Second year students at post-primary schools are most likely to become disinterested and teachers see it as the most difficult of the first three years, a new study revealed today.
Pupils are less positive about school and their teachers, less likely to receive praise and are more likely to be reprimanded, it emerged.
A clear gender gap is evident with girls generally more positive about school, while misbehaviour is more common among boys and they tend to have more negative relations with their teachers.
Pathways Through the Junior Cycleexplores school from the perspective of students and highlights what can be done to enhance learning and engagement. It draws on on-going research following young people from first year upwards, the first study of its kind in Ireland.
Tom Collins, Professor of Education in NUI Maynooth, said research into the experiences of students can provide vital information for curriculum and assessment review.
"It also challenges some of our deeply held assumptions about what we think is good for young people to learn, how we think they should learn it, and how we should organise the schools where they learn," he added.
The report also found that two distinct groups of students emerge at this stage, one investing more time and effort in their studies, the other drifting or even actively disengaging from school life.
The report also found that students in lower stream classes have more negative attitudes to school, find the teaching pace too slow, spend less time on homework and are more likely than other students to be disengaging from school life.
The quality of interaction between teachers and students emerges as a key factor in maintaining positive attitudes. "It is important that schools develop measures to promote student involvement informally through sports and other extracurricular activities and formally through student councils," the report said.
"From the student perspective, good teachers are ones who explain lessons clearly, are approachable and do not go too quickly or too slowly with the class," it added.