring them
to school every day and on time so that
their class can win”. The children
interviewed were very aware of the
initiative and were fully engaged in the
processes to support attendance (BKA
2012).

Parents of children who have certificates
for attendance noted their pride. This
was very evident amongst Traveller
parents who displayed the certificates in
their home (BKA 2012).

Ballymun Whitehall Area Partnership should
work with stakeholders to consider the
impact of cuts in public expenditure on
progress relating to improving educational
outcomes, and in particular to explore
mechanisms to reinstate a Visiting Teacher for
Traveller role within Ballymun on the basis of
the high proportion of Travellers in the area,
successes in school retention to date and the
extreme level of disadvantage in Ballymun
(BKA 2012).

Bullying - the schools and the community
need to consider the level of peer
bullying in schools and resulting impact
on school attendance (BKA 2012).
A further concern was that “the law only
covers you from the age of 6 and the
pattern of non-attendance is established
from Junior Infants. The Education
Welfare Officer cannot intervene
realistically until First Class” (Downes &
Maunsell 2007).
Council of the European Union
COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION on policies
to reduce early school leaving. Brussels, 7
June 2011

Enhancing the involvement of parents,
reinforcing their cooperation with the
school and creating partnerships
between schools and parents can
increase learning motivation among
pupils (EU 2011)

INTERVENTION POLICIES (EU 2011)


Developing schools into learning communities
based on a common vision for school
development shared by all stakeholders, using
the experience and knowledge of all, and
providing an open-minded, inspiring and
comfortable environment to encourage young
people to continue in education and training.
Developing early-warning systems for pupils at
risk, which can help to take effective measures
before problems become manifest, pupils
start to alienate from school, play truant or
drop out (EU 2011).

Networking with parents and other actors
outside school, such as local community
services, organisations representing migrants
or minorities, sports and culture associations,
or employers and civil society organisations,
which allows for holistic solutions to help
pupils at risk and eases the access to external
support such as psychologists, social and
youth workers, cultural and community
services. This can be facilitated by mediators
from the local community who are able to
support communication and to reduce distrust
(EU 2011).
"transformation is only relevant if it is carried
out with the people not for them" (Freire
1970 p.43) Parents were to be at the heart of
a new emancipatory way forward
(Mulkerrins 2007).
The rhetoric of HSCL suggests that one aim was
to empower 'disadvantaged‘ parents by
nurturing their capacity to engage as partners in
the education of their children. Therefore, in
effect the central focus of HSCL is to ensure
parents have a voice in the exercise of power in
the school (Mulkerrins 2007).
Deficit view of Parents
Principals and teachers believed that parents
do not appreciate the value of education for
their children. One principal spoke of parents
shedding responsibility for their children's
education on to schools. Teachers said that
many parents may be reluctant to commit
themselves to involvement in school activities
during school time, as they want a break from
their children or may have other
commitments (Mulkerrins 2007).
Teachers and principals understood HSCL
work as being mainly focused on
changing parents, not empowering them
(Mulkerrins).
An analysis based on the themes that
emerged in this section of the study would
suggest that the lack of recognition of
working-class parents within the school
system, the issue of power relations in
schools, idiosyncratic understandings both of
the HSCL scheme and the role of the HSCL coordinator all constrain possibilities for
transformative change (Mulkerrins).
Alternatives to suspension
Downes (2011): Lithuania:
“According to management and the teacher interviewed
approximately 10 percent of students are expelled from school in
each year. The reasons are usually behaviour problems, bullying,
harassment, aggressiveness i.e. non-academic reasons prevail.
The teacher mentioned that there were no expelled students for
not attending classes. The statistics, according to the
management can be collected, but this will not solve the
problem” (Taljunaite et al 2010)
The Irish post-primary figure of 5% for suspension, applied to the
total population of 332,407 students equates to well over 16,000
students suspended from post-primary schools in 2005/6
(ERC/NEWB 2010).
Downes (2011): Russia:
A multidisciplinary team plays a key role in devising alternative
strategies to suspension in this example from a Russian school:
“The school doesn’t practice expulsion or suspension of students.
Instead, the psychological support service team regularly
conducts preventive meetings and conversations with students
who have discipline or study problems. Each school has a
Preventive Council aimed at dealing with ‘problem’
students…The psychologist and social teacher conduct
conversations and meetings with adult students in case their
discipline or studying practices are improper. Use of preventive
measures as an alternative to expulsion shows that the school
staff aims to keep as many students at risk of early leaving at
school as possible, which proves how much they are indeed
interested in students and care for them” (Kozlovskiy, Khokhlova
& Veits, 2010).
Downes & Maunsell (2007):
-“Suspension is stupid, just gives them a break”
-“If you swing on a chair that’s enough for a suspension”
-“About 8 out of 17 suspended, she suspended 7 people in one day”
- Worst thing about school “getting suspended”
-“He says if you do that boy you’ll be out of the school in a second and you’ll
never come back”
-“He threatens you, I’ll suspend you, I’ll expel you and you’ll never come back”
One service provider suggests that: “suspension used a lot, need to put
something in place if suspended, not much endeavour to keep them in
school”.
-“Need suspension only for serious things”
- “getting sent home for 3 days isn’t punishment”
“sit outside the door for hours”
Priority needs of some of the schools emphasised:
-“Individual discipline programme for disruptive boys”
-“Teacher to work with children with challenging behaviour in small groups
above quota”
• -“Permanent in-school counselling service”
Early school leaving is a mental health issue!
Kaplan et al’s (1994) North American study of 4,141
young people tested in 7th grade and once again as
young adults which found a significant damaging
effect of dropping out of high school on mental
health functioning as measured by a 10- item selfderogation scale, a 9-item anxiety scale, a 6-item
depression scale and a 6-item scale designed to
measure coping.
This effect was also evident when controls were
applied for psychological mental health as measured
at 7th grade. The significant damaging effect of
dropping out of school was also evident even when
controls were applied for gender, father’s
occupational status, and ethnicity
Though early school leaving can have different
effects across countries (Van Alphen 2009)
Outreach Gap
Ballymun Study 2009
Slide 2.1: Level of contact by
survey respondents with
different people in their
social network (number of
parents)
Total Applicable
Responses
Of Which …
Most Days
At least once
a week
About once a
month
Less often
than
this
Never
Your Mother
35
30
3
1
0
1
Your Father
32
23
4
2
0
3
Other Grandmother (not your
mother)
40
7
11
4
6
12
Grandfather (not your father)
25
1
5
3
7
9
Partner
38
37
1
0
0
0
Child's Parent/Other Parent
31
17
2
1
4
7
Your Sister(s)
40
29
5
4
2
0
Your Brother(s)
41
13
12
9
6
1
Child's Brother(s) or Sister(s)
35
30
2
2
1
0
Work Colleagues
20
15
3
2
0
0
Neighbours
46
29
13
0
1
3
Friends
47
30
10
2
3
2
Social Worker
16
0
0
2
1
13
HSCL Coordinator
23
1
3
2
3
14
GP
45
0
2
7
33
3
Child’s Teacher
31
12
2
7
10
0
School Principal
31
6
4
5
13
3
Preschool Staff
15
15
0
0
0
0
Preschool Leader
15
11
2
1
1
0
Paid Childminder
2
1
1
0
0
0
Other
17
4
4
6
2
1
Table 2.8: Extent to Which ‘A Large Amount’ of
Emotional Support in relation to raising their child is
received by Parents from Different People
People from whom at least
75% of parents receive
‘a large amount’ of
emotional support
People from 50-75% of
parents receive a large
amount of emotional
support
Partner (70%)
People from whom 25-50%
of parents receive a
large amount of
emotional support
Respondent’s mother (47%), Child’s other parent
(34%), Respondent’s sister (s) (30%),
Respondent’s father (26%)
People with whom under
25% of parents receive
a large amount of
emotional support
Brother(s) (9%), Friends (9%), Other grandmother
(6%), Child’s brothers or sisters (4%), Work
colleagues (2%), Social worker (2%), Child’s
teacher (2%), Other grandfather (2%), GP
(0%), HSCL Coordinator (0%), Preschool staff
(0%), Preschool leader (0%), Paid childminder
(0%), Neighbours (0%), Child’s school principal
(0%)
Public Spaces
Professor Roger Hart (2006) has observed: “it’s more
important than ever that there are spaces where children can
come together with other children in an open and free way,
rather than in a programmed way”. He argues that too much
of children’s time is “programmed” whether spent in crèches,
music lessons or sports classes “they’re not playing with their
peers out on the street and therefore not building a
democratic culture”. (Roger Hart was speaking at the annual lecture of the
Children’s Research Centre, Trinity College Dublin 26th October 2006 Professor
Hart is the Co-Director of the Children's Environments Research Group, Center for
Human Environments and the Environmental Psychology Program, City University
of New York.)
As those most at risk of early school leaving
may lead particularly unstructured lives, there
is a need for services that provide not simply
“programmed space” and “programmed” time
(Hart 2006). This need for more “drop-in”
spaces is even greater due to the distinct lack
of public space available for people in local
area32. This is a public planning issue, namely,
to increase the range of public space available
in the area, for example, for a shopping
centre, bowling alley, and cinema – in other
words space that local youth can access
without significant planning in advance. (See
also Downes and Maunsell 2007)
Systems changes slow!
Foster-Fishman & Behrens (2007); Tseng et al. (2002); Tseng & Seidman (2007)
One significant limitation to Bronfenbrenner’s
(1979) framework of concentric nested systems
of interrelation was that it tended to omit a
dynamic focus on change over time.
In order to address this temporal issue of
bringing change to a dynamic system, Downes &
Downes (2007) developed a framework in the context
of social exclusion in education which is described as
organic systems theory.
Unsuccessful Transition as a Systemic Shift
from Concentric Relation of Assumed
Connection to Diametric Relation of
Assumed Separation
(Downes 2003)
(Downes 2009)
Bystander Effect
For Early School Leaving
prevention
McLaughlin, Arnold & Boyd (2005); Manning, Levine & Collins (2007); Steuve et al.
(2006)
DES White Paper on Education (2000)
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Consciousness Raising: to realise full potential; self-discovery;
personal and collective development
Citizenship: to grow in self-confidence, social awareness and
social responsibility and to take a proactive role in shaping the
overall direction at societal and community decision-making.
Cohesion: to enhance social capital and empower those
particularly disadvantaged.
Cultural Development: the role of adult education in enriching
the cultural fabric of society.
Community Development: the role of adult education in the
development of community with a collective sense of purpose
BKA (2012) Evaluation of Ballymun School Attendance Community Action Initiative. On behalf of the Ballymun
Whitehall Partnership
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