Youth on the Move : Tendencies and Tensions in Youth Policies and Practices

Departing from careership theory, this chapter aims to add to knowledge about school careers and school-to-work transitions of young people with a migrant background, here referring to individuals born outside or in Sweden whose parents are first-generation immigrants.1 More specifically, we want to increase the understanding of the processes resulting in a school failure, and the subsequent process when the young person tries to enter the labour market and/or strengthen his/her educational qualifications. The analysis is based on life-history interviews with 27 Swedish young adults (21–23 years old), most of them from refugee families of non-European origins. All of the respondents left school without completing upper secondary education. Few previous studies have focused on both the school years ending in dropout and subsequent careers of early school leavers, as reported by the young adults themselves (for exceptions, see e.g. Henderson et al., 2007). As discussed in the following section, political discourses, official statistics and research often portray gloomy prospects for young early school leavers generally, and those of migrant origin particularly. However, our research provides more nuanced indications, as the young adults interviewed described not only difficulties in school and later life but also factors that could facilitate their careers, particularly if schools and other institutions provided more professional and timely support.</p

Metoder i forsknings- og utviklingsarbeid i utdanning og lærerutdanning

Denne publikasjonen er et resultat av en todagers metodekonferanse avholdt ved Høgskolen i Østfold den 3 - 4 mai 2010 mellom Avdeling for lærerutdanning ved Høgskolen i Østfold og Institutionen för tillämpad utbildningsvetenskap, avdeling för barn- och ungdomspädagogik, späsialpedagogik och vägledning ved Universitetet i Umeå. I alt 23 personer deltok, lærarutdannere, forskere och doktorsstipendiater. Rapporten inneholder 14 bidrag som tar for seg ulike metodespørsmål innenfor utdanningsforskning og pedagogisk og spesialpedagogisk utviklingsarbei

A Nordic transition regime? Policies for school-to-work transitions in Sweden, Denmark and Finland

In recent decades, a range of policy measures to support young people’s school-to-worktransitions has been initiated across Europe. However, these transition policies have rarely beenstudied systematically, particularly from a comparative perspective. Thus, the aim of this article isto compare Swedish, Danish and Finnish policies for supporting young people’s educational andschool-to-work transitions. Synthesising and analysing recent research, the article critically drawson Walther’s (2006) classification of transition regimes that recognises a Nordic universalisticregime of youth transitions characterised by emphasis on collective social responsibility, individualmotivation and personal development. We conclude that significant policy changes have occurredduring the last two decades. Coercive measures have been adopted and social support reduced,making young people more individually responsible for the success of their transitions. Hence,current transition policies diverge in many respects from qualities traditionally ascribed to theNordic transition regime. We also find significant differences between the three countries’transition policies, which in some cases indicate policy trade-offs. In addition, we conclude thattransition policies are generally weakly coordinated across policy domains, which increases the risk of unintended consequences of these policies. </p

Locality and the Prevention of Early School Leaving: Supporting Youth Transitions to Upper Secondary School in a Highly Decentralised Education System

The introduction programme (IP) intends to facilitate transition to upper secondary education among Swedish youth with incomplete compulsory education. This article aims to explore and understand how local preconditions interact with schools’ support for the IP students. It looks at the local structural and institutional preconditions, and the strategies and work of head teachers, programme officers, teachers, and career counsellors, working in the IP in 90 municipalities of three categories: commuter municipalities close to big cities, rural municipalities, and small cities. The analysis builds on the responses from 139 school actors to a questionnaire, and on public statistics. On average, the commuter municipalities enjoy the most favourable structural and educational conditions, while the rural municipalities are the least resourceful, e.g. in terms of formal professional competence. Surprisingly however, the rural contexts on average perform better than the other municipalities regarding the level of graduation four years after starting the IP. There are few systematic local differences in the work with IP students. However, the IP in the rural municipalities on average enjoy higher support from school leaders, have a clearer division of responsibilities, and separate the students spatially to a lower degree compared to the commuter municipalities. Systematic handover between compulsory schools and the IP is less common in the commuter municipalities than in the other two groups. Whether these factors are relevant for explaining the higher success level in the rural schools and the lower success level in the schools in the commuter municipalities requires further investigation.</p

Catching sight of students´ learning: a matter of space?

Based on a two-year study of a development project aiming to enhance students ́ learning in a natural science course by making their understanding more visible to themselves and their teachers, this paper analyzes the role of physical space in this context. Data were collected through systematic observations, photo and film documentation, student surveys, interviews with students and teachers, and also from students ́ examination results over an extended period. Previously, the course used traditional teaching methods and spaces. The students found the contents difficult, and the average examination results were poor. The teachers developed more student-active working methods, challenging students to make their understanding visible. However, the course literature and type of examination tasks remained unchanged, allowing for comparisons over time. The instruction took place in a large, innovative "flex-room", equipped with touchscreens, whiteboards, highly accessible technology and flexible furniture, allowing for increased student communication and feedback. The teachers could interact with student groups in the same room, spot and quickly correct misunderstandings in student presentations. The students ́ examination results improved considerably. They argued that the work methods contributed to deeper understanding and improved retention of the course contents. Finally, few observed space-related time-losses occurred. We conclude that well-designed spaces were crucial preconditions to enable these positive results.</p