8. Student approaches to learning

We have seen that students see themselves as having quite different learning opportunities in different classes, in the same school. Now we explore how teachers’ assessments of students’ attitudinal competencies, reported at the overall level in Chapter 3, and student reports of their attitudes to work and learning also show some differences related to differences in class contexts. We also link these attitudes to the key competencies.

Three factors paint a picture of students’ attitudinal competencies from the teachers’ perspectives. The first of these factors is thinking and learning. Here we see indications of the way teachers see students’ dispositions to actively think, make links, and generally challenge themselves in their learning. There are strong links here to the key competencies “managing self” (particularly in relation to strengthening personal autonomy in learning) and “thinking”. Linking to different, and perhaps more traditionally understood aspects of “managing self”, is the factor we have titled focused and responsible. Many of the items in this factor require students to fit in and do as directed, but a few items are for aspects that could strengthen autonomy (for example, evaluating progress against personal learning goals). The third factor is called social skills. The four items in this factor align most closely with the key competency “relating to others”.

Students’ views of themselves as learners are also discussed. We look at their attitude to work, whether or not they become absorbed in learning, and whether they are disengaged in learning. Dispositional aspects of the key competency “managing self’ are to the fore in the items that make up these factors.

The chapter concludes with a comparison of student and teacher views. Although these are similar more often than not, we did find a few more differences between teacher and student views of student approaches to learning, than we found when we looked at the two groups’ views of opportunities for learning. We discuss challenges that arise when teachers need to infer aspects of students’ dispositions to learn from the behaviour they are able to show in their class, particularly when they appear to see more positive signs of students’ attitudes to learning than students themselves report.

Teachers’ views of students as learners

When responses were being entered into our database it quickly became apparent that the teacher of an individual student’s most enjoyed subject was much more likely to fully answer the questions about that student than was the teacher of that student’s least enjoyed subject. The latter sometimes commented that they could not be expected to know when they had so many students to teach. Partly, this could have resulted from the length of the relationship. Teachers of most enjoyed subjects were more likely to have taught a student for one year or more. By contrast, English teachers were more likely to have taught a student for six months or less, and teachers of least enjoyed subjects tended to fall between these two positions. However, length of contact cannot be the only factor impacting on responses since teachers of least enjoyed subjects, rather than of English, were more likely to give “don’t know” responses. Rather, the patterns described in the previous chapter on Opportunities to learn suggest that the types of learning interactions that seemed to prevail in least enjoyed subjects gave teachers fewer opportunities to observe individual students’ approaches to learning.

Only seven of the 30 questions asking teachers to rate aspects of individual students’ approaches to learning did not show significant differences between teachers of the most enjoyed and least enjoyed subjects, with responses from teachers of English likely to be somewhere in the middle.

Most items where there were no significant differences between teachers of most enjoyed and least enjoyed subjects were for behavioural issues: items such as acts without thinking of the consequences; gets hassled/bullied by other students; hassles/bullies other students; influenced by peer pressure to do something out of character; and mixes with students who are antisocial or get into trouble. The other two items where there were no significant differences between teachers related to ways of interacting with other students (presents point of view appropriately, even if there is disagreement; respects other points of view/different ways of doing things).

Thinking and learning

Nine of the 11 aspects of student attitudes were more likely to be seen in a positive light by teachers of most enjoyed classes than by English teachers or teachers of least enjoyed classes. The only non significant differences were for the items “learns from my feedback” and “takes on new ideas”, both of which are integral to a traditional teaching role. However, even in most enjoyed subjects less than half the teachers thought that the study participants could often or always self-reflect, had an awareness of different ways of interpreting knowledge, or could think outside the square.

Note: 

The largest percentages in each line are shown in bold.

Teachers of least enjoyed subjects were more likely than teachers of English or most enjoyed subjects to say they did not know whether a student could or would:

• Take on new ideas.
• Express his/her views and needs appropriately.
• Enjoy new experiences or challenges.
• Clearly explain things so you get a very good idea of what is happening and what s/he is thinking.
• Take full part in a group that is working to complete a learning task together.
• Show awareness that there are different ways of interpreting knowledge.
• Think outside the square.

In contrast to the teacher views related to opportunities to learn, there were few overall differences between mathematics and science teachers’ views of their students’ attitudes to learning, and the views of teachers of other subjects. However, compared with other teachers of most enjoyed subjects, mathematics and science teachers where these classes were the most enjoyed were less likely to know if the student could reflect on how s/he had learned. Compared with other teachers of least enjoyed subjects, mathematics and science teachers whose classes were the least enjoyed were less likely to know if the student could think outside the square. We have already noted that teachers can only infer both these behaviours if they do not structure interactions that allow the behaviours to become an explicit focus of learning.

For all the items where a good student–teacher relationship is important, mathematics and science teachers’ responses did not differ overall from those of their colleagues in other subjects. The same is true of the items in the next factor—focused and responsible.

Focused and responsible

Comparative patterns of teacher responses for the 16 items that make up the attitudinal competency focused and responsible are summarised in the next table. Once again we see that teachers of least enjoyed classes, along with teachers of English in some cases, were less likely to hold positive views of their students’ likely behaviour (13 of the 16 items). For other items, teachers of English were positioned somewhere in the middle, or closer to the responses of the teachers of the most enjoyed class.

There were no differences for these items: learns from mistakes/experiences; remembers and carries out instructions after hearing them once; and acts without thinking of the consequences.

Note:

The largest percentages in each line are shown in bold.

Again, teachers in least enjoyed classes were less likely to be aware of several aspects of student behaviour (whether a student follows a conversation, and whether he or she remembers and carries out instructions after hearing them once), perhaps because opportunities to demonstrate these aspects were not provided in their classes.

Teachers of mathematics and science classes that were named as students’ most enjoyed classes were less likely than teachers of other most enjoyed classes to say that students often or always chose work that allowed them to gain further knowledge and skills. Paradoxically, when these classes were least enjoyed, teachers were more likely to say students did this. The students’ responses for these subjects will be discussed shortly. They give indications that there can be something different about mathematics and science as least enjoyed subjects, compared with all other least enjoyed subjects. The Staying in Science research suggests that students who struggle with sciences or mathematics will persist if they see these subjects as strategic for their futures, even if they are not enjoying them or feeling successful (Hipkins, Roberts, Bolstad, & Ferral, 2006).

The overall picture here is not particularly rosy in terms of deeper aspects of the key competency “managing self”. Most of the higher frequency responses are for items where a behavioural type of response will suffice—turn up on time, bring your gear etc. While obviously necessary to enable learning, this is not sufficient to allow deeper aspects of “managing self”, such as strengthening personal autonomy in learning, to be supported. Aspects in this factor that arguably could support the dispositional aspects of learning (e.g., persistence, concentration span, work completion, choosing more challenging work) or the development of greater autonomy (e.g., setting and monitoring personal goals, self-assessment) are only reported as happening often or always for around half the students of the teachers of most enjoyed subjects and a third of the students of teachers of least enjoyed subjects.

Nevertheless, the finding that these deeper aspects of “managing self” are more likely to be associated with classes that students enjoy could be food for thought for teachers as they debate the implementation of the key competencies.

Social skills

This factor clusters together four aspects of students’ social skills, as demonstrated in class.

Note:

The largest percentages in each line are shown in bold.

Two aspects of student attitudes that are more likely to be demonstrated in more interactive learning settings (resolving disputes, supporting others) were again more likely to be reported as happening often or always by teachers of students’ most enjoyed classes, although even here fewer than half the teachers said these happened often or always. There are challenges here if students are to be supported to strengthen their competencies in “relating to others”.

Teachers of mathematics and science classes named as most enjoyed were more likely than teachers of other most enjoyed classes to say they didn’t know if students were good at resolving disputes with their peers.

Teachers’ predictions of students’ future learning success

As well as asking about observable behaviours, we asked teachers to rate students’ overall ability and to predict their likely learning success in the future. The patterns reported above led us to question whether the differing views of any one student’s most enjoyed and least enjoyed subject teachers would mean they predicted a different level of future success for this student.

With the exception of students seen as performing overall at a “very good/excellent” level, the teacher of their most enjoyed subject was likely to be more optimistic about a student’s overall ability than the teacher of their least enjoyed subject. Differences of perceptions varied the most for students who were rated as minimal or very low ability by teachers of their least enjoyed subjects. It could be argued that such differences do reflect a real differential in learning success, since students are likely to do better in subjects they enjoy and to enjoy subjects in which they experience greater achievement success. Providing a counter to this argument, we found that teachers of most enjoyed subjects were also likely to hold more positive expectations about a student’s success in terms of the overall qualification they would gain by the end of school, and of any post-school qualification they might gain. For example, where the teacher of an individual student’s least enjoyed subject expected that student to gain no qualifications, the teacher of the same student’s most enjoyed subject was more likely to see that student gaining Level 1 or 2, or even Level 3 of NCEA. Where the teacher of a least enjoyed subject saw a trade qualification as the best a student might achieve post-school, the teacher of that student’s most enjoyed subject might see a tertiary diploma. The only category on which both teachers were more likely to agree than disagree was where students were seen as having postgraduate potential.

These differences in views of students’ likely performance are summed up in the moderate correlation patterns of Figure 9. In this diagram, the levels of achievement marked 1 to 5 correspond to achievement being: minimal/very low (1); slow/below average(2); average/medium(3); average, very good in some (4); and very good/excellent (5).

Figure 9: Teacher overall description of achievement

How students saw themselves as learners

Student responses to items about their learning also showed differences related to how much they enjoyed the class. Here we look at the three factors that were evident among these items.

Attitude to work

There are marked differences here between students’ attitudes to their most enjoyed and least enjoyed subjects; with English sitting in between. Differences in subject preferences certainly seem to be related to anticipated success. Most students were confident of doing well and mastering the skills being taught in their most enjoyed subject, but only a third of them expected to do well in their least enjoyed subject.

There is an interesting difference between the proportion of students who thought they would get a lot of NCEA credits in their most enjoyed subject (71 percent) and the proportion who thought these credits would be easy to get (53 percent). The Learning Curves study identified challenging learning as an important aspect of student enjoyment of subjects (Hipkins et al., 2004) and here we see that, while students were confident in their most enjoyed classes, they still expected to have to work to succeed in their assessments.

Notes:

The largest percentages in each line are shown in bold.

(r) The item response was reversed when the factor was constructed.

Mathematics and science students were less likely than other students in least enjoyed classes to say they planned to drop this subject as soon as they could. This aligns with our earlier comments that these subjects may be taken “under sufferance”, for strategic reasons.

Absorbed in learning

This factor indicated the weight that students put on their learning, and whether they could reflect on that learning. Here we see the same pattern as for the attitude to work factor: much higher levels of activities that support learning in most enjoyed subjects than in either English, or the least enjoyed subjects. Note that even in most enjoyed subjects, homework is not universally enjoyed.

Reflecting on how learning occurs is one kind of metacognitive thinking called for in the key competencies “thinking” and “managing self” in the revised New Zealand Curriculum, but this is not a widespread practice, even in most enjoyed subjects.

Note: 

The largest percentages in each line are shown in bold.

There was a correlation of 0.45 between an individual student’s attitude to work and their level of being absorbed in learning. Higher levels of being absorbed in learning were also moderately correlated with higher levels of having relevant learning opportunities in classes (0.35), underpinning the gains that can come from providing such opportunities. Both these factors were also moderately correlated with levels of engagement in school, and feeling affirmed at school. Levels of being absorbed in learning were more correlated with having internal markers of success—internal motivation—than with the attitude to work.

Note:

Correlations of 0.4 or more are shown in bold face, those between -0.2 and 0.2 as –.

Not surprisingly, young people who were absorbed in learning at 16 were likely to have shown similar tendencies at age 14. They were also more likely to have higher levels of intrinsic motivation. What is heartening about this table is that being absorbed in learning is not related to cognitive competency levels: it is not just an experience limited to those who do well. This is important if we want to support lifelong learning for all.

Disengaged in learning

Very few students said they mucked around or tried to annoy the teacher in most enjoyed classes. By contrast they were likely to say they mucked around in about half their least enjoyed classes and know they annoyed the teacher in about a fifth of these. Since the same students responded in each case, we see here a pattern of behaving differently in different classes. They were least likely to feel they could get away with not doing much work in their most enjoyed class, consistent with the pattern we reported in relation to attitude to work, that students do accept hard work and challenge, but will feel more positive about it in environments that are also supportive of their learning.

Note:

The largest percentages in each line are shown in bold face.

Differing teacher and student perspectives

We cross-tabulated teacher and student responses for similar items from the factors reported here—a total of 47 potential matches were checked. The next three tables describe patterns of differences we found. As for the learning environment, there were relatively few differences compared to the total count of potential matches.

The first two rows on the table describe observable aspects of behaviour. Here teachers were more likely than students to agree or strongly agree with the items being compared. The last three rows describe student behaviours where the teacher is arguably more likely to have to make an inference from observable behaviours so it is interesting that students are much more likely to agree they do these things.

Students tended to also be more positive than teachers about the aspects of learning that teachers would need to infer in their most enjoyed classes.

The pattern is reversed when we compare responses of teachers and students in students’ least enjoyed classes: teachers are more positive than are the students, indicating that they may not be picking up the signs that students are not engaging or showing evidence of attitudes that support learning.

Whereas teachers of English and most enjoyed classes were less likely to report behaviours they needed to infer than were the students, teachers of least enjoyed classes were more likely than students to see evidence of learning. This doubtless reflects students’ more negative views of these classes, but perhaps also suggests some unwarranted optimism that all was well on the part of teachers.

Implications

Students do show different learning attitudes in different classes. Their teachers see them differently also. On the one hand, those who provide them with more engaging learning opportunities are likely to see more long-term positive learning outcomes; on the other, there was evidence that teachers in the least enjoyed classes were more likely to be over-optimistic about their current attitudes to learning, suggesting that they were misreading student behaviour.

Key competencies have an important “student voice” component, and successful early adopter schools have found ways to fully involve students in learning conversations about what these competencies look like and how they develop (Boyd & Watson, 2006). An advantage of more fully involving students in conversations about their own learning is that mismatches with teacher inferences about how well students are in fact learning could be minimised, allowing teachers to better engage students and provide more enjoyable classes (for both students and teacher). These results suggest that work on the key competencies introduced in the revised New Zealand Curriculum could benefit well from including the student voice, particularly in relation to some of the learning attitudes we have discussed here.