Research on the causes of truancy from mainstream education suggest that a range of factors such as poverty, ethnicity, the quality of relationship between students and teachers, and the nature of the classroom environment impact on students’ attendance in schools. The majority of the studies on truancy have been carried out with students in alternative education in the U.S.A and Australia. In New Zealand, research has focused on the truancy of Maori students. This study investigates the causes of truancy for Pasifika students in alternative education in New Zealand. Using a qualitative approach, data were collected using questionnaires and three focus group interviews. The findings from this study suggest that a number of factors affected students’ motivation to study. The behaviour of teachers and the school environment were found to affect the Pasifika students’ approach to learning. Some students had negative views of their own ability and lacked perseverance. Other students believed that a lack of parental or family support impacted negatively on their attendance. Consistent with the findings in other studies on truancy, this study found that a range of influences such as a lack of support from community leaders, students’ perceptions of their performance, the nature of the classroom environment, family structure, lifestyle factors and cultural and church activities contributed to Pasifika students’ truanting behaviour. This study suggests that schools that employ teachers who understand and empathize with the cultural aspects of Pasifika students and who can empathize with their situation will be most effective in preventing truancy among these students. Similarly, schools have dedicated programmes that accommodate the academic requirements of Pasifika students foster a more positive learning environment. Finally, schools should look to put in place initiatives to enable Pasifika parents to become effective partners in their children’s education.

Research on the causes of truancy from mainstream education suggest that a range of factors such as poverty, ethnicity, the quality of relationship between students and teachers, and the nature of the classroom environment impact on students’ attendance in schools. The majority of the studies on truancy have been carried out with students in alternative education in the U.S.A and Australia. In New Zealand, research has focused on the truancy of Maori students. This study investigates the causes of truancy for Pasifika students in alternative education in New Zealand. Using a qualitative approach, data were collected using questionnaires and three focus group interviews. The findings from this study suggest that a number of factors affected students’ motivation to study. The behaviour of teachers and the school environment were found to affect the Pasifika students’ approach to learning. Some students had negative views of their own ability and lacked perseverance. Other students believed that a lack of parental or family support impacted negatively on their attendance. Consistent with the findings in other studies on truancy, this study found that a range of influences such as a lack of support from community leaders, students’ perceptions of their performance, the nature of the classroom environment, family structure, lifestyle factors and cultural and church activities contributed to Pasifika students’ truanting behaviour. This study suggests that schools that employ teachers who understand and empathize with the cultural aspects of Pasifika students and who can empathize with their situation will be most effective in preventing truancy among these students. Similarly, schools have dedicated programmes that accommodate the academic requirements of Pasifika students foster a more positive learning environment. Finally, schools should look to put in place initiatives to enable Pasifika parents to become effective partners in their children’s education.

Research on the causes of truancy from mainstream education suggest that a range of factors such as poverty, ethnicity, the quality of relationship between students and teachers, and the nature of the classroom environment impact on students’ attendance in schools. The majority of the studies on truancy have been carried out with students in alternative education in the U.S.A and Australia. In New Zealand, research has focused on the truancy of Maori students. This study investigates the causes of truancy for Pasifika students in alternative education in New Zealand. Using a qualitative approach, data were collected using questionnaires and three focus group interviews. The findings from this study suggest that a number of factors affected students’ motivation to study. The behaviour of teachers and the school environment were found to affect the Pasifika students’ approach to learning. Some students had negative views of their own ability and lacked perseverance. Other students believed that a lack of parental or family support impacted negatively on their attendance. Consistent with the findings in other studies on truancy, this study found that a range of influences such as a lack of support from community leaders, students’ perceptions of their performance, the nature of the classroom environment, family structure, lifestyle factors and cultural and church activities contributed to Pasifika students’ truanting behaviour. This study suggests that schools that employ teachers who understand and empathize with the cultural aspects of Pasifika students and who can empathize with their situation will be most effective in preventing truancy among these students. Similarly, schools have dedicated programmes that accommodate the academic requirements of Pasifika students foster a more positive learning environment. Finally, schools should look to put in place initiatives to enable Pasifika parents to become effective partners in their children’s education.

Within Swedish Secondary Schools, truancy has been an increasing concern over the last eleven years. A specific form of truancy is so called in-school truancy where the student is basically within the school corridors but to a lesser degree attends the lessons. Despite the well documented risks concerning for example employment, income and health and the vast literature demonstrating the importance of teacher experience to promote successful student outcomes, little attention has been given to both teacher experience of truancy and in-school truants in a Swedish context. This master thesis explores Swedish secondary teachers’ experience of working with in-school truants. Four secondary teachers working on an Introduction Program in Sweden were interviewed. The interviews were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Through this analysis six comprehensive themes were constructed: Multifaceted Role- and Responsibility Description, Structure for Security and Consensus, Hope and Credence Embodied, Relationship building Obstacles and Value, Meaningful, Manageable and Rewarding Work and Solidarity as the Solution and Shield. Understanding of the results was deepened through theoretical connections to results that were particularly distinctive. Some of the issues discussed were theories related to work culture, collegial support, self-efficacy, roles, responsibility, relationship building and teacher-student relationships. The results show that the teachers who participated experience their work with this group of students as one with extra demands. Despite extra demands, neither an excess of demands nor unmanageability were experienced. Rather a conviction was evident regarding the possibility to influence these students despite their form of truancy as well as a feeling of purposeful work. This was something which partly distinguished the findings from previous literature found on the subject. The teachers' experiences further suggest that colleagues and work culture constitute important aspects of the work experience. It is also evident that the teachers involved in this study work within a dynamic field where the teacher needs to balance and continuously reflect upon their way of working. Finally, from the teachers’ perspective, in-school truancy was not considered the most problematic or relevant to distinguish from other sorts of truancy. / Inom svenska gymnasieskolor har ogiltig frånvaro blivit ett allt större bekymmer under de senaste elva åren. En specifik form av frånvaro är så kallad in-school truancy (på svenska korridorselever) där eleven i stor utsträckning befinner sig i skolans område men i låg utsträckning går på undervisningen. Trots väl dokumenterade risker avseende bland annat anställning, inkomst och hälsa och den utbredda litteraturen som finns på betydelsen av lärares upplevelse för gynnsamma elev utfall har både lärares upplevelser av frånvaro samt korridorselever fått sparsamt med uppmärksamhet i en svensk kontext. I föreliggande studie undersöktes gymnasielärares upplevelser av att arbeta med korridorselever. Fyra gymnasielärare på ett Introduktionsprogram i Sverige intervjuades. Intervjuerna analyserades med hjälp av Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Av resultatet konstruerades sex övergripande teman: Mångfacetterad roll- och ansvarsbeskrivning, Struktur för trygghet och samsyn, Hopp och tilltro förkroppsligat, Relationsbyggandets hinder och värde, Det meningsfulla, hanterbara och givande arbetet och Gemenskapen som lösning och sköld. Förståelsen av resultatet fördjupades genom att diskuteras i förhållande till studier, däribland har teorier kopplade till arbetskultur, kollegial stöttning, self-efficacy, roller, ansvar, relationsskapande och lärar-elevrelationer lyfts. Resultatet visar att de lärare som deltagit upplever sitt arbete med elevgruppen som ett arbete med extra krav. Trots ökade krav finns inte upplevelsen av överkrav eller ohanterbarhet. Snarare fanns en övertygelse om möjligheten att påverka dessa elever oavsett frånvaro samt känslan av att ha ett meningsfullt arbete. Detta var något som till viss del skiljer resultatet från tidigare litteratur på ämnet. Lärarnas upplevelser antyder vidare att kollegor och arbetskulturen utgör viktiga aspekter av arbetsupplevelsen. Det framkommer även att lärarna i studien arbetar i ett spänningsladdat fält där läraren behöver balansera och kontinuerligt reflektera kring sitt eget arbetssätt. Slutligen, enligt de intervjuade lärarnas upplevelser, framkommer korridorseleverna inte som mer problematiskt eller meningsfullt att skilja på från andra typer av frånvaro.