Moving Schools: Antecedents, Impact on Students and Interventions

Abstract

Mobility in education can be caused by families moving from city to city or state to state as employment and housing changes for them; however, it can also be the result of families moving their children from one school to another within the same area, for other, more personal reasons. As the student mobility rate rises, concerns about its impact on the young learner increase (Wright, 1999). This research investigated student mobility in a regional area in northern Queensland where the mobility rate increases each year. Through interviews with school personnel and some parents, a number of issues surrounding student mobility were examined. These included antecedents to mobility, perceived impact of mobility on students and strategies to address issues of mobility.

Policy, Practice and the ‘Revolving Classroom Door’: Examining the Relationship between Aboriginal Spatiality and the Mainstream Education System

“…2 These graduates require additional administrative support and collegial mentoring as they learn to teach. The deficit of such support in resource-poor schools, and the additional professional pressures associated with 'classroom churn' can quickly cause teachers to burn out and become resentful (see also Beresford, 2001;Sorin & Ilsote, 2006). One interviewee suggested that educators can begin to perceive their work as little more than a baby-sitting service for itinerant parents.…”

“…Further, specific school programs and activities-such as National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) week festivities-that are designed to build relationships with the local community are an essential component of working in partnership with families and students in the region. Indeed, Sorin and Ilsote (2006) suggest that when teachers step out of their own role as educator and get to know and appreciate their mobile students' families, lifestyle and context, educational outcomes are improved. They describe a process of 'crossing borders' between cultural systems so that mobility can be understood, even celebrated, rather than labelled inherently problematic.…”

“…They therefore fail to adequately grasp the role of Aboriginal spatial practices in the mainstream education process (Beresford, 2001). Sorin and Ilsote (2006) begin to describe the impact of student mobility on school functionality and outcomes in their northern Queensland study but it is difficult to determine from their analysis which aspects of student mobility (if any) are unique to, or more pronounced amongst, the Indigenous student population.There is, in essence, a paucity of rigorous and systematic research that examines the often unreconciled and uncomfortable relationship between the mainstream education system, and the spatial practices of Aboriginal people. This paper draws on qualitative doctoral research findings from Yamatji country, Western Australiaspecifically the fieldwork region highlighted in Figure 1-to describe and analyse this relationship.…”

School mobility during childhood predicts psychotic symptoms in late adolescence

“…Second, school mobility could mediate associations (i.e., act as a link in a causal chain) between early risk exposures and psychotic experiences. School mobility and psychotic symptoms share a number of antecedents, that is, bullying, poor friendships (Schreier et al., ; Sorin & Iloste, ) and residential mobility (Pedersen & Mortensen, ; Rumberger, ). Thus, it is plausible that school mobility could be one potential mechanism underpinning the negative effects of these prior exposures on subsequent psychotic symptoms (Selten & Cantor‐Graae, ).…”

The geography and demography of Indigenous temporary mobility: an analysis of the 2006 census snapshot

“…Except for this peak in mobility among Indigenous youth, life-stage appears to shape the reasons for Indigenous temporary movement more than the frequency of such moves. For example, many Indigenous children are highly mobile, travelling with their families and guardians, or independently (Henry and Smith 2002;Prout 2009b;Sorin and Ilsote 2006). Other studies also describe older people as frequent movers (Birdsall 1988;Morphy 2007b;Smith 2002).…”