Secondary school smartphone policies in England: a descriptive analysis of how schools rationalize, design, and implement restrictive and permissive phone policies

Amie Randhawa, Miranda Pallan, Rebecca Twardochleb, Peymane Adab, Hareth Al-Janabi, Sally Fenton, Kirsty Jones, Maria Michail, Paul Patterson, Alice Sitch, Matthew Wade, Victoria A Goodyear*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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Abstract

This study provides a descriptive analysis of the content and implementation of smartphone policies across 30 secondary schools in England, comparing schools that do (permissive) or do not (restrictive) allow phone use during recreational time. School policy documents were collected, along with survey data from pupil (n = 1198), teacher (n = 53), and SLT (n = 30) participants. Phones were positioned as benefitting safety, learning, and communication. However, most schools adopted restrictive policies, aiming to improve attainment, behavior, and safeguarding. Significant differences were found between pupils and teachers, and between pupils at permissive vs restrictive schools, regarding their support for the rules. Implications are discussed.
Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Research on Technology in Education
Early online date27 Jun 2024
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 27 Jun 2024

Keywords

  • mobile phones
  • social media
  • policy analysis
  • schools

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