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JEANNE ALLEN
GLENDA MCGREGOR
DONNA PENDERGAST
MICHELLE RONKSLEY-PAVIA

Young
Adolescent
Engagement
in Learning
Supporting Students
through Structure
and Community
Young Adolescent Engagement in Learning
Jeanne Allen · Glenda McGregor
Donna Pendergast
Michelle Ronksley-Pavia

Young Adolescent
Engagement
in Learning
Supporting Students through
Structure and Community
Jeanne Allen Glenda McGregor
School of Education and Professional School of Education and Professional
Studies Studies
Griffith University Griffith University
Mt Gravatt, Brisbane, QLD, Australia Mt Gravatt, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Donna Pendergast Michelle Ronksley-Pavia

School of Education and Professional School of Education and Professional
Studies Studies
Griffith University Griffith University
Mt Gravatt, Brisbane, QLD, Australia Southport, QLD, Australia

ISBN 978-3-030-05836-4 ISBN 978-3-030-05837-1 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05837-1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018967283

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2019

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether
the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse
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The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
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 Foreword

I am really pleased to be able to contribute this preface to Young

Adolescent Engagement in Learning. The issue of ‘engagement’ is one that
is of interest to many educators—myself included. However, what con-
stitutes engagement and disengagement is often subjective and context
specific. Whilst it is clear that young people who have ‘dropped out’ or
been ‘pushed out’ of school, who do not complete their school work or
who misbehave in class are not engaged in learning, they are not the
only ones who might be considered disengaged. Many young people
who manage the routines of schooling on a daily basis, who complete
their work on time and have high levels of attendance are often con-
sidered ‘engaged.’ However, if they are only going through the motions
of learning, and are neither excited by new knowledge nor stimulated
to extend their knowledge and thinking in a particular area—are they
really engaged in learning? The responsibility for engagement is also a
key question. If ‘we teach’ and ‘they don’t learn,’ whose responsibility is
that? I once interviewed a school principal who indicated that he hated
the word “disengagement” as it implied that it was young people’s fault
they were not embracing schooling. He preferred the word “disenfran-
chised”—they were being denied a right to a wondrous, intellectually
stimulating and meaningful education.
v
vi   Foreword

I have a lot of sympathy for this argument; a blame game often

accompanies debates about disengagement. Young people are blamed
for being lazy, feckless, too caught up in new technologies, and unwill-
ing to listen to their teachers. Their parents are often blamed for a lack
of discipline, not valuing education, and not respecting their children’s
teachers themselves. However, blame often does not stop there. Teachers
are blamed for failing to connect with the students, for not having
appropriate behaviour management strategies, and not having the req-
uisite knowledge to teach their subject areas in engaging ways. Teacher
education is also often held responsible for producing ineffective teach-
ers who cannot control classes, because they have spent too much time
teaching about social justice and about other supposedly ‘left’ leaning
materials such as ‘Safe Schools’ (a program to make schools a safe place
for queer young people). Such blaming helps no-one.
Young Adolescent Engagement in Learning deftly avoids this blaming and
identifies the ways in which schools and school systems can develop holis-
tic responses to ensuring all young people are behaviourally, emotionally
and cognitively engaged in learning. In my view, Jeanne Allen, Glenda
McGregor, Donna Pendergast and Michelle Ronksley-Pavia are on track
in highlighting the ways in which the traditional practices and concerns
of mainstream schools (although not universal across schools) work
against ‘engagement.’ For example, creative, exploratory and challenging
forms of pedagogy are regularly avoided as schools are expected to meet
increasingly narrow and high stakes accountability regimes. Furthermore,
young people who are seen to threaten the reputation of schools through
their disengagement from schooling that impacts upon their own learning
and that of others in their classes are often ‘pushed out’ of school.
It is sometimes argued that schools and teachers make all the dif-
ference to students’ engagement; the authors recognise the fallacy of
such arguments. There are many factors beyond the school gates which
impact upon young people’s engagement in school. However, they also
recognise, quite rightly so, that schools can make a significant differ-
ence. There is no letting schools ‘off the hook’ here. In my view, the
authors are right to argue that engagement and achievement in tradi-
tional academic outcomes are linked, and hence the need for schools
to address the engagement of those marginalised by poverty and other
 Foreword   vii

factors is a matter of social justice. Australia has a high-quality education

system and, as such, the disparities in outcomes between, for example,
Indigenous and non-Indigenous students and young people from low
socioeconomic and high socioeconomic backgrounds, are a national dis-
grace. The authors’ framework for ‘best-practice,’ developed from a large
evidence base and out of work conducted in one Australian jurisdiction,
which they refer to as the Young Adolescent Engagement in Learning
(YAEL) Model, provides schools with a launch pad for addressing stu-
dent engagement and addressing such educational disparities.
While engagement is addressed in the broadest sense in Young
Adolescent Engagement in Learning, by considering behavioural, emo-
tional and cognitive engagement, bubbling under the surface of this
book are questions about the purposes of education. Looking outside
the mainstream sector to identify the ways in which ‘alternative’ forms
of schooling work to engage those who have not fared well in the main-
stream seems to me to be an appropriate site for raising such questions.
Young people who have often been scarred by the pressures to attain in an
environment that has not met their differing needs indicate that in these
schools they are often trusted, the curriculum builds upon their knowl-
edges, external factors impinging upon their ability to engage with school
are addressed, and they are valued in their own right. This suggests that
schools should not just be concerned with attainment (and young peo-
ple as human capital)—although attainment and its distribution are obvi-
ously important—but also need to address issues of wellbeing and active
citizenship in order that young people can ‘live well in a world worth liv-
ing in’ (Kemmis & Edwards-Groves, 2017, p. 7, emphasis in original).
As a central feature of this book, the YAEL Model recognises that
there are three overarching dimensions of approaches to addressing stu-
dent engagement (Layer 1): school structure and school community, stu-
dent wellbeing and teaching, teachers and leaders. It then indicates that
there are nine sub-dimensions of these dimensions (Layer 2), includ-
ing, for example: whole-school reform; practical and network supports;
meaningful curriculum for young adolescent learners; inclusive school
structure; and positive relational climate. The Model is then completed
with a third layer outlining the degrees of support required across a
continuum that identifies those supports that all young people should
viii   Foreword

experience through to those targeted towards young people with varying

needs and differing degrees of disengagement from schooling.
Many approaches to addressing student disengagement fall into one
of two categories (although sometimes both): changing the student or
changing the school (see, e.g., IFF Research Ltd, Mills, & Thomson,
2018). The former is often grounded in deficit assumptions about the
young person, and approaches are designed to ‘fix up’ the student. The
underpinning assumptions of the YAEL Model avoid such constructions;
they recognise that there are individual factors and hence the need for
schools to provide, for example, their students with ‘social, emotional,
psychological and health support.’ The Model takes a strengths-based
approach to supporting students in that it is concerned with beginning
from where the student is at—not with fixing them up. The Model also
focusses on what the school can do to address disengagement and to
ensure that all young people are seen as having the right to a fulfilling and
rich educational experience. The Model also recognises that teachers have
to be at the centre of meaningful change, whether this is in developing
whole school responses to disengagement, or developing meaningful cur-
ricula and rich forms of pedagogies in their classrooms. As is recognised
in this book, teachers’ work, especially when working with young people
from highly marginalised backgrounds, involves significant emotional (as
well as intellectual) labour—teachers’ wellbeing is thus also important.
The focus of the YAEL Model is on young people in the ‘middle
years’ of schooling. There are very specific pressures and factors which
impact upon young people who fall into this age bracket. These are
neatly identified in this book. However, as this book quite rightly illus-
trates, ‘disengagement’ affects all students, young and old, and high and
low attainers, and, as such, the Model is one that will have applicability
to all schools and all students. Furthermore, whilst the book has a very
strong Australian focus it has relevance beyond that context. The analy-
ses and arguments presented in this book are embedded in a substantial
international literature base. Schools and systems in multiple locations
are seeking to address the concerns raised here, and the book will pro-
vide a valuable resource for provoking and initiating action.
There are two aspects of the book that I would like to highlight
before concluding this foreword. Many reforms in schools are done to
 Foreword   ix

young people and teachers. This book puts the voices of both young
people and their teachers central to addressing the issues of engagement.
Within schools, there has been a severe erosion of trust in both young
people and teachers. This Model suggests that young people have to be
trusted to make meaningful contributions to their education, to con-
tribute to decision making in matters that affect them, and that schools
have to create the environment within which such trust can flourish. It
also implies that teachers have to be trusted, to be consulted on mat-
ters affecting their students, to be trusted in developing curricula and
pedagogies that will engage their students free from, using the Connell
(2012, p. 682) quote in the text, the “club of auditing.”
The book concludes with suggestions as to how it might be employed
by policy makers, system and school leaders, and teachers in a sys-
tem-wide change. I think that it may well be used productively in such
ways. However, once a book begins its journey from the hands of
the publisher to those of distributors and ultimately to those of read-
ers, authors lose control over its use and interpretation. I think Young
Adolescent Engagement in Learning is going to be used in multiple ways
with multiple effects. This is as it should be. I can see schools, and staff
within those schools, concerned about the issues raised by the book
poring over the Model, interpreting its different layers in the con-
text of their own schooling and developing their own responses based
on the Model’s principles. The authors are right to suggest caution in
determining causes and solutions to the problem of schooling disen-
gagement. There are no easy solutions. Engagement with this text and
with the Model it provides will, I believe, ensure that the complexity
of this problem is tackled in ways that neither blame the young person
nor blame the teacher. I am positive that this book is going to stim-
ulate many an exciting and productive conversation in staffrooms,
teacher education classrooms and various departmental offices—all of
which will hopefully lead to action. Allen, McGregor, Pendergast and
Ronksley-Pavia should be extremely pleased with such an outcome.

London, UK Martin Mills

Institute of Education
University College London
x   Foreword

References
Connell, R. W. (2012). Just education. Journal of Education Policy, 27(5),
681–683.
IFF Research Ltd, Mills, M., & Thomson, P. (2018). Investigative research
into alternative education research report. London, UK: Department for
Education.
Kemmis, S., & Edwards-Groves, C. (2017). Understanding education: History,
politics and practice. Singapore: Springer.
 Preface

Student engagement is fundamental to learning and yet a major and

long-standing challenge to educators in Australia and elsewhere is how to
engage all young adolescents in learning at school. This book is the first of
its kind in that it provides an evidence-based theorisation of a range of fea-
tures associated with schooling engagement, along with targeted strategies
that underpin a continuum of pedagogical, curricular and social supports
during the years of young adolescent schooling (typically 11–16 years).
Drawing upon an international evidence base, as well as data from one
major Australian schooling jurisdiction, the book consolidates a range
of learning theories and approaches to engaging young adolescents. As
such, it provides a broad lens through which to view the needs of all
students during this middle phase of learning, particularly those who
might be at risk of disengaging. Our starting premises are twofold. First,
as demonstrated in extant literature, all young people are potentially at
risk of disengaging from learning because of a myriad of personal factors
shaping young adolescence, as well as schooling pressures and transitions.
Second, risks associated with disengagement can be mitigated via a spec-
trum of proactive, supportive and responsive measures that foster student
engagement and enhance levels of retention in schools.

xi
xii   Preface

Rationale
The central feature of this book is the Young Adolescent Engagement in
Learning (YAEL) Model, which provides a framework for best practice
approaches to the learning engagement of all young adolescents, and thus
increases the likelihood of them staying at school. The Model is multi-lay-
ered and incorporates a continuum of behavioural, emotional and cog-
nitive dimensions of engagement. Engagement in education is an issue
at the core of the work of all school leaders, teachers, parents and other
stakeholders who work with young adolescents, such as counsellors and
welfare service officers. Given the importance of the topic, this book is
potentially relevant for this range of interested parties, making it distinc-
tive as a product. Further, the connection of theory with practical applica-
tions addresses stakeholders’ needs in an informed and accessible way.

Content
The book provides deep insights into the myriad of factors associated
with dis/engagement in learning in young adolescence and an evi-
dence-based, theorised approach to engaging learners during this key
stage of their development. It is comprised of six chapters, synopsised
below. The first two chapters provide the background and set the scene;
Chapters 3 and 4 model a continuum of support for young adolescent
learners through the YAEL Model; Chapter 5 details the three key com-
ponents of provision contained in the Model; and Chapter 6 exempli-
fies how the Model can be implemented through the reform approach
of the Educational Change Model.

Chapter 1: Engaging Young Adolescents in Learning

This chapter foregrounds the context of young adolescent learning in

schools, emphasising that engaging young adolescents is crucial to
achieving optimal educational outcomes. The authors explain their con-
tention that all young adolescent students are at risk of disengagement
 Preface   xiii

or underachievement. The approach taken in this book reflects current

educational trends away from a deficit view of young adolescents at risk
of disengaging from schooling towards a more holistic view of the fac-
tors that lead to student disengagement. In this chapter, the authors
explore the challenge of engaging young adolescents in learning, includ-
ing those students with complex learning needs, who exhibit challeng-
ing or aggressive behaviour, or who have additional support needs; and
interrogate the factors that may contribute to student disengagement
and those that enhance engagement.

Chapter 2: Mapping the Terrain

There are concerns within OECD countries about many young people’s
apparent disengagement from education. Chapter 2 reviews current
research in this field and explores the theoretical contexts and practical
frameworks that have helped to inform the YAEL Model. Evidence is
presented from individual schools and schooling jurisdictions that have
experimented with their own responses to this challenge. Such initia-
tives have shown varying levels of success. Much of the literature high-
lights the need to change many of the traditional aspects of mainstream
schooling that impact negatively on the engagement of many young
people. Therefore, this chapter also turns to the alternative and flexible
learning sector for practices and philosophies of schooling that provide
holistic frameworks of support for students.

Chapter 3: Modelling a Continuum of Support

The YAEL Model provides a holistic approach to the provision of sup-

port for young adolescent learners. Developed from an extensive review
of the international literature, as well as extant student learning support
initiatives and strategies for student engagement, the Model represents a
unifying framework of best practice approaches, which serves the needs
of those working in the fields of student engagement and retention.
Development of the Model was also informed by findings from a large
research study, including consultations and interviews with a range of
xiv   Preface

key stakeholders, in an Australian educational jurisdiction. Chapter 3

first describes the methodological approach used to develop the Model
and then discusses the overarching dimensions that constitute Layer 1
of the Model.

Chapter 4: Core Characteristics of Student Engagement

The preceding chapter described how the three dimensions of school

structures and school community, student wellbeing and teaching, teachers and
leaders are fundamental to the ways in which schools engage young adoles-
cents in learning. As such, they constitute the superordinate layer (Layer 1)
of the YAEL Model. Couched within these three dimensions is a suite of
interconnected sub-dimensions, which represent the core characteristics of
the continuum of support that has been shown to most effectively address
the needs of all young adolescent learners. The purpose of Chapter 4 is to
describe and exemplify these sub-dimensions, which comprise Layer 2 of
the Model, and demonstrate their importance to school innovation and
improvement agendas for student engagement and retention.

Chapter 5: Components of Provision: Continuum

of Support for Adolescent Learners

This chapter describes the three components of provision that provide

increasing levels of support to young adolescent learners. The first sec-
tion outlines Component 1, the five core elements for young adolescent
learner engagement, that together create an ecosystem of learning that
serves as best practice for all young adolescents. Next, Component 2,
flexible learning options, is described. This component comprises early
intervention and preventive approaches and strategies for students
who require assistance beyond those provided by Component 1. Due
to many complex factors, some students require more individualised
teaching and intensive care. Thus, Component 3, alternative educational
provision, sits at the end of the continuum of support and allows for
student transfer into either on-site or off-site facilities so that they may
receive more support.
 Preface   xv

Chapter 6: Reforming Schools and Systems to Engage

Young Adolescent Learners

Implementation of the YAEL Model requires intentional actions and

change in classrooms, schools and at systems’ level. Extant literature
provides high-level understanding of the major phases of reform and
the elements required for reform success. Chapter 6 focuses on one
approach to reform that has driven change—the Educational Change
Model (ECM)—and how the YAEL Model can be intentionally imple-
mented through adopting this reform approach. The components in the
phases of the ECM may be utilised as a guide for the implementation
timeline and serve as an audit tool for effective implementation, along-
side the components of provision of the YAEL Model. The chapter also
discusses some of the key challenges and enablers in school reform for
student engagement.

Mt Gravatt, Brisbane, Australia Jeanne Allen

Mt Gravatt, Brisbane, Australia Glenda McGregor
Mt Gravatt, Brisbane, Australia Donna Pendergast
Southport, Australia Michelle Ronksley-Pavia
 Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the support provided by the Australian Capital

Territory Government through the provision of funding for the research
undertaken at the start of our project. We also express our thanks to
Ms. Joy Reynolds for her valuable assistance in the graphic design of
tables and figures and for compiling and checking the manuscript.

xvii
 Contents

1 Engaging Young Adolescents in Learning 1

2 Mapping the Terrain 37

3 Modelling a Continuum of Support 65

4 Core Characteristics of Student Engagement 101

5 Components of Provision: Continuum of Support

for Adolescent Learners 131

6 Reforming Schools and Systems to Engage Young

Adolescent Learners 167

Glossary 193

Index 197

xix
 About the Authors

Associate Professor Jeanne Allen is an Associate Professor of Teacher

Education at Griffith University, Australia. She researches teacher edu-
cation, standardised educational contexts, teacher identity, and student
retention, and, since 2005, has developed an international profile with
over 60 peer-reviewed publications. Jeanne is a current co-editor of the
Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education.

Dr. Glenda McGregor is a Senior Lecturer and Deputy Head of

School (Academic), in the School of Education and Professional
Studies, Griffith University. She teaches in the areas of globalisation,
youth studies and history curriculum. Her research interests include
sociology of youth, alternative and democratic schooling, curriculum
and educational reform.

Professor Donna Pendergast is Dean and Head, School of Education

and Professional Studies at Griffith University. Donna has an interna-
tional profile in the field of teacher education, particularly in the Junior
Secondary years of schooling, which focuses on the unique challenges of
teaching and learning in the early adolescent years.

xxi
xxii   About the Authors

Dr. Michelle Ronksley-Pavia is a Research Fellow and Sessional

Lecturer at Griffith University. Michelle is an award-winning teacher
with over 20 years’ experience across education sectors. Her research
focuses on building teachers’ capacity to support underserved pop-
ulations of gifted students. Michelle is a leading expert in the field of
twice-exceptionality in Australia.
 Abbreviations/Acronyms

ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics

ACER Australian Council for Educational Research
ACT Australian Capital Territory
AEP Alternative Education Program
AITSL Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership
AMLE Association for Middle Level Education
APSC Australian Public Service Commission
ARACY Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth
ATM Attitudes Towards Mathematics
BOSS Behavioral Observation of Students in Schools
CCR/AES Consortium on Chicago School Research/Academic
Engagement Scale
COAG Council of Australian Governments
DEEWR Department of Education, Employment and Workplace
Relations
DEP Deemed Enrolment Program
DETYA Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs
ECM Educational Change Model
HoL Hands on Learning
HSSSE High School Survey of Student Engagement
ICAN Innovative Community Action Network

xxiii
xxiv   Abbreviations/Acronyms

IEP Individual Education Plan

ILP Individual Learning Plan
IPI Instructional Practices Inventory
ISQ Identification with School Questionnaire
KPMG Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (research company)
MCEETYA Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and
Youth Affairs
MES Motivation and Engagement Scale
MS-CISSAR The Main-Stream Code for Instructional Structure and
Student Academic Response
MSLQ Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire
NAPLAN National Assessment Program—Literacy and Numeracy
NEET Not in Education, Employment or Training
NSW New South Wales
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
PCYC Police Citizens Youth Club
PD Professional Development
PISA Programme for International Student Assessment
PRU Pupil Referral Unit
RAPS Research Assessment Package for Schools
REI Reading Engagement Index
RTI Response to Intervention
SDG Sustainable Development Goal
SEC Student Engagement Continuum
SEI Student Engagement Instrument
SELT Student Engagement and Learning Team
SES Socio-Economic Status
SOBAS Sense of Belonging at School
SSES Student School Engagement Survey
SSP School Success Profile
VET Vocational Education and Training
YAEL Young Adolescent Engagement in Learning
 List of Figures

Fig. 1.1 School education Performance Indicator Framework

(Source Commonwealth of Australia [2018, p. 4.6]) 6
Fig. 1.2 The engagement dimensions (Source Adapted from Gibbs
and Poskitt [2010, p. 12]) 14
Fig. 2.1 Map of educational alternatives for marginalized youth
(Source Te Riele, 2007, p. 59) 51
Fig. 3.1 The Young Adolescent Engagement in Learning Model 84
Fig. 3.2 Resource allocation and prevalence of support—an inverse
relationship 86
Fig. 3.3 Layer 1—overarching dimensions 90
Fig. 4.1 The Young Adolescent Engagement in Learning Model 102
Fig. 4.2 Layer 2—Sub-dimensions 103
Fig. 5.1 Layer 3: Component 1—Five core elements for young
adolescent learner engagement 134
Fig. 5.2 Layer 3: Component 2—Flexible learning provision support 143
Fig. 5.3 Layer 3: Component 3—Alternative provision 153
Fig. 5.4 Cycle of student re-engagement through early intervention
and the use of flexible provision and on-site alternative
provision 162

xxv
 List of Tables

Table 1.1 Features of effective pedagogy for young adolescent learners 26

Table 1.2 The six guiding principles of Junior Secondary
underpinning Years 7–9 in Queensland state schools 27
Table 3.1 Range and number of participants in the data collection
phase 69
Table 3.2 School leaders’ responses on the numbers and
identification methods used to identify at-risk
and disengaged students 78
Table 4.1 Dimensions and sub-dimensions 104
Table 5.1 Effective intervention strategies for students at risk
of early leaving 147
Table 5.2 The strength of effect of student disengagement factors 148
Table 6.1 Engagement dimensions measured by instruments 171
Table 6.2 Core components of Educational Change Model 181
Table 6.3 Implementing the YAEL model in alignment with
the ECM 182

xxvii
 List of Boxes

Box 1.1 Summary of key changes during early adolescence 3

Box 1.2 Factors that influence engagement in school and learning 22
Box 1.3 Four pillars for effective young adolescent education 25
Box 3.1 Semi-structured interview questions (school leaders) 70
Box 3.2 Focus group discussion questions (students) 72
Box 4.1 SEC study—Whole-school reform 105
Box 4.2 SEC study—Practical and network supports 107
Box 4.3 SEC study—Visionary school leadership 110
Box 4.4 SEC study—Appropriate pedagogies 115
Box 4.5 SEC study—Teaching structures and professional learning 119
Box 4.6 SEC study—Inclusive school culture 121
Box 4.7 SEC study—Social, emotional, psychological
and health support 124
Box 5.1 Adolescent-centred approach 136
Box 5.2 Transition 137
Box 5.3 Social and emotional wellbeing 138
Box 5.4 Quality teaching 139
Box 5.5 Parental and community involvement 140
Box 5.6 Early intervention and examples of strategies 145
Box 5.7 Flexible learning pedagogies 149
Box 5.8 Flexible learning programs 149

xxix
 1
Engaging Young Adolescents in Learning

Introduction
In this chapter, we foreground the context of young adolescent learn-
ing in schools, emphasising that engaging young adolescents in learning
is crucial to achieving optimal educational outcomes. We explain our
contention that all young adolescent students are at risk of disengage-
ment or underachievement. Our approach reflects current educational
trends away from a deficit view of young adolescents at risk of disen-
gaging from schooling towards a more holistic view of the factors that
lead to student disengagement. Many experts argue that mainstream
approaches to education, as currently constructed, may not satisfac-
torily match the needs of young adolescents due to the variety of fac-
tors inside and outside school that contribute to their disengagement.
In this chapter, we explore the challenge of engaging young adolescents
in learning, including those students with complex learning needs, or
who exhibit challenging or aggressive behaviour, or who have addi-
tional social, health or welfare support needs; and interrogate the factors
that may contribute to student disengagement and those that enhance
engagement.

© The Author(s) 2019 1

J. Allen et al., Young Adolescent Engagement in Learning,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05837-1_1
2    
J. Allen et al.

Young Adolescent Learners

The idea of adolescence has been around for more than 100 years with
theorist G. Stanley Hall credited with bringing the idea of adolescence
to prominence, positing that all individuals experience predictable
maturation in physical, social, emotional and cognitive domains (see
also Bahr, 2017). This developmentalism lens characterised adolescence
as a time of storm and stress, of raging hormones, and of transition
from a child to an adult (Garvis et al., 2018).
Over the last hundred years there have been many educators, the-
orists and researchers who have contributed to our evolving under-
standing of adolescence, extending beyond this rather narrow
conceptualisation, including, for example, Vygotsky (1978) who points
to the interplay between socio-cultural factors and adolescents.
Importantly, there is still no one single definition of adolescence that
is universally accepted. Among the aspects that remain contested is
whether age can be used as a way of constructing adolescence. In con-
temporary times, the beginning of adolescence may be argued to be as
young as 11 or 12 years and extending through to the age of 20–22
years, based on markers such as the onset of puberty as a starting point
and completion of formal education as an end point. More latterly, ado-
lescence is described as the period of life between childhood and adult-
hood (Steinberg, 2010). Adolescence is also more likely to be regarded
as a unique journey with predictable patterns that are individually expe-
rienced. Furthermore, adolescence is also typically identified as a time of
opportunity and growth, marking a shift from a generally negative to a
more positive discourse.
The extent of changes including those that occur physically, psycho-
socially, emotionally, cognitively and spiritually during early adoles-
cence is second only to that experienced in the first two years of life
(Pendergast, 2017a). The changes are interrelated and overlapping and
impacted by many factors (Caskey & Anfara, 2014). In addition, we
can expect the most differentiation from individual to individual, as for
each person the journey through adolescence is unique, with changes
occurring at different times and at different rates. The impact this
brings to classrooms is wide differentiation, both in the usual sense of
 1 Engaging Young Adolescents in Learning    
3

socio-economic status (SES), ethnicity, gender, location, and other gen-

erally accepted variables, but also in terms of the widest range of matu-
ration diversity across the developmental domains.
The developmental changes that typically occur in adolescence are
intertwined with each other, along with sociocultural and environ-
mental influences and experiences. A summary of some of the key
­developmental aspects of adolescence and the nature of these changes
follows in Box 1.1.

Box 1.1 Summary of key changes during early adolescence

Physical development
• In early adolescence, the body undergoes more physical change than at any
other time, apart from the age of birth to two years;
• The rate of growth is rapid and uneven, with each individual following a
similar pattern;
• Changes include increases in height, weight, and internal organ size as well
as changes in skeletal and muscular systems;
• Puberty occurs at the outset of early adolescence, triggered by the release
of hormones which lead to the development of primary sex characteristics
(genitalia) and secondary sex characteristics (e.g., breast development in
girls, facial hair in boys);
• Increased hormone production affects all aspects of the body, especially
skeletal growth, hair production, and skin changes;
• Growth spurts typically occur about two years earlier in girls than boys.
Social development
• Adolescents establish a sense of identity and establish a role and purpose;
• Body image is a key factor in developing a sense of self and identity;
• Family and, increasingly, peers play an important role in assisting and sup-
porting the adolescent to achieve adult roles;
• Social and emotional development are closely intertwined as young people
search for a sense of self and personal identity.
Emotional development
• Individuals develop in the way they think and feel about themselves and
others;
• The development and demonstration of individual emotional assets, such as
resilience, self-esteem and coping skills, are heightened;
• Schools are important sites for social and emotional learning and have
developed policies and programs around student wellness, often with a
focus on a strengths-based approach.
4    
J. Allen et al.

Cognitive development
• Cognition is the process involving thought, rationale and perception;
physical changes of the brain that occur during adolescence follow typical
patterns of cognitive development;
• Cognitive development is characterised by the development of higher-level
cognitive functioning that aligns with the changes in brain structure and
function, particularly in the prefrontal cortex region;
• Structural and functional brain changes affect the opportunity for increased
memory and processing and may also contribute to vulnerability, such as
risk-taking and increased sensitivity to mental illness;
• Sensitive brain period, that is, a time when brain plasticity is heightened.
During this time, there is an opportunity for learning and cognitive growth
as the brain adapts in structure and function in response to experiences.

Young Adolescent Learners and Education Policy

Sustainable Development Goals

Framing education policies from 2015 to 2030 for the 194 member
states, the United Nations’ resolution adopted on the 25th September
2015 known as Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development (United Nations, 2015) sets out a global agenda that
is characterised as “a plan of action for people, planet and prosper-
ity” (p. 3). It outlines a commitment to 17 aspirational global goals,
often referred to as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which
have 169 targets between them. The agenda has a deliberate approach
and Goal 4 relates to quality education, with the goal to: “[E]nsure
inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learn-
ing opportunities for all” (United Nations, 2015, p. 11). At the time of
the adoption of the resolution, every country in the world fell short on
more than half of the 17 SDGs and a quarter of the world’s countries
fell short on all 17 of the goals (Bauer, 2016).
According to Sachs, Schmidt-Traub, Kroll, Lafortune, and Fuller
(2018), Australia has a global rank of 37 (out of 156 countries) across
the 17 SDGs but is declining rather than improving this ranking.
Overall, Australia generally ranks highly on SDG 4—educational qual-
ity. Highlights include primary school enrolment rate of 96.7% and the
 1 Engaging Young Adolescents in Learning    
5

mean number of years of schooling of 13.2 years. However, there are

some key areas for attention, including a large disparity between out-
comes for Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, with an 83.4%
attendance rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in
2016, similar to 2014 (83.5%) compared to the attendance rate for
non-Indigenous students remaining steady at 93.1% (Commonwealth
of Australia, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, 2017). As
the SDG agenda gains momentum, finding ways to activate change and
accelerate progress towards achieving SDGs by 2030 sets the context for
a focus on quality education, including student engagement, and this
provides an impetus for focusing particularly on those targets where
Australia falls short, but generally on maintaining and enhancing qual-
ity education in general.
According to the Australian Government Productivity Commission
report (Commonwealth of Australia, 2018), and built on the educational
goals for young Australians outlined in the Melbourne Declaration on
Educational Goals for Young Australians (Ministerial Council on Education,
Employment, Training and Youth Affairs [MCEETYA], 2008), the vision
and objectives of the Australian school system are as follows:

Australian schooling aims for all young Australians to become successful

learners, confident and creative individuals, and active and informed cit-
izens positioning them to live fulfilling, productive and responsible lives.
It aims for students to excel by international standards, while reducing
educational disadvantage.
To meet this vision, the school education system aims to:

• engage all students and promote student participation; and

• deliver high quality teaching with a world class curriculum.

Governments aim for school education services to meet these objec-

tives in an equitable, effective and efficient manner. (Commonwealth of
Australia, 2018, p. 4.6)

A school education Performance Indicator Framework has been devel-

oped to reflect on the achievement of the objectives, using equity, effec-
tiveness and efficiency as a frame, as presented in Fig. 1.1.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
common to various butterflies in Java, and calls it "phaeism"; and Bates
states that in the Amazon valley numerous species of butterflies vary in
a similar manner, as regards colour, in a locality. This phenomenon is
now called "homoeochromatism," and is supposed to be due to the
effect of local conditions on a susceptible organisation, though there is
no experimental evidence of this.

Mimicry.—There are many cases in Lepidoptera of species that depart

more or less strongly in appearance from those forms to which they are
considered to be allied, and at the same time resemble more or less
closely species to which they are less allied. This phenomenon is called
mimicry.[204] Usually the resembling forms are actually associated
during life. Bates, who observed this phenomenon in the Amazon
valley, thought that it might be accounted for by the advantage resulting
to the exceptionally coloured forms from the resemblance;[205] it being
assumed that these were unprotected, while the forms they resembled
were believed to be specially protected by nauseous odours or taste. It
was, in fact, thought that the destroying enemies were deceived by the
resemblance into supposing that the forms that were in reality edible
were inedible. This subject has been greatly discussed, and in the
course of the discussion numerous cases that could not be accounted
for by Bates's hypothesis have been revealed. One of these is the fact
that resemblances of the kind alluded to very frequently occur amongst
inedible forms. This also has been thought to be accounted for by a
supposed advantage to the Insects; it being argued that a certain
number of "protected" forms are destroyed by enemies the instincts of
which are faulty, and which therefore always require to learn by
individual experience that a certain sort of colour is associated with a
nasty taste. The next step of the argument is that it will be an
advantage to a protected butterfly to form part of a large association of
forms having one coloration, because the ignorant enemies will more
easily learn the association of a certain form of coloration with
nastiness; moreover such destruction as does occur will be distributed
over a larger number of species, so that each species of a large,
similarly coloured, inedible association will have a less number of its
individuals destroyed. It is scarcely a matter for surprise that many
naturalists are very sceptical as to these explanations; especially as the
phenomena are supposed to have occurred in the past, so that they
cannot be directly verified or disproved. It has not, however, been
found, as a matter of fact, that even unprotected butterflies are much
destroyed in the perfect state by birds. Moreover, in endeavouring to
realise the steps of the process of development of the resemblance, we
meet with the difficulty that the amount of resemblance to the model
that is assumed to be efficient at one step of the development, and to
bring safety, is at the next step supposed to be inefficient and to involve
destruction. In other words, while analysis of the explanation shows that
it postulates a peculiar and well-directed discriminative power, and a
persistent selection on the part of the birds, observation leads to the
belief that birds have been but little concerned in the matter. If we add
to this that there is no sufficient evidence that the species now similar
were ever dissimilar (as it is supposed they were by the advocates of
the hypothesis), we think it is clear that the explanation from our point
of view is of but little importance.[206] The comparatively simple,
hypothetical explanation, originally promulgated by Bates, is sometimes
called Batesian mimicry; while the "inedible association" hypothesis is
termed Müllerian mimicry.

There is one branch of the subject of mimicry that we think of great

interest. This is the resemblance between Insects of different Orders; or
between Insects of the same Order, but belonging to groups that are
essentially different in form and appearance. It is not infrequent for
beetles to resemble Hymenoptera, and it is still more frequent for
Lepidoptera to resemble Hymenoptera, and that not only in colour and
form, but also in movements and attitude. Druce says: "Many of the
species of Zygaenidae are the most wonderful of all the moths; in some
cases they so closely resemble Hymenoptera that at first sight it is
almost impossible to determine to which Order they belong."[207] W.
Müller says: "The little Lepidoptera of the family Glaucopides, that are
so like certain wasps as to completely deceive us, have when alive
exactly the same manner of holding their wings, the same restless
movements, the same irregular flight as a wasp."[208] Seitz and others
record a case in which a Brazilian Macroglossa exactly resembles a
humming-bird, in company with which it flies; and the same naturalist
also tells us[209] of a Skipper butterfly that greatly resembles a
grasshopper of the genus Tettix, and that moreover makes movements
like the jumping of grasshoppers. In most of these cases the
probabilities of either original similarity, arrested evolution, or the action
of similar conditions are excluded: and the hypothesis of the influence,
by some means or other, of one organism on another is strongly
suggested.

The classification of Lepidoptera was said by Latreille a century ago to

be a reproach to entomologists. Since that time an enormous number
of new species and genera have been described, but only recently has
much advance been made in the way of improvement of classification.
The progress made has been limited to a better comprehension and
definition of the families. The nervuration of the wings is the character
most in vogue for this purpose. As regards the larger groups, and
Phylogeny, there is a general opinion prevalent to the effect that
Micropterygidae, Eriocephalidae and Hepialidae are in a comparatively
primitive condition, but as to the relations of these families one with the
other, or with other Lepidoptera, there is a wide difference of opinion.

Fig. 176—Clubs of butterflies' antennae. Terminal portions of antenna of,

1, Pieris brassicae; 2, Styx infernalis; 3, Hestia idea (sub-family
Danaides); 4, Eudamus proteus, and 5, Limochores taumas
(Hesperiidae). (After Schatz and Scudder.)

The primary divisions of the family most often met with in literature are:
—either Rhopalocera (= butterflies) and Heterocera (= moths); or
Macrolepidoptera and Microlepidoptera; the Macrolepidoptera including
the butterflies and large moths, the Microlepidoptera being limited to the
families Tineidae (now itself in process of division into numerous
families) and Tortricidae; some entomologists including also Pyralidae,
Pterophoridae and Orneodidae in Microlepidoptera. The division of all
Lepidoptera into two series is merely a temporary device necessitated
by imperfect acquaintance with morphology. The division into Macro-
and Micro- lepidoptera is entirely unscientific.
 Series 1. Rhopalocera or Butterflies.—Antennae knobbed at the tip
or thickened a little before the tip, without pectinations, projecting
processes, or conspicuous arrangements of cilia. Hind wings
without a frenulum, but with the costal nervure strongly curved at
the base (Fig. 161, II, B).

Series II. Heterocera or Moths.—Antennae various in form, only

rarely knobbed at the tip, and in such cases a frenulum present. In
the large majority a frenulum is present, and the costal nervure of
the hind-wing is either but little arched at the base (as in Fig. 161, I,
B) or it has a large area between it and the front margin; but in
certain families the hind wing is formed much as in Rhopalocera.

It may be inferred from these definitions that the distinction between the
two sub-Orders is neither sharply defined nor of great importance. The
club of the antenna of the Rhopalocera exhibits considerable variety in
form (Fig. 176).[210] Butterflies are as a rule diurnal in their activity and
moths nocturnal; but in the tropics there are numerous Heterocera that
are diurnal, and many of these resemble butterflies not only in colour
but even in the shapes of their wings.

Series I. Rhopalocera. Butterflies.

Classification and Families of Butterflies. Although considerable

unanimity exists as to the natural groups of butterflies, there is much
diversity of opinion as to what divisions are of equivalent value—some
treating as sub-families groups that others call families—and as to the
way the families should be combined. There is, however, a general
agreement that the Hesperiidae are the most distinct of the families,
and E. Reuter considers them a distinct sub-Order with the name
Grypocera.[211]

Four categories may be readily distinguished, as follows, viz:—

1. The majority of butterflies; having the first pair of legs more or less strikingly
different from the other pairs; frequently very much smaller and not used as
 legs; when not very small, then differing according to sex of the same
species, being smaller in the male than in the female; the part most
peculiar is the tarsus, which is modified in various manners, but in the
males of this great series is always destitute of its natural form of a
succession of simple joints five in number. There is no pad on the front
tibia.
Fam. Nymphalidae, Erycinidae, Lycaenidae.
[The distinctions between these three families are found in the amount and
kind of the abortion of the front legs; for definition refer to the heading of
each of the families.]
2. The front legs are in general form like the other pairs; their tibiae have no
pads; the claws of all the feet are bifid, and there is an empodium in
connection with them.
Fam. Pieridae.
3. The front legs are like the other pairs; their tibiae however possess pads; the
claws are large, not bifid, and there is no empodium; the metanotum is
completely exposed at the base of the abdomen.
Fam. Papilionidae.
4. The front legs are like the other pairs; their tibiae however possess pads; the
claws are small, toothed at the base, and there is an empodium; the
metanotum is concealed by the prolonged and overhanging mesonotum.
Fam. Hesperiidae.

The relations between the families Erycinidae, Lycaenidae, and

Nymphalidae are very intimate. All these have the front legs more or
less modified, and the distinctions between the families depend almost
entirely on generalisations as to these modifications. These facts have
led Scudder to associate the Lycaenidae and Erycinidae in one group,
which he terms "Rurales." It is however difficult to go so far and no
farther; for the relations between both divisions of Rurales and the
Nymphalidae are considerable. We shall subsequently find that the
genus Libythea is by many retained as a separate family, chiefly
because it is difficult to decide whether it should be placed in Erycinidae
or in Nymphalidae. Hence it is difficult to see in this enormous complex
of seven or eight thousand species more than a single great Nymphalo-
Lycaenid alliance. The forms really cognate in the three families are
however so few, and the number of species in the whole is so very
large, that it is a matter of great convenience in practice to keep the
three families apart. It is sufficient for larger purposes to bear in mind
their intimate connexions.

The Papilionidae and Pieridae are treated by many as two sub-divisions

of one group. But we have not been able to find any justification for this
in the existence of forms with connecting characters. Indeed it would,
from this point of view, appear that the Pieridae are more closely
connected with the Lycaenidae and Erycinidae than they are with
Papilionidae; in one important character, the absence of the pad of the
front tibia, the Nymphalo-Lycaenids and the Pierids agree. It has also
been frequently suggested that the Papilionidae (in the larger sense
just mentioned) might be associated with the Hesperiidae. But no
satisfactory links have been brought to light; and if one of the more
lowly Hesperiids, such as Thanaos, be compared with one of the lower
Papilionidae, such as Parnassius, very little approximation can be
perceived.

It appears, therefore, at present that Hesperiidae, Papilionidae,

Pieridae, and the Nymphalo-Lycaenid complex are naturally distinct.
But in the following review of the families and sub-families of butterflies,
we shall, in accordance with the views of the majority of Lepidopterists,
treat the Lycaenidae and Erycinidae as families distinct from both
Nymphalidae and Pieridae.[212]

The number of described species of butterflies is probably about

13,000; but the list is at present far from complete; forms of the largest
size and most striking appearance being still occasionally discovered.
Forty years ago the number known was not more than one-third or one-
fourth of what it is at present, and a crowd of novelties of the less
conspicuous kinds is brought to light every year. Hence it is not too
much to anticipate that 30,000, or even 40,000 forms may be acquired
if entomologists continue to seek them with the enthusiasm and
industry that have been manifested of late. On the other hand, the
species of Rhopalocera seem to be peculiarly liable to dimorphic, to
seasonal and to local variation; so that it is possible that ultimately the
number of true species—that is, forms that do not breed together
actually or by means of intermediates, morphological or chronological—
may have to be considerably reduced.

In Britain we have a list of only sixty-eight native butterflies, and some

even of these are things of the past, while others are only too certainly
disappearing. New Zealand is still poorer, possessing only eighteen;
and this number will probably be but little increased by future
discoveries. South America is the richest part of the world, and Wallace
informs us that 600 species of butterflies could, forty years ago, be
found in the environs of the city of Pará.

Fam. 1. Nymphalidae.—The front pair of legs much reduced in size in

each sex, their tarsi in the male with but one joint, though in the female
there are usually five but without any claws. Pupa suspended by the tail
so as to hang down freely. We include in this family several sub-families
treated by some taxonomists as families; in this respect we follow
Bates, whose arrangement[213] still remains the basis of butterfly
classification. With this extension the Nymphalidae is the most
important of the families of butterflies, and includes upwards of 250
genera, and between 4000 and 5000 species. There are eight sub-
families.

It is in Nymphalidae that the act of pupation reaches its acme of

complication and perfection; the pupae hang suspended by the tail, and
the cremaster, that is the process at the end of the body, bears highly-
developed hooks (Fig. 177, C, D). The variety in form of the chrysalids
is extraordinary; humps or processes often project from the body,
making the Insect a fantastic object; the strange appearance is
frequently increased by patches like gold or silver, placed on various
parts of the body. It is believed that the term chrysalid was first
suggested by these golden pupæ. The Purple Emperor, Apatura iris,
differs strikingly in the pupa as well as in the larva-stage from all our
other Nymphalids; it is of green colour, very broad along the sides, but
narrow on the dorsal and ventral aspects (Fig. 177). The skin of this
pupa is less hard than usual, and the pupa seems to be of a very
delicate constitution. The Purple Emperor, like some of the Satyrides as
well as some of its more immediate congeners, hibernates in our
climate as a partially grown larva and passes consequently only a very
brief period of its existence in the form of a pupa.

Fig. 177.—Pupa of the Purple Emperor butterfly, Apatura iris. New Forest.
A, Lateral, B, dorsal aspect; C, enlarged view of cremaster with the
suspensory hook; D, one hook still more enlarged.

Sub-Fam. 1. Danaides.—Front wing with inner-margin (submedian)

nervure, with a short fork at the base. Cell of hind wing closed. Front
foot of the female ending in a corrugate knob. Caterpillars smooth,
provided with a few long fleshy processes. The claws are in a variable
state, being sometimes simple, as in Papilionidae, sometimes with an
empodium, apparently of an imperfect kind. The Danaides are usually
large Insects with an imperfect style of ornament and colour; they have
a great deal of black or very dark scaling, and in some Euploea this is
agreeably relieved by a violet or purple suffusion, and these are really
fine Insects. Usually there are large pale spaces, of some neutral
indefinite tint, on which black blotches are distributed in a striking but
inartistic manner. In many of the species the markings are almost spot
for spot the same on the upper and under sides. About seven genera
and 250 species are recognised. Danaides occur in all the warmer
parts of the world, but are most numerous in the Eastern tropics. In
Europe the family is represented only by an Asiatic and African species,
Limnas chrysippus, that has extended its range to Greece. Besides this
another species, Anosia erippus, Cr. (unfortunately also called Anosia
menippe, Hb., and Danais archippus or even D. plexippus) has in the
last two or three decades extended its range to various islands and
distant localities, concomitantly, it is believed, with an extension of the
distribution of its food-plant, Asclepias. This Insect has several times
been taken in this country, and may probably be a natural immigrant. It
is a common butterfly in North America, where it is called the Monarch.
[214]
Some, at least, of the Danaides are unpleasant to birds in odour or in
taste, or both. Among them there occur, according to Moore[215] and
others, numerous cases of resemblance between forms that are thus
protected. It is possible that the odour and taste are of some value to
the Insects;[216] as, however, butterflies of any kind appear to be but
rarely attacked in the imago-state by birds, and as their chief enemies
are parasitic Insects that attack the larval instar, it is impossible to
consider this protection of such prime importance to the species as
many theorists assume it to be.

Fig. 178—Ithomia pusio. Brazil.

Sub-Fam. 2. Ithomiides.—Differs from Danaides by the female front

foot having a true, though somewhat abbreviate tarsus. The caterpillers
have no long processes. There has been considerable difference of
opinion as to this division of butterflies. It is the family Neotropidae of
Schatz, the Mechanitidae of Berg; also the "Danaioid Heliconiidae" of
several previous writers, except that Ituna and Lycorea do not belong
here but to Danaides. Godman and Salvin treat it as a group of the
Danaid sub-family. The Ithomiides are peculiar to tropical America,
where some 20 or 30 genera and about 500 species have been
discovered. There is considerable variety amongst them. Ithomia and
Hymenitis are remarkable for the small area of their wings, which bear
remarkably few scales, these ornaments being in many cases limited to
narrow bands along the margins of the wings, and a mark extending
along the discocellular nervule. Wallace says they prefer the shades of
the forest and flit, almost invisible, among the dark foliage. Many of
these species have the hind-wings differently veined in the two sexes
on the anterior part, in connection with the existence in the male of
peculiar fine hairs, placed near the costal and subcostal veins. Tithorea
and other forms are, however, heavily scaled insects of stronger build,
their colours usually being black, tawny-red or brown, yellow, and white.
In the sub-fam. Danaides, according to Fritz Müller, the male has scent-
tufts at the extremity of the abdomen, whereas in Ithomiides analogous
structures exist on the upper side of the hind-wing. Ithomiides have
various colour-resemblances with members of the Heliconiides and
Pieridae; Tithorea has colour analogues in Heliconius, and Ithomia in
Dismorphia (formerly called Leptalis). Crowds of individuals of certain
species of Ithomia are occasionally met with, and mixed with them
there are found a small number of examples of Dismorphia coloured
like themselves. They are placed by Haase in his category of
secondary models. Belt states that some Ithomiides are distasteful to
monkeys and spiders, but are destroyed by Fossorial Hymenoptera,
which use the butterflies as food for their young; and he also says that
they are very wary when the wasp is near, and rise off their perches into
the air, as if aware that the wasp will not then endeavour to seize them.
Much information is given about the habits by Bates in the paper in
which he first propounded the "theory of mimicry."[217] The larvae are
said to live on Solanaceae.

The genus Hamadryas is placed by some writers in Danaides, by

others in Ithomiides; and Haase has proposed to make it the group
"Palaeotropinae." The species are small, black and white Insects,
somewhat like Pierids. They are apparently hardy Insects, and are
abundant in certain parts of the Austro-Malay region.

Sub-Fam. 3. Satyrides.—Palpi strongly pressed together, set in front

with long, stiff hairs. Front wings frequently with one or more of the
nervures swollen or bladder-like at the base of the wing. Cells of both
wings closed. Caterpillar thickest at the middle, the hind end of the
body bifid. Pupa generally suspended by the cremaster, without girth:
but sometimes terrestrial. This is a very extensive group, consisting of
upwards of 1000 species. The Insects are usually of small size, of
various shades of brown or greyish colours, with circular or ringed
marks on the under sides of the wings. It is found all over the world,
and is well represented in Europe; our Meadow-browns, Heaths, and
Marbled-whites, as well as the great genus Erebia of the highlands and
mountains belonging to it. Most of these Insects have but feeble powers
of flight, and rise but little from the surface of the ground. The
caterpillars live on various grasses. They are usually green or brown,
destitute of armature, and a good deal like the caterpillars of Noctuid
moths, but the hind end of the body is thinner and divided to form two
corners, while the head is more or less free, or outstanding. The pupae
are of great interest, inasmuch as in a few cases they do not suspend
themselves in any way, but lie on the ground; sometimes in a very
feeble cocoon or cell. There are no cremasteral hooks. The pupae of
the Grayling butterfly, Hipparchia semele, has been found in loose soil a
quarter of an inch below the surface. The chrysalis of the Scotch Argus,
Erebia aethiops, was found by Mr. Buckler to be neither suspended nor
attached, but placed in a perpendicular position, head upwards,
amongst the grass. In the majority of cases the pupa is, however,
suspended as is usual in Nymphalidae. Nothing is known as to the
nature of the peculiar inflation of the bases of the nervures of the front
wings; it is well shown in our common species of Coenonympha; this
character is not, however, constant throughout the family. There is in
South America a very remarkable group of Satyrides consisting of the
genera Cithaerias and Haetera, in which the wings are very delicate
and transparent, bearing on the greater part of their area remote fine
hairs instead of scales; there are nevertheless some scaled patches
about the margins, and one or more of the ringed marks characteristic
of the Satyrides; while in some species the distal portions of the hind
wings are tinted with carmine. The species of the genus Pierella
connect these transparent Satyrids with the more ordinary forms.
According to Wallace the habits of these fairy-like forms are those
characteristic of the family in general. The genus Elymnias has been
separated by some authorities as a sub-family, or even as a family,
Elymniidae, chiefly on the ground of a slight peculiarity in the
termination of the branches of the veins at the outer angle of the front
wings. The Elymnias are said to be of a mimetic nature, having a
greater or less resemblance to butterflies of various other divisions;
there is also a considerable difference in appearance between their
own sexes. The larva of E. undularis is known; it is of the form usual in
Satyrides, and lives on the palm Corypha. About 50 species, ranging
from India to Australia, with two in Africa, are known of this interesting
group.

Sub-Fam. 4. Morphides.—There is no cell on the hind wing, the

discocellular nervule being absent (Fig. 161, II. B). Caterpillars smooth
or spiny, with the extremity of the body divided; frequently gregarious.
These Insects have become notorious from the extraordinary brilliancy
of blue colour exhibited by the upper surface of the wings of the typical
genus Morpho. The species of Morpho are all Insects of large size, but
with wings enormous in proportion to the body; this latter part is carried
in a sort of cradle formed by the inner parts of the margins of the hind
wings. Although an arrangement of this kind is seen in numerous other
butterflies, yet there is perhaps none in which it is carried to quite such
a pitch of perfection as it is in Morpho, where, on the under surface no
part of the body behind the posterior legs can be seen. There are only
about 100 species of Morphides, and 50 of these are included in
Morpho, which is peculiar to tropical and sub-tropical America; the other
half of the family is divided among ten or twelve genera, found in the
Indo-Malay region; there being none in Africa. The eastern Morphides,
though fine Insects, are not to be compared, either in size or brilliancy,
with their American allies. The species of Morpho are apparently found
only in the great forests of South America, where they are far from rare;
some have a flapping and undulating flight, straight onwards along the
alleys of the forest, and near the ground; others are never seen except
steadily gliding with outstretched wings from 20 to 100 feet above the
ground, where they move across sunny spaces between the crowns of
the taller trees; the low-flyers settle frequently on the ground to suck the
juices from fallen fruit, but the members of the other section never
descend to the ground. As regards the caterpillars, W. Müller tells
us[218] that the spines they are armed with break off, and enter the skin,
if the creatures are carelessly handled. Four of the five species known
to him are conspicuously coloured with black, red, yellow and white.
The individuals are gregarious. The larvae of M. achilles sit in
companies, often of more than 100 individuals, on trunks of trees, and
so form a conspicuous patch. The caterpillars of M. epistrophis hang
together as red clumps on the twigs of their food-plants. Hence it
appears that in this genus we have an exception to the rule that night-
feeding caterpillars rest in a hidden manner during the day.

Sub-Fam. 5. Brassolides.—Large butterflies, with the cell of the hind

wing closed, and usually with a small adjoining prediscoidal cell. Larva
not very spiny; thinner at the two ends, the tail bifid, the head
perpendicular and margined with spines. This small sub-family includes
less than 100 species arranged in about eight genera, all South
American. They have the very unusual habit of resting during the day
like moths, becoming active only late in the afternoon. They are truly
noble Insects; although not possessed of the brilliant colours of
Morpho, they are adorned, especially on the under surface, with
intricate lines and shades most harmoniously combined, while the
upper surface is frequently suffused with blue or purple. This sub-family
attains its highest perfection in the genus Caligo; they are enormous
Insects, and some of them not rare. The larva of C. eurylochus (Fig.
179) during early life is green, and sits on the leaf of a Musa, but after
the third moult it becomes brown and hides itself among the dry leaves.
It is common in the gardens of Rio de Janeiro, where its pupae are
found on the walls, like those of our white butterflies here.

Sub-Fam. 6. Acraeides.—Submedian nervure of fore wings not forked

at the base; the median without spur. Cells closed. Palpi in section
cylindric, sparingly set with hairs. Larva armed with branched spines. A
somewhat monotonous and uninteresting division; the size is moderate
or small, and the colours not artistic, but consisting of ill-arranged spots;
the under side of the hind wings very frequently diversified by
numerous line-like marks, radiately arranged, and giving place at the
base to a few spots. There are about 200 species known, of which the
majority are African; there are but few Oriental or South American
species. Some authorities consider there is only one genus, but others
prefer to adopt seven or eight divisions. Alaena is now placed in
Lycaenidae, though until recently it was considered to belong here. The
females of some species possess an abdominal pouch somewhat
similar to that of Parnassius.

The members of this sub-family are considered to be of the protected

kind.

Fig. 179—Larva of Caligo (Pavonia) eurylochus. Rio de Janeiro. × 1.

(After Burmeister.)
Sub-Fam. 7. Heliconiides.—Submedian nervure of front wing not
forked; median with a short spur near the base. Cell of hind wing closed
by a perfect nervule. Palpi compressed, with scales at the sides, in front
covered with hairs. Male with an elongate unjointed, female with a four-
jointed, front tarsus. Caterpillars set with branched spines. This family is
peculiar to tropical America and consists of only two genera, Heliconius
and Eueides, with about 150 species; but it is one of the most
characteristic of the South American groups of Butterflies. It is very
closely allied to the Nymphalides, especially to the genera Metamorpha
and Colaenis, but is readily distinguished by the perfectly-formed
nervules that close the wing-cells. The wings are longer and narrower
than in Nymphalides, and the colour, though exhibiting much diversity,
is on the whole similar to that of the heavily-scaled forms of Ithomiides
of the genera Tithorea, Melinaea, Melanitis; there being in several
cases a great resemblance between species of the two groups. A
frequent feature in one group of Heliconius is that the hind wing bears a
patch of red prolonged outwards by angular radiating marks. The
individuals of certain species—H. melpomene and H. rhea—are known
to execute concerted dances, rising and falling in the air like gnats;
when some of them withdraw from the concert others fill their places. H.
erato exhibits the very rare condition of trichroism, the hind wings being
either red, blue, or green. Schatz states that the different forms have
been reared from a single brood of larvae. The caterpillars of
Heliconiides live on Passiflorae, and are said to be very similar to our
European Argynnis-caterpillars. The chrysalids are very spinous. We
may here remark that considerable confusion exists in entomological
literature in consequence of Ithomiides having been formerly included
in this sub-family; for remarks formerly made as to "Heliconiides," but
that really referred only to Ithomiides, have been interpreted as
referring to Heliconiides of the present system.

The Heliconiides seem remarkably plastic as regards colour, and are

therefore exponents of "homoeochromatism." Bates says, as regards
them: "In tropical South America a numerous series of gaily-coloured
butterflies and moths, of very different families, which occur in
abundance in almost every locality a naturalist may visit, are found all
to change their hues and markings together, as if by the touch of an
enchanter's wand, at every few hundred miles, the distances being
shorter near the eastern slopes of the Andes than nearer the Atlantic.
So close is the accord of some half-dozen species (of widely different
genera) in each change, that he had seen them in large collections
classed and named respectively as one species."[219] Many of them are
believed to be permeated by nauseous fluids, or to possess glands
producing ill-smelling secretions.

Sub-Fam. 8. Nymphalides.—Cells, of both front and hind wing, either

closed only by imperfect transverse nervules or entirely open. Front
tarsus of the male unjointed and without spines, of the female four- or
five-jointed. Caterpillar either spined or smooth; in the latter case the
head more or less strongly horned or spined, and the apex of the body
bifid. This sub-family is specially characterised by the open cells of the
wings; the discocellulars, even when present, being frequently so
imperfect as to escape all but the most careful observation. The
Nymphalides include upwards of 150 genera and 2000 species. The
divisions having smooth larvae are separated by Kirby[220] and others
as a distinct sub-family (Apaturides). In Britain, as in most other parts of
the world, Nymphalides is the predominant group of butterflies. We
have eighteen species, among which are included the Fritillaries,
Admirals, Purple Emperor, and the various Vanessa—Peacock,
Camberwell Beauty, Red Admiral, Tortoise-shells, and Painted Lady. All
have spined caterpillars except the Emperor. In the temperate regions
of the northern hemisphere Vanessa may be considered the dominant
butterflies, they being very numerous in individuals, though not in
species, and being, many of them, in no wise discomfited by the
neighbourhood of our own species. Several of them are capable of
prolonging and interrupting their lives in the winged condition to suit our
climate; and this in a manner that can scarcely be called hibernation,
for they frequently take up the position of repose when the weather is
still warm, and on the other hand recommence their activity in the
spring at a very early period. This phenomenon may frequently be
noticed in the Tortoise-shell butterfly; it is as if the creature knew that
however warm it may be in the autumn there will be no more growth of
food for its young, and that in the spring vegetation is sure to be
forthcoming and abundant before long, although there may be little or
none at the time the creature resumes its activity. It is probable that the
habit may be in some way connected with an imperfect activity of the
sexual organs. It should, however, be recollected that many larvae of
butterflies hibernate as young larvae after hatching, and, sometimes,
without taking any food. Pyrameis cardui, the Painted Lady, is, taking all
into consideration, entitled to be considered the most ubiquitous of the
butterfly tribe. Its distribution is very wide, and is probably still
extending. The creature is found in enormous numbers in some
localities, especially in Northern and Eastern Africa; and when its
numbers increase greatly, migration takes place, and the Insect
spreads even to localities where it cannot maintain itself permanently. In
Britain it is probably during some years nearly or quite absent, but may
suddenly appear in large numbers as an immigrant. The favourite food
of the larva is thistles, but many other plants serve the Insect at times.

Vanessa, or Pyrameis,[221] atalanta, the Red Admiral, is common in the

Palaearctic and Nearctic regions, and extends its range to various
outlying spots. The most remarkable of these is the remote Hawaiian
Islands, where the Insect appears really to be now at home, though it is
associated with a larger and more powerful congener, P. tameamea.
Another interesting Vanessid is Araschnia levana, which is peculiar to
Europe, where it produces annually two generations so dissimilar to
one another that they passed current as two species, V. levana and V.
prorsa. Although intermediate forms are rare in nature they can be
induced by certain treatments applied to the larvae under human
control.

The dead-leaf butterflies of the genus Kallima belong to Nymphalides.

They are so shaped and coloured that when settled, with wings closed,
on a twig, the appearance is exactly that of a dry leaf; the exposed
surface is mottled with spots that look just like the patches of minute
fungi, etc. that are so common on decaying vegetation. The colour and
the spots on the under surface of this butterfly are very variable.
According to Mr. Skertchly,[222] we may presume that in the minute
details of these resemblances we have a case of hypertely similar to
that of the resemblance to Insects' minings exhibited by certain marks
on the tegmina of Pterochroza (mentioned in Vol. V. p. 322).
In South America there is a somewhat peculiar genus of Nymphalides
—Ageronia—that delights in settling on the trunks of trees rather than
on flowers or leaves. It was long since noticed that the the species of
Ageronia make a clicking noise; in some cases when on the wing, in
other cases by moving the wings when the Insect is settled. The object
of the noise is quite uncertain; it has been suggested that it is done in
rivalry or courtship, or to frighten away enemies. Bigg-Wether found,
however, that in South Brazil there is a lazy little bird to which this
sound serves as a signal, inducing it to descend from its perch and eat
the clicker. The mode in which the noise is produced is not quite clear.
Sir George Hampson has pointed out[223] that the fore wing bears at
the extreme base a small appendage bearing two hooks, and that two
other processes on the thorax play on these when the wing moves. His
suggestion that these hooks are the source of the sound seems highly
probable.

There is a great variety in the larvae of Nymphalides. In the Vanessa

group the body is armed with spines, each one of which bears shorter
thorns, the head being unadorned. The Fritillaries (Argynnis, Melitaea)
also have caterpillars of this kind. In many other forms the head itself is
armed with horns or spines of diverse, and frequently remarkable,
character. In Apatura and its allies the body is without armature, but the
head is perpendicular, the vertex bifid and more or less prolonged. The
caterpillar of our Purple Emperor, Apatura iris, is quite unlike any other
British caterpillar; in colour it is like a Sphingid larva—green with
oblique lateral stripes of yellow and red—but in form it is slug-like,
pointed behind, and it has on the head two rather long tentacle-like
horns. In the South American genus Prepona, the larva of which in
general form resembles that of Apatura there are no anal claspers, but
the extremity of the body is prolonged, forming a sort of tail.

Fam. 2. Erycinidae (Lemoniidae of some authors).—The female has

six perfectly formed legs, though the front pair is smaller. The male has
the coxae of the front legs forming a spine, and the tarsi unjointed,
without claws. This family consists of about 1000 species, usually of
rather small size, exhibiting a great variety of shape and coloration,
some of them being remarkably similar to some of the gay, diurnal
moths of South America. The palpi are usually small, but in Ourocnemis
they are large and porrect. The family is specially characteristic of
tropical America, but there is one small group of 30 or 40 species,
Nemeobiides, in the Eastern Hemisphere. We have one species in
Britain, Nemeobius lucina, the Duke of Burgundy Fritillary. Neither the
larvae nor the pupae of Erycinidae present any well-marked
characteristic feature, but exhibit considerable variety. According to Bar,
[224] some of the larvae are like those of moths; the caterpillar of
Meliboeus is said to be like that of a Liparis: the chrysalis has the short,
rounded form of that of the Lycaenidae, and is suspended with the head
down, and without a band round the body. The larvae of Eurygona are
gregarious. The pupae of some other forms adhere, heads downwards,
to branches. Scudder considers that this family is not distinct from
Lycaenidae, and that the Central American genus Eumaeus connects
the two. Reuter also treats Erycinidae as a division of Lycaenidae.

Sub-Fam. 1. Erycinides.—[Characters of the family.] Palpi not

unusually large. We place all the Erycinidae in this sub-family except
the following—

Sub-Fam. 2. Libytheides.—Butterflies of average size, with the palpi

large and porrect: the front legs of the male small, the tarsus reduced to
one joint: the front leg of the female of the normal structure, and but
little reduced in size. This division consists of the single genus Libythea,
with only a score of species. They are Insects somewhat like Vanessa
in appearance, but cannot fail to be recognised on account of the
peculiar palpi. The genus is of very wide distribution, occurring in most
parts of the warm and temperate continental regions, and it also occurs
in Mauritius and the Antilles.

The Libytheides have given rise to much difference of opinion amongst

systematists, some of whom assign them as a sub-family to the
Erycinidae, some to the Nymphalidae; while others treat them as a
family apart. The families Nymphalidae, Erycinidae and Lycaenidae are
so intimately allied, that Scudder is probably correct in considering
them to form really one huge family; if this view were adopted there
would be no difficulty in locating Libythea therein. If they be kept apart,
it is almost necessary to separate Libythea also; though possibly its
claims to be placed in Erycinidae slightly preponderate. The recently
described genus Ourocnemis to some extent connects Erycinides with
Libythaeides.[225]

Fam. 3. Lycaenidae.—The front legs but little smaller than the others:
in the male, however, the tarsus, though elongate, is only of one joint,
and is terminated by a single claw. No pad on the front tibia. Claws not
toothed. The Lycaenidae, or Blues, are, as a rule, of small size, but in
the tropics there are many that reach the average size of butterflies, i.e.
something about the stature of the Tortoise-shell butterfly. The family is
one of the larger of the divisions of butterflies, considerably more than
2000 species being at present known, and this number is still rapidly
increasing. Although blue on a part of the upper surface is a very
common feature in the group, it is by no means universal, for there are
many "Coppers," as well as yellow and white Lycaenidae. Many
species have delicate, flimsy appendages—tails—to the hind wings, but
in many others these are quite absent; and there are even tailed and
tailless forms of the same species. The members of the group
Lipteninae (Liptena, Vanessula, Mimacraea, etc.) resemble members of
other sub-families of Nymphalidae, and even of Pieridae. Lycaenidae
are well represented wherever there are butterflies; in Britain we have
18 species.

The larvae of this family are very peculiar, being short, thicker in the
middle, and destitute of the armature of spines so remarkable in many
other caterpillars. It has of late years been frequently recorded that
some of these larvae are attended by ants, which use their antennae to
stroke the caterpillars and induce them to yield a fluid of which the ants
are fond. Guénée had previously called attention[226] to the existence of
peculiar structures contained in small cavities on the posterior part of
the caterpillar of Lycaena baetica. These structures can be evaginated,
and, it is believed, secrete a fluid; Edwards and M‘Cook are of opinion
that they are the source of the matter coveted by the ants. The larvae
are without spines.

The caterpillars of the Blues have some of them strange tastes; more
than one has been recorded as habitually feeding on Aphidae and
scale-Insects. The pupae are, like the larvae, of short inflated form. By
a remarkable coincidence, the pupae of two species bear a
considerable resemblance to the heads of monkeys, or mummies. The
Lycaenid pupa is usually extremely consolidated, destitute of
movement, and is supported—in addition to the attachment by the
cremaster—by a silk thread girdling the middle. There are exceptions to
these rules, and according to Mr. Robson the pupa of Tajuria diaeus
hangs free, suspended from a leaf, and can move the body at the spot
where the abdominal segments meet the wing-cases in the dorsal line.
[227]

Fam. 4. Pieridae.—The six legs well developed, and similar in the

sexes; there is no pad on the front tibia. The claws of all the feet are
bifid, or toothed, and there is an empodium. There are upwards of 1000
species of Pieridae already known. Although several taxonomists treat
the Pieridae and Papilionidae as only subdivisions of one family, yet
they appear to be quite distinct, and the relationships of the former to
be rather with Lycaenidae. In Pieridae, white, yellow, and red are the
predominant colours, though there is much black also. It has recently
been ascertained that the yellow and red pigments, as well as the
white, are uric acid or derivatives therefrom.[228] The physiology of this
peculiarity has not yet been elucidated, so that we do not know whether
it may be connected with some state of the Malpighian vessels during
metamorphosis.

Our Garden-White, Brimstone, Clouded-yellows and Orange-tip

butterflies belong to this family; as does also the South American genus
formerly called Leptalis. This generic name, which is much mentioned
in literature owing to the resemblance of the species of the genus to
Heliconiides, has now disappeared; Leptalis having been divided into
various genera, while the name itself is now considered merely a
synonym of Dismorphia.

The African Insect, Pseudopontia paradoxa, has nearly transparent

wings, no club to the antennae, a remarkably small cell on the wing,
and an arrangement of the nervules not found in any other butterfly;
there being only ten nervules at the periphery of the front wing, and