scholarly journals Young peoples’ own stories about dropping out in Norway: An indirect qualitative approach

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 3
Author(s):  
Mette Bunting ◽  
Geir Moshuus
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Socioeconomic Background ◽  
Dropping Out ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Out Of School

Mye forskning om skoleavbrudd i videregående opplæring ser på risikofaktorer, som sosio-økonomisk bakgrunn, grunnskolepoeng og kjønn, og kan derfor sies å fokusere på individuelle og strukturelle faktorer. Artikkelen argumenterer for heller å se på skoleavbrudd som et samspill eller møte mellom individet og systemet, det individuelle og strukturelle. Forskningen baseres på data fra en longitudinell kvalitativ studie i sitt fjerde år. Informantene er ungdom i NAV-systemet som har sluttet på videregående skole, men som fortsatt har skolerett. Gjennom den indirekte metoden, en intervjumetode basert på etnografiske intervjuer, søkes det å legge til rette for at ungdommene kan fortelle sine historier med egne ord og på sin måte. Disse fortellingene belyser avbruddsprosessene, og beskriver opplevelser forut for avbruddet. Funnene viser at selv om ungdommene sier dette skjer på grunn av enkelthendelser, belyser fortellingene deres at dette er komplekse prosesser som ligger til grunn, gjerne år tilbake. Artikkelen konkluderer med at sosialt medierte prosesser også utenfor skole, må vektlegges for å kunne forstå skoleavbrudd.Nøkkelord: frafall, kvalitativ longitudinell studie, livshistorier, etnografisk intervju, ungdom, videregående skoleAbstractResearch on dropout from upper secondary school usually focuses on risk factors such as socioeconomic background, previous academic results and gender—that is, on individual and structural factors. The present article argues for a shift of focus, looking at dropping out as an interaction between the person and the system—between the individual and the structural. This research draws on interview data from a longitudinal qualitative study (now in its fourth year) of young people both in and out of school. The informants were young dropouts currently in the welfare system. Using the indirect method (developed from ethnographic interviews), the interviewer sought to establish an environment in which these young people could use their own words when sharing their stories. Those stories provide an insight into the processes and experiences prior to the event of dropping out. The findings show that although young people describe dropping out as a singular event, their stories indicate complex preceding processes, often from some years before. The article concludes that socially mediated interactions between the individual and the structural, both inside school and out of school, must be considered when seeking to understand why young people drop out.Keywords: dropout, qualitative longitudinal study, life stories, ethnographic interview, youth, upper secondary school

The learning environment in upper secondary school physical education: The student perspective

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aron Gauti Laxdal
Keyword(s):  
Physical Education ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Physical Education Teachers ◽  
Learning Support ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
New Instrument ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Individual

The overreaching aim of this thesis was to gain a better understanding of the students’ perceptions of the learning environment in upper secondary school physical education, with special focus on marginalized subgroups. More specifically, the intention was to explore whether students perceived their learning environment differently depending on their teachers’ gender, the learning support they received or the perceived competence they had. Despite the learning environment being a well-researched phenomenon in the more academic school subjects, there was a substantial knowledge gap concerning its influence in physical education. The individual works that form this ensemble aimed to occlude some of those gaps. In an effort to achieve the aforementioned aims, a new instrument measuring teacher learning support in the physical education context was also constructed and validated. The chosen methodology for the thesis was cross-sectional, comprising of a multicomponent self-report questionnaire. The data was analyzed using various analytical tools, including structural modeling analysis and MANCOVA between group comparisons. The participants were 1133 upper secondary school students (Mage = 17.2, SD = 0.86) from Norway (n = 554) and Iceland (n = 579), and 17 Norwegian PE teachers (11 males, 6 females). The sampling of participants was performed using a stratified procedure representing both urban, suburban and rural settlements. Multiple steps were taken to ensure adequate sample representability. The collective results of the individual papers indicate that the current organizational trends in PE are more in line with the needs of the highly competent students, and less so with the needs of the less competent students. This tendency intensifies the differences between these groups and may be one of the primary drivers behind the negative relationship between age and appreciation for the subject. Further, the students do not appear to be self- regulating their learning to the same extent as they are in other subjects, despite the teachers efforts to facilitate the behavior. The cause of this discrepancy likely being PE’s reputation as a recreational subject, underlined by the absence of homework and the playful nature of the lessons. Additionally, the role of the teacher’s gender in influencing the PE experience seems to be exaggerated. Gender matching and positive discrimination of female PE teachers are therefore unlikely to improve the learning environment of female students. The concluding recommendations are multitudinous and include suggestions to all the stakeholders of the subject. They include an appeal to the policymakers to rely more heavily on the body of research when implementing or adjusting policy, a plea to the teaching institutions educating the physical education teachers to emphasize formative teaching practices to a greater extent in their program, in order to promote learning behavior, and a call to the physical education teachers to address the various challenges related to the less interested and less competent students by reducing the benefits of sporting experience and ameliorating the current curriculum implementations by introducing more non-traditional sports and activities.

scholarly journals Religious education and teaching young people about humanity: Suggesting a new role for RE and for the academic study of religions in Sweden

2015 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-99
Author(s):  
Jonas Svensson
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Young People ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Religious Education ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Theoretical Development ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Humanistic Study

This article is a suggestion for the rethinking of the role and purpose of religious education (RE) in Swedish public schools, in relation to two major recent reforms: of teachers training (2012) and of syllabi for RE (2011). Based on a notion of the ‘humanistic’ study of religions as he study of religion as a human cultural product, the article argues that a RE – mainly in lower and upper secondary school – informed by contemporary theoretical development, better than any other school subject can cater for the important task of educating young people about who they, as human beings, are and why. To substantiate this claim, the content of the above mentioned reforms are presented, and placed in historical context. Furthermore, the article provides a set of examples of how actual teaching may be structured to fulfil its proposed new task, with a basis in the current syllabi for lower and upper secondary school.

No Structure without Culture? A Survey Study of 15–19 Year Olds’ Practices, Preferences and Perceptions of Physical Activity in a Danish Upper Secondary School

Young ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 444-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stine Frydendal Nielsen ◽  
Glen Nielsen ◽  
Laila Susanne Ottesen ◽  
Lone Friis Thing
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Gender Differences ◽  
Physical Education ◽  
Young People ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Questionnaire Survey ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Sport And Exercise

This article presents the results of a questionnaire survey conducted in a Danish upper secondary school where alternative options of physical activity have been provided to the students. The purpose of the study is to gain knowledge about the perspectives of the students concerning physical education (PE), sport and exercise. The study illustrates young people’s practices, preferences and perceptions when physical activity is a gender-integrated activity as is the case in Denmark. The results are discussed in a figurational perspective viewing PE, sport and exercise as interdependent dimensions influencing young people’s participation in and views on physical activity. The study shows that even though we have a long tradition of gender-integrated PE in Denmark, very traditional gender differences similar to countries with gender-segregated PE prevails. The article, therefore, discusses the significance of cultural rather than structural circumstances while studying practices, preferences and perceptions of physical activity among young people.

Social inequalities in the allocation of learning support in a Swedish upper secondary school

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Johansson
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Social Characteristics ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Additional Support ◽  
Almost All

The upper secondary school is in Sweden practically mandatory even though attendance is voluntary and today almost all students in Sweden continue their studies at upper secondary school. But not all of them leave this school with a complete certificate of schooling as a result of experiencing a range of difficulties which may be due to cognitive, physical, sensory or social factors. This article uses ethnographic data from a case study to explore how one municipal upper secondary school allocates additional support to students with different social characteristics. The study focussed on students in the following three upper secondary schools programme all in the same school: (1) Individual, (2) Health and Social Care, and (3) Technology. The results show that existing social inequalities are reinforced through everyday activities and interactions. The prevalence and type of additional support that the students are offered is one of the factors reinforcing existing social differentiation, and is closely linked to the type of programme they are studying. Successful support services appear to be focused on Swedish male pupils from higher socio-economic backgrounds on the Technology Programme. Students from lower social backgrounds enrolled in either the Individual or Health and Social Care Programmes receive much less appropriate support. The social justice implications of these priorities for resource allocation are discussed.

scholarly journals «Jeg har aldri spurt om å kunne slutte selv». En kvalitativ studie av en gruppe jenters vei mot frafall i videregående skole

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (1-2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sissel Elisabeth Edvardsen ◽  
Hege Hovland ◽  
Anne Brita Thorød
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Primary School ◽  
School Environment ◽  
Dropping Out ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
School History ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Mental Problems ◽  
History Of ◽  
Absence Rate

In this article we explore the school history of girls who are dropping out from upper secondary school, recorded with mental problems. The study has a qualitative, exploratory design with an inductive approach. Interviews were conducted with life-line method, with some supplemental questions. Most of the girls experience weak relations to both school-peers and teachers in primary school. Some of them are bullied and describe a school without capability to deal with the problems and work for an including school environment. When they reach upper secondary school they have a high absence rate and most of them are requested to terminate school, partly due to the risk of losing part of their statutory right to upper education. The findings are discussed in resilience- and bio-ecological perspectives.

scholarly journals Arbeidsinnkludering som en vei til varig arbeidslivstilknytning og et verdig voksenliv: Hvordan metoder for arbeidsinnkludering kan brukes i opplæringen av lærekandidater

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Eva Martinsen Dyrnes ◽  
Dan Roger Sträng
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Working Life ◽  
Ability To Work ◽  
The Road ◽  
Upper Secondary Education ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
On The Road ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Permanent Work

The labour market in many European countries is changing and for many young people it leads to challenges in gaining a lasting connection to working life. School dropout and deficiencies in their education lead to challenges for many young people on the road to adulthood. Students who find it difficult to complete a vocational education in upper secondary school, now have the opportunity to be training candidates in a practically oriented education with a limited number of competence goals. Work inclusion means that the individual's ability to work will be examined in various ways to increase the possibility of permanent work. However, work inclusion is a complex phenomenon, where several actors may be involved and where the goals and progress plan will vary. This is costly and stressful for both the individual and the society. Working life is a central learning arena within upper secondary education, and there will be a need to facilitate participation in this arena also for students with a need for adapted education.

scholarly journals Qualifying counterfactuals: Students' use of counterfactuals for evaluating historical explanations

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joakim Wendell
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Secondary School Students ◽  
Historical Event ◽  
Upper Secondary School ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Counterfactual Reasoning ◽  
Student Reasoning ◽  
School Students ◽  
Historical Explanation ◽  
Upper Secondary

The study investigates upper secondary school students' use of counterfactual reasoning when engaging in a task concerning historical explanation. The study analyses student answers to a prompt asking them to evaluate the causal importance of a historical actor for a historical event, aiming to characterize the counterfactuals used, as well as applying possible criteria for what can be considered a qualified counterfactual. The criteria for qualification of counterfactuals are based on theoretical proposals about the potential of counterfactuals in relation to historical explanation. The findings indicate that a majority of the students involved use counterfactuals in their reasoning about explanatory importance, most of them employing counterfactual reasoning in relation to the historical actor. The analysis of qualification indicates that student reasoning becomes more qualified when students instead focus on structural factors, include both structures and actors in their counterfactual reasoning, or support their reasoning by making comparisons.

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