Educating on the margins: young people's insights into effective alternative education

ABSTRACT

Like many countries, Australia has persistent rates of school exclusion, juvenile offending and recidivism. In response, there has been a growth of ‘alternative education’ provision – interventions that support young people to engage with learning opportunities outside the conventional education system. While alternative education programs educate more than 70,000 students each year across Australia, evidence of their effectiveness is lacking. There is a need to expand understandings of how alternative education provision works in practice, and what models best fit the complex needs of different groups of young people. This paper reports on Out Teach Mobile Education – an individualised alternative education program run by Save the Children, Tasmania. This unique program, operating out of a van, aims to engage young people, who have been involved with the criminal justice system, in further education and employment opportunities. In the paper, the young people involved identify how and why they believe the program works. The young people's perspectives provide valuable understandings of how ‘meaningful education’ in one specific program looks to the individuals involved. The article concludes by arguing that an authentic assessment of alternative education programs must include the voices of the young people whose lives these programs are aimed at improving.

KEYWORDS:

• Alternative education
• flexible education
• inclusive education
• disadvantaged youth
• social justice and education

Disclosure statement

In accordance with Taylor & Francis policy and our ethical obligations as researchers, we are reporting that this article draws on data collected as part of an independent evaluation of Save the Children's Out Teach Mobile Education program. We have disclosed those interests fully to Taylor & Francis.

Notes on contributors

Kristin Reimer is a Lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Monash University, focusing on educational access, and restorative justice. Her research focuses broadly on social engagement and relational approaches in education exploring how approaches such as restorative justice can be used to facilitate educational spaces characterised by mutuality rather than control.

Luci Pangrazio is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Research for Educational Impact (REDI), in the Faculty of Arts & Education, Deakin University. Her research focuses on young people's literacies, specifically digital literacies and digital literacy education. Luci is currently studying young people's practices and understandings of personal data. Her research interests include digital literacies, data literacies, and creative and critical research methods.

ORCID

Kristin Reimer http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2627-3598

Luci Pangrazio http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7346-1313