The role of schools in explaining individuals’ subject choices at age 14

Anders, Jake; Henderson, Morag; Moulton, Vanessa; Sullivan, Alice

doi:10.1080/03054985.2018.1409973

Cited by 30 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…The United Kingdom education system is prone to bifurcating students along either a science or humanities path from an early age, sometimes as young as 13 [1]. If sufficiently motivated, it is possible to rediversify at most stages, but on the whole, these early choices influence the course of entire careers, and anecdotally, it is rare to find people equally open-minded about science and arts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Viewing the Invisible: Exploring common methodology across disciplines

Witheridge¹,

Isaacson

2019

PLoS Biol

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Viewing the Invisible is a multimedia collaboration that explores common methodology between arts and sciences. Portraits of science influencers were painted while dialogue between artist and subject was filmed. Here, we show the implementation of our recent exhibition as a model that can be adapted for use elsewhere in public or school settings to challenge misconceptions about the role of creativity in science and technical precision in art.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Viewing the Invisible: Exploring common methodology across disciplines

Witheridge¹,

Isaacson

2019

PLoS Biol

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“…In their recent study, Anders et al . () highlighted the role that schools play in many subject choice decisions. They suggested that schools’ actions are often strongly associated with school characteristics, such as the composition of school intake in terms of academic attainment and socio‐economic status of pupils’ families, which impose constraints on what subjects can be viably offered by schools (ibid.).…”

Section: Background and Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is also a link between the social and ability compositions of school intake and subject choices of pupils (e.g. Anders et al ., ). Moreover, school characteristics affect subject choices too and, even after accounting for family background and academic ability, young people who attend schools with higher proportions of pupils from disadvantaged socio‐economic background are less likely to select academic subjects than those who attend schools with more advantageous social composition of their intake (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Do schools matter? An exploration of the determinants of lower secondary school subject choices under the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence

Shapira

Priestley

2019

Review of Education

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This paper explores school level determinants of curriculum narrowing in the senior phase of secondary education, under the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence (CfE). It presents findings from an analysis of longitudinal administrative education data (2011–2017), and Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) data on subject enrolments for Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework National 5 level qualifications, undertaken by 14–15‐year‐old students in year 4 of secondary education (S4) in Scotland. The data are aggregated at the level of schools and linked with Scottish School Census data that provide information about school characteristics (in terms of their size, number of qualified teachers, socio‐economic composition, etc.) and school area characteristics. We used descriptive methods of statistical data analysis and multilevel regression modelling, in order to explore the variations between schools in: (a) number of subject choices; and (b) configuration of subject enrolment and to identify factors responsible for these variations. Our findings show that the senior phase curriculum is becoming narrower. There is trend since 2013, the year when new qualifications under CfE were introduced, for fewer subjects to be taken in school year S4 for level 5 National Qualifications. Yet, the size of this reduction has not been uniform, but has varied between schools of different characteristics, between areas with different level of deprivation and between local authorities across Scotland. The findings show that the SES composition of school intake has a strong association with the number and configuration of subject entries. A larger reduction in the number of subject entries for National 5 level qualifications took place in schools in more deprived areas, as well as in schools with a larger number of students from disadvantaged socio‐economic backgrounds, schools where the proportion of pupils with additional learning support needs was higher, and schools with poorer staff–student ratios. We also found that the number of subject entries was smaller in schools where the overall number of subjects offered for National 5 level qualifications was smaller. Furthermore, we found that schools in areas of higher deprivation and schools with larger numbers of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds had smaller proportions of young people enrolled in Sciences and Modern Languages, and a larger proportion of pupils enrolled in Vocational subjects.

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“…Institutional constraints are likely to be one factor determining students' curriculum 'choices' , and there is evidence that schools that performed badly on the raw five+ GCSE grade A*-C measure moved most rapidly towards vocational courses and made the most substantial gains as a result (Jin, Muriel, & Sibieta, 2011). Other papers in this Special Issue suggest that pupils' choices may be shaped by their school (Anders, Henderson, Moulton, & Sullivan, 2018;Barrance & Elwood, 2018;Smyth, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%