STUDENT DISAFFECTION: TEACHERS’ PERSPECTIVES ON DISAFFECTION CHARACTERISTICS AND FREQUENCY IN PRESCHOOL SETTINGS
Abstract
This paper explores student disaffection which is considered to be one of the biggest challenges facing the contemporary teacher. Despite the growing concern on the alarming increase of the disengaged students, the conceptualization of disaffection is insufficient, since the concept is closely correlated with the multidimensional construct of student engagement. Besides, while there is a research focus on qualitative and quantitative investigation on classroom engagement, there is a notable gap in students’ and teachers’ perspectives on student disaffection. Through one to one, semi-structured interviews, we investigate 80 Greek teachers’ perspectives on students’ disaffection manifestations and frequency in preschool settings. The interviews are developed based on Creswell’s (2008) interview model, with a mixture of open-ended and close-ended questions. Based on qualitative and quantitative data analysis, we present how Greek teachers define student disaffection indices in preschool environments, and the frequency at which their students are disengaged. We also demonstrate that the participants attribute behavioural, cognitive and emotional components to the construct of disaffection, confirming its conceptual complexity.
Μια από τις μεγαλύτερες προκλήσεις που έχει ν’ αντιμετωπίσει ο σύγχρονος εκπαιδευτικός είναι η ενεργητική συμμετοχή «όλων» των μαθητών στην εκπαιδευτική διαδικασία. Παρά το γεγονός ότι στη διεθνή βιβλιογραφία τονίζεται η σπουδαιότητα της ενεργητικής συμμετοχής των μαθητών στη διαδικασία μάθησης, ολοένα και περισσότερο αυξάνονται οι μαθητές που απεμπλέκονται από τις δραστηριότητες της τάξης. Ωστόσο, η ερευνητική κοινότητα δεν έχει ακόμη καταλήξει σε έναν κοινώς αποδεκτό όρο για την αντίθετη έννοια της ενεργητικής συμμετοχής. Οι όροι που χρησιμοποιούνται για να αποδώσουν τις παραπάνω εκφάνσεις απουσίας ενεργητικής συμμετοχής είναι διαφορετικοί. Επιπρόσθετα, η δυσκολία στην εννοιολογική οριοθέτηση της απεμπλοκής και την υιοθέτηση ενός κοινώς αποδεκτού όρου, δημιουργεί στους ερευνητές δυσκολία και στον καθορισμό των προσδιοριστικών της χαρακτηριστικών (Skinner, 2016). Μάλιστα, όπως συμβαίνει με την έννοια της ενεργητικής συμμετοχής που δεν έχει προσδιορισθεί με ακρίβεια λόγω του εύρους των συμπεριφοριστικών, συναισθηματικών και γνωστικών εκφάνσεών της (Alrashidi, κ.σ., 2016 ∙ Findlay, 2013 ∙ Appleton κ.σ.., 2008 ∙ Fredricks κ.σ.., 2004), αντίστοιχη δυσκολία ανακύπτει και στον προσδιορισμό των χαρακτηριστικών της απεμπλοκής (Fredricks & McColskey, 2012 ∙ Appleton, Christenson, & Furlong, 2008). Μέσω ατομικών ημιδομημένων συνεντεύξεων, διερευνούμε τις απόψεις 80 Ελλήνων νηπιαγωγών σχετικά με τις εκφάνσεις που αποδίδουν στην έννοια της την απεμπλοκή και τη συχνότητα εκδήλωσής τους από τους μαθητές τους. Οι συνεντεύξεις αναπτύσσονται βάσει του μοντέλου συνεντεύξεων του Creswell (2008), με ένα συνδυασμό ανοιχτών και κλειστών ερωτήσεων. Με βάση την ποιοτική και ποσοτική ανάλυση των δεδομένων, παρουσιάζουμε τον τρόπο με τον οποίο οι Έλληνες εκπαιδευτικοί προσδιορίζουν τα χαρακτηριστικά που οι μαθητές της τάξης τους εκδηλώνουν όταν απεμπλέκονται καθώς και τη συχνότητα εκδήλωσής των χαρακτηριστικών αυτών. Τα ευρήματά μας δείχνουν ότι οι συμμετέχοντες στην έρευνα εκπαιδευτικοί αποδίδουν συμπεριφορικές, γνωστικές και συναισθηματικές εκφάνσεις στην έννοια της απεμπλοκής, επιβεβαιώνοντας την εννοιολογική πολυπλοκότητά της.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v0i0.2333
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