The role of institutional, family and peer-based discourses and practices in the construction of students' socio-academic trajectories

Abstract

In this article, we discuss findings from multi-level ethnography conducted in a secondary school located in Madrid (Spain). The study focuses on the variety of institutional, family and peer-based factors that contribute to the construction of students' socio-academic trajectories. In particular, we attempt to understand the role these social fields play in the construction of educational careers that are comparatively less successful in the case of immigrant students. Our findings suggest that these ‘objective outcomes’ are immersed in a web of discourses, practices and representations held by educators, parents and students about the future, the role of schooling in adolescents socio-educational paths and the interconnections between each social field (school, parents and peers) that show significant contradictions and discontinuities. In our analysis, we uncover some of these tensions and examine the role they play in the configuration of adolescent's educational subjectivities.

Keywords:

• secondary education
• immigration
• educational equality
• students
• teachers
• parents

Acknowledgements

The research reported in this project was made possible through a research grant from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science for the research project Adolescentes inmigrantes extranjeros en la ESO ‘Foreign immigrant adolescents in ESO’ (Reference: SEJ 2005-08371/SOCI). We would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their detailed comments to previous versions of the paper.

Notes

1. ‘Secondary Education Institute Central-Aluche’ is the pseudonym that will be used to refer to the school. The name is based generically from one of the city areas it draws students from (Aluche). All the names of participants in the study we present are also pseudonyms.

2. ‘Compensatory education’ is offered for the first two years of ESO (with a possible extension into a third year) and is thought as supplementary educational support for students with previous schooling experiences or socio-cultural backgrounds that put students at disadvantage in relation to the standard requirements of ESO. ‘Diversification’ is offered in the last two years of ESO for students who have experienced academic difficulties during their studies and primarily involves methodological changes that allow for more individualised support (smaller class groups, less teachers, more tutoring hours, etc.).

3. Programa de Cualificación Profesional Inicial (PCPI) ‘Initial Professional Qualification Program’ is designed for students who are over 16 years of age and do not have an ESO certificate. It provides one year of technical training that, if successfully completed, may allow accessing further forms of technical training and/or opting for the preparation of a series of exams that, if passed, grant the ESO certificate. Aula de Compensación Educativa (ACE) ‘Alternative Education Module’ is designed for students who are also at significant risk of dropping out from ESO and provides initial technical training. In contrast to PCPI, it is much more clearly geared towards direct entry into the labour force and is thought for more ‘problematic’ adolescents (i.e. a percentage of positions in the programme are reserved for adolescents in the juvenile justice system).

4. As explained by one of the school counsellors, in the past, general visits were organised to technical secondary schools, since this tier is not offered at ICA and is another possible option (alongside baccalaureate) once students successfully complete ESO. This policy was changed when several teachers in the school claimed that too many students from ICA were choosing moving on to technical post-compulsory secondary education instead of pre-university baccalaureate. Currently, only students who are not seen as ‘academically oriented’ (e.g. students in the diversification class or compensatory education) are invited to these visits.

5. Ley Orgánica de Universidades ‘General University Law’.