LEARNER IDENTITY AND LEARNING TRAJECTORIES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION: CURRICULAR POLICIES, PEDAGOGIC PRACTICES AND STUDENTS’ SOCIAL CONTEXTS

DESPITE THE SIGNIFICANT EXPANSION OF EDUCATION WORLDWIDE, MULTIPLE EXCLUSIONS CONTINUE TO DENY THE RIGHT TO QUALITY EDUCATION FOR ALL. SCHOOL FAILURE, EARLY SCHOOL LEAVING, AND DIFFERENT FORMS OF SCHOOL DISENGAGEMENT AFFECT NUMEROUS YOUNG PEOPLE AROUND THE GLOBE, PARTICULARLY FROM THE MOST DISADVANTAGED SOCIAL GROUPS. THIS SITUATION ENDANGERS THE PRINCIPLE OF EQUALITY OF EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY AND QUESTIONS THE NOTIONS OF CITIZENSHIP AND SOCIAL COHESION. FURTHERMORE, IT JEOPARDIZES THE COMMITMENT OF THE 2030 AGENDA FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT TO ENSURE INCLUSIVE AND EQUITABLE QUALITY EDUCATION AND PROMOTE LIFELONG LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL. RESEARCH DEMONSTRATES THAT AMONG THE MULTIPLE FACTORS EXPLAINING EDUCATIONAL EXCLUSION THERE IS THE LACK OF MEANING THAT STUDENTS ATTRIBUTE TO THE FORM AND CONTENT OF SCHOOL LEARNING. DESPITE THIS, THE SUBJECTIVE DIMENSION OF LEARNING HAS BEEN LARGELY OVERLOOKED IN PREVIOUS STUDIES. TO FILL THIS RESEARCH GAP, LEARNER FOCUSES ON THE PROCESSES BY WHICH LEARNING INEQUALITIES ARE PRODUCED AND ATTRIBUTES A CENTRAL ROLE TO YOUNG PEOPLE’S SUBJECTIVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH LEARNING. THE GENERAL OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT IS TO ANALYSE THE IMPACT OF CURRICULAR POLICIES, PEDAGOGIC PRACTICES, AND STUDENTS’ SOCIAL CONTEXTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE LEARNER IDENTITY, THROUGH THE ARTICULATION OF DIFFERENT LEARNING EXPERIENCES AND TRAJECTORIES DURING SECONDARY EDUCATION. THE DYNAMICS OF SCHOOL DISENGAGEMENT ARE SPECIALLY PRONOUNCED WITHIN SECONDARY EDUCATION, BEING PARTICULARLY RELEVANT TO EXPLORE THE CONFIGURATION OF THE LEARNER IDENTITY DURING THIS EDUCATIONAL STAGE. THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT ARE THE FOLLOWING: 1) TO ANALYSE THE CONCEPTIONS OF LEARNING UNDERPINNING POLICY AND PEDAGOGIC DISCOURSES, AND TO INVESTIGATE HOW THESE UNDERSTANDINGS ARE REFLECTED IN CURRICULAR APPROACHES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION; 2) TO STUDY THE ENACTMENT OF CURRICULAR POLICIES AT THE SCHOOL LEVEL, EXPLORING HOW DIFFERENT SCHOOL CONTEXTS, PEDAGOGIC APPROACHES AND TEACHERS’ PRACTICES AND BELIEFS SHAPE DIFFERENT LEARNING CULTURES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION; 3) TO INVESTIGATE THE ROLE OF DIFFERENT CURRICULAR AND PEDAGOGIC PRACTICES, AS WELL AS DIFFERENT TEACHER-STUDENT INTERACTIONS AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES, IN SHAPING STUDENTS’ LEARNER IDENTITY AND TO EXPLORE TO WHAT EXTENT THESE PRACTICES ARE ALIGNED WITH THE STUDENTS’ DIFFERENT CONTEXTS OF PRACTICE AND VARY ACCORDING TO THEIR SOCIAL CLASS, GENDER AND RACE/ETHNICITY; AND 4) TO STUDY HOW THE LEARNER IDENTITY IS TRANSFORMED, NARRATED, AND RECONSTRUCTED OVER TIME BASED ON DIFFERENT LEARNING EXPERIENCES/TRAJECTORIES AND FUTURE PROJECTIONS AND ASPIRATIONS AND TO EXPLORE STUDENTS’ REPRESENTATIONS OF THESE (POTENTIAL) TRANSFORMATIONS AND CHANGES. TO ACHIEVE THESE OBJECTIVES, LEARNER DEVELOPS AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH THAT INCORPORATES SCHOLARSHIP FROM SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION, PSYCHOLOGY OF EDUCATION AND EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES INTO AN INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK OF ANALYSIS. METHODOLOGICALLY, LEARNER IS BASED ON AN AMBITIOUS MIXED-METHOD RESEARCH STRATEGY THAT INCLUDES A VARIETY OF SPANISH REGIONS (CATALONIA, EXTREMADURA, AND MADRID), ACTORS (PRINCIPALS, TEACHERS, FAMILIES, AND STUDENTS), AND RESEARCH TECHNIQUES (DOCUMENT ANALYSIS, FOCUS GROUPS, LONGITUDINAL INTERVIEWS, OBSERVATION, AND A QUANTITATIVE SURVEY). THIS NOVEL APPROACH WILL REPRESENT A MAJOR CONTRIBUTION TO UNDERSTANDING OF LEARNING INEQUALITIES, AND TO IMPROVING OF LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL.