ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors identify those elements of the school context that affect teachers’ empowerment and disempowerment within those teaching environments. The context of the school has been investigated in relation to a number of characteristics. The school context contains absences, which can have a causal effect on learning, e.g. the absence of technological equipment in the classroom may constrain learning. Contextual elements have been organised through the help of critical realism tools around four axes, namely: students’ personal characteristics, school characteristics, policy characteristics and the compatibility or incompatibility of all these three axes with socio-cultural issues. Students’ personal trajectories, in terms of their social class and ethnic background, impinged on their behaviour, motivation and academic achievements at the level of the school. The cross-case analysis suggests that there was a tendency for families with the same characteristics to opt for specific schools for their children. Parents’ decisions were based on formal or informal policy.
