Student engagement at the beginning of vocational studies

Nordic Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 2019 NJVET, Vol. 9, No. 1, 21–42 Peer-reviewed article doi: 10.3384/njvet.2242-458X.199121 Hosted by Linköping University Electronic Press © The authors Student engagement at the beginning of vocational studies Satu Niittylahti, Johanna Annala, Marita Mäkinen Tampere University, Finland ([email protected]) Abstract This mixed-methods study examined student engagement at the beginning of vocational studies. The focus of the study was on students’ certainty about their career choices, how they experienced the social environment in vocational education and the relationship of these factors to student engagement. Firstly, 364 first-year students (aged 15–17) participated in the quantitative survey. Secondly, 17 students were selected for interviews. According to the results, student engagement at the beginning of vocational studies is related to overcoming uncertainty. In addition, students’ engagement and career choices are strengthened by the support and confirmation they receive, the students’ interest in their studies, their general abilities and their coping skills. Having friends at school diminished feelings of insecurity while co-operating with friends eased their sense of inadequacy. According to the results, teaching and the organisation of schooling may promote or hamper learning and active participation. Therefore, student engagement in vocational education seems to be strengthened through interactions with other students, friends and peers, and the teachers and other adults in the student’s life. This supports a more collective and collaborative view of engagement. Keywords: student engagement, vocational education, first-year student, adolescence, mixed-methods Satu Niittylahti, Johanna Annala & Marita Mäkinen 22 Introduction Student engagement is perceived as a positive indicator of success, playing a significant role in personality development and supporting lifelong learning (e.g. Kuh, 2003). It is regarded as having longitudinal effects that influence education and career choices later in life (Abbott-Chapman, Martin, Ollington, Venn, Dwyer & Gall, 2014). Despite the vast amount of recent research on student engagement (e.g. Lippke & Wegener, 2014; Nielsen, 2016; Xerri, Radford & Shacklock, 2018), research on student engagement in relation to the social environments of vocational education and training (VET) is scarce. In addition, the effect of students’ certainty about their career choices on student engagement in the VET programmes has received limited attention. In this study, we focus on firstyear students’ engagement in the VET context in Finland. The aims of vocational education are to develop young people’s professional skills and the skills required for working life and to promote employment. Furthermore, it should equip students with the knowledge and skills needed for personal development and participation in further education. (Act on Vocational Education 2017/531 § 2.) In Finland, interest in VET has increased in popularity. In 2016, 42% of students continued on to vocational education after comprehensive school (Official Statistics of Finland, 2016). The Finnish model can be regarded as school-based VET (cf. Virolainen & Stenström, 2014). This means that the teachers and students in vocational schools form a key social environment (Conway, Brazil & Losurdo, 2012). Furthermore, learning is more directed by others, e.g. teachers, whereas apprentices are supposed to actively and intentionally engage in appropriating activities in their work (Billett, 2016). Nevertheless, the Finnish VET model emphasises a strong connection with work-based learning and incorporates several on-the-job learning periods, forming social environments of other kinds. Because of this strong connection to the world of work, first-year students gain early experience with the realities of their career choices. According to Blustein (2011), most career choice and development theories have traditionally been rooted in an individualistic ethos, based on the assumption that an individual’s work-based plans and career choices are relatively isolated from other people in their lives and communities. In turn, he capsulises the current perceptions in line with other scholars (e.g. Greenhaus & Parasuraman, 1999; Schultheiss, 2007), and he suggests that the career choice and development processes are ‘rarely unpacked from one’s proximal relational and distal community contexts’ (Blustein, 2011, p. 2). The relational theory of working, according to Blustein (2011), provides a framework for understanding ways in which working is embedded both in external and internal relational contexts. Therefore, by viewing working as a relational act, it highlights that each decision, experience and interaction with the working world is influenced and shaped by relationships (cf. Blustein, 2011; Student engagement at the beginning of vocational studies 23 Flum, 2001). Though individuals have unique career decision-making processes that comprise personality-related and situational characteristics, young adults usually rely on the support from people close to them (Vertsberger & Gati, 2015). Keller and Whiston (2008) noticed that for young adolescents, parents’ interest in and support of their career questions and plans were more facilitative of their career development than simply providing straightforward information about specific careers. Ginevra, Nota and Ferrari (2015) outlined the ability of young people to exercise personal agency concerning their futures. In their study, parental support helped adolescents imagine future success scenarios and positive outcomes and to feel that their choices were considered, respected and sustainable. In this study, we are interested in the student engagement of Finnish first-year students in VET. We assume, in line with the relational theory of working (Blustein, 2011), that it is constructed in various social environments. The current study focuses on a period when students are exploring their career choices at the beginning of education. We address the following research questions: 1. How is the student’s certainty about his/her career choice related to student engagement? 2. How is the social environment related to student engagement? Social environment facilitating student engagement The concept of student engagement can be described as an umbrella that connects a broad range of research (Fredricks, Blumenfeld & Paris, 2004). In brief, engagement refers to the time and effort the student devotes to studying both in and outside the classroom (Kuh, 2003). It is related to a wider commitment and an investment in learning and school life, higher achievement and school completion (Appleton, Christenson & Furlong, 2008). Student engagement is often conceptualised in three dimensions: behavioural, cognitive and emotional. Behavioural engagement refers to participation and involvement in academic, social and extracurricular activities. Emotional engagement encompasses reactions to teachers, classmates, academics, and school. Cognitive engagement involves the effort to comprehend complex ideas and master difficult skills. (Fredricks et al., 2004.) A recent discussion has pointed out that the above-mentioned conceptualisation emphasises individual aspects of engagement (Jonasson, 2012; Leach, 2016). Current studies emphasise the more dynamic, contextualised and collective aspect of student engagement and criticise the idea of engagement being a student’s personal and stable feature (Lawson & Lawson, 2013). One should consider engagement as something that evolves through active cooperation between students and teachers (Nielsen, 2016). Satu Niittylahti, Johanna Annala & Marita Mäkinen 24 Accordingly, many scholars have suggested that the dimensions of engagement should be extended. Fredricks, Wang, Linn, Hofkens, Sung, Parr and Allerton (2016) suggested that social engagement should be the fourth dimension, whereas Reeve and Tseng (2011) proposed agency as the fourth aspect. They considered agentic engagement to be the student’s own contribution to the flow of the instruction by, for example, personalising it. Lawson and Lawson (2013) combine student agency, the social environment and the organisational structures of school into their broad view of engagement. Even though the research of engagement seems to be moving towards greater consideration of the social environment, this does not mean that one should forget the student’s own contribution to the subject. The social environment may foster and support engagement, but students’ own decisions and investment are still significant (Kahn, 2014; Lefever, 2012). Finn (1989) explored student engagement from another point of view. He presented a participation-identification model when discussing the dropout process. The model underlines the process of engagement rather than dimensions and parts of it and thus addresses the concept as a whole. Participation in school practices reinforces a student’s sense of belonging to school and promotes a student’s sense of identification with school, which, in turn, increases further participation. At the basic level, participation continues if the student is able to learn and s/he gains at least some academic success. Finn describes the model as a developmental cycle. The participation-identification model acknowledges that some students may lack encouragement at home; thus, may be predisposed to nonparticipation and nonidentification. A notable part of research of student engagement in the VET context (e.g. Jonasson, 2012; van Uden, Ritzen & Pieters, 2014) has focused on interactions between students and teachers. Jonasson (2012) discussed the divergent perceptions of student engagement between vocational education students and their teachers. The teachers expected vocational pride to develop as a consequence of learning and active participation in school activities. Instead, the students were, for example, socialising with each other rather than paying attention to instructions. As a result, the teachers surmised that the students were not interested because they were not behaving according to teachers’ expectations. Jonasson proposes that one perception of engagement may hinder the recognition of other perceptions of engagement. Elffers, Oort and Karsten (2012) noticed the strong influence of students’ school experiences on emotional engagement. A good relationship with classmates was especially important for younger students and students with less educated parents. A notable portion of students did not know their parents’ educational level, and they were less emotionally engaged. This suggests that sharing educational experiences may be rare in those families (Elffers et al., 2012). Student engagement at the beginning of vocational studies 25 Nielsen (2016) reported that many vocational education students found it difficult to integrate their activities in other settings with their school activities. He concluded that dropout prevention programmes should offer students support and concrete help that will enable them to integrate activities outside the school context with activities in the educational institution. However, Elffers et al. (2012) pointed out that students considered their school primarily as a place for learning and, thus, need more than just social or emotional support to succeed in school. This study focuses on students’ thoughts and perceptions of the social environment during a time when they are exploring their career choices. Data collection and analysis A mixed-methods approach was chosen to provide a fuller picture both in breadth and depth. Due to the scarcity of engagement research in vocational education in Finland, study 1 was a quantitative survey. The purpose was to examine students’ certainty about their career choices, how they experienced the social environment in VET, and the relationship of these factors to student engagement. Study 2 was a qualitative study that included student interviews. The purpose was to capture the voices of actual young students. According to Aarkrog, Wahlgren, Larsen, Mariager-Anderson and Gottlieb (2018), seemingly trivial matters can influence students’ thoughts and decision making. These cannot be detected by a survey. Thus, interviews complemented and enriched the survey results in both research questions. Both studies were part of a larger longitudinal study of student engagement in vocational education in Finland. Study 1 A questionnaire was developed to suit the research questions and the participants. Despite the extensive research attention to engagement, no widely accepted questionnaire for measuring engagement (van Uden et al., 2014) exists. In this study, the items were inspired by previous research literature and by a group interview with four students from a vocational institution. The questionnaire was subject to a pilot study in which a group of first-year vocational students filled in the questionnaire and provided feedback on, for example, the understandability of the items. There were 80 items in the final version of the questionnaire. Most of them were scored on a 4-point Likert-type scale (from strongly disagree to strongly agree). Some background variables, such as gender and age, were asked at the end of the form. This paper focuses on items regarding students’ career choices, their perceptions of the social environment in the vocational institution, and the number of adult contacts in the students’ personal lives. Two Finnish vocational institutions from separate cities participated in the study. Both offered education in several sectors, including business and administration, metalwork and machinery, and social studies and welfare. The first- Satu Niittylahti, Johanna Annala & Marita Mäkinen 26 year students in these three sectors answered the questionnaire. The aim was not to compare different sectors but simply to gain participants from diverse fields. The data was collected between November 2016 and January 2017, meaning that the students had been studying in vocational education for 3–5 months. There were officially 630 students in these sectors, but over 100 were absent during the days the data collection was conducted. Altogether, 396 students answered the questionnaire, which was about 75% of the present students. As this study focuses on young students’ engagement, it concentrates only on respondents between the ages of 15–17 (N=364). Information on the respondents is presented in Table 1. Table 1. Respondents’ field of study and gender (N=364). Field of study n Percentage Gender n Percentage Social and welfare 193 53% Female 218 60% Business and administration 131 36% Male 142 39% Metalwork and machinery 40 11% Does not want to state gender 4 1% The IBM SPSS version 23.0 was used for the statistical analyses. The data was used without inputting the missing data. The Likert-type scales were analysed as ordinal measurement scales. Given the non-normal distribution of most of the scales, non-parametric tests that do not require the assumption of normal distributions were used. The analyses proceeded as follows. Firstly, the suitability of the data for factor analysis was assessed. The correlation matrix revealed several coefficients of 0.3 and above. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy value was 0.87, exceeding the recommended value of 0.5 and the Bartlett’s test of Sphericity reached statistical significance (p< .000; Davis, 2013, p. 147). Thus, a factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to distinguish the different dimensions of student engagement. For extraction, generalised least squares (GLS) was used as it is robust with non-normal distribution. Direct Oblim Delta rotation (Delta -0.5), which allows factors to have some level of correlation, was used (Fabrigar & Wegener, 2012, pp. 125–139; Nummenmaa, 2004, p. 345). A four-factor model explained 42% of the total variance, with all components’ eigenvalues exceeding 1.0 (cf. Fabrigar & Wegener, 2012, p. 56): thus, it was chosen Student engagement at the beginning of vocational studies 27 based on earlier literature, partly in line with Finn’s (1989) participation-identification model. Factor loadings were 0.3–0.9. Secondly, four scales were built. Their reliability was tested by using a coefficient alpha (Cronbach’s alpha). The levels of alpha were 0.57–0.66. Although a rather common presumption is that an alpha level of 0.70 is adequate, it should not be considered as a solid rule, and lower reliability may also be accepted (Knapp & Brown, 1995; Schmitt, 1996). A small number of items in a scale could partly explain low alpha levels. Nevertheless, short length does not alleviate the problems of reliability (Schmitt, 1996), and moderate alpha levels should be considered. Study 2 In the questionnaire, the students had the opportunity to indicate if they were willing to participate in the interviews. Based on the following criteria, 17 students were interviewed. All students were from one city so that the interviews could be conducted smoothly according to the students’ schedules (for example, during their lunch breaks). The students were both male and female, aged 15–17, and represented all three aforementioned subject areas in the study. We focused on students who were studying on campuses other than where the first author works. The students marked the questionnaire on a scale from 0 to 10 to indicate how certain they felt about their vocational selection at the time when their vocational education started. The students who participated in the interviews used the whole scale. Semi-structured interviews, lasting from 20–45 minutes, were conducted in April and May 2017. Seven were individual interviews, while five interviews featured two students. The themes covered in the interviews included career choice, learning activities and the environment in vocational education, received support in and outside school and future plans. Some of the topics arose from the results of the quantitative data. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. The qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis inspired by Braun and Clarke’s (2006) model. The themes were identified at an explicit level, meaning that the aim was not to look for anything beyond what the student had said. Firstly, the data were transcribed, resulting in 100 pages of text (Arial 12 points, single line spacing), and read through several times. Secondly, the data were coded based on the research interest ‘How is the engagement of first-year students constructed?’ Atlas.ti version 8.0 was used for the coding. The patterns of data were identified without imposing predetermined categories. Thirdly, the codes were grouped into potential themes. In this phase, it was noticed that a significant part of the coded extracts of the data were expressions of different emotions. The feeling of ‘being unsure’ was repeatedly manifested. Six preliminary themes were identified. After that, the preliminary themes were compared with the entire data set, and a thematic map was drawn. Finally, two Satu Niittylahti, Johanna Annala & Marita Mäkinen 28 main themes and their sub-themes were identified. The significance of a theme was not based on ‘size’ but on whether it captured something important, for example a different or complementary point of view or reason for student’s experience, in relation to the research question (cf. Braun & Clarke, 2006). Ethical considerations Written consent was obtained from the students’ parents in addition to that of the institution. The questionnaires were completed in a classroom setting. The first author was present in the classroom with the teacher. Therefore, students who were not participating in the study could continue their normal schoolwork with the teacher. In this way, the students’ voluntary participation was respected. All interviews started with the question ‘Would you tell me about your first year in this school?’ The purpose of this opening question was to express that there was no wrong or right answer expected, but that the students’ own opinions and experiences were valued. For the interviews, students from the first author’s own campus were excluded due to ethical reasons. Teräs (2017) argued that a dual role as teacher/researcher may be problematic as such a position can make a person blind to something that is noticeable to outsiders. Two different vocational institutions and several campus sites participated in this study. Results Here we present the findings from the quantitative and qualitative parts of the study. The quantitative results are discussed through four dimensions of engagement. Then, the qualitative results are discussed in order to deepen understanding of student engagement and certainty about career choice. Manifestations and scales of the social environment and engagement In general, 84% of the respondents thought that in the classroom everyone receives instructions and is allowed to participate. The majority (71%) reported that student cooperation and learning together are supported. However, only 61% of students thought that active participation in the classroom was expected of them. In this data, items addressing participation and active agency loaded at the same factor. That scale was named Active effort, following Finn’s (1989) suggestion that participation can evolve from simply responding to directions to more active manifestations, such as questioning or initiating a dialogue with the teacher. The second scale included items about being accepted in class and not feeling lonely during the school day. This scale was named Sense of belonging. The third scale included items related to interactions with the teachers, and it was named Reciprocal relationship with teachers. Lastly, one factor indicated the Social interaction of engagement and included items about interactions with the learning Student engagement at the beginning of vocational studies 29 community. Table 2 presents the scales and their descriptions. Finally, the relationships between different aspects of the social environment and student engagement were analysed with cross-tabulation and chi-square analysis, the Mann-Whitney U-test and the Kruskal-Wallis test. Table 2. Scales and their descriptions. A four point (1–4) Likert-type scale was used. Scale N n items M SD Cronbach’s alpha Example of item Active effort 364 6 2.98 0.43 0.66 I prepare well for the class Sense of belonging 364 3 3.34 0.53 0.57 In the class I am accepted as I am Reciprocal relationship with teachers 364 5 2.99 0.41 0.65 It is possible to negotiate with teachers Social interaction 364 3 3.06 0.50 0.60 I talk with classmates about school and learning The social environment and certainty about career choice promoting student engagement A slight majority (56%) of students thought that friends encouraged learning. The perceived support from friends enhanced all dimensions of engagement in this data: active effort (U=3289, p=0.001), sense of belonging (U=4018, p=0.028), reciprocal relationship with teachers (U=3771, p=0.002) and social interaction (U=2600, p=0.000). Many respondents appeared to have found the item ‘Teachers understand what it is like to be a youngster of my age’ difficult to answer, since 45% of the students selected ‘I don’t know’ as an option. However, 43% agreed with the item. Agreement with the statement supported active effort (U=2486, p=0.001) and reciprocal relationship with teachers (U=1995, p=0.000). Students marked the questionnaire on a scale from 0 to 10, indicating how sure they felt about their career choice at the time their vocational education started. The respondents used the whole scale, but 54 % (n=195) had selected 9 or 10. Answers were coded into three categories: unsure (values 0–6, n=35), fairly sure (values 7–8, n=128) and fully sure (values 9–10, n=195). Those who were more convinced about the choice they had made ranked higher in active effort (χ2=26.2, df=2, p=0.000) and reciprocal relationship with teachers (χ2=15.7, df=2, Satu Niittylahti, Johanna Annala & Marita Mäkinen 36 does not always seem purpose-built from a student's perspective. If, for example, a school day ended before the beginning of remedial instruction, the waiting was considered pointless. The pauses were not used for studying but were considered useless: It would be nice to know that if you have passed something then there is no need to come. But they never tell you that. Sometimes we have a three-hour break, but then I just leave school. I won’t wait here. (Interviewee 1) Discussion This study sought to explore student engagement at the start of vocational education. Firstly, we wanted to assess how the level of certainty a student has about his/her career choice is related to student engagement. Students who were more confident about their career choice ranked higher in terms of active effort and reciprocal relationships with teachers and, therefore, may receive more attention from their teachers. Thus, it might be beneficial at the beginning of studies to take particular notice of quieter students, bearing in mind the proposals of Nielsen (2016) and Lippke and Wegener (2014) that engagement develops every day in active cooperation between students and teachers. Moreover, Xerri et al. (2018) concluded that better teacher-student relationships lead to lower perceptions of workload as students ask more questions and obtain more feedback. However, this data showed no relationship between a sense of belonging and students’ certainty about their career choices. Thus, being unsure of one’s career choices does not automatically make one feel like an outsider in VET. The uncertainty regarding career choices that emerged in the quantitative data appeared even more complex in the qualitative material. The findings show the extent of students’ uncertainty. It is not just a question of ‘Do I like this?’. It also involves questions like ‘Am I up to this?’ and ‘Do I want to do this for the rest of my life?’ Students sought assurance for their career choices and coping abilities in several social environments, which leads us to the second research question. How is the social environment related to student engagement? This study supports the findings of previous research (Elffers et al., 2012; Li, Lynch, Kalvin, Liu & Lerner, 2011), which shows a strong connection between peer support and student engagement. Perceived support from friends influenced all dimensions of engagement in this study. Li et al. (2011) noted that peer support appears to become more important as adolescents get older. The present study offers a new perspective as a significant observation in this research was the connection between adult contact and student engagement. About 12% of the students were in contact with fewer than three adults in a week. These students ranked significantly lower in terms of active effort and reciprocal relationship with teachers. As Lawson and Lawson (2013) suggested, students’ engagements in other social settings may influence their engagement in school. Student engagement at the beginning of vocational studies 37 One might expect that students with limited adult contact would try to benefit from connections in school, but this does not seem to be so simple (cf. Elffers, 2013). Also, those students who had less contact with adults often felt that they must behave more adult-like in school than they actually are. It might be the case that, as vocational education and training are so clearly connected to working life, those students with limited adult contact also possess limited information about working life. Alternatively, they may simply have less experience communicating with adults. In the qualitative data from this study, students also discussed the significance of having close adult contacts who support their beliefs in their own abilities. In relation to the issue of student engagement, the study highlights that individual ways of learning and teachers’ abilities to use various teaching methods were appreciated as they promoted students’ perceptions of adequacy and capacity. This study has some limitations. The results of this study might give a more positive picture of student engagement in VET due to the large number of absent students during the data collections. It is likely that those who were more engaged were in school and chose to participate. The social environment of students in this study comprises mainly school and family due to the Finnish school-based model of VET. However, regardless of the country or educational system, the significance of peer support should be recognised. Similarly, students with less adult contact are probably at risk for lower engagement. According to Castejon (2011, pp. 17–21), the social status that arises from a vocational qualification is powerful in shaping personal identity. Thus, it might be that in an apprenticeship, a certain social status is gained earlier as basic skills are learned and coworkers play a more significant role in engagement. Conclusion This study used quantitative and qualitative approaches to examine student engagement at the beginning of VET, a period that has been less studied. According to the results, students deal with a variety of feelings of insecurity at the beginning of their studies. In addition, students’ engagement and career choices are strengthened by the support and confirmation they receive, the students’ interest in their studies, their general abilities and their coping skills. Furthermore, this process continues throughout the first year of studies. In line with previous research, peer support was an important issue promoting student engagement. Having friends at school diminished feelings of insecurity and co-operating with friends eased the sense of inadequacy. Also, students’ contact with adults outside school supports engagement. According to the results, teaching and the organisation of schooling may promote or hamper learning and active participation. Large classes, long days and a fast learning pace were found Satu Niittylahti, Johanna Annala & Marita Mäkinen 38 to hamper learning and active participation. The heterogeneous group of firstyear students benefits from various learning activities, including, for example, group work, oral presentations, field tasks and practical exercises at school and, naturally, actual work during on-the-job learning periods. Practical implications for VET are to find time for students to share and process these feelings and questions, as students talked openly about these themes in the interviews. Notes on contributors Satu Niittylahti is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Education and Culture at Tampere University, Finland. Her research interest is focused on student engagement in vocational education. Johanna Annala, PhD, is a senior lecturer (higher education) at the Faculty of Education and Culture at Tampere University, Finland. Her research interests include curriculum as social practice, research-teaching nexus, and student and staff engagement. Marita Mäkinen, PhD, is a professor of education (teacher education) at the Faculty of Education and Culture at Tampere University, Finland. Her research interests include teacher education, teachers’ professional learning, inclusive education, student engagement and participatory pedagogy. Student engagement at the beginning of vocational studies 39 References Aarkrog, V., Wahlgren, B., Larsen, C.H., Mariager-Anderson, K., & Gottlieb, S. (2018). Decision-making processes among potential droupouts in vocational education and training and adult learning. International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training, 5(2), 111–129. Abbott-Chapman, J., Martin, K., Ollington, N., Venn, A., Dwyer, T., & Gall, S. (2014). The longitudinal association of childhood school engagement with adult educational and occupational achievement: Findings from Australian national study. British Educational Research Journal, 40(1), 102–120. Act on Vocational Education. (2017). 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