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Jennifer E. Symonds |
Research communication |
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This website is for
interested researchers, young people, parents and educational practitioners. It contains information on
how adolescents develop in their school environments. |
This website also provides
policy makers and educational professionals with entry points to source information regarding how to design
schools that encourage the development of adolescent engagement and
wellbeing. |
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Adolescent development Adolescent physical and social
development Adolescent
mental health and schooling School environment School timetables and
calendars Researching with young people Developmentally
appropriate research methods Teaching and learning resources for research |
University of Cambridge, England PhD
in Developmental Psychology and Education MPhil
in Educational Research University of Auckland, New Zealand BA
in Anthropology General Teaching Council for England Qualified
Teacher Status Email:
jesymonds@gmail.com |
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News:
A
summary of information on school transition and adolescent psychology
will be available in the forthcoming publication for educators and
researchers: Symonds,
J. (expected 2012), Understanding
Transition: What happens to children and how to help them. Routledge. If
you are just beginning to research adolescent development at university you
might be interested in the European Association of Research on Adolescence’s
student and early career network http://www.earaonline.org/students
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Adolescent physical and social development The following paper
supplies a brief introduction to early adolescent development if you are not
already familiar with this area. Symonds, J. (2009). Early
adolescent development. Adolescent
mental health Adolescents are thought to be in complete mental
health when they have psychological wellbeing and no mental illness, as
defined by Emory sociologist Corey Keyes. I use this concept in my work on
mental health and school transition, often in combination with the theory of stage-environment fit. Pathways to Adulthood Currently we are providing information on the
development of mental health in the context of school transitions and the
school to work transition in Finland and in England, as part of my work on
the international Pathways to Adulthood program. Publications from this
research are expected to be available in 2012. This research allows us to
compare adolescent development occurring internationally by using longitudinal data sets from different
countries that are made available by expert senior scholars who mentor on the
program. Changing Adolescence Previous to joining Pathways I provided research
support for the Nuffield Foundation’s Changing Adolescence program.
This program seeks to understand why the level of reported mental health problems
in early adolescence, including depression, anxiety and conduct disorders,
was shown to rise between the 1970s and late 1990s in the UK (Collishaw et al. 2004) before a plateau and slight
recovery between the late 1990s and the new millennium (Maughan
et al. 2008). Program manager Dr Ann Hagell has coordinated several research
reviews to investigate this area, on the topics of parenting, neighbourhoods,
schooling, drugs and alcohol and adolescent time use. Brief reports of
several of these reviews are available on the Changing Adolescence website: http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/changing-adolescence Information
about time trends in parenting and in adolescent mental health in the UK can
be gained by following the links below: Time
trends in adolescent mental health Stage-environment fit theory (Eccles & Midgley 1989)
predicates that adolescent’s attitudes to school will be lower when there is
a poor fit between their developmental needs and their educational
environment. My PhD research examined stage-environment fit theory as a
possible explanation for why adolescents often disengage from school
following school transition. Methods:
To investigate this I studied early adolescents’
construction of their attitudes to school over one year whilst they either
remained in a four year middle school or transferred to a comprehensive
secondary school. A longitudinal multiple methods ethnographic design was
employed and interview, observation and survey data were analyzed
using a structured synthesis of in vivo and quantitative techniques. Findings: The quantitative research (N=270) found that
attitudes were primarily predicted by elements of the post-transfer school
environment including teacher-pupil relationships, enjoyment of lessons and
social inclusion. However, the amount of unstructured leisure time with peers
and later bedtimes also contributed to declining attitudes to school.
Children were more likely to belong to a group characterized by declining
attitudes if they had experienced a school transition and had a greater
amount of autonomy at home. Case studies and comparison of data across twenty
‘active participant’ children revealed that those at the post-transfer school
with early pubertal development experienced more social concerns, and with
backgrounds of family disruption experienced more negative mental health
outcomes, than children remaining in the protective environment of the middle
school. Many children change from primary or elementary
school to secondary, middle or junior high school in early adolescence (age
11 to 14 years). Four major sets of changes occur simultaneously at this
time: ·
The
first is puberty which comes with a host of developmental alterations to mind
and body. ·
The
second is the differences between old and new school environments, in for
example teaching styles, curricula, school organisation, school size and
access to older children. ·
The
third is altered family and peer expectations and behaviours, often geared
towards the adolescent moving from a ‘junior’ role in life to a more ‘senior’
position. ·
The
fourth is changes in the adolescent’s psychology and behaviour often
occurring in relation to the first three sets of changes. The interaction of these four types of changes in
shaping adolescent development is a major focus of my research. Understanding School Transition: What
happens to children and how to help them In 2012 we hope to publish a book for teachers and
other educational professionals that will explain what happens to children
psychologically when they transition between primary and secondary school in
England, although much of the information is also relevant to schools in the
US. This book will include chapters on vulnerable children at transition, the
ways in which children adapt to their new schools, on how educators can
intervene to ensure that every child has a good transition, on professional
development pathways for educators to specialise in school transitions and on
utilising information about school transitions in teacher training programs. Symonds, J. (forthcoming, 2012).
Understanding School Transition: What happens to children and how to help
them. Routledge. Changing Key: Adolescents’ views on
how school transition shapes their musical development
Changing Key involves 24 children from six primary schools who are
transferring to three secondary schools in different areas of England. Dr
Marion Long, the lead research associate on the project, and Dr Jon
Hargreaves are visiting these children once before and three times after they
change schools across the 2010 to 2011 school year. On these occasions the
children talk to us about their social, emotional and personal development
and music, whilst their music teachers describe the children’s musical
behaviours in a questionnaire that uses items kindly provided by Professor
Peter Muris of Erasmus University Rotterdam and Professor David Hargreaves of Roehampton
University. Changing Key will
provide researchers, practitioners and the public with information on this
generally understudied area in late 2011. Reports Other research on school transition: Symonds, J.
(2010). Are Middle Schools Better for Early Adolescent Development than
Transition into Secondary School? A study of two school environments. http://www.middleschools.org.uk/research.php.
School timetables and calendars As
part of a recent review undertaken for the Nuffield Foundation in London,
England, we investigated whether school timetables and calendars have altered
much over the past thirty years, and what effect this might have on
adolescent development. In general we found that very few changes had
occurred. For the most part, modern school timetables still followed those of
traditional English grammar schools, whilst school calendars were based on
agricultural seasons. The subtle changes taking place over time included a
shortening of the school day and of lunchtime and breaktimes at school. The
review discusses these changes in relation to adolescent development. Symonds, J., & Hagell, A. (in press). Adolescents and the Organisation of their School Time: Changes over recent
decades in England. Educational Review.
Middle
schools and middle schooling are often designed to act as a buffer zone in
which adolescents can develop into young adults in a safe and familiar
environment which caters to their specific educational needs. Another strand
of my research investigates the potential for middle schools to have a
positive effect on adolescent development. Symonds, J.
(2010). Are Middle Schools Better for Early Adolescent Development than
Transition into Secondary School? A study of two school environments. http://www.middleschools.org.uk/research.php.
Symonds,
J. (2008). Early Adolescents in UK
Middle Schools: Research and Contextual Evidence In
the UK, the National Middle Schools’ Forum keeps track of developments
occurring in English middle schools. Research on middle schools and materials
for middle school educators can be found on their website: http://www.middleschools.org.uk Many fundamental processes of schooling have changed
little since the Victorian era in the United Kingdom. Despite increasing
differentiation and personalisation in some schools, many adolescents report
experiencing a ‘one size fits all’ model of lesson content and curricula.
Recently the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and the Innovation Unit designed a study
that encouraged 15 schools across England to test out ‘enhanced’ learning
experiences in the key areas of personalised learning, inquiry based
learning, cross-age learning, mentoring and connection to local communities.
Our initial work carried out at the University of Bristol was to evaluate the
effect of these innovations on pupils’ learning identities, attitudes and
behaviours using repeat interviews, iconography, video data and the Effective
Lifelong Learning Inventory (ELLI). My role in this research included
co-designing and managing fieldwork, and interpreting the results from a
developmental psychology perspective. There are several reports on the results of the
Learning Futures study available on the following websites that can be used
by schools to inspire and evaluate 21st Century pedagogy: http://www.learningfutures.org/ http://www.phf.org.uk/landing.asp?id=368 Previously, in collaboration with the UK youth
careers service Connexions, I investigated the hopes and fears of Year
11 pupils who were faced with having to sit their first major examinations
(GCSE) while choosing an education, employment or training destination for
after Year 11. Here I used the psychological concept of ‘possible selves’, or
who we think we might be in a future time (Markus and Nurius
1986). A survey of 200 Year 11 pupils in Derby City uncovered that pupils of
low achievement and low socio-economic status perceived limited job
opportunities, and limited their choices accordingly. Pupils of
mid-achievement were least certain about their future, and were far less
likely than low or high-achieving pupils to be focused on education or
career. This is perhaps due to difficulty in matching their identity to a
future career given that their aspirations might not necessarily align with a
vocational nor highly academic route. During my graduate teacher training program, I
investigated boys’ underachievement in literacy by examining the attitudes of
one class of Year 7 pupils. Most of the boys in the sample were
unenthusiastic about English as they perceived it had little to do with their
future career ‘ideas’. A series of experimental lessons where tasks were
designed to relate to the boys’ (often unrealistic) career ideas, raised
their engagement in English, seemingly without negative impact on the girls. Symonds, J. E. (2004) Underachievement
in Boys’ Literacy, Graduate Teacher Program Research Project,
Staffordshire LEA, England When young people are involved as researchers in
their schools for the purposes of school improvement, their autonomy, school
connectedness and relationships with adults has been found to be facilitated
and, for the most part, improved. The following presentation is a workshop for headteachers that explains how to involve pupils as researchers in their schools. With my colleague Lysandra Sinclaire Harding, I visit primary, middle and secondary schools to teach children, youth and teachers how to do research in their schools. Interested schools are welcome to contact me for more information. http://www.gtce.org.uk/shared/contentlibs/126795/93128/120213/ipil_project.pdf Developmentally appropriate research methods Part of my work involves generating and testing ‘developmentally
appropriate research methods’ (DARM) that can be used when researching with
early adolescent participants. The DARM process matches adolescents’
developmental needs and reactions to research methods and to research method
design. Employing DARM is found to accentuate the positive experiences of
being researched for young participants whilst raising the quality of data. Research epistemology My work also involves critical evaluations of
research paradigms, research design and research methods. Teaching and
Learning Resources Research Design and Methodology The following slides can be used for teaching and
learning research methodology and methods. For copies of the slides in power
point please email jesymonds@gmail.com Statistics Lectures and Workshops Slides The following slides can be used for teaching and
learning statistics. For copies of the slides in power point please email jesymonds@gmail.com Multiple
Regression – Assumptions Multiple
Regression – Procedure |
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