Characteristics of Participation of Secondary School Students with Respect to Their Education Programme and Academic Achievement/Obilježja participacije učenika srednjih škola u odnosu na vrstu obrazovnoga programa i školski uspjeh

Abstract

Abstract
Student participation in school is considered an important value and part of every
school’s culture, not only in terms of improvement of school as a community, but also
as an opportunity to put into practice civic skills and political literacy. The aim of this
paper is to determine if there are differences in certain characteristics of participation
in terms of the secondary school education programmes and academic achievement, as
well as to determine the level of interaction between these variables and characteristics
of participation. The examined characteristics of participation included awareness
about the right to participation, readiness to participate, participation satisfaction
in school and perception of teacher support for student participation. The research
was conducted on a sample consisting of 1,545 students from 20 secondary schools
in the Republic of Croatia. The results indicate that students with lower academic
achievement tend to be less informed and less ready to participate. They also seem
to be dissatisfied with opportunities for participation and perceive a lower level of
teacher support for student participation, in comparison with students with very
good or excellent academic achievement. It was revealed that students in vocational
and art schools perceive a higher level of teacher support for student participation in
comparison with students in grammar schools. The results also indicate insufficiently
used student’s potential for participation. In further efforts to ensure the right to
participation, it is important to examine the current methods of student participation
and make it more inclusive, especially for students with lower academic achievement,
regardless of their education programme. Secondary schools, regardless of the type
and duration of the education programme, should create more opportunities for
participation of all students, offer various participation activities and promote quality
forms of dialogue between teachers and students.

Keywords: academic achievement; participation; secondary school.

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Sažetak
Participacija učenika u školi prepoznata je kao važna vrijednost i dio kulture
svake škole: u smislu poboljšanja škole kao zajednice, ali i kao prilika za vježbanje
vještina građanske i političke pismenosti. Cilj je ovoga rada utvrditi postoje li razlike
u pojedinim obilježjima participacije s obzirom na vrstu obrazovnih programa
srednje škole i školski uspjeh, kao i interakciju tih varijabli i obilježja participacije.
Ispitivana obilježja participacije su informiranost o pravu na participaciju, spremnost
na participaciju, zadovoljstvo participacijom u školi te percepcija podrške nastavnika
učeničkoj participaciji. Istraživanje je provedeno na uzorku od 1535 učenika iz 20
srednjih škola na području Republike Hrvatske. Rezultati pokazuju kako su učenici
slabijega školskog uspjeha manje informirani i spremni participirati, nezadovoljniji
prilikama za participacijom te doživljavaju manje podrške participaciji koju pružaju
nastavnici u usporedbi s učenicima koji postižu vrlo dobar ili odličan uspjeh. Pokazalo
se i da učenici strukovnih i umjetničkih škola percipiraju veću razinu podrške
nastavnika njihovoj participaciji u odnosu na učenike gimnazijskoga programa.
Nalazi istraživanja upućuju na to da je u srednjim školama nedovoljno iskorišten
potencijal za participaciju učenika. U daljnjim nastojanjima osiguravanja prava na
participaciju, važno je preispitati postojeće načine na koje učenici mogu sudjelovati,
pri čemu participacija mora postati inkluzivnija, posebice za učenike slabijega
školskog uspjeha, bez obzira koju vrstu obrazovnoga programa pohađaju. Srednje
škole, neovisno o vrsti i trajanju programa, trebale bi nuditi više mogućnosti za
participaciju svih učenika, otvoriti više mogućnosti za raznovrsne oblike participacije
te promovirati kvalitetan dijalog između nastavnika i učenika.

Ključne riječi: participacija; srednja škola; školski uspjeh.