Pupil-School Suitability

The schooling experience is perceived differently through individual "student eyes". A school with a reputation for high academic achievement is not an optimal choice for all students. University studies show that there are no best schools, this is a myth, but there is a school that is right for each child.

University research on the role of social alignment (pupil needs and preferences with schooling supports) recently identified five different pupil-school engagement styles. In schooling settings pupils were found to group either as; compliant (acquiescent), social (associative), self-determined (independent), ambivalent (detached) or avoidant (withdrawn) in engagement style. Furthermore, four different school styles characterised by; authoritarian (strict), authoritative (fair), permissive (accommodating) and impersonal (detached) socialising cultures were also identified.

Students’ were also found to appraise their schooling experience on three dimensions of social alignment; organisational standards (expectations, structure & academic pressure), interpersonal care (belonging, nurturance & two-way communication) and tolerance of individual choice (flexibility & acceptance of individual difference). Pupil-school alignment on these dimensions predicted student satisfaction, engagement, academic motivation and academic performance, each pre-requisite for schooling success and overall wellbeing.

Therefore, future measures of school suitability must take into account the relative social alignment of different schooling contexts with student engagement style, evaluated on a pupil by school basis. In authoritarian schools, for example, only compliant students who relate well to extrinsic discipline and high academic expectations will thrive, while many children with other strengths and preferences less valued in such contexts will struggle to maintain positive motivation for schooling. Evaluating school effectiveness from the view-point of each student’s schooling experience provides a new ecological way for predicting pupil-school suitability.