Subjective Orientations to the Schooling of Young People on the Margins of School

Abstract

The strong emphasis placed on educational achievements as a precondition for successful adult life in Western societies attests to the fact that school plays a significant role in setting the standards for normality and conformity among young people today. The focus of this article is on the subjective orientations to schools and schooling expressed by young people on the margins of school. By adopting a biographical approach to young people's lives, this study examines how ninth graders make sense of their educational career from a particular transitional vantage point between compulsory and post-compulsory education, and from a marginal position in the current educational context. The article draws on research that focused on the biographies and future hopes of 15-to 17-year-old ninth graders attending either programmes for young people in need of support ('Pilot', part of targeted youth work) or an alternative school ('My Own Career' classes, part of flexible basic education). The article suggests that for young people on the margins of school, the contribution of compulsory education to the conceptualization of educational pathways in the future is ambivalent, sometimes even disempowering, and the weight of past conflicts with school forces young people to find ways to renegotiate their relationship with education.

‘My mother thought upper secondary school was OK, but then my sibling said no’ - Young People's Perceptions of the Involvement of Parents and Siblings in their Future Choices

“…MO was an alternative way of completing comprehensive school; with its emphasis on working life, it was intended for young people who were in danger of leaving school without any qualifications. Both the programmes had strong educational and socialisation goals based on implicit views regarding the concept of an ideal citizen (see Coussée et al, 2009) and thus the importance of further education (mainly in the vocational sector) and realistic career plans were emphasised and supported within the programmes (see Aaltonen 2012). Thirty-two young people, 16 girls and 16 boys, all 15 to 17 years of age and ninth graders, were interviewed during autumn 2008.…”

“…Young people who are undergoing negative experiences at school may seek the shortest route to working life, to more practically oriented vocational education, as opposed to the academic route requiring a longer time in formal education (cf. Aaltonen 2012; Smyth and Hattam 2004). Educational and vocational guidance has also been claimed to contribute to producing gendered and classed working-class young people in particular, instead of ‘challenging’ them to choose ‘differently’ (Lappalainen et al 2012).…”

Trauma-Informed Flexible Learning: Classrooms That Strengthen Regulatory Abilities

“…Such developmental approaches should originate from a student's strengths and surrounding systems of support. Alternative or flexible learning options are necessary to provide viable education pathways for at-risk students who are often blamed for a lack of motivation or irresponsibility (Aaltonen, 2012). te Riele advocates changing the approach, rather than problematising the student; and that developmental perspectives can empower all children through whole-school change.…”

Wendy, Peter and the Lost Boys—The Gendered Discourses of Welfare Service Practitioners and Their Young Clients

“…This method of narration keeps them fixed in their position, while methods of narration used by middle-class individuals allow for the adoption of more mobile positions (ibid. ; Aaltonen, 2012). It is worth noting here that very few of the young male and female interviewees had tried to achieve higher education or upper/middle-class positions.…”