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Influences on participation in learning

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Leaving school

This is a pivotal period in people's lives, and one where, for the first time, many young people have to make important decisions about the direction they want to take.

Whether they continue with education, begin a training programme, start a job immediately or find themselves labelled as "NEET" (Not in Education, Employment or Training) is heavily influenced by their experiences of learning so far at school, their home environment and pressures from elsewhere.

Enjoyment of school - This can have a big impact on whether or not someone continues learning after they leave compulsory education. People have a wide range of different experiences at school, and whilst some loved it, others detested every minute.

Through our research, a number of people have told us that whilst they enjoyed their time at primary school, they had a much more negative experience at secondary school. If this is the case, people's most recent memories of learning will be negative ones, and this is likely to affect their decision about what they choose to do when they leave school.

Where people have had bad experiences at school, they are much less likely to want to engage in learning as an adult. They may put off further learning until a later stage in their life, or never re-engage with learning at all.

This issue will be discussed more thoroughly in School Experience.

Parent pressure - the learning culture of a young person's family, and the expectations and beliefs about learning which a young person's parents/guardians have will also be an influence.

In families where learning is valued and encouraged, children and young people are far more likely to value learning themselves. For example, the following man had parents who attached great importance to learning and having new experiences - he continued with his learning and at the time of research was a school head teacher:

"...[my parents] were always encouraging and they always backed you should you want to do something or stay on in sixth form, go to university, there was never any pressure to go out and get a job and earn some money..." 

Similarly, in families where parents do not value learning, children and young people are much less likely to appreciate the importance of learning whilst in school and to subsequently engage in learning.

This can also have an impact on the specific decisions that young people make when they leave school; whether they go to college, embark on some training or get a job straight away.

Indications from our research suggest that this was more of an issue in the past, when it was much less common for people to go into further and higher education, and when there was more of an expectation (and financial need) for young people to enter the workforce as soon as they left school so they could help support the family. Parents appear to have held much more sway over the direction that their children took in life after school, especially if those children were female!

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