The presentation includes first findings from a grounded theory project (Charmaz 2014) which investigates experiences of multilingual adolescents living in urban Austrian areas and who find themselves in a period of educational transformation. Preliminary findings suggest that decision-processes are intertwined with multiple contextual themes.
Children and adolescents who permanently reside in Austria usually go through five institutional stages in their educational path (Mayrhofer et al. 2018, 128), which can be roughly divided into two: one path leads to access to tertiary education and the other to a more or less rapid integration into the labour market. Statistical results indicate that students categorised as “who do not speak German as an everyday language” have lower attendance rates in schools which lead to a higher degree (ibid., 143). Based on these findings, my study investigates experiences of multilingual students who live in urban areas and find themselves in a period of educational transformation — the transition from lower to upper secondary level. The overall goal of the study is to better understand educational transitions, acknowledging the fact that multilingual education is not (fully) implemented in Austrian schools. In this grounded theory study (Charmaz 2014), I am collecting and analysing interview data from students who have recently entered the upper secondary level and observation data from conversations during educational consultation with students who are still in lower secondary school. Preliminary findings suggest that the students’ decisions are dependent on the (assumed) beliefs of their teachers, parents and peers and that the decision process is intertwined with multiple discourses on e. g. labour-related skills, education in general as well as contextual themes, such as their self-positioning with regard to their performance in school. In my presentation, I will discuss some implications for teacher education drawn from my study. References Charmaz, K. (2014): Constructing grounded theory. London [et al.]: SAGE. Kramsch, C. (2009): The multilingual subject. What foreign language learners say about their experience and why it matters. Oxford: University Press. Austria's National Report on Education 2018, Chapter C - Prozesse des Schulsystems: https://www.bifie.at/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/NBB_2018_Band1_Indikator_C.pdf (16/09/2019)
