Reengaging in their future
Students’ experiences of preparedness for education and training after attending a transitional school year
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7577/njcie.4839Keywords:
Early school leaving, re-engagement, alternative schooling, additional school year, inclusionAbstract
This study aimed to explore how students describe their preparedness for education and training after attending the additional school year following lower secondary school. The main purpose of the additional school year is to prepare youths for upper secondary school. The aim is to increase their chances of completion by providing students with an adapted and flexible schooling arena. The target group are students who have completed lower secondary school but are at risk of early school leaving (ESL) due to numerous risk factors, such as low academic achievement, lack of a sense of belonging to the school, or lack of parental involvement. Little is known, however, about how students experience preparedness for future education after attending an additional school year. Drawing on the theoretical underpinnings of disengagement and re-engagement, the present study addressed this gap by examining how 17 youths (age 16) attending the additional school year experienced readiness for future education and training. Data comprised individual interviews with youths in the target group. The reflexive and thematic approach to analysis indicated that students’ experiences of preparedness were characterized by a process of re-engagement in the present and for the future, including social, academic, and practical preparedness. Preparedness is discussed as many-faceted, intertwined with affordances of alternative schooling, and a process of re-engagement. Implications for alternative and conventional schooling are discussed.
Downloads
Metrics
References
Ainscow, M., Booth, T., & Dyson, A. (2006). Improving schools, developing inclusion. Routledge.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2019). Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 11(4), 589-597. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676X.2019.1628806
Braun, V., Clarke, V., & Hayfield, N. (2019). ‘A starting point for your journey, not a map’: Nikki Hayfield in conversation with Virginia Braun and Victoria Clarke about thematic analysis. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2019.1670765
Braun, V., Clarke, V., Hayfield, N., & Terry, G. (2019). Thematic analysis. In P. Liamputtong (Ed.), Handbook of research methods in health social sciences (pp. 843-860). Springer Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5251-4_103
Dadvand, B. (2021). Alternative education, youth and vulnerability: A quest for genuine re-engagement or a reification of ‘the normal’? Journal of Applied Youth Studies, 4(4), 345-361. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43151-021-00055-3
De Witte, K., Nicaise, I., Lavrijsen, J., Van Landeghem, G., Lamote, C., & Van Damme, J. (2013). The impact of institutional context, education and labour market policies on early school leaving: A comparative analysis of EU countries. European Journal of Education, 48(3), 331-345. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.12034
Eldh, A. C., Årestedt, L., & Berterö, C. (2020). Quotations in qualitative studies: Reflections on constituents, custom, and purpose. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 19. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406920969268
Fredricks, J. A., Blumenfeld, P. C., & Paris, A. H. (2004). School engagement: Potential of the concept, state of the evidence. Review of Educational Research, 74(1), 59-109. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543074001059
González-Rodríguez, D., Vieira, M.-J., & Vidal, J. (2019). Factors that influence early school leaving: A comprehensive model. Educational Research, 61(2), 214-230. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2019.1596034
Gubbels, J., van der Put, C. E., & Assink, M. (2019). Risk factors for school absenteeism and dropout: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 48(9), 1637-1667. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-019-01072-5
Jones, J. N. (2011). Narratives of student engagement in an alternative learning context. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR), 16(3), 219-236. https://doi.org/10.1080/10824669.2011.586299
Kvale, S., & Brinkmann, S. (2015). InterViews: Learning the craft of qualitative research interviewing (4th ed.). Sage.
Lee, V. E., & Burkam, D. T. (2003). Dropping out of high school: The role of school organization and structure. American Educational Research Journal, 40(2), 353-393. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312040002353
Lillejord, S., Halvorsrud, K., Ruud, E., Morgan, K., Freyr, T., Fischer-Griffiths, P., Eikeland, O. J., Hauge, T. E., Homme, A. D., & Manger, T. (2015). Frafall i videregående opplæring. En systematisk kunnskapsoversikt. Kunnskapssenter for utdanning. https://www.regjeringen.no/contentassets/1e632f4a6e434af2b67950dc45aa2ffe/frafall_rapport_ksu_e.pdf
Magen-Nagar, N., & Shachar, H. (2017). Quality of teaching and dropout risk: A multi-level analysis. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR), 22(1), 9-24. https://doi.org/10.1080/10824669.2016.1242069
Markussen, E. (2016). Forskjell på folk! [Difference between people!]. In K. Reegård & J. Rogstad (Eds.), De frafalne: Om frafall i videregående opplæring – hvem er de, hva vil de og hva kan gjøres? [The apostates: About apostasy in upper secondary school - who are they, what do they want and what can be done?] (pp. 22-61). Gyldendal.
Mawn, L., Oliver, E. J., Akhter, N., Bambra, C. L., Torgerson, C., Bridle, C., & Stain, H. J. (2017). Are we failing young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs)? A systematic review and meta-analysis of re-engagement interventions. Systematic Reviews, 6(1), 16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-016-0394-2
Nada, C. I., Santos, S. A., Macedo, E., & Araújo, H. C. (2020). Can mainstream and alternative education learn from each other? An analysis of measures against school dropout and early school leaving in Portugal. Educational Review, 72(3), 365-385. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2018.1508127
Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training (2021, 01. october). Mer grunnskoleopplæring til ungdom – veileder. Regelverkstolkningar frå UDIR https://www.udir.no/regelverkstolkninger/opplaring/Minoritetsspraklige/mer-grunnskoleopplaring-til-ungdom---veileder
Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation method (3rd ed.). Sage.
Schmid, E. (2020). Upper secondary education for youth at risk: A comparative analysis of education and training programmes in Austria, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training (IJRVET), (7)1, 21–44. https://doi.org/10.13152/IJRVET.7.1.2
Schwab, J. R., Johnson, Z. G., Ansley, B. M., Houchins, D. E., & Varjas, K. (2016). A literature review of alternative school academic interventions for students with and without disabilities. Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth, 60(3), 194-206. https://doi.org/10.1080/1045988X.2015.1067874
SSB (2021, 14. june). Gjennomføring i videregående opplæring. Statistics Norway https://www.ssb.no/utdanning/videregaende-utdanning/statistikk/gjennomforing-i-videregaende-opplaering
Tarabini, A., Curran, M., Montes, A., & Parcerisa, L. (2019). Can educational engagement prevent early school leaving? Unpacking the school’s effect on educational success. Educational Studies, 45(2), 226-241. https://doi.org/10.1080/03055698.2018.1446327
Tinto, V. (1994). Leaving college. Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition. The University of Chigaco Press.
Tvedt, M. S., Bru, E., Idsoe, T. & Niemiec, C. P. (2021). Intentions to quit, emotional support from teachers, and loneliness among peers: Developmental trajectories and longitudinal associations in upper secondary school. Educational Psychology, 41(8), 967-984, https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2021.1948505
Vadeboncoeur, J. A. (2005). The difference that time and space make: An analysis of institutional and narrative landscapes. In J. A. Vadeboncoeur & L. P. Stevens (Eds.), Re/constructing the adolescent: Sign, symbol, and body (pp. 123-152). Peter Lang.
Vadeboncoeur, J. A. (2009). Spaces of difference: The contradictions of alternative educational programs. Educational studies (Ames), 45(3), 280-299. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131940902910974
Vadeboncoeur, J. A., & Padilla-Petry, P. (2017). Learning from teaching in alternative and flexible education settings. Teaching Education, 28(1), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1080/10476210.2016.1265928
Vadeboncoeur, J. A., Panina-Beard, N., & Vellos, R. E. (2021). Moral imagining in student-teacher relationships in alternative programs: Elaborating a theoretical framework. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2020.100470
Vellos, R. E. (2009). Re-engagement in learning contexts: Negotiations between adults and youths in the zone of proximal development. [Master thesis, University of British Columbia]. Open Collections. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/6349
Vellos, R. E., & Vadeboncoeur, J. A. (2013). Alternative and second chance education. Sociology of Education, 35-38.
Vellos, R. E., & Vadeboncoeur, J. A. (2015). Rebuilding attendance practices with youth: The role of social mediation. Educational Studies, 41(1-2), 91-108. https://doi.org/10.1080/03055698.2014.955735
Wang, M.-T., Fredricks, J., Ye, F., Hofkens, T., & Linn, J. S. (2019). Conceptualization and assessment of adolescents’ engagement and disengagement in school. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 35(4), 592-606. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000431
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Øyvind Laundal, Stine Solberg
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Declaration on copyright
- The author/s will keep their copyright and right of reproduction of their own manuscript, with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License, but give the journal a permanent right to 1) present the manuscript to the public in the original form in which it was digitally published and 2) to be registered and cited as the first publication of the manuscript.
- The author itself must manage its financial reproduction rights in relation to any third-parties.
- The journal does not provide any financial or other remuneration for contributions submitted.
- Readers of the journal may print the manuscripts presented under the same conditions that apply to reproduction of a physical copy. This means that mass reproduction of physical copies or production of copies for commercial purposes is not permitted without the agreement of the author/s.