Abstract:
Youth disengage from mainstream schooling for multiple reasons including complex family situations; social status; economic position and emotional challenges. In many cases, young people experience combinations of factors that become an ongoing challenge for engaging in mainstream and further education. Australia, as with other countries, has developed initiatives, interventions and flexible learning options as a pathway to reengage youth with an ongoing, meaningful education.
This research captures and examines the factors that contribute to successful educational outcomes for disenfranchised and/or disengaged youth who participate, or have participated, in a non-mainstream education program in a Regional Area in Victoria, Australia. Using narrative inquiry and borrowing from Smyth and McInerney’s (2013, 7) ‘narrative portraits’, the focus was to capture and represent the multiple layers of complexity of an adolescent’s learning experience. Seven adolescents - four current and three past students - accepted the invitation to be interviewed. These interviews were conducted onsite with the adolescent student, the researcher and the research assistant. The School Principal of the Government Secondary College and the CEO of the Regional Learning and Employment Network (LLEN) were also interviewed. Each interview was conducted for 20-40 minutes and with individual consent, each of the interviews was audio-recorded. Researcher field notes were included in the data collection.
Using a thematic approach, and including ‘narrative portraits’ the data were transcribed and analysed. The analysis of the data highlighted insights into the ways that students experienced engagement in a ‘bespoke’ non-mainstream education program. The key themes included positive references to the structure of learning and teaching environment, including relational, affirming pedagogical practice; the role of teacher-student and peer-peer relationships; the importance of identifying individual expectations, goals and opportunities and managing fear and anxiety in learning through developing personal and interpersonal skills. Active learner agency underpinned success. Though identifying and understanding ‘unmet’ needs, adolescents gained the strategies and autonomy they need to experience success.
Reference
Smyth, John, and Peter McInerney. 2013. “Whose Side Are You On? AdvocacyEthnography: Some Methodological Aspects of Narrative Portraits of Disadvantaged Young People in Socially Critical Research.” International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education26 (1): 1–20
This research captures and examines the factors that contribute to successful educational outcomes for disenfranchised and/or disengaged youth who participate, or have participated, in a non-mainstream education program in a Regional Area in Victoria, Australia. Using narrative inquiry and borrowing from Smyth and McInerney’s (2013, 7) ‘narrative portraits’, the focus was to capture and represent the multiple layers of complexity of an adolescent’s learning experience. Seven adolescents - four current and three past students - accepted the invitation to be interviewed. These interviews were conducted onsite with the adolescent student, the researcher and the research assistant. The School Principal of the Government Secondary College and the CEO of the Regional Learning and Employment Network (LLEN) were also interviewed. Each interview was conducted for 20-40 minutes and with individual consent, each of the interviews was audio-recorded. Researcher field notes were included in the data collection.
Using a thematic approach, and including ‘narrative portraits’ the data were transcribed and analysed. The analysis of the data highlighted insights into the ways that students experienced engagement in a ‘bespoke’ non-mainstream education program. The key themes included positive references to the structure of learning and teaching environment, including relational, affirming pedagogical practice; the role of teacher-student and peer-peer relationships; the importance of identifying individual expectations, goals and opportunities and managing fear and anxiety in learning through developing personal and interpersonal skills. Active learner agency underpinned success. Though identifying and understanding ‘unmet’ needs, adolescents gained the strategies and autonomy they need to experience success.
Reference
Smyth, John, and Peter McInerney. 2013. “Whose Side Are You On? AdvocacyEthnography: Some Methodological Aspects of Narrative Portraits of Disadvantaged Young People in Socially Critical Research.” International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education26 (1): 1–20