Alternative courses in upper secondary vocational education and training: students' narratives on hopes and failures

Abstract

Counteracting upper secondary dropouts is an increasingly common issue across the Western part of the world. In Norway, the government has developed different measures to counteract dropouts, one of which concerns alternative educational courses involving increased workplace practice. This article is based on interviews with eight students who participate in the alternative course. The narratives show an identity shift from being outsiders in compulsory education to being participants in the alternative course, something which inspires to learn and installs in the students a hope for the future. This article discusses how and to what extent the alternative courses respond to the purpose of education. We argue that even though the alternative courses respond to many features that may represent educational purposes, this is altogether not enough for the courses to qualify as education. For the courses to qualify as education, a tighter connection to the curriculum is necessary. If the educational system does not respond to the students' construction of new identities through enabling pathways towards more formal qualifications, the development of alternative courses with increased workplace practice might lead to an unintended result of further marginalisation, exclusion and social reproduction.

Keywords:

• inclusion
• alternative courses
• vocational educational training
• students' perspectives
• purpose of education

Acknowledgements

We thank Julie Allan for her inspirational support during our visit to Stirling University, UK, during the spring of 2011 and we also thank our anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. We would like to express our thanks to Rogaland County for their contribution, and to the members of the collaborative group following the project. Finally, we are sincerely indebted to the students who participated in the study and thank them tremendously for their time and their trust.

Notes

The official name of the course in 2012 is Special needs education in small groups (extended workplace practice).

A Certificate of Competence is a vocational training certificate awarded as documentation that a student/apprentice has completed 3–5 years of upper secondary education, but has not met the conditions for the award of a diploma or a certificate of completed apprenticeship.