Cecilia Thorsen

Högskolan Väst · Section of Educational Science and Languages

Successful schooling is one of the key determinants of later achievements, such as success at the labour market but also higher well-being, and, at large, better quality of life. This project focusses on socioeconomically disadvantaged children in Sweden, who, albeit to their deprived family background, manage to do well at school, i. e., academically resilient children. The project attempts to identify factors related to the characteristics of these students as well as their teachers and schools that may related to their success. In particular, changes in academic resilience will be investigated. And these changes will be linked to the changes in different compensatory factors, such as teacher competence, school and teacher’s emphasis on academic success, and class and school climate over time. In addition, the project aims at investigating which features can predict resilience and thus function as a method for preventing drop out. Data from the international large-scale studies conducted by IEA (e.g., TIMSS, PIRLS) and OECD (PISA) and the longitudinal database Evaluation through follow-up (ETF) constitutes the base for our empirical studies. Advanced statistical methods will be employed. The project expects to bring empirical evidences to teachers, schools, and policy-makers about effective ways of organising education and allocating supports to enhance academic resilience at different levels of education system.

In Sweden, students have extensive encounters with English outside the classroom. The major motivational challenge facing teachers is therefore to create goal-directed learning opportunities that connect with students’ out-of-school experiences. With the purpose of investigating the practice of teachers who are successful in meeting this challenge, ethnographic research was carried out in the classrooms of 16 “successful motivators” (Lamb, 2017). These teachers were identified in a survey were a randomly drawn sample of English teachers in grades 6–9 had been asked about beliefs and practices. The research took place during 2015 and 2016. Three types of data were collected: (a) field data: observations of lessons, including informal conversations with teachers and students, (b) interview data: semi-structured interviews with teachers and focus group interviews with students, and (c) documentary data: lesson plans, teaching materials, and artifacts produced by students. Investigations of the following topic areas are currently being carried out: • Teachers’ motivational strategies • Digital media creation and L2 motivation • Culturally-responsive teaching and L2 motivation • Teacher–student relationships and the influences on students’ motivation • Teachers’ self-disclosure practices and the influences on students’ motivation • Teacher empathy and students’ motivation • Student engagement • Motivation and engagement in project work The Motivational Teaching in Swedish Secondary English (MoTiSSE) project was funded by the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet) (Grant no 2013-785). For further information please contact the project PI Alastair Henry.