Values ascribed to subjects in Algerian secondary schools: students’ experiences of educational pathway choices

The Algerian subject curriculum in the pre-tertiary sector has long been described as hierarchical in structure, with one set of school subjects typically accorded higher value and socially and academically recognised as more important than another (Fetouhi, 2014; Kadri and Ghouati, 2016). Through a qualitative study, this thesis explores the perspectives of different stakeholders (students and pathway advisors) regarding the educational pathways in secondary schools in Algeria, namely, the science pathway and the literary pathway, alongside their experiences of these pathway choices. Data include audio recordings of three narrative interviews with 12 students from both pathways at two secondary schools (urban and sub-urban schools) and interviews with four pathway advisors. Analysis draws upon thematic analysis and narrative psychology. Findings largely identified instrumental values, with little emphasis on intrinsic values, with students predominantly placing emphasis on the instrumental values rather than the intrinsic. The pedagogic counsellors took a more instrumental and pragmatic view of pathway values, rarely referring to their intrinsic values. Pathways’ relative values represented a significant outcome of the study with the majority of students and pedagogic counsellors ascribing higher value to the science pathway. The study draws on two theoretical perspectives – Bourdieu’s theory of social reproduction, and narrative psychology – which foreground the influence of structural factors on reproducing existing patterns of hierarchy of school subjects’ values and students’ choices and provide useful analytical lenses to gain a deep understanding of how available social discourses and school streaming policies, including attainment-based practices around pathways, set the scene for the ongoing construction of students’ agency when choosing which pathway to study. The thesis closes with recommendations for policy and practice, like the need for more attention on the impact of institutional and social structures in constructing and sustaining subjects’ (relative) values in the research literature