Education strategies for social inclusion or marginalising the marginalised?

Abstract

Education is the pathway that prepares young people for economic independence and social mobility in adulthood. However, school has not always been an experience that leads to success and quality of life. Opportunities and outcomes remain unequal, and subtle barriers are often entrenched in the school system, in themselves the cause of social exclusion. This paper draws on a select review of international studies of young people in historically vulnerable groups to investigate these issues, and finds that mainstream policy and educational institutions have yet to change focus from what is wrong with youth and the policy rhetoric around youth at risk, to what may be wrong with schooling and the consequent need of taking more wide-ranging actions. It also shows that when provided with an opportunity to reflect upon their experiences of education, young people can offer insights into those procedures and actions which have either supported or inhibited their learning. In too many instances, an expression of desire to listen to the voices of young people has been little more than a tokenistic gesture to appease the requirements of legislation or well-intentioned policies. The paper concludes with some conceptual platforms for transnational policy considerations.

Keywords:

• schooling
• exclusion
• risk
• ethnicity
• sexuality

Acknowledgement

I would like to express my gratitude to the anonymous reviewers for their comments.

Notes

1. OECD Programme for International Student Assessment.

2. Source: Labour Force Survey (LFS) yearly data 2009; early school leavers are persons between 15 and 24 years with at most International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) level 0–2 and no further education during last 4 weeks; migrant background for this data means country of birth and/or nationality which differ(s) from country of actual residence; table includes only countries with reliable indicators.

3. http://www.ec.europa.eu/education/school-education/doc/earlycom_en.pdf.

4. For further reading of earlier studies of effective strategies to reduce early school leaving, see Tilleczek (2008); Schargel and Smink (2001); Rumberger (2001); Health Canada (1999); Shannon and Bylsma (2003) cited in Tilleczek et al. (2011).

5. In the period up to 2018, European cooperation in the youth field should be implemented by means of a renewed open method of coordination, and should draw on the overall objectives, dual approach and main fields of action outlined in the Resolution http://www.ec.europa.eu/youth/pdf/doc1648_en.pdf.