Jugendfreiwilligendienste als ›Orte‹ der Selbstoptimierung?

Youth Volunteer Services as ›Places‹ of Self-Optimization? Considerations on Biographical Narratives in the Transition after School The article is concerned with self-optimization from a biographical perspective. The focus is on the ›biographisation‹ of life and the ›optimization promise‹, made by educational institutions in school to work transitions. By drawing on life stories of participants in the Voluntary Social Year [Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr], it can be shown how norms of self-optimisation are translated by ›biographisation‹ and how educational biographies are thus produced.

Upward, Lateral, or Downward? Multiple Perspectives on Migrants’ Educational Mobilities

Education is a major component of individuals’ social status in terms of self-positioning and economic opportunities. Migrants’ qualifications from abroad are often devalued by employers or state institutions. One option to react to such a lack of recognition is the gaining of institutionalized cultural capital in the receiving society. Comparing levels of education attained before and after migration, migrants may move in an upward, lateral, or downward direction. Our study investigates the vertical dimension of transnational educational mobility from multiple perspectives. First, our quantitative analysis of the NEPS (the German National Educational Panel Study) relates the levels of pre- and post-migration education. We critically reflect on how respective results on educational mobility depend on how respondents sort their foreign education into the German system of educational categories and hierarchies used in the survey questionnaire. Second, our qualitative analysis sheds light on several dimensions of migrants’ subjective views and how their educational biographies interact with institutional settings in the receiving society. Exemplarily presented in-depth interviews focus on migrants who pursued educational programs in order to be able to return to the occupations (nursing and economics) they had been trained for abroad, but for which they were denied recognition in Germany. Our findings emphasize that post-migration education is highly ambivalent in terms of in- and exclusion. Individual migrants are caught in the structural tension between academic education as a rather globalized institution and nationally specific educational programs and hierarchies which are often incompatible across borders.

BIOGRAFÍAS DE LA EDUCACIÓN INTERCULTURAL BILINGÜE

En el presente artículo nos proponemos analizar las políticas de Educación Intercultural Bilingüe de las provincias de Chaco y Misiones (Argentina) a partir de las biografías de algunos/as referentes indígenas. Estas biografías nos aportan interesantes aspectos de los recorridos formativos individuales, atravesados por las transformaciones de la política educativa intercultural. Asimismo, permiten abordar la singularidad de dos casos de legislación provincial muy diferentes en cuanto a la visibilización de la cuestión indígena. La provincia de Chaco es reconocida por su temprana incorporación de normativa que pondera los derechos específicos para los pueblos indígenas que allí residen (toba/qom, mocoví/moqoit y wichí) y, específicamente, por contar con legislación muy progresista sobre los asuntos que regulan la escolarización y lenguas de los pueblos originarios. Por su parte, la provincia de Misiones presenta un escenario contrario, ya que el reconocimiento en las políticas públicas de derechos para los pueblos indígenas ha sido muy escaso y restrictivo; incluso si en particular tomamos en cuenta las políticas educativas, la regulación ha sido remisa, de poco alcance y focalizada. En el análisis efectuado en este artículo pondremos en diálogo las biografías educativas con las legislaciones provinciales más significativas y materiales de registros de trabajo de campo obtenidos de nuestras investigaciones etnográficas en las comunidades mbyá-guaraní de Misiones y toba/qom de Chaco.BIOGRAPHIES OF BILINGUAL INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION ABSTRACTIn this paper we analyze the policies of Bilingual Intercultural Education of the provinces of Chaco and Misiones (Argentina) from the biographies of some indigenous referents. These biographies give us interesting aspects of the individual formative paths, undergoing the transformations of intercultural educational policy. Likewise, they allow addressing the uniqueness of two very different cases of provincial legislation, regarding the visibility of the indigenous issue. The province of Chaco is recognized for its early incorporation of regulations that weigh the specific rights for the indigenous peoples that reside there (toba / qom, mocoví / moqoit and wichí) and, specifically, for having very progressive legislation on the matters they regulate the schooling and languages of the native peoples. On the other hand, the province of Misiones presents a contrary scene, since recognition in public rights policies for indigenous peoples has been very scarce and restrictive, even if we take into account educational policies in particular, the regulation has been scale, of little scope and focused. In the analysis carried out in this article, we will dialogue educational biographies with the most significant provincial laws and materials of field work records obtained from our ethnographic research in the Mbyá-Guaraní communities of Misiones and toba / qom de Chaco.Keywords: Biography. Intercultural Bilingual Education. Mbyá-Guaraní. Toba/Qom.

Reversing the trajectory of school disengagement? Lessons from the analysis of Warsaw youth’s educational trajectories

The theoretical framework of the paper combines the notions of school disengagement and educational trajectories. Our current research has demonstrated that several trajectories of school disengagement can be distinguished: unanticipated crisis, parabola, downward spiral, boomerang, resilient route, shading out. The text focuses on two trajectory types – the parabola, when youngsters facing increasing school disengagement are provided with substantial support and their trajectory changes its direction, and the downward spiral, which despite the support leads to further school disengagement and school leaving. Analysing the educational biographies of students from secondary schools in Warsaw, we focus on their perceptions of the support provided by different formal and informal sources. Investigating the protective factors and successful interventions might thus be useful in fostering the educational success of youth at risk. An analysis of the trajectories might be treated as guidance as to how to offset the negative impact of social and educational inequalities and hence to reverse the negative direction in one’s educational trajectory. The text is based on qualitative analysis of data obtained within an international research project: individual semi-structured interviews with Polish students at risk of early school leaving and youngsters who left school early.

Totalitarian school politics during fascism in Italy and their transgenerational effects

Purpose The research is rooted in the interest in educational biographies of ethnic and linguistic minorities in Europe during the twentieth century. The purpose of this paper is to give an answer to the question of how the nationalistic educational norms during the period of totalitarian regimes manifested themselves in the educational biographies of minorities, and how much individuals and collectives transferred their scholastic denationalisation experiences (e.g. prohibition of alphabetisation in their mother tongue) to the following generations. In other words, if and how traces of the previously named experiences, for example the attitude towards education, can be found in insecurities and attitudes of the first or even the second follow-up generation. Design/methodology/approach The theoretical foundation used for this research is the conception of school as “institutional actor” theorised by Helmut Fend (2006). Fend used a widened concept based upon Weber’s (1922/1988) action-theoretical, Luhmann’s (2002) system-theoretical and Scharpf’s (2000) and Schaefers’ (2002) institution-centred approaches. This scientific background designs a theoretical concept of school fitted for the social and pedagogical research field. Specifically, in Fend’s analysis of design- and action-oriented potentials, Fend (2006) “turns his special attention to the processes in the educational field, which are implemented by actors, who themselves act in the context of institutional framework conditions” (p. 17). Findings The experience of school in totalitarian contexts manifests itself in individual and collective memories, later found in the following generations with particular emphasis on the approaches towards education. Originality/value This paper analyses the transgenerational impact of the experiences ethnical minorities had with schools.

On the brink of education: Experiences of refugees beyond the age of compulsory education in Austria

This paper offers first-hand accounts of refugees beyond the age of compulsory education having arrived in Austria during the last five years. Their accounts were collected using qualitative interviews and a visual method to allow for different approaches towards their educational biographies. Nine individual and two group interviews (altogether with 16 young people) were conducted, where the majority of the young refugees are from Afghani background. All interviewees were older than 16 years. In addition, five expert interviews were conducted. Their experiences having arrived in a new country, the importance of education for them, and their aspirations in the new system became visible in the interviews. Arbitrary provision and the one-sided language focus of the system present challenges to the core of a (school) system that has proved resistant to the influx of pupils from many different cultural backgrounds for years. The results of this qualitative study show that educational segregation is common for this group, including having less chances to obtain a university entrance exam.

Les miraculés a bierność edukacyjna i zawodowa młodych mieszkańców wsi – case study Polska i kraje UE = Les miraculés versus educationally and economically inactive young inhabitants of rural areas – case study of Poland and EU

The level of education as a component of competence may play an important role in determining the chances of social and material success, as well as raising the living standards, forming conditions for economic growth. This finds its reflection in the EU strategic documents, which lays the foundations for opening a public debate. It is commonly accepted that the level of education stands behind the heritage and thus, a significant role is played by the parents’ educational lifelines. Population inhabiting rural areas is presented in the subject literature as a community usually more inclined towards ending their education as early as possible and displaying professional passivity. The aim of the article is to identify the scale of the phenomenon concerning professional and educational inactive young people aged 15–34 in Poland and in the EU (the so-called NEET – Not in Education, Employment, or Training), particularly in rural areas, in the context of rural inhabitants’ opinions, concerning the impact of education on their situation and expectations relating to the sphere of their children’s education. For the purpose of the study the non-reactive method of the existing data analysis (desk research) was used. Basing upon the study of the subject literature and analysis of articles provided by experts, information was collected on the essence of the NEET population and its subgroups. Reasons behind the educational and professional inactivity of the youth were identified. Reports published by the Eurostat, Poland’s statistics in form of Diagnoza społeczna 2015 results and reports by the Institute of Educational Studies comprised the source of information. For a relatively long time the possibility of social advancement owing to education remained within the reach of solely the most ambitious individuals who left the country as les miraculés or les héritiers – “heirs” equipped in culture capital, successors to family educational biographies. There appear substantial differences in this sphere between individual EU member states, which can reach several dozen percent. In the comparative analysis, the NEET population inhabiting rural areas of Poland comprised over 16% in 2008, almost 21% in 2013 and over 17% in 2017. The attempt of diagnosing poses a strategic challenge to the rural EU areas as regards the selection of appropriate solutions resulting from the specificity of the motives for belonging to the NEET group.