Una mirada al abandono escolar prematuro en Portugal:  Realidades, contextos y prácticas

Helena Araújo; Eunice Macedo; António Magalhães; Cristina Rocha

doi:10.6018/educatio.414651

Una mirada al abandono escolar prematuro en Portugal: Realidades, contextos y prácticas

Educatio Siglo XXI ◽

10.6018/educatio.414651 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 38 (2 Jul-Oct) ◽

pp. 109-130

Author(s):

Helena Araújo ◽

Eunice Macedo ◽

António Magalhães ◽

Cristina Rocha

Keyword(s):

Social Inclusion ◽

Knowledge Society ◽

School Principal ◽

Economic Policies ◽

Early School Leaving ◽

Educational Trajectories ◽

Early School ◽

Teachers And Students ◽

El Sistema ◽

Student Advocates

Teniendo in cuenta que el abandono prematuro de la escuela/ abandono prematuro de la educación y de la formación es un problema sumamente político, este articulo hace una mirada al abandono escolar prematuro en Portugal, enfocando sus realidades, contextos y prácticas, en una interacción entre el nivel nacional y europeo e sus orientaciones para la educación. Se hace una breve analice a los contornos del problema y a su evolución y se presenta a el sistema educativo para después se reflexionar acerca de la actual orientación educativa, dando evidencia a las perspectivas de inclusión. Finalmente se enfocan medidas intramuros para enfrentar el abandono escolar en una escuela secundaria superior en un área de intervención educativa prioritaria. Estas medidas son preventivas, y incluyen la preparación para los exámenes y el defensor del estudiante, a que se da prominencia en este artículo, haciendo el enfoque en las voces distintas del Diretor de la escuela, del profesorado y de las y los estudiantes. Se argumenta que la lucha contra ESL se encuentra en la tensión entre las políticas destinadas a hacer frente a las necesidades de la economía y de la sociedad del conocimiento y la tentativa de promover la inclusión social a través de la consecución de los itinerarios educativos, dando herramientas a las personas jóvenes para llevar adelante sus posibles opciones. Bearing in mind that early school leaving (ESL) / early leaving from education and training (ELET) is a political problem, this article looks at early school leaving in Portugal, focusing on its realities, contexts and practices and tapping into the interaction between the national and the European levels and their guidelines for education. The context of the problem and its evolution is briefly analyzed. Following the description of the education system, we also provide some reflections on current educational lines, providing evidence on how inclusion is implemented within such lines. Finally, intramural measures are proposed with a view to addressing early school leaving in an upper secondary school located in an educational area of priority intervention. The objective of the article is to analyze early school leaving by making the voices of different stakeholders heard—the school principal, teachers and students—following the implementation of a set of educational measures. These measures are preventive and include preparation for exams and the function of student advocates, two aspects which have a prominent role in this article. We argue that the struggle against ESL lies in the tension between economic policies and the knowledge society and the promotion of social inclusion which requires the definition of educational trajectories aimed at providing young people with the necessary tools for them to make adequate decisions for their future.

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What do young adults’ educational experiences tell us about Early School Leaving processes?

European Educational Research Journal ◽

10.1177/1474904120946885 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 19 (5) ◽

pp. 463-481

Author(s):

Sofia A Santos ◽

Cosmin Nada ◽

Eunice Macedo ◽

Helena C Araújo

Keyword(s):

Young Adults ◽

Educational Transitions ◽

Early School Leaving ◽

School Disengagement ◽

Educational Trajectories ◽

The North ◽

School Based ◽

Early School ◽

Secure Learning ◽

Support Mechanisms

What leads young people to disengage and leave school early? This paper focuses on young adults’ educational trajectories, with the objective of identifying useful insights for improving school measures and strategies against early school leaving and school disengagement. Specifically, it draws upon an empirical study with young adults from the north of Portugal. Longitudinal bio-interviews took place with young men and women, aged 17 to 24, who were enrolled in secondary education at mainstream schools or in alternative learning contexts or who were early school leavers. A set of critical moments and circumstances were identified as turning points in the young adults’ descriptions of their school trajectories, revealing both obstacles and incentives to continue studying. Based on these narratives, the study identifies some risk and protective factors for early school leaving and makes suggestions about how to improve school-based measures to prevent school disengagement. Some key recommendations for schools include: increased support mechanisms during educational transitions; a firm stance on bullying and the creation of violence-free and secure learning environments; enhancing socio-emotional support and encouraging the emergence of relationships of care; and providing meaningful education by ensuring the school content is aligned with students’ motivations and needs.

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Interacción y uso de tecnologías en los procesos de enseñanza y aprendizaje

Educatio Siglo XXI ◽

10.6018/educatio.413441 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 38 (1 Marzo-Ju) ◽

pp. 119-138

Author(s):

Isabel María Gallardo Fernández ◽

Ana De Castro Calvo ◽

Héctor Saiz Fernández

Keyword(s):

Knowledge Society ◽

Knowledge And Attitudes ◽

Learning Challenges ◽

Sociedad Del Conocimiento ◽

The World ◽

Socialization Processes ◽

Teachers And Students ◽

El Sistema ◽

Teaching Learning ◽

Tecnología Educativa

El nuevo escenario de la sociedad del conocimiento y los desafíos de aprendizaje que debe enfrentar la educación en este milenio han sido determinados por la transformación del mundo en las esferas económicas, políticas y culturales.En este artículo analizamos los procesos de interacción que se producen en los contextos educativos cuando las tecnologías son una oportunidad para lograr cambios profundos que contribuyan a mejorar los procesos de enseñanza aprendizaje desde nuevos planteamientos pedagógicos y curriculares. Todo ello conlleva una reorganización de los centros educativos, la formación y actualización del profesorado y la colaboración de las familias. Los docentes tienen ante sí el reto de cuidar las relaciones y los ambientes que lo hacen posible. Este trabajo se vincula con el Proyecto Escuel@ Digit@l que se inscribe en el campo de la Tecnología Educativa y específicamente en la línea que tiene por objeto de estudio las políticas y las prácticas para la innovación e integración pedagógica de las TIC en el sistema educativo. Basándonos en los análisis y entrevistas realizadas como parte del desarrollo del Proyecto, presentamos algunas evidencias de la investigación acometida que muestran que únicamente la sustitución de un tipo de tecnología por otra no transforma la forma de enseñar ni los procesos para aprender en la sociedad del siglo XXI. El desarrollo y transferencia de habilidades, destrezas, conocimientos y actitudes se da desde el diálogo que se produce en la interacción entre docentes y alumnado lo que conlleva un universo de significados. The new scenario opened up by knowledge society and the learning challenges that education is facing nowadays have been determined by the transformation of the world at economic, political and cultural levels. In this article we explore the interaction and socialization processes that are taking place in learning environments when technologies are an opportunity to achieve deep changes that contribute to improving teaching-learning processes from a new pedagogical and curricular approach. All this involves a reorganization of education centres, the training and updating of the teachers and the collaboration of the families. Teachers face the challenge of taking care of the relationships and the contexts that make possible the articulation of the previously-mentioned lines of action. This work is linked with the Project Escuel@ Digit@l which is being developed in the field of Educational Technology and specifically aims to explore policies and practices for promoting innovation and the pedagogic integration of ICT in schools. The analysis and the interviews that have been undertaken as a part of the project show that the replacement of one type of technology for another does not transform either the form of teaching or the processes to learn in 21st century societies. The development and transfer of abilities, skills, knowledge and attitudes is produced from the dialogue which stems from the interactions between teachers and students.

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Social inclusion education policy in South Australia: What can we learn?

Australian Journal of Education ◽

10.1177/0004944116689165 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 61 (1) ◽

pp. 54-74 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Andrew Bills ◽

Nigel Howard

Keyword(s):

High Risk ◽

Young People ◽

Policy Analysis ◽

Social Inclusion ◽

Young Person ◽

Flexible Learning ◽

Early School Leaving ◽

Early School ◽

School Learning ◽

Learning Options

In this article, we interrogate the policy assumptions underlying a significant South Australian public education re-engagement initiative called Flexible Learning Options, formulated within South Australia’s social inclusion policy agenda, beginning in 2006. To this end, we applied Baachi’s ‘What’s the Problem Represented to be?’ policy analysis framework to a historical range of departmental Flexible Learning Options policy documents and evaluations to uncover how Flexible Learning Options (1) understands the problem of early school leaving, (2) defines the notion of being an ‘at risk’ young person and (3) interprets and enacts the intervention process for young people identified as ‘at risk’ of early school leaving. Our policy analysis indicates re-engagement in learning – as measured by improved retention – to be the key Flexible Learning Options policy driver, with schools ‘silently’ positioned as a significant part of the retention in learning problem. The Flexible Learning Options engagement in learning intervention directed at ‘high-risk’ students’ works to remove them from schools into places where personalised support and an alternative curriculum are made available. ‘Lower risk’ students are given a combination of in-school and off-school learning options. Our What’s the Problem Represented to be? analysis also reveals that (1) the notion of ‘risk’ is embodied within the young person and is presented as the predominant cause of early school leaving; (2) how the educational marketplace could work to promote Flexible Learning Options enrolment growth has not been considered; (3) schools are sidelined as first choice engagement options for ‘high-risk’ young people, (4) secondary school redesign and family intervention as alternative reengagement strategies have largely been ignored and (5) through withdrawal from conventional schooling, the access of many Flexible Learning Options to students to an expansive curriculum delivered by teachers within well-resourced school learning architectures has been constrained.

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