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RE-ENGAGING IN THEIR FUTURE: STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCES OF
PREPAREDNESS AFTER ATTENDING A TRANSITIONAL SCHOOL YEAR
Øyvind Laundal, Assistant Professor, Department of Vocational Teacher Education, OsloMet
Stine Solberg, Associate Professor, Department of Vocational Teacher Education, OsloMet
Aim: Explore how students describe their preparedness for
education and training after attending an additional school year
following lower secondary school.
Research Question: How do students describe their
preparedness for education and training after attending an
additional school year?
The Significance of the Research:
Why focus on the additional school year?
1. The additional school year as an example of an early school
leaving (ESL) intervention in an alternative school setting.
2. Necessitates students' descriptions of the alternative setting in
which they are part of.
Why focus on the students' perspectives?
1. Lack of qualitative research in ESL intervention research and
ESL process (De Witte et al., 2013).
2. The process of re-engagement should include students’
subjective experiences (Tarabini et al., 2019; Vellos, 2009).
BACKGROUND
RESULTS
KEY MESSAGES FROM THE ANALYSIS
•Recognize student voices in ESL and alternative schooling
interventions.
•Recognize the value of flexible and adapted education in
encouraging the process of re-engagement.
METHODS & ANALYSIS
Data consists mainly of in-depth semi-structured interviews with 17
youths participating in the additional school year.
We used a reflexive thematic abductive approach to the analysis
(Braun & Clarke, 2019).
Students' experiences of preparedness is many-faceted (see e.g.
Wang et al., 2019), including social, academic and practical
preparedness. We also discuss preparedness as closely
intertwined with the structures of schooling in the additional
school year. Lastly, preparedness is discussed as a process of
re-engagement, where students are coming to see themselves
as students (see e.g. Vadeboncoeur and Padilla-Petry, 2017).
REFERENCES
Ainscow, M., Booth, T., & Dyson, A. (2006). Improving schools, developing inclusion. Routledge.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2019). Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis. Qualitative Research in
Sport, Exercise and Health, 11(4), 589-597. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676X.2019.1628806
De Witte, K., Nicaise, I., Lavrijsen, J., Van Landeghem, G., Lamote, C., & Van Damme, J. (2013).
The impact of institutional context, education and labour market policies on early school
leaving: A comparative analysis of EU countries. European Journal of Education, 48(3), 331-
345. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.12034
Tarabini, A., Curran, M., Montes, A., & Parcerisa, L. (2019). Can educational engagement prevent
early school leaving? Unpacking the school’s effect on educational success. Educational
Studies, 45(2), 226-241. https://doi.org/10.1080/03055698.2018.1446327
Vadeboncoeur, J. A., & Padilla-Petry, P. (2017). Learning from teaching in alternative and flexible
education settings. Teaching Education, 28(1), 1-7.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10476210.2016.1265928
Vellos, R. E. (2009). Re-engagement in learning contexts: Negotiations between adults and youths
in the zone of proximal development. [Master thesis, University of British Columbia]. Open
Collections. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/6349
Wang, M.-T., Fredricks, J., Ye, F., Hofkens, T., & Linn, J. S. (2019). Conceptualization and
assessment of adolescents’ engagement and disengagement in school. European Journal of
Psychological Assessment, 35(4), 592-606. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000431
THEORY
This study focuses on students at risk of ESL and their re-
engagement (Vellos, 2009) in the here and now and for the future
through alternative schooling. Re-engagement is discussed and
understood as non-static, evolving and dialectical.
The main aim is continued presence, participation and
achievement in school (Ainscow et al., 2006).
PRACTICAL
PREPAREDNESS
ACADEMIC
PREPAREDNESS
SOCIAL
PREPAREDNESS
“One has to work to improve your
grades. You can’t just sit there
and listen. Now I focus when the
teachers talk; what are they
talking about? Then I can go
home after school and work on
what they told us. That’s the
reason I have bettered my grades.
I work hard now” (Student 5).
“When you work, you get paid. But like, if
you don’t show up you missed something.
Then you don’t experience what you could
have experienced. If you show up you
would have been done at the end of the
day, and you would get paid. If you hadn’t
attended, you would have just stayed
home. And you would have missed out on
something” (Student 3).
“I felt that I had
improved myself, both
academically and
related to my, what’s it
called, social skills. Like,
how and what I
communicate with
others” (Student 9).
