From discrete intervention to engage marginalised students to whole-school initiative to engage all students

ABSTRACT

An enduring educational dilemma is that young people from economically disadvantaged backgrounds do not have their needs met in conventional schooling. As a result, many have left school by Year 11. To counter this trend, some schools in disadvantaged areas introduce targeted in-school interventions before Year 11 to meet the needs of their students. Many of these interventions, which are highly successful in engaging students and supporting them to achieve, have insights to offer schools, but they remain on the margins as programmes for particular young people. However, a government secondary school in Victoria, Australia has been an exception. It was inspired to apply aspects of a successful intervention, Hands On Learning, to a whole-school initiative to enhance the engagement of all of its students. I used a case-study approach to investigate the initiative’s first year of implementation. Findings revealed that the majority of students did report engagement. However, economically disadvantaged students faced barriers to full participation that negatively impacted their learning experiences. The inequitable distribution of educational benefits demonstrated that whole-school adaptation of an intervention is not straightforward and unless the needs of disadvantaged students are targeted in the whole-school initiative, they are likely to experience educational disadvantage.

KEYWORDS:

• Marginalised students
• disadvantage
• equity
• engagement
• intervention
• whole-school

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to acknowledge the constructive comments of the anonymous reviewers, which helped to strengthen the paper and the support provided in the preparation of this manuscript by Professor Kitty te Riele and Doctor Alison Baker.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on Contributor

Maggie Callingham has taught in primary, secondary, community, TAFE and university contexts, in both paid and volunteer capacities. She was principal of an independent primary school. Maggie’s interest is in democratic forms of education that engage young people in authentic learning that meets their needs and provides meaningful learning opportunities and outcomes. Her particular passion is in ways schools can engage young people who tend to be marginalized in conventional schooling and this is the focus of her current Ph.D.

Notes

1. http://handsonlearning.org.au/.

2. McClelland College. 2013a. “Job Description.”

3. McClelland College. 2013b. “Invitation to the Grand Opening of the McClelland College Hands On Learning Hut.”

4. Lanarus, T. 2013a. “McClelland Academy Program: Staff Presentation.”

5. McClelland College. 2013c. “MAP Parent Information.”

6. McClelland College. 2013d. “MAP Discussion Paper.”

7. McClelland College. 2014. “McClelland Academy Program Parent Policy.”

8. Lanarus, T. 2013b. “MAP Planning for Headstart and 2014.”

Additional information

Funding

The author’s Ph.D. Scholarship is supported through the Australian Government’s Collaborative Research Networks (CRN) programme.