Personal learning and development in diverse communities II: Longitudinal Study

This application for a renewal grant is motivated first and foremost to exploit the one-time opportunity of transforming the research into a longitudinal study. This potential was already foreseen by the reviewers of application I, who suggested attending to `trajectory` issues and not restricting the research to the 5th grade. The children who were the research subjects in their first year at the pilot NMS will begin their fourth and final year in 2012/13 which offers the chance to not only collect experiential data of the now 14-year-olds in transition to upper secondary schooling or into apprenticeship and work life but also gain insights into the progression of developmental and learning processes over the four years of middle school. The second phase is oriented conceptually towards the latest findings and theoretical approaches in the inclusion and diversity discourse rather than that of the heterogeneity discourse which was the conceptual framework for Phase I. Phase II will attempt to reveal school-related issues of the growing challenge of the multi-ethnic and plural-cultural society that Austria has become, while also addressing a key issue in foundational research of this type: To what extent can phenomenological research address issues of power? Among the key interests in Phase II of the research project is how the research subjects have been shaped educatively throughout the four school years at middle school. During the planned field visits a new team of researchers will collect data through a set of mixed methods with a distinct focus on vignettes of lived experience in order to research into sentient moments of learning in medias res The new challenge in Phase II is to develop a methodology for adequately accessing memories of learning experiences through recall in conversations as well as a text form that captures the sentient qualities of those experiences. Research questions guiding Phase II are: How have the research subjects been empowered and/or limited in their personal development over the four years of middle school? What experiences of educative significance do students recall from their four years of middle school in diverse classrooms? The reviewers` critical notes attached to application I concerning research ethics such as access to and the researcher role in relation to the research subjects made an important contribution to Phase I. These challenges also prevail in Phase II; among the most challenging methodological questions are: How do perceptual experiences transform into spoken word? and in regard to phenomenology as the foundation of our research: How adequate is a phenomenological approach to reflect and explore power relations at school?

From 2009 to 2016 two research teams of 12 researchers from the University of Innsbruck explored students experiences in school and collected data in the form of vignettes (Phase I) capturing experiences as they occurred and in the form of anecdotes (Phase II) capturing students (recalled) experiences. The data was collected in New Middle Schools in Austria, which began as a reform pilot in 2009 to remove streaming in lower secondary comprehensive schools and foster innovation that should raise achievement and participation in education. Students experiences in school settings reveal themselves as responsive actions that occur in the field of tension between teaching and learning. The results indicate how educational processes culminate between the poles of autonomy and heteronomy.This insight might initially be seen as marginal but in regards to current educational practice it is highly controversial. In the context of modern and democratic societies ideals such as self-responsibility, autonomy and individuality are guiding pedagogical principles that drive teaching practice and innovations. During the project the phenomenon of autonomy did not just inform development efforts as an ideal, but it was mistaken as a fact of existence, for instance in individualised instructional strategies, where learners are positioned as autonomous administrators of their learning and educational processes. In stark contrast, the data captured in vignettes and anecdotes reveals students educational processes as social activities requiring other human beings; students do not simply navigate their learning processes autonomously at school, but interdependently with classmates, teachers and parents. Instead of reflecting on the consequences of the tension of autonomy and heteronomy in school settings, popular concepts of individualisation are dominant figures in the field of teaching and learning. To reduce the impact of teachers projections on students learning based on categories of individualization, the insights gained from this foundational research project are being integrated into a concept of personalised learning, which conceives of students educative experience at school as a space of exchange between their extracurricular knowledge and experiences and taught content a space where teachers are aware of the classroom as an experiential stream and the myriad of personal experiences occurring there, respond to students and guide their learning processes and where students stand in relation to themselves, one another and the world.