Yläkoulun oppilaiden kouluun kuulumisen kehityskulut 7. luokan alusta 8. luokan alkuun : kehityskulkujen yhteys oppilaiden käytösoireisiin

Kouluun kuuluminen on yksi oppilaiden tunneperäisen kiinnittymisen osa-alue. Sillä viitataan oppilaan kokemuksiin siitä, miten hän tulee hyväksytyksi, arvostetuksi, mukaan otetuksi ja tuetuksi koulun sosiaalisessa ympäristössä. Tässä tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan henkilökeskeisesti kouluun kuulumisen kehityskulkuja 7. luokan alusta 8. luokan alkuun 485 oppilaan vastaukset sisältävällä kyselyaineistolla. Lisäksi tutkitaan, millaisia yhteyksiä kouluun kuulumisen kehityskuluilla on oppilaiden raportoimiin käytösoireisiin. Aineistosta oli tunnistettavissa kaksi erilaista kouluun kuulumisen kehityskulkua. Ensimmäisessä ryhmässä, johon kuului 94 prosenttia oppilaista, lähtötaso oli 7. luokan alussa…

Shanghai Teachers’ Perceptions of Distributed Leadership: Resources and Agency

Purpose:Drawing on distributed leadership and motivation theories, this study investigates teachers’ perceptions of resource and agency distributions and identifies the key factors motivating leadership among teachers.Design/Approach/Methods:This quantitative study collected data from 327 teachers in nine schools in Shanghai. Chi-square tests of independence were conducted to examine the associations between leadership structures and power distance, while Spearman’s correlation tests were used to identify changes in leadership resource impact. A nonparametric Friedman’s test was applied to detect discrepancies between the agency of principals, team leaders, and teachers. Finally, Chi-square…

The reliability and validity of the sport engagement instrument in the Finnish dual career context

Although engagement is key to predicting burnout and dropout, few existing instruments measure this phenomenon in the sports context. As part of a larger three-year Lower Secondary Sports Schools Pilot Project (LSSSPP) in Finland, we conducted two studies as part of the present research with the major aims of (a) constructing the Sport Engagement Instrument (SpEI) and (b) validating the new instrument in the Finnish dual career context. In the preparatory study, an expert panel constructed the SpEI, a questionnaire comprising 37 items intended to measure cognitive and affective sports engagement. The main study utilised questionnaire data collected from two independent samples (n1 = 992 and…

Finnish pre-service teachers’ perceptions of their strategic learning skills and collaboration dispositions

To support the development of pupils’ 21st-century skills, teachers themselves must also be competent in these skills and learn them during pre-service teacher education. The aim of this study is to investigate what kind of profiles emerge among Finnish first-year pre-service teachers’ (N = 872) in terms of perceptions of their strategic learning skills and collaboration dispositions and what background variables explain membership of the profiles found. Latent profile analysis showed five student profiles corresponding to perceived strategic learning skills and collaboration dispositions. The most robust factor explaining the membership of the profiles was life satisfaction. Pre-service te…

Näkökulmia oppilaan kouluun kiinnittymiseen

Oppilaan kouluun kiinnittyminen (eli student tai school engagement) on käsite, jonka avulla tutkijat pyrkivät ymmärtämään oppilaan koulussa menestymisen edellytyksiä sekä koulunkäyntiin liittyviä ongelmia. Hyvin yleisellä tasolla sen voidaan sanoa olevan oppilaan ja hänen kouluympäristönsä välinen vuorovaikutussuhde. Se suuntaa kasvattajan huomion oppilaan piirteistä – jotka ovat suhteellisen pysyviä – kouluympäristöön ja kouluympäristön muokkaamiseen sellaiseksi, että se voi edistää oppilaan kiinnittymistä kouluun. nonPeerReviewed

Stability of social support during school transitions: Associations with truancy and not completing upper secondary education in normative time

Not completing upper secondary education is often presignaled by truancy from school. Student-perceived social support from family, peers, and teachers can prevent truancy and the risk of not completing education. However, prior studies have not focused on the stability of social support across school transitions. This longitudinal study of 1901 Finnish students examined the extent to which social support was stable or specific to primary, lower secondary, and upper secondary schools. Moreover, we examined whether support was associated with not completing upper secondary education in normative time and whether truancy mediated the relationship between support and not completing education. …

Reciprocal Relationships Between Perceived Supportive School Climate and Self-reported Truancy : A Longitudinal Study from Grade 6 to Grade 9

This longitudinal study of 1,066 Finnish students examined bidirectional reciprocal relationships between changes in perceived supportive school climate and changes in self-reported truancy from the last year of primary school (Grade 6) to the last year of lower secondary school (Grade 9). The results of the random intercept cross-lagged panel model showed, first, that a decrease in positive perceptions of school climate at the previous time point predicted more self-reported truancy at the following time point. Second, an increase in self-reported truancy predicted less positive perceptions of supportive school climate. The study indicates that students’ perceptions of supportive school cl…

Student Engagement, Truancy, and Cynicism

Abstract Truancy in upper secondary education is a widespread problem, which contributes significantly to school dropout risk. However, the underlying mechanisms of truancy have remained unstudied. This longitudinal study of 1853 Finnish students examined how initial levels and changes in student engagement from primary (Grade 6) to lower secondary school (Grades 7 and 9) predicted truancy in upper secondary education, and whether cynicism (losing interest in school) mediated the relationship between engagement and truancy. Growth curve models showed that high engagement levels in primary school and increases in engagement over time predicted less truancy in upper secondary education. Cynic…

Trajectory subgroups of perceived emotional support from teachers : Associations with change in mastery climate and intentions to quit upper secondary school

The aims of this three-wave longitudinal study were to identify and describe trajectories of perceived emotional support from teachers and investigate whether these trajectories were related to the development of intentions to quit upper secondary school via change in perceived mastery climate. Among 1379 Norwegian upper secondary school students, three trajectory subgroups were identified: stable high (84.9%), decreasing (7.8%), and low increasing (7.3%). The subgroups differed in levels of achievement ambition and academic self-concept. Further, a parallel process latent growth curve model revealed essential associations with change in intentions to quit school. Specifically, students wit…

Nuorten koulupoissaolot : kurkistus koulupoissaolokäsitteisiin ja -tekijöihin sekä tukitoimiin

Tutkimukset osoittavat, että pitkittyneet koulupoissaolot aiheuttavat ongelmia nuorille, vanhemmille, kouluille ja koko yhteiskunnalle. Koulupoissaolotyyppien avulla voidaan tunnistaa nuoresta, huoltajasta ja koulusta johtuva poissaolo. Koulupoissaolojen taustalla voi olla jopa 60 eri syytekijää, joita on tärkeä oppia tunnistamaan. Kolmitasoisen tuen mallia voidaan käyttää apuna koulupoissaoloihin puuttumisessa. Koulupoissaoloihin on tärkeä puuttua varhaisessa vaiheessa niin koulupoissaolojen kuin koulupudokkuuden näkökulmista. peerReviewed

Myrkylliset aikuiset

Associations between observed patterns of classroom interactions and teacher wellbeing in lower secondary school

Classroom observations and teacher self-reports were used to examine the relationships between patterns of teacherestudent interactions and the wellbeing of Norwegian lower secondary school teachers. Latent profile analysis identified four subgroups. Teacherestudent interactions and the teachers' wellbeing were inter-related in that teachers who were observed to be high in all the interaction domains (Emotional Support, Classroom Organization, and Instructional Support) perceived themselves as having high job satisfaction. The results showed that improving teachers’ wellbeing has the potential to improve teacherestudent interactions and vice versa. The study also discusses the use of classr…

A Validation Study of Classroom Assessment Scoring System-Secondary in the Finnish School Context

This study examined the reliability and validity of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System–Secondary (CLASS-S) in Finnish classrooms. Trained observers coded classroom interactions based on video recordings of 46 Grade 6 classrooms (450 cycles). Concurrent associations were investigated with respect to teacher self-ratings (e.g., efficacy beliefs and teaching-related stress). Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the hypothesized three-factor structure of the original CLASS-S (Emotional Support, Organizational Support, and Instructional Support), with some modifications, provided a better fit for the data compared with one- and two-factor structures. Structural validity was demonstrated…

Student behavioral engagement as a mediator between teacher, family, and peer support and school truancy

This study investigated the associations between student's behavioral engagement; teacher, family, and peer emotional support; and school truancy. Student-reported data of 821 Finnish junior high school students were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Teacher and family support were positively associated with student behavioral engagement, which in turn was negatively associated with truancy. Behavioral engagement mediated the associations between teacher and family emotional support and truancy. The results highlight the pivotal roles of teacher and family emotional support in fostering student behavioral engagement and preventing truancy in junior high schools. Students who are …

Student engagement in Finnish lower secondary school

This thesis examined the engagement of students at lower secondary schools in Finland. Two independent cross-sectional data sets collected in 2010 (N = 821) and 2013 (N = 2485) were analyzed using both variable-centered and personcentered methods. The thesis analyzed the associations between teacher– student relationships, family support for students’ learning, peer support at school, control and relevance of school work, students’ future aspirations and goals, school burnout, behavior at school, and truancy from school. The results offered three main findings. First, the structure of Finnish lower secondary school students’ affective and cognitive engagement, as assessed using the Finnish …

Student Engagement and School Burnout in Finnish Lower-Secondary Schools: Latent Profile Analysis

Self-ratings of behavioural engagement, cognitive engagement and school burnout were used in person-centred analyses to identify latent profiles among 2,485 Finnish lower-secondary school students. Three profiles were identified: high-engagement/low-burnout (40.6% of the sample), average-engagement/average-burnout (53.9%), and low-engagement/high-burnout (5.5%). Another sample of lower-secondary school students was used to validate the 3 profiles. The factors most strongly associated with the high-engagement/low-burnout profile of lower-secondary school students’ were high levels of support from teachers and family, good academic performance, and lack of truancy. The study indicated that te…

Changes in Students' Psychological Well-Being during Transition from Primary School to Lower Secondary School : A Person-Centered Approach

This person-centered study examined the patterns and the dynamics of pattern change based on 1666 Finnish students' self-reported psychological well-being during the transition from primary school to lower secondary school. Moreover, we examined the stability in the profile memberships and the influence of changes in perceived support from teachers, families, and peers on changes in students' psychological well-being. Six student profiles were identified using the I-states-as-objects-analysis (ISOA) procedure: (a) High well-being profile; (b) Average well-being but low educational aspirations profile; (c) Low well-being profile; (d) Low well-being but high educational aspirations profile; (…

Analyzing measurement invariance of the students’ engagement instrument brief version:the cases of Denmark, Finland, and Portugal

The promotion of students’ engagement with school is an internationally acknowledged challenge in education. There is a need to examine the structure of the concept of student engagement and to discover the best practices for fostering it across societies. That is why the cross-cultural invariance testing of students’ engagement measures is highly needed. This study aimed, first, to find the reduced set of theoretically valid items to represent students’ affective and cognitive engagement forming the Brief-SEI (brief version of the Student Engagement Instrument; SEI). The second aim was to test the measurement invariance of the Brief-SEI across three countries (Denmark, Finland, and Portug…

The relationship between classroom quality and students' engagement in secondary school

Student engagement has been identified as an influential mediator between classroom interactional quality and adolescent learning outcomes. This study examined the relationship between classroom quality and student behavioural engagement in secondary school classrooms. Three dimensions of classroom quality (emotional, organisational and instructional support) and the dimension of student engagement were observed in nine classrooms using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System. Self-ratings of behavioural engagement were provided by 181 Finnish secondary school students along with their teachers’ ratings of classroom-level student engagement. The results showed, first, that there was variati…

A Validation Study of Classroom Assessment Scoring System–Secondary in the Finnish School Context

This study examined the reliability and validity of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System–Secondary (CLASS-S) in Finnish classrooms. Trained observers coded classroom interactions based on video recordings of 46 Grade 6 classrooms (450 cycles). Concurrent associations were investigated with respect to teacher self-ratings (e.g., efficacy beliefs and teaching-related stress). Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the hypothesized three-factor structure of the original CLASS-S (Emotional Support, Organizational Support, and Instructional Support), with some modifications, provided a better fit for the data compared with one- and two-factor structures. Structural validity was demonstrate…