 Log in | Register

 Cart

Home All Journals Educational Research List of Issues Volume 53, Issue 1
The dynamics of absence behaviour: inter ....


Educational Research 
Volume 53, 2011 - Issue 1

 Full access

1,120 14 3
Views CrossRef citations to date Altmetric

  Listen
 
Articles

The dynamics of absence behaviour:

interrelations between absence from class
and absence in class
Charlotte Jonasson 
Pages 17-32 | Received 08 Jul 2010, Accepted 26 Nov 2010, Published online: 07 Feb 2011

 Download citation  https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2011.552233

 Full Article  Figures & data  References  Supplemental  Citations

 Metrics  Reprints & Permissions  View PDF

Abstract

Background: Studies of absence in educational settings have primarily been

concerned with the causes for and results of student absence. However, recent
research has argued that distinguishing between different forms of absence could
be important. In consequence, studying the way in which different forms of absence
are interrelated provides important novel insights into student absence behaviour.

Purpose: The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine the concept of

absence and the way absence behaviour is developed. This may help to provide a

basis for further research on how and when absence is best prevented.
In this article
Sample: Fieldwork was conducted at a vocational school containing 850 students.
In this particular study, 24 student interviews were used in combination with
interviews from four teachers and three school managers.

Design and methods: The study is an ethnographic case study of a single school
conducted over a continuous six-month period. It used participant observation
followed by semi-structured interviews and school documents.

Results: Findings suggest that student absence consists of interrelated forms of

absence behaviour that have specific consequences for student performance. It is
helpful to describe these findings using theoretical frameworks from sociology and
psychology: specifically, spill-over theory and symbolic capital theory.

Conclusions: This study has demonstrated how different forms of absence become
dynamically interrelated through ongoing negotiations in the social practice of
students, teachers and school managers. Evaluations of both absence from class
and absence in class are important for understanding how absence behaviour can
be identified and prevented.
 Keywords: absence participation learning VET students education ethnography

 Previous article View issue table of contents Next article 

Introduction

In recent years, there has been a growing academic interest in absence behaviour
among students (Attwood, Croll, and Hamilton 2005; McIntyre-Bhatty 2008; Reid
2003, 2008). The reason for this attention is that absence seems to be directly
related to poor school performance (Ball and Connolly 2000; Reid 2006), decreased
social attachment (Fergusson, Lyskey, and Horwood 1995; Johnson 2005), and
students' dropping out or getting expelled (Alexander, Entwhistle, and Kabbani
2001; Beekhoven and Dekkers 2005; Finn 1989; Rumberger 1995). Consequently,
absence seems to be a key concept in understanding success and failure in

education. Hence, more knowledge about students' absence behaviour could

provide important insights in the development of teaching and school management
provide important insights in the development of teaching and school management
processes that can improve student performance.

Besides studying the outcome of student absence, current studies on absence have
mainly been concerned with finding direct relations between background variables,
such as personality traits, family relations, and school context and the degree of
students' physical absence (Corville-Smith et al. 1998; Weinberg and Weinberg
1992). These studies have provided valuable knowledge of how to identify the
potential high absence students (Reid 2008). Moreover, the importance of different
school contexts on levels of absence has been shown (Corville-Smith et al. 1998).
However, there still exists only a relatively superficial understanding of the concept
itself (cf. Darmody, Smith, and McCoy 2008). This is limiting because recent research
has indicated that the concept of absence might be more complex than commonly
believed. Hence, a limited number of studies distinguish between different types of
students' physical absence, such as lesson absence, both excused and non-excused,
and explore the concept of time as a distinction between absence types (Atkinson et
al. 2000; Gottfried 2009; Malcolm et al. 2003). The findings of these studies indicate
that the subdivision of the concept has important implications for understanding its
exact causes, extent, prevention and outcomes (Gottfried 2009; Reid 2005, 2006).
Nonetheless, this division of absence into rather static typologies without
understanding the interrelated dynamics of the typologies may still lead to a
simplified understanding of the concept.

Therefore, the purpose of this exploratory study is to examine empirically the

dynamics of absence behaviour among students in a specific context of schooling.
In particular, it will investigate how different dimensions of absence and
participation are recognised as related either positively or negatively to each other
in terms of having consequences for performance among students. Extant research
has exclusively investigated physical absence from class. However, this article will
also include absence in class. This type of absence, which is not registered formally,
may have the same negative impact on school outcomes as the type of absence
that is formally registered (cf. Kinder, Wakefield, and Wilkin 1996). Absence in class

can be exemplified by students not participating in school-defined activities. They

are instead spending time on non-school related activities during class, such as
are instead spending time on non school related activities during class, such as
taking smoking breaks, sleeping or sending text messages. Finally, this investigation
can also be considered noteworthy from a methodological point of view, drawing
on fieldwork studies through which the dynamics of absence that takes place in a
specific school context can be investigated. The study is undertaken using a
systematic ethnographic field study methodology, including interviews and
participant observation. The latter is a rigorous technique for collecting qualitative
data over time facilitating a near insider view (Spradley 1980). Hence, this study
could potentially contribute to the understanding of absence in a learning context
and provide theoretical refinement as well as implications for teachers and school
managers.

The remainder of the article is organised as follows. After a short description of the
study's theoretical background, the applied method is described, and the results are
presented. This is followed by a discussion of the findings and conclusions
describing the study's main contributions.

Theory

Several theoretical elements could be relevant for understanding how the dynamics
of school absence behaviour are negotiated in a school and classroom setting. Spill-
over theory (Kelly and Voydanoff 1985) may help to explain why negative emotions
and behavioural patterns in one dimension of absence could carry over to other
situations as well. Theories on the transfer of symbolic capital (Bourdieu 1990) may
help to explain how students' positive results in one dimension of school
participation may be considered recognised prestige transferred as compensation
for absence in another domain.

Spill-over theory

Spill-over theory presumes that the relationship between affective and behavioural
responses in different areas of an individual's life could be reciprocal. In other

words, such responses may carry over from one life domain to another. Hence,
spill-over occurs when individuals bring their positive or negative emotions and
spill over occurs when individuals bring their positive or negative emotions and
behaviours from one context to another (cf. Kelly and Voydanoff 1985; Piotrkowsky
1979). Within a school context, qualitative studies have shown how practices and
norms in different areas of the school affect each other (Fine and Rosenberg 1983;
Varenne and McDermott 1998). In other words, behaviour in the teachers' office is
highly related to behaviour and norms in other areas, such as the classroom or the
lunchroom. For students, the effects of spill-over between absence from class and
absence in class may worsen their performance and learning trajectory, since the
originating emotions or behaviours can be negative (cf. Barnett, Marshall, and Sayer
1992; Lambert 1990). The same effect can be found in positive school participation.
This study, however, focuses mainly on negative spill-over effects.

Symbolic capital transfer

One of the central ideas of Bourdieu's (1990, 1991) sociological theories is that
resources and recognition as symbolic, social, cultural and economic capital can be
transferred between different socioeconomic areas. Symbolic capital is recognised
prestige coming from a group's accepted and valued attitudes and behavioural
patterns (Bourdieu 1977). Individuals can enhance symbolic capital in one domain
by drawing upon resource or recognition in other domains, such as for example
financial achievements (Bourdieu 1977, 1979). In a school context, symbolic capital
refers to specific exercised behavioural patterns or specific types of knowledge,
which are legitimised through school evaluations determining whether students are
found to be qualified (cf. Olneck 2000).

The notion of students' abilities enhancing symbolic recognition may help to explain
the way specific forms of participation transfer capital. Specifically, behaviour in a
school context can be transferred into prestige used to compensate for absence
behaviour. This transfer rests on the recognition of student behaviour as a
positively valued resource. In this particular case, participation behaviour may result
in what could be termed ‘vocational capital’.

Methodology
Setting and sample

Based on the research aim guiding the study, a suitable learning context was
needed to carry out data collection. The researcher was granted relatively extensive
access to do fieldwork at a Danish school for vocational education and training (VET)
over a period of six months in order to follow the students during their main
course. The VET context was specifically suited for this study because high
percentages (43% in 2008) of drop-out from schools in the VET system have
resulted in the development of strategies focused on retention and absence
prevention. Systems of absence registration have been formalised even on a
national level through the ‘Student plan’ (Elevplan) system, in which a student's
educational records and plans from primary school onwards until the end of upper
secondary school are registered. The school chosen for this study, however, has
incorporated its own system of registration, which is linked to the course schedule
so that registration for each lesson is done very easily by the teachers.

A Danish vocational education is an upper secondary educational system consisting

of alternating programmes, where students shift between periods of practical
training at a company and periods of attendance at a school for VET. The objective
of the VET programmes is to qualify young people for employment through the
acquisition of both general competencies and competencies within a specific line of
industry or trade in mind. The programmes consist of a basic course and a main
course, for which students must first enter into a training agreement with a
company. The length of programmes in upper secondary education of VET varies
from one and a half to five and a half years.

In this specific case, the researcher followed a class at a VET programme with the
objective of educating future automobile painters. The basic course is among the
shortest VET courses, where only 10 weeks is spent at the school before transiting
to apprenticeship. This VET course, as many others, is affected by the difficulty of
finding enough apprenticeships for the students, some of whom, therefore, must

either enrol in school-based apprenticeships or change to another programme after

having completed the basic course.
having completed the basic course.

The VET school in which the research was carried out was a public school located in
a medium-sized Danish provincial town. It attracts students from other parts of
Denmark and sometimes even from other Nordic countries. Most students,
therefore, live in the student dorm, which is part of the school. The VET programme,
in accordance with other programmes, has no admission criteria other than the
completion of lower secondary education. However, most students have had some
experience with performing unskilled labour at a workshop. The majority of the
students are males from 16 to 35 years of age. Nevertheless, each class typically
includes a few female participants.

Each class in the VET programme has an appointed head teacher, who is also their
teacher in the practical and practice-related theoretical lectures and who is
appointed the students' primary contact within the school. The rest of the course is
structured around four to six other teachers, who teach different theoretical
subjects.

In the class that was the subject of the study, 22 students were enrolled. However,
by the end of the course only 11 (50%) of the original students were appointed to
take the exams.

After following this course, the researcher conducted additional field studies in
another class that was staffed by different teachers. This was partly in order to
avoid bias and partly because two of the students retook the course. This presented
the researcher with the opportunity to follow them in another class. Furthermore,
she followed courses in other vocational areas at the school in order to study the
practice of absence registration. In general, similar dynamics were found in all
classes.

Data collection

Given the inductive nature of the study, the aim of the research was not to provide
generalisable empirical data but rather to achieve conceptual coherence, for which

single case studies are considered appropriate (Eisenhardt 1989; Miles and
Huberman 1994). These kinds of studies can provide an internal validity that is
Huberman 1994). These kinds of studies can provide an internal validity that is
valuable for theory building (cf. Jacobides 2005).

The ethnographic field study is especially suited to studying situated processes in

which social categories are shared, negotiated, changed or transferred between
individuals and groups. Field studies include personal development in the local
setting that allows the researcher to study the everyday aspects of social processes
and acquire an understanding of the broader social field in which he or she is
embedded (cf. Bourdieu 1990). The advantage of conducting ethnographic
fieldwork, in other words, is that it provides the researcher with a comprehensive
understanding of the setting, cross-relating different sources and perspectives in
the discussion of the upcoming themes (Agar 1986). The main data sources applied
here were participant observation, semi-structured interviews and examination of
school documents.

Participant observation

In keeping with the ethnographic approach, data collection relied heavily on

participant observation. When using participant observation, the ideal is for the
researcher to develop the ability to recognise and understand the social
organisation of interaction. This provides an opportunity to register processes
producing and reproducing social categories applied at the scene (Spradley 1980).

Throughout the fieldwork, these processes could be observed in daily dialogues

between students and teachers, where the negotiation of different dimensions of
absence was debated in a way that would not have been registered in a more
formal interview situation. Furthermore, participant observation also allows for the
observation of implicit behaviour that is not directly available through interviews.
Such social processes could be observed by mapping interaction patterns in the
classroom and by time measurements of when and how often teachers called for
students' attention during class.

Participants were told that the researcher was interested in the absence and
retention of students. However, the researcher generally tried to keep as low a

profile as possible and not to ask questions or perform actions that would create
social behaviour in others that would not have occurred ordinarily and thereby bias
social behaviour in others that would not have occurred ordinarily and thereby bias
observations (Miles and Huberman 1994).

Apart from being stationed in classrooms and taking frequent strolls through the
school, the researcher also participated in a number of other activities, such as
student parties, bowling, open-house gatherings, personal conversations about
absence, final exams and evaluations. As such, she was quite free to move around
in the school as necessary. During daily walks around the school, she gradually
became familiar with a substantial part of the school. However, since she was
neither a student nor a teacher, she experienced no danger of becoming too much
of a full category member (cf. Bernard 1995).

Altogether, the degree of observation and participation that occurred depended on

the different activities involved. During teaching sessions, the main focus was on
observation; during social gatherings, participation. In addition, numerous
conversations with students and teachers were jotted down in a small notebook,
which was kept in a pocket at all times (Sanjek 1990). More than 150 pages of field
notes were generated as a result of this exercise.

Interviews

Data from semi-structured interviews with students (24 interviews, including four
re-interviews), teachers (four interviews) and school managers (three interviews)
were used. Interviews were conducted in Danish. An interview protocol included six
main sections: (1) absence behaviour; (2) background; (3) school official rules and
formalities; (4) professional norms and skills; (5) social relations between teachers
and students; and (6) transitional strategies. After having been in the field for a few
weeks, the researcher noticed that students, teachers and school managers spent a
great deal of time debating student absence, which also seemed to relate especially
to the other themes. As such, each interview covered a standard set of questions,
although the researcher encouraged interviewees to raise and discuss a variety of
related topics as well. The researcher avoided directly leading participants to
explanations that were relevant. Instead, examples or details were requested when

interviewees brought up a related issue. This interview format was both sufficiently
structured to ensure that certain topics were covered and sufficiently flexible to
structured to ensure that certain topics were covered and sufficiently flexible to
allow the interviewee to focus on issues of particular importance. At the end of each
interview, interviewees were asked to share any additional information they felt was
relevant. To increase the accuracy of their responses, each interviewee was assured
anonymity (cf. Bernard 1995).

Physically, the interviews took place in the context of the classrooms, the teachers'
room or the student dorm. Detailed interview notes and notes on the researcher's
overall impression were created on the same day as the interview (cf. Eisenhardt
1989).

Secondary sources

The researcher reviewed relevant documents and Web pages concerning the formal
system of absence registration, formal strategies for retention and plans for
professional measurements and examination questions. These data were
juxtaposed with field notes and interview transcripts. In total, the three data
sources yielded a database of several hundred pages.

Analysis

The preliminary and ongoing analysis was started early in the fieldwork, in
accordance with Spradley's (1980) ethnographic circle of data collection, analysis,
and theorising. The preliminary and following analysis were completed through the
use of the qualitative data analysis programme NVIVO in order to code and sort out
the data according to central themes related to the research aims. A form of data
triangulation was used (Hammersley and Atkinson 1997) in an effort to continue
deepening the understanding and making ‘thick descriptions’ of central themes (cf.
Geertz 1973). The aim was to create a narrative based on the analysis of central
themes, a narrative about how students and teachers negotiate the interrelation of
different dimensions of absence and participation.

Results

The results show that two different dimensions of absence can be identified. What
is central in this case is the way the two different dimensions in the specific practice
is central in this case is the way the two different dimensions in the specific practice
are dynamically interrelated with certain consequences for student performance.
Findings will be presented in three sections. First, each of the two different
dimensions of absence will be described in order to outline the way absence was
defined and developed through ongoing interaction between students, teachers
and school managers. Next, the interrelated dynamics of the two dimensions will be
described, illustrating their impact on students' educational trajectories. All
quotations from participants are translated from Danish.

Absence from class

One central form of absence is student absence from class, which is when students
do not physically attend classes. This form of physical absence was formally defined
in a computer-based registration system for the whole school, where teachers
registered students' absent hours. Teachers must register students' being late for
class as absence from an entire lesson. As part of this registration system, a
warning system was in place. Students were allowed three warnings before being
expelled because of more than 10% absence. As one of the school managers
explained, this system is actually an effort to retain students by registering which
students are at risk of not being able to complete the course and, through
conversations with students, to support their returning to school.

The school had a formal method of differentiating between ways of being absent
from classes. One officially more legitimate way of being absent was when a
student's absence was reported in by phone the same morning, this being called a
‘legal absence’. Even though, as one teacher mentioned, ‘absence is still absence’,
legal absence was preferred to non-legal absence and was said to have extenuating
circumstances for students with too high a percentage of absence. One ‘non-legal’
way of being absent was if a student was absent for morning classes because of
having consumed too much alcohol the day before. On several occasions, this was
discovered by teachers or school managers who simply went to the student dorm
to see if the student was actually sick or just still drunk. This caused an instant
warning.

In general, some ways of being absent were observed by both teachers and
students to be more legitimate than others. For example, lying in bed at the student
students to be more legitimate than others. For example, lying in bed at the student
dorm because of serious illness is more legitimate than skipping Friday afternoon
classes to go home early for the weekend. The contempt for this latter way of being
absent was expressed by one teacher, who said:

Well, so he went home and skipped class today to see his new nephew –
yes because this boy will of course not be the same boy the day after
tomorrow, you know what I think, I think tomorrow I will take my ‘my dog
is sick-leave’.

In a paradoxical way, some students being registered absent from classes were on
occasion still coming to school to see other students. So a couple of times, students
reporting being sick were sneaking in to see other students during breaks – this was
also noticed by their teacher more than once, who found these students lacking
every bit of maturity and interest for the course:

Then I see [a student] sneaking into the auto shop and he was supposed
to be deadly ill lying in the student dorm, but I guess not too ill to have a
cigarette with the others. See that is just the way it is going with those
students being forced in here by some officials or others – I don't know
what to do.

The above examples show how absence from class is, by teachers and school
managers, regarded as improper behaviour in general and presented for students
in a formalised system best to be followed. Yet students' absent behaviour was
divided into different levels of seriousness.

Absence in class

Another form of absence was absence in class. One specific way of being absent in
classes can be seen in the example where students on several occasions actually fell
asleep during class, head bent over the table. In many cases, students were then
awoken by other students or by the teacher. However, in one case, a student was
coming to class still intoxicated from the previous night's party and was leaning his

head on the table. This occasioned an immediate warning, and the student was sent
home to the student dorm. On the first day of school, the headmaster actually told
home to the student dorm. On the first day of school, the headmaster actually told
warning stories of a few students having almost completed the three and a half
years, being ready for final exams, and then showing up for the last classes still
drunk after celebration parties. These students, having already had three warnings,
were expelled.

One of the more common ways of being absent in class was when students were
not paying attention to the teacher during lessons. Teachers often commented
about this. One teacher said, ‘You three over there do not just slouch on the table
and do nothing while I try to tell and show you how to clean your fender –
straighten up and pay attention’. This way of being absent was also expressed when
students were silently checking their mobile phones under the table during lessons
or making obscene paintings during colour test lessons.

One way of being physically absent in class could also be registered. A student
described it as follows:

Well, we have really just been hanging about in class. You know you can
stand and talk a bit too long with the others before getting to class, go
outside for a cigarette and sit too long on the toilet, all those things.

Some students would try to justify their absence in class, such as when they did
nothing after being asked to do an assignment. One often used explanation was
calling upon lack of sufficient material for classes: ‘How can I make any of the
calculations when I don't have my book and you obviously won't let me go get it’.
One teacher noticed that some students deliberately spend a lot of time going back
to the student dorm or supply office to get books, copy sets or even pencils. Finally,
she started collecting all the books before the end of class and bringing in supplies
of pencils each day.

Although not formalised, absence in class could become a serious problem, causing
students to be expelled. However, the examples show ongoing negotiations
between students and teachers about what type of absence behaviour was
legitimate and what was not.

Spill-over and vocational capital transfer

Four central themes emerged from the study. The first two, presented below,
describe findings of spill-over effects between the two forms of absence, which lead
to negative outcomes for the students. The last two presented themes describe
findings of symbolic capital transfer between forms of absence from class and
participation in class, which lead to positive outcomes for the students. Each of the
themes leads to propositions, which will be extracted from the specific findings.

Spill-over effects of absence from class to absence in class behaviour

One of the students was redoing the 10-week course because he was excluded the
first time for too many absences. He started out being very secure about the way
things were done at school, showing others how to do colour tests and actually
preparing other students for tests. He said:

But you are supposed to try and remember what you use – that is
important for the exam. It is ‘silicone remover 70/80’ – you really ought to
know that; our teacher also mentioned it last time.

Early in the course, however, he started being physically absent from classes, along
with a few of the other students, who all considered it ‘cool’ to spend time in the
student dorm drinking. Eventually they all started getting behind on their
assignments and on their studying. This resulted in a situation where the
abovementioned student had to hand in a ‘blank’ test on theory, not being able to
answer any of the questions. After this episode, the student was more and more
frequently absent during classes. He had collected several warnings for having too
many absences from classes and therefore tried to attend them all. However, when
present, he just stared into space. He was very quiet, not disturbing anyone, but
also trying to avoid doing any of the assignments. He no longer talked to the other
students about what to study for exams and would always be the first to get up
when classes ended. Even though he was behind on making his auto fender, he
disappeared a lot during classes. On several occasions, his teacher scolded him for
this. He was eventually thrown out for an episode involving violence, but had the
day before expressed to some of the other students that he wanted to quit, no

longer taking any interest in the course. These examples show how growing
absence behaviour can expand, leading to the first proposition:
absence behaviour can expand, leading to the first proposition:

Proposition 1: A high level of absence from class behaviour may spill over
to a high level of absence in class behaviour.
Spill-over effects of absence in class behaviour to absence from class
behaviour

A couple of the students who showed a high level of absence in class behaviour
decided to retake the 10-week course, since they felt that they had not learned
enough to be able to take the exams – although they were actually not in danger of
being thrown out for too many absences from class. When starting the new course,
they promised to take it seriously. One said:

I really tried so hard getting to all the classes; for a while I even went very
early to bed every evening although my mate would come and tease me
and put cream in my hair while I was asleep.

Nonetheless, these students were again, right from the beginning, often absent in
class, repeating the same pattern as before and going out smoking or going to the
toilet all the time. In this class, however, they were faced with peer students who in
many ways considered them ignorant and frivolous. On some occasions, they were
ridiculed by peers as not being able to complete any of the assignments. A student
said to one of the two students absent in class:

Come on, why haven't you been doing anything on your fender today?
You were supposed to have polished the whole damn thing yourself and
now I have done it for you; get a grip. Are you ever going to do anything
here on your own?

As time went by, they started to miss more and more classes. Three weeks before
the exam, one of the boys was thrown out after being physically absent from school
once too often. He reported being sick, but the teacher found him at the student
dorm in front of the computer in the hall. Having by now too many absences from
class, he was immediately thrown out.

In an informal interview right after being thrown out, the student explained:
 I was actually sick, but you know our teacher has been picking on us all
the time, always commenting that we were doing nothing right, and the
others are all a bunch of over-achievers … anyway I really did not feel like
going to classes in the end. I kind of lost interest you know. And also I
was probably not able to take the exams anyway … I also think I could
not pass the course in Computers, since I had not done any of the
assignments, so why bother coming to classes really.

This shows how the continuing behaviour of absence in class can have a negative
spill-over effect of not being able to catch up. Eventually, the student no longer saw
any point in coming to classes, thereby causing a growing absence from classes
before being thrown out. The above examples show how one dimension of absence
behaviour can affect both another dimension of absence behaviour and its
legitimacy. Therefore, the following can be proposed:

Proposition 2a: A high level of absence in class behaviour may spill over to
a high level of absence from class behaviour.
Proposition 2b: A high level of absence in class behaviour may spill over to
decreased tolerance for absence from class behaviour.
Absence from class transferred into legitimate participation

A few of the students already had their own auto painting businesses back home.
They either helped friends or worked as unskilled labour part time in workshops.
Both students and teachers considered this a positive work experience and an
opportunity to exercise the practice otherwise only learned in sparse workshop
lessons.

On some occasions, these working students were allowed to start the weekend
early and skip some classes late on Thursday without being registered as absent.
This was at one time explained to the researcher by their head teacher:

You see, he is actually going home early and skipping classes tomorrow
because he has some relevant work on some cars to do back home, but

then he also gets much more experience in the profession than the
others.
 others.

Students regarded this way of being absent from class and instead obtaining work
experience as valuable because work experience was, they thought, the reason they
participated in classes. According to students, being at a real workshop taught them
the importance of paying attention to the work rather than doing nothing –
something other students being absent in class still needed to learn. The following
was a comment made by one student while cleaning up after some of his fellow
students who had sneaked out to have a cigarette during workshop class:

See how they don't even clean up this mess. If you leave this ‘filler’ in the
open, you have to throw it away. Really, if I was their master, I would
throw a fit … They are just an expense for a company as it is. They are
never going to find an apprenticeship … They just have no clue about
how it is at a real auto shop; there you really work.

The vocationally experienced students all received good grades in the subject
‘Working Environment’, where grades were based on the teachers' daily
observations of student behaviour in the school workshop. Thereby their way of
participation was formally acknowledged. These examples of the dynamic
interrelation of absence in which absence from class affects absence in class lead to
the following proposition:

Proposition 3: Absence from class for vocation-related work can be

legitimised and transferred into vocational capital as a guarantee for
positive participation in class.
Participation in class transferred to compensate for absence from class

A few of the students were never absent and always paid attention in class. They
asked relevant questions, took notes and made an effort to spend all their time in
the workshop polishing their fenders, only smoking cigarettes during official breaks
or when the teacher himself called for a smoking break. However, at one point in
the course, one of these students started to be physically absent a lot because of
illness and on a few occasions with starting problems on his car. The student

already had two warnings, but the teacher acknowledged that he never missed
anything during classes, even being attendant to assignments while physically
anything during classes, even being attendant to assignments while physically
absent. The teacher explained:

You know, he actually sent me an email asking what assignments to do

while being home sick. You know in that way he didn't really even miss
any of the lessons in that subject. And I know he had some troubles
actually keeping the maximum limit of 10 percent absence in one
subject, but I talked to the teacher in that subject and she said he had no
problems keeping up with the rest and that he was always doing his
assignments in class. So of course we let him take the final exams.

On one occasion, another student, also by the teacher considered mature and
never absent in class, was allowed to go home early from classes with a stomach
ache without being registered as absent. The teacher said to the student: ‘It's ok
that you go home as long as you don't mention to the others that I have given my
permission because you know then they will complain’. The other students,
however, actually knew about this, but they did not consider it unfair. Instead, they
stated they felt sorry that this student was often sick because they knew he was
actually unhappy about missing classes and the opportunity to continue his hard
work on the fender, which had been ruined at a critical time because of running
varnish. In the end, these students were all given permission to complete the
programme and take the final exams despite the too high absence levels. These
examples show that the dynamic relation between absence from and absence in
class can be regarded as positive, leading to the following proposition:

Proposition 4: Vocational capital acquired through participation in class

can be transferred to tolerance for absence from class.

Discussion

This study demonstrates that the dynamic interrelations of absence from class and
absence in class can have both negative and positive consequences for students'
educational outcome. It is therefore suggested that the form of in class absence

becomes integrated in studies of absence. Furthermore, the study shows that

absence does not necessarily lead to negative student outcomes and a more
absence does not necessarily lead to negative student outcomes and a more
nuanced understanding of the consequences of absence behaviour in school is
therefore needed.

The findings of the study were consistent with the proposed theoretical framework
on primarily two points: First, one dimension of absence is related dynamically to
another through ongoing social negotiations of legitimate behaviour. Second, this
relation is dynamic in that one dimension of absence behaviour can affect another,
and vice versa. The results showed that the different dynamic interrelations can
have an either negative or positive effect on the perception of student performance.

The results of this study are in accordance with spill-over theory (Kelly and
Voydanoff 1985; Piotrkowski 1979). Absence from class may spill over to a higher
level of absence in class. Similarly, absence in class may spill over to a higher level of
absence from class or decreased tolerance for absence from class. This may very
well work as a vicious cycle where absence from class leads to absence in class, and
vice versa. In this specific case, it seems that teacher and peer student intolerance
for student absence was growing in accordance with the vicious cycle being
developed. Furthermore, increasing teacher and peer student intolerance may even
accelerate the vicious cycle leading to drop out or to students being expelled. More
knowledge, however, is needed in this area before generalisations can be made.

Consistent also with theories on symbolic capital (Bourdieu 1990), the present
researcher found transfer of what could be termed recognised ‘vocational capital’
taking place between different domains of absence and attentive participation.
Participation in the ‘in class’ domain, such as trying to be attendant, even when
being absent from class, could be used to compensate for absence from class. And
some types of absence from class, such as working on relevant external activities,
could be legitimised as guarantees for attentive participation in class. The
compensation and legitimisation of absence behaviour is dependent on the
transformation of participation behaviour into prestigious vocational capital within
the VET context. Vocational capital is here exchanged for students' recognised
‘proper’ behaviour and identification with vocational interests and norms. Other

types of vocational capital transactions may also be possible. For example, students
may be able to transform good grades, specific skills, a favourable attitude and
may be able to transform good grades, specific skills, a favourable attitude and
social networks into prestigious vocational capital, and to move this from one
domain to another. This, however, needs to be investigated further in future
studies.

In line with Reid's (2005) and Gottfried's (2009) argument that clearer definitions of
the concept of absence are needed, the results of this article demonstrate that the
concept of absence is more complex than portrayed by the majority of extant
research (e.g. Atkinson et al. 2000; Corville-Smith et al. 1998; Malcolm et al. 2003)
and that this complexity must be studied in order to understand both the causes
for absence and results of absence. On the other hand, this article goes beyond
Gottfried's (2009) differentiation between the types of absence in describing how
different forms of absence behaviour are dynamically interrelated. This finding is
similar to robust theorising on the life domain spill-over in psychology (Piotrkowski
1979) and transfer of symbolic capital in sociology (Bourdieu 2004).

Limitations

This study has some potential limitations. First, this is a highly explorative
investigation based on data from only one country in only one location, involving
only a few students in a VET school. Hence, the extent to which this study's findings
can be generalised to other students and other schools is unclear. Contributing to
this is also the qualitative and exploratory research methods employed. Although
these methods are based on rigorous and systematic principles of ethnographic
research, an additional, more quantitative approach may have provided
supplementary insight into the investigated matter. However, this is a preliminary
piece of work exploring the dynamics of absence behaviour in a learning context;
subsequent research within this area may attempt to improve on these potential
limitations.

Secondly, this particular class seemed to be characterised by a comparatively large

group of students being uninterested in their education, which therefore became a
central issue for interactions between teachers and students. These circumstances

could have affected the results in the direction of putting more emphasis on the
dynamics of absence, which would, in other cases, be less prominent. Although
dynamics of absence, which would, in other cases, be less prominent. Although
similar dynamics of absence from class and absence in class were in fact also
observed in other classes at the school, there is a need for further studies in
different school systems where problems with drop-out are minor compared with
the Danish VET system.

Finally, this study focused on the dynamics of absence behaviour without including
background variables that are known to have an effect on absence, such as
personal, familial and curriculum-based causes for physical absence. While the aim
of the study was to illustrate the dynamics of absence behaviour, future endeavours
could also investigate the relation between such dynamics and influential
background variables.

Implications

This study explored absence as a dynamic concept whose relation to learning

participation can be facilitated and negotiated between students and teachers in
different domains. It thereby responds to a dearth of in-depth, micro-level studies
on student absence. The findings give rise to a number of implications, both
theoretical and practical, as well as suggestions for future research.

Theoretically, the findings of this study suggest that the impact of absence depends
on the kind of absence in question. Accordingly, scholars should go beyond only
focusing on formal physical absence. Both absence from class and absence in class
could have negative implications for school outcomes. These findings should be
introduced into the theoretical development of educational absence research.
Finally, the notion that different dimensions of absence are dynamically interrelated
and can be facilitated, negotiated and transferred between different domains
provides a helpful way of conceptualising absence.

Viewed from a practical standpoint, this study may have a number of important
implications for teachers, school managers and policymakers. In particular, school
policies could be designed to take into account the dynamics of absence behaviour
in the specific context. Moreover, keeping the different outcomes of interrelated

processes of absence in mind may help teachers and policymakers to understand

the extent to which different dimensions of absence affect student retention and
the extent to which different dimensions of absence affect student retention and
drop-out. It may also aid schools in understanding how educational content or
curriculum is not a constant object, but rather continuously changed and redefined
through student and teacher participation. Particularly at VET schools, the results of
this study suggest that practical considerations of absence are related to student
and school definitions of sound vocational practice. The studying of interrelated
dimensions of absence may, finally, also help to understand how absence
behaviour is dynamically, and in some cases negatively, developed throughout
specific courses. In turn, this has an impact on the differentiated strategy for
preventing different dimensions of absence at different times in the educational
course.

In the future, this study could be both replicated and extended. A replication may
involve trying to avoid as many of its limitations as possible. Additionally, extending
its methods to include a quantitative approach may be a fruitful further research
task. It may also be worthwhile to extend the scope of the study to other countries
or other education types to assess the generalisability of the findings.

Conclusion

In this study, two different dimensions of absence have been identified. The article
has shown how different dimensions of absence become dynamically interrelated
through ongoing negotiations in the social practice of students, teachers and school
managers. Consequently, the relatedness of different dimensions of absence can
become negative or positive for the perception of student performance through
either the transfer of symbolic capital or spill-over effects. The results thereby
support the need for further studies in the concept of absence. The relevance of
this can have both theoretical implications such as taking into consideration other
dimensions than physical absence from class as well as the different dimensions'
interrelatedness and practical implications such as more closely examining the
socially negotiated legitimacy or illegitimacy of absence.

Related Research Data

 Towards a typology of occasional truancy: an operationalisation study of
occasional truancy in secondary education in Flanders
Source: N F E R Nelson Publishing Limited

Linking provided by

References

1. Agar, M. H. 1986. Speaking of ethnography, Newbury Park, CA: Sage. [Crossref],

[Google Scholar] OpenURL

2. Alexander, K. L., Entwhistle, D. R. and Kabbani, N. S. 2001. The dropout process in

life course perspective: Early risk factors at home and school. Teachers College
Record, 103(5): 760–822. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]
OpenURL

3. Atkinson, M., Halsey, K., Wilkin, A. and Kinder, K. 2000. Raising attendance, Slough:
NFER. [Google Scholar] OpenURL

4. Attwood, G., Croll, P. and Hamilton, J. 2005. Recovering potential: Factors

associated with success in engaging challenging students with alternative pre-16
provision. Educational Research, 47(2): 149–62.
[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar] OpenURL

5. Ball, C. and Connolly, J. 2000. Educationally disaffected young offenders: Youth

court and agency responces to truancy and school exclusion. British Journal of
Criminology, 40(4): 594–616. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]
OpenURL

6. Barnett, R. C., Marshall, N. L. and Sayer, A. 1992. Positive-spillover effects from job
to home: A closer look. Women and Health, 19(2&3): 13–41.
 to home: A closer look. Women and Health, 19(2&3): 13 41.
[Taylor & Francis Online], [Google Scholar] OpenURL

7. Beekhoven, S. and Dekkers, H. 2005. The influence of participation, identification,

and parental resources on the early school leaving of boys in the lower
educational track. European Educational Research Journal, 4(3): 195–207.
[Crossref], [Google Scholar] OpenURL

8. Bernard, R. H. 1995. Research methods in anthropology: Qualitative and quantitative

approaches, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. [Google Scholar] OpenURL

9. Bourdieu, P. 1977. Outline of a theory of practice, Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press. [Crossref], [Google Scholar] OpenURL

10. Bourdieu, P. 1979. Symbolic power. Critique of Anthropology, 77(4): 77–85.

[Crossref], [Google Scholar] OpenURL

11. Bourdieu, P. 1990. The logic of practice, New York: Polity press. [Crossref],
[Google Scholar] OpenURL

12. Bourdieu, P. 1991. Language and symbolic power, Cambridge: Polity Press.
[Google Scholar] OpenURL

13. Bourdieu, P. 2004. Distinction: A social critique of the judgment of taste, London:
Routledge. [Google Scholar] OpenURL

14. Corville-Smith, J., Ryan, B. A., Adams, G. R. and Dalicandro, T. 1998. Distinguishing
absentee students from regular attenders: The combined influence of personal,
family and school factors. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 27(5): 629–40.
[Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar] OpenURL

15. Darmody, M., Smyth, E. and McCoy, S. 2008. Acting up or opting out? Truancy in
Irish secondary schools. Educational Review, 60(4): 359–73.
[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar] OpenURL

16. Eisenhardt, K. 1989. Building theories from case study research. Academy of
Management Review, 14(3): 532–550. [Crossref], [Google Scholar] OpenURL
 Management Review, 14(3): 532 550. [Crossref], [Google Scholar] OpenURL

17. Fergusson, D. M., Lyskey, M. T. and Horwood, L. J. 1995. Truancy in adolescence.

New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 30: 25–37. [Google Scholar] OpenURL

18. Fine, M. and Rosenberg, P. 1983. Dropping out of high school: The ideology of
school and work. Journal of Education, 165(3) [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
OpenURL

19. Finn, J. D. 1989. Withdrawing from school. Review of Educational Research, 59(2):
117–42. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar] OpenURL

20. Geertz, C. 1973. “Thick description: Toward an interpretive theory of culture”. In

Interpretation of cultures, New York: Basic Books. [Google Scholar] OpenURL

21. Gottfried, M. A. 2009. Excused versus unexcused: How student absences in

elementary school affect academic achievement. Educational Evaluation and Policy
Analysis, 31(4): 392–415. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]
OpenURL

22. Hammersley, M. and Atkinson, P. 1997. Ethnography: Principles in practice, London:

Routledge. [Google Scholar] OpenURL

23. Jacobides, M. 2005. Industry change through vertical disintegration: How and why
markets emerged in mortgage banking. Academy of Management Journal, 48(3):
465–89. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar] OpenURL

24. Johnson, G. M. 2005. Student alienation, academic achievement, and WebCT use.
Educational Technology and Society, 8(2): 179–89. [Web of Science ®],
[Google Scholar] OpenURL

25. Kelly, R. F. and Voydanoff, P. 1985. Work/family role strain among employed
parents. Family Relations, 34(3): 367–74. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®],
[Google Scholar] OpenURL

26. Kinder, K., Wakefield, A. and Wilkin, A. 1996. “Talking back: Pupil views on
disaffection”. In National Foundation for Educational Research Slough
 disaffection . In National Foundation for Educational Research Slough
[Google Scholar] OpenURL

27. Lambert, S. J. 1990. Processes linking work and family: A critical review and
research agenda. Human Relations, 43(3): 239–57. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®],
[Google Scholar] OpenURL

28. Malcolm, H., Wilson, V., Davidson, J. and Kirk, S. 2003. Absence from school: A study
of its causes and effects in seven LEAs, Nottingham: DfES. [Google Scholar]
OpenURL

29. McIntyre-Bhatty, K. 2008. Truancy and coercive consent: Is there an alternative?.

Educational Review, 60(4): 375–90. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®],
[Google Scholar] OpenURL

30. Miles, M. and Huberman, M. 1994. Qualitative data analysis, London: Sage.
[Google Scholar] OpenURL

31. Olneck, M. 2000. Can multicultural education change what counts as cultural
capital?. American Educational Research Journal, 37(2): 317–48.
[Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar] OpenURL

32. Piotrkowsky, C. 1979. Work and the family system, New York: Fee Press.
[Google Scholar] OpenURL

33. Reid, K. 2003. The search for solutions to truancy and other forms of school
absenteeism. Pastoral Care in Education, 21(1): 3–9. [Taylor & Francis Online],
[Google Scholar] OpenURL

34. Reid, K. 2005. The causes, views and traits of school absenteeism and truancy: An
analytical review. Research in Education, 74: 59–82. [Crossref], [Google Scholar]
OpenURL

35. Reid, K. 2006. An evaluation of the views of secondary staff towards school
attendance issues. Oxford Review of Education, 32(3): 303–24.
 attendance issues. Oxford Review of Education, 32(3): 303 24.
[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar] OpenURL

36. Reid, K. 2008. Behaviour and attendance: The national picture; A synopsis.
Educational Review, 60(4): 333–44. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®],
[Google Scholar] OpenURL

37. Rumberger, R. W. 1995. Dropping out of middle school: A multilevel analysis of

students and schools. American Educational Research Journal, 32(3): 583–625.
[Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar] OpenURL

38. Sanjek, R. 1990. Fieldnotes: The makings of anthropology, Ithaca, NY: Cornell
University Press. [Crossref], [Google Scholar] OpenURL

39. Spradley, J. P. 1980. Participant observation, New York: Holt Rinehart and Winston.
[Google Scholar] OpenURL

40. Varenne, H. and McDermott, R. 1998. Successful failure: The school America builds,
Boulder, CO: Westview Press. [Google Scholar] OpenURL

41. Weinberg, C. and Weinberg, L. 1992. Multiple perspectives on the labelling,

treatment and disciplining of at-risk students. Journal of Humanistic Education and
Development, 30(4): 146–56. [Crossref], [Google Scholar] OpenURL

Download PDF

Share

Related research 
People also read Recommended articles Cited by
14

Causes and Structural Effects of Student Absenteeism: A Case Study of Three South African
Universities 

Newman Wadesango et al.

Journal of Social Sciences
Published online: 9 Oct 2017
Beyond the excused/unexcused absence binary: classifying absenteeism through a
voluntary/involuntary absence framework 

Anton Birioukov
Educational Review
Published online: 7 Oct 2015


Opposite Sides of the Same Coin? Exploring the Connections between School Absenteeism and Student
Mobility 

Richard O. Welsh
Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR)
Published online: 1 Mar 2018


View more
 Information for Open access

Authors Overview

R&D professionals Open journals

Editors Open Select

Librarians Dove Medical Press

Societies F1000Research

Opportunities Help and information

Reprints and e-prints Help and contact

Advertising solutions Newsroom

Accelerated publication All journals

Corporate access solutions Books

Keep up to date
Register to receive personalised research and resources
by email

 Sign me up
  


Copyright © 2023 Informa UK Limited Privacy policy Cookies Terms &

conditions Accessibility

Registered in England & Wales No. 3099067

5 Howick Place | London | SW1P 1WG