Shaping the policies towards early school leaving in Portugal, Sweden and Poland

Drawing lessons from early school leavers in a social justice context: Introductory comments

“…The RESL.eu project studied schools and alternative learning arenas in nine countries 2 and analysed ESL from a holistic perspective rather than looking at individual aspects of the problem in isolations. Such an approach views national perspectives as part of the ‘Europeanisation’ process and brings different interpretations of the European guidelines to the fore (Araújo et al, 2018). This is important because we can ultimately only really understand ESL if we explore its many causes and consequences on the macro, meso and micro levels.…”

“…This is in line with Dale’s (2001, 2005) interpretation of Europeanisation as part of a ‘globally structured agenda for education’ in which education is analysed in the framework of global economic competition, as a key factor for economic development and in the struggle for the educational and social inclusion of young people. As summarised in the RESL.eu project (Araújo et al, 2014), the mandate for education is based on a neo human resources approach, with implications for citizenship and individual development. The EU guidelines for growth and employment thus include policies aimed at the social and professional inclusion of young people and recommend that Member States develop policies to address ESL.…”

“…However, while action has clearly been taken and progress has been made, ESL/ELET remains a negative symptom of the education landscape and affects not only Europe but also the rest of the world (for an analysis of the situation in the USA, Canada and Australia see Lamb et al, 2011; for an analysis of policies and measures in Europe see Araújo et al, 2018).…”

Student Transition to Scotland’s Senior Phase of Schooling ‐ Academic Experiences and Course Choices

“…Students' transitions throughout schooling have been broadly discussed within several disciplines, levels and theoretical orientations (Anderson et al, 2000;Benner 2011;Nelissen, 2017), as well as being the focus of political interest in several countries (Education Scotland, 2016;OECD, 2012). While upper secondary consists of a period of educational tracking in many countries and is still post-compulsory in some, reinforcing upper secondary educational attainment or reshaping its pathways has been a cornerstone of public policies towards youth, particularly about concerns about early school leaving (Araújo et al, 2014) and improving youth transitions to employment (Walsh, 2016).…”

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

“…Furthermore, debates about the way school is organised to prepare students to face the uncertainties of the labour market and the new skills agendas have generated new trends in education. In line with the idea that ‘early school leaving in the EU is primarily a symptom of traditional education systems’ difficulties to adapt to changing societal dynamics resulting from shifting social and economic contexts’ (Van Praag et al, 2018: 1; see also Araújo et al, 2018), a set of educational and social measures for prevention, intervention and compensation is being implemented to support students, teachers and schools (European Commission, 2014).…”