Schools as sanctuaries: A systematic review of contextual factors which contribute to student retention in alternative education

Abstract

Early school leaving is an international concern. Previous research indicates that the school context contributes to early school leaving. This systematic review is aimed to gather marginalised young peoples’ perceptions concerning contextual factors that contributed to and interfered with their decisions to stay in alternative education. Twenty-three databases and reference lists of reviews were searched, eliciting 1586 studies, which were then screened. Data from 24 mixed-methods studies that met the inclusion criteria were extracted and synthesised. Findings suggested that alternative schools which provided a sanctuary for students increased student engagement. Schools were sanctuaries when they offered physical, emotional and psychological safe spaces; fostered a sense of community; enabled students to affirm their racial/ethnic pride and employed flexible behavioural supports. Implications for practice and research are discussed.

Keywords:

• alternative education
• school context
• student retention
• sanctuary
• marginalised young people

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Funding

This work was supported by the Department of Clinical Therapies, University of Limerick.

Notes on contributors

Eva O'Gorman received a fee waiver to complete her M.Sc. through research in the Department of Clinical Therapies at the University of Limerick. She is presently working in the UK as a paediatric occupational therapist.

Nancy Salmon is a Lecturer in the Department of Clinical Therapies at the University of Limerick. Her programme of qualitative research attends to issues of equity and social justice, ethical engagement with people who experience disability and inclusive research approaches.

Carol-Anne Murphy is a Lecturer in Speech and Language therapy in the Department of Clinical Therapies at the University of Limerick. Her research seeks to understand profiles of childhood language development and impairments and to identify optimal ways of providing support and intervention to meet the needs of children with communication difficulties from preschool through adolescence.