From Leaving CertiFiCate to Leaving SChooL a Longitudinal Study ...

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From Leaving Certificate to Leaving School
differences within schools. However, they were much less likely than
young men to report their schooling had fostered an involvement in
sports, with 43 per cent reporting it had been ‘no help’ in this respect
compared with 28 per cent of their male peers. Students with higher
stress levels tend to be more critical than other students of the benefits of
second-level education. What is striking is that these differences apart,
there is very little variation in the assessment of schooling by gender,
social class, prior achievement or having taken Transition Year.
There is very little systematic variation in terms of the objective
characteristics of schools. Girls’ schools are somewhat less likely to foster
an interest in involvement in sports. Furthermore, students attending
working-class schools are more likely to be positive about the benefits in
terms of ICT skills, a pattern which reflects the greater use of ICT for
teaching and learning in these settings (see Chapter Two). While variation
is evident across individual schools in the perceived skills and competencies
developed, this variation is not easily explained and is likely to
reflect the complex interaction between the subjects provided, teaching
methods used and the nature of the school climate. In the remainder of
this section, we focus on the perceptions of the benefits of second-level
education across the case-study schools.
6.2.1 Making Friends
In interviews with students about their perceptions of school and opinions
about what they got from school, students often initially responded
with humour, with comments such as ‘nothing’, ‘not much’ or ‘a headache’.
However, in further discussions and in line with the survey findings
above, the majority of students interviewed felt that their friends
were one of the most important benefits of their time in school. Some of
the students in Argyle Street spoke about making lifelong friends in
school with other people that they can trust:
Like you make friends that you’ll probably have for years.
… You’ve got your friends, they are people you can trust. (Argyle
Street, coed school, mixed intake)