The lived experience of high achieving Year 13 boys using silent in-school individual study time during timetabled study periods

Abstract

This human science research investigates the phenomenon of silent study in a high performing, highly regarded school was in a high decile socio-economic area New Zealand. It constructs a phenomenological description of the meaning of the lived experience of compulsory in-school, supervised, non-guided, silent study periods for Year 13 boys in a large single-sex school. The study’s thirty-five participants were selected from a population of 303 Year 13 CIE students who were preparing for Cambridge International A-Level Examinations and not for the National Certificate of Educational Achievement. Transcripts of interviews during 2014, from three groups and twelve individuals provided comprehensive descriptions of participants’ direct experiences of silent study. Van Manen’s (1997b) framework informed the research design and Gadamer’s (1960/2012, 2006) philosophical hermeneutics formed the basis for reflective interpretation from the interview transcripts. Significant phrases or sentences were identified and extracted. A hermeneutic process of analysis was then used to identify their meanings. The meanings were clustered, and three themes isolated for structuring the writing of the phenomenological description. The themes dealt with the effectiveness of silence for study, how silent study can stimulate wise and appropriate choice of learning activities, and the complexity of student/student and student/supervisor relationships. To construct the phenomenological description each theme was examined through the lens of each of Van Manen’s (1997b, 2014) five existentials - corporeality (lived body); temporality (lived time); spatiality (lived space); sociality (lived relationships); and materiality (lived things and technology). The essential meanings of silent study for all participants are presented. Participants found that silent study was a new experience, but they adapted quickly and found it quiet, peaceful, and beneficial. They liked the silence, the consistency of the routines, the physical comforts, having the same desk every day, and the freedom of choice of activities. They felt isolated from others, but that minimised distraction, because they did not like interruption.