Pupils as citizens

Pupil views on school citizenship and the transition from primary to secondary school.

Summary

Civic competence on transition is under-researched compared to a more general attention to transition, which focuses on the areas of achievement and attainment, social adjustment, at-risk status, and ethnicity (McGee et al., 2004). In those other areas, there is strong evidence of transition effects (e.g. Hattie, 2008, West et al., 2010). Several authors have highlighted the need for an examination of transition and civic competence but meagre work has been undertaken (Cross et al., 2009, Deuchar, 2009, HMIE, 2006, Zeedyk et al., 2003).

The present 2-year project plans to administer a major cross-sectional survey of Scottish school pupils on either side of primary-secondary transition, with related focus group investigations. It is anticipated that approximately 750 young people will complete the survey and over 100 pupils will take part in focus group discussions.

This study draws on previous Gordon Cook Foundation work by the same researchers that explored this citizenship/transition context from Scottish teachers’ perspectives and which offered clear direction for a pupil investigation.

Previous study: Teachers' perceptions of pupil active citizenship and the transition from primary to secondary school

Project aim

The prime purpose of this project is to explore the ways in which pupil participation and voice is facilitated across the primary/secondary school transition from the point of children and young people. It aims:

To investigate what is authentic and meaningful participation (voice, leadership, responsibility), from the point of view of pupils
To compare and contrast pupil’s views on participatory opportunities on either side of primary-secondary transition
To identify to what extent children view themselves as participatory citizens of their respective primary and secondary school communities

Research outputs

DOWNLOAD FINAL REPORT

DOWNLOAD EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (CREID Briefing 34)

Article featuring the project on SchoolEducationGateway

Funder

Gordon Cook Foundation

Start date	September 2014
End date	Ocotober 2018

Project team

Dr Jane Brown

Dr Linda Croxford

Sarah Minty

Presentations

Date(s)	Event & Host	Presenter(s)	Presentation
11-13 September 2018	BERA Annual Conference 2018 – Hosted by Northumbria University, Newcastle	Jane Brown, Sarah Minty, Gillean McCluskey, Linda Croxford	Changing childhood and the primary-secondary transition: the significance of children’s everyday freedoms, self-governance and autonomy
6-7 September 2018	Contemporary Childhood Conference 2018: “Children in Space, Place and Time" – Hosted by the School of Education, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow	Jane Brown, Sarah Minty, Linda Croxford	The Primary-secondary transition: the significance of children’s sense of space and place in their accounts of transition
21-22 November 2017	Grant Holders Seminar – Hosted by Gordon Cook Foundation	Jane Brown, Linda Croxford & Sarah Minty	Pupils as Citizens: participation, responsibility and voice in the transition from primary to secondary school
23-25 November 2016	SERA Conference 2016 "Challenging? Attainment and Improvement ..." – Hosted by SERA, University of Dundee, Dundee	Jane Brown	The primary-secondary transition: children and young people’s views on opportunities for participation and responsibility at school
02-03 September 2016	"Young Citizens and Society: Fostering Civic Participation" Conference – Hosted by University of Strathclyde, Glasgow	Jane Brown and Linda Croxford	Citizens now or citizens in the making? What a study of school transitions and pupil participation can tell us about children as citizens
22-26 August 2016	ECER Conference 2016 "Leading Education: The Distinct Contributions of Educational Research and Researchers" – Hosted by ECER, University College Dublin	ane Brown and Linda Croxford	The primary-secondary school transition: children as competent citizens or citizens in the making?
06-08 June 2016	VII Conference on Childhood Studies – Hosted by University of Turku, Finland	Brown and Linda Croxford	Negotiating the primary-secondary transition: what children say about opportunities for participation and responsibility at school.

This article was published on 3 Jul, 2023