Pupil mobility in the primary school : the problem for teachers and pupils of children changing school frequently

When parents move job or home and their child changes school, the child is said to be at risk of emotional difficulty and educational underachievement. Frequent school changes deprive the child of peer support and create problems of coordination for teachers and schools. The first part of this thesis reviews the research literature relating to pupil mobility and its alleged effects. Much of the research is plagued by inadequate designs and errors of interpretation. Among the problems identified are: failure to acknowledge the heterogeneity among movers; lack of before-and-after comparisons, and an absence of control for the influence of social class and other correlated factors. There is no satisfactory demonstration of adverse effects directly related to moving. The second part of the thesis reports a series of empirical studies. These demonstrated differences in attainment and adjustment between controls and children who had attended three or more schools. Within the experimental groups, however, there was considerable variation in outcomes and in family circumstances. A longitudinal investigation, including interviews with the children, showed that apparent movement effects were secondary to other factors. A study employing a large scale national sample also demonstrated differences between movers and non-movers. While replicating the earlier study it also showed that the moving group differed from the non-moving contrast group in birth order, age of starting school, and in parental interest. Taken together with the literature, the empirical studies confirm the need for a multi-factorial approach, given the wide heterogeneity of the sample and the possible combination of and interaction among factors. Finally, a series of school interventions was implemented with a view to sensitising teachers to potential problems among moving children, and to possible solutions. The concluding chapter considers the potential benefit of induction procedures, between-school exchanges of information, and a more explicitly agreed curriculum. The role of parents is also considered, given that they may be the one element of continuity in the moving child's life.