Adolescent Alienation the Effects of Disability, Gender, and Ethnicity on Perceptions of School Life in Secondary Environments

Responses to the School Factors Questionnaire (SFQ) administered to 222 students were used to ascertain student perceptions of alienating factors within secondary school environments. Descriptive statistics (i.e., frequency of responses to SFQ items) were used to report the data. The results indicated that although secondary students liked coming to school, regardless of their personal characteristics (i.e., placement in general vs. special education, gender, ethnicity), students reported similar alienating experiences associated with school life (e.g., the curriculum having little relevance to their lives, lack of pride concerning school, negative/no comments from principals and faculty, no involvement in curriculum planning). There needs to be a restructuring of secondary school environments before all students are able to re/connect to learning. The author discusses practical implications regarding what secondary school personnel can do to create more positive experiences for all students.