Aleena is a 16-year-old currently attending the senior campus of a government multi-campus P – 12 school. She has an older sister who was successful at school and there was an expectation that she would be like her and finish school with an eye on a good job. English was a second language spoken at home but Aleena is fluent in both English and her parent’s language.
Her primary school education was somewhat disrupted with a change of schools in Year 2 and again in Year 4. Despite this moving around Aleena has fond memories of primary school especially of the one where she finished her upper years. When asked what it was that she liked the most of her primary education her answer was simple – it was very hands on and learning was fun!
Things changed dramatically for Aleena once she started high school. She found the transition into Year 7 very difficult especially after missing a few weeks following surgery. The leap into Year 7 was a big jump she thought but most of all she missed the more hands-on learning that she loved in primary school. She started to find the teaching boring and a reluctance to attend school began to creep in. The most tedious part of the teaching and learning for Aleena was that it seemed so theory based; so much of it textbook orientated. She understood that there are things you must learn as part of the curriculum but the way it was presented to her made it uninteresting. She found it difficult to find relevance in most of her subjects. Instead of the excitement she used to feel about learning she started to give up as things became more difficult for her. This was especially so for the subjects that were content heavy with new language that she didn’t always understand. Aleena said, “I didn’t feel supported in class and didn’t feel confident to ask for help.”
In Year 8 Aleena found herself drawn to some likeminded friends who also found school challenging and she admits this became a negative force for her. Some days she just refused to attend school but then, on days she was there, she started to act out with her friends and was often in trouble with her teachers. Her learning really started to suffer and she remembers feeling as though her teachers just didn’t like her. Aleena says she didn’t find a connection with any of her teachers and resisted any support she may have been offered. She talked back to her teachers if she felt they were singling her out or were “picking on her”. She was often removed from class and said she started to feel very isolated. It became a vicious circle for her that she felt she had no control over. The less connected she felt the more she behaved in a way that compounded that. Aleena stopped attending school on a regular basis, was not completing classwork or homework and felt she just didn’t belong.
There were some positives though, especially once she reached Year 9, where students were given greater choice in their learning through an elective system. Her school also has a timetabled curriculum offering, devoted to more student-centred learning where they were able to pursue a ‘passion project’ during the year, undertake an entrepreneurial venture and enjoyed a week of City School learning to become more independent with hands on experiences. The school was also offering STEM classes which Aleena found interesting and practical. She believes this kept her going into Year 10 at the senior campus.
Aleena found the senior learning environment vastly different to the one she had left behind at the middle years’ junior campus. She reported that there was a more adult atmosphere and she started to feel that students had greater agency. Aleena began her VCE with some determination but soon found that the academic demands and the rigid structure wasn’t for her. Aleena made the switch to the Vocational Major and is thriving. She has definite ideas of what she would like to do once she finishes school and is proud of herself that she is going to complete Year 12. Three years before this, she could only see herself dropping out!