Outdoor Experiences and Impact on Education and Self-Confidence International Outdoor Learning Conference

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1 Outdoor Experiences and Impact on Education and Self-Confidence International Outdoor Learning Conference Dr Carol Fuller 29 July 2015 University of Reading

2 The research Exploring the link between outdoor residential experiences and outcomes in the classroom More specifically, exploring the link between these opportunities and educational attainment and aspirations A collaborative project between IoE, local academy school and Ufton Court Adventure 2

3 The Community A part of Reading that is within the 5% most needy areas for education, skills and training in England (Indices of Deprivation, 2010) Three wards in this area are also within the 5% highest areas in England for crime and disorder with a further 6 being in the 10% most deprived (Indices of Deprivation, 2010) 3

4 Social Deprivation and Education In 2012/13 only 38.7% of young people eligible for Free School Meals achieved 5 A*-C GCSE grades, compared with 65.3% of non-eligible students - a difference of 26.5% (DfE, 2014) Children from poorer socio-economic groups are also less likely to continue with education post-16, enter higher education and are more likely than any other group to become NEET Education inequality remains an area of priority and concern yet the success of a number of policy initiatives aimed at closing the gap are largely seen to have been minimal (Ker and West, 2010) 4

5 Cont. A report commissioned by the National Children s Bureau (2013) found that educational outcomes for economically disadvantaged children have not improved since the 1960s, - indeed in some instances, have become worse The report highlights that even after more than 50 years, children from the most deprived areas are still less likely to do as well in their GCSEs at16 than their non-deprived peers 5

6 Education and life course outcomes Across all OECD countries, employment rates are much higher for those with a further education, than for those without (OECD, 2012) A student who undertakes an undergraduate degree can expect to earn, on average, 27.4% more than a student with two or more GCE A levels (Conlon and Patrignani, 2011) Improving educational attainment rates has social benefits such as: reducing crime levels (Machin, Marie and Vujic, 2010); improvements in health (Furnee; Groot, Maassen van der Brink, 2008) as well as reducing teenage pregnancy (Teenage Pregnancy Associates, 2011) and dependency on social funding 6

7 Attitudes to Education and Outcomes Recognising the value of learning and a confidence in an ability to achieve fundamental to improving rates of attainment and ambitions (Goodman and Gregg, 2010) Student attitudes to school and learning is significant in explaining post-gcse educational intentions (Croll, Attwood and Fuller, 2010; Fuller, 2009) Confidence to achieve educationally not directly related to actual attainment or potential to attain but the result of a student s own understanding of their chances of success (Fuller, 2009; 2013) 7

8 Outdoor Learning/Education A number of studies link out-of-school activities with the building of self-confidence and positive behaviour (Hirch, 2007; Standford, Armoura and Warnington, 2006) Positive influences are indicated for learning and engagement (Wikeley; Bullock; Muschamp and Ridge, 2000) However, it is children from advantaged backgrounds who tend to have access to these sorts of activities (Hirch, 2007) 8

9 Cont Education and Skills Select Committee Enquiry (2005) and a report by OfSTED (2004) on Education Outside of the Classroom, suggest greater empirical and conceptual understanding of the ways that learning outside of the classroom can benefit the learner is needed 9

10 Self-efficacy and Research Focus Self-efficacy is the belief in one s ability to succeed Self-efficacy is in part influenced by seeing people similar to oneself succeed alongside mastery experiences i.e. experiences that provide experience in overcoming obstacles through perseverant effort (Bandura, 1995:7) This research aims to explore how outdoor residential experiences links to this sense of efficacy and then impacts in school. Specifically: How do outdoor adventure activities impact on the educational attainment and aspirations of underachieving children from lower socio-economic groups? 10

11 The Research Local academy school just recently removed from Special Measures Focus on two groups of year 9 students for 3 years until the end of year 11 The two groups are matched for gender and FSM and, as far as possible, for ethnicity and actual and predicted levels of attainment 11

12 Data collection Baseline data collected from school on attainment, reading ages etc. This data will be collected again at the end of the study as well as GCSE attainment Baseline data also collected via questionnaire - questionnaire repeated in year 2 and 3 Interviews once a year with intervention group Intervention group take part in twice yearly, 3 day residential visits - comparison group does not (4 visits thus far) 12

13 Intervention Group Comparison Group Gender 4 females/11 males 4 females/11 males Ethnicity 12 White*; 3 Black/mixed FSM 5 5 Pupil Premium 8?? 12 White; 3 Black;/mixed Socio-economic background Due to the size of the sample parental occupation is coded into manual/non-manual occupations. Information on occupation depends on students self-report. No student records a parent in a nonmanual occupation. *The higher proportion of White British reflects the predominate ethnicity of the case study school 13

14 Results so far 14

15 15

16 Confidence All students describe themselves as changed Most attributed this to the residential visits and a growth in confidence I seemed to have improved so much [I am] more confident to like, talk to new people, me and new people. I seemed to find it easier to like, make new friends, I mean there is this new boy just come into school and like, you know, I talk to him and stuff but before I wouldn t have done that (Alan, boy) 16

17 Students also believe they are now much more confident in the classroom They linked this confidence to better behaviour and an improvement in grades: like, the first time I went rock climbing, I had never done that before and I m not that fond of heights, so I found it, yeah, I found it really hard to try and do it, but I did push myself and I done what I could [and doing that] I would say it has made me push myself more, rather than saying I can t do something, so I do push myself more now, in classes, rather than just giving up straight away. (Jessie, girl) 17

18 [Describing the night forest walk]i was very nervous because I never done it before being in the woods, and it was quite, like, it was dark, and it made me really nervous because I am never usually out that late, it s kinda scary!...i wasn t gonna bother, you know, not try because I was too scared. But I did it and I felt really good about myself!...and it s made me feel more brave in class to put my hand up and answer questions more confident in lessons and in general I think I am doing better than I was before because I am more confident sort of thing and I realised that it helps, having confidence in class (Alice, girl) 18

19 I concentrate more in class and my grades are definitely going up I get easily distracted but some of the activities we had to do we really had to concentrate on and I think that has helped me concentrate in class, to concentrate on one task rather than let my mind wander and now my science grades are gone up and I feel more confident speaking and listening in English as well in science I was getting Us and Ds but now I am getting Bs! (Alan, boy) My grades have gone up and I have gone up in sets I was in twos, threes and fours but now I am in sets one and two for everything (Andrew, boy) 19

20 Case Study - Orlando Described by a teacher as disruptive, argumentative and uncooperative. Orlando stated that he had been excluded from school numerous times for fighting and had been involved in drug use and had a very difficult relationship with his family I am more confident to speak to people instead of just sitting there doing nothing I put my hand up in lesson now, and actually answer the question I gave a speech to 400 parents, it made me feel good because I actually achieved something I couldn t imagine doing this two years ago or even last year; I couldn t have imagined myself still in this school (Orlando, boy) 20

21 Relationships Improvements at home and in relationships with teachers were also seen as an important outcome: my mum says I never used to talk at home and now I never stop [laughs] she likes that I go out with friends now too that I am getting some independence (Alice, girl) [it s been good] to use teamwork; students and teachers like, maybe, a teacher that goes with us and then can t do something which I can do, and I can help them out, [it makes me feel] clever and pleased but also pleased that I could help a teacher (Anthony, boy) 21

22 I feel more confident to talk to teachers now, cause I got to know some of them better, had conversations with them (Jonathan, boy) the teachers that go with me are the teachers that I get on well with, like better with, because you have more time to speak to them and you get to know them outside of school when they re not teaching. But other teachers, inside of school, I m still not.like that close to, because I know that all they re here for is like to teach us, and you don t need to know anything else about them so I m just closer to the teachers that come with me (Jessie, girl) 22

23 I made more friends.i became more friendly there like when I m at school I m more I stay in my own group, but I was more open to being with other people that I wouldn t normally hang around with in school (boy) I made new friends, we re really good friends now three of them they re all looking after me now because I normally get bullied at school [and so I feel happier at school] because I know that someone s on my side now if I m feeling down (girl) 23

24 Conclusions thus far For students their residential experiences have had an important impact on their levels of confidence Whether real or imagined, that students feel more confident is significant and appears to be important within school, particularly in relation to how they see themselves as learners and their relationships with others Students explicitly link their greater confidence to these experiences 24

25 Students self-report significant improvement in grades which appears to promote a greater engagement in school The repeated nature of the visits appears central to these experiences Repeated visits within a fixed cohort appears to have facilitated time to embed the experiences as well as develop the relationships that appear central to these We await the GCSE results in August with baited breath these will be central to the overall outcomes of the study 25

26 Potential for policy and practice? Schools receive a significant premium payment ( 900 in 2014 for secondary schools) for each child registered for FSM (or within the last 6 years). Evidence of impact will be important for schools in relation to Pupil Premium spending If the educational policy for society s most disadvantaged has had little impact over the past 50 years, it is hoped that this research will raise questions as to the classroom as the primary site of learning and the attainment of our students as the only measure by which to judge a school s success 26