Chance Schools Research Articles

Social interconnection as a factor of the effectiveness of Second Chance Schools. A case study from a Detention Center in Greece

This paper refers to the importance of social interconnection between a Second Chance School (S.C.S.) in a detention center and the local community. The research was based on the qualitative approach and on the tool of the semi-structured interview for the collection of research data. Six trainers, eight trainees and the Director of the 2nd S.C.S. of Patras, were the sample of the research, while the technique of content analysis was chosen for the analysis of the data. The results of the survey show that there is a positive effect of the school's openness in achieving its educational objectives. In particular, social interconnection actions contribute to personal development, professional and educational vigilance, the acquisition of social skills, the change of attitudes and, to a lesser extent, to post-internment re-socialization. In addition, in order to improve the effectiveness of these actions, it is proposed that they are organized on a more stable and regular basis, as well as to focus mainly on vocational guidance.

Introducing a Study of Second Chance School Teachers from the Self-reflection Perspective of Discourse Analysis and Ethnomethodology

Introducing a Study of Second Chance School Teachers from the Self-reflection Perspective of Discourse Analysis and Ethnomethodology

Second chance schools: background, training and current instructional practices of teachers

PurposeThe objective of the present study was to assess which teachers hired to teach secondary school dropouts are most likely to adapt their practices to match their students' characteristics. Chile recently initiated a system “second chance” schools for dropouts. Most of the teaching staff were recruited from the secondary schools from which the students had withdrawn. There was little variation in instructional practices or schedules. The second chance schools provide intensive instruction, small classes and flexibility in schedules and sequence of courses. The study sought to identify the teachers most likely to adapt old practices or learn new ones in order to provide students a different educational experience than that offered in conventional secondary schools.Design/methodology/approachThe sampling design for this study was developed by the Statistics Department of the Ministry of Education. Taking enrollment into account, they randomly selected second chance schools from 13 of Chile's 16 regions. Then, they randomly selected 617 teachers from 38 of the selected schools. The teachers were invited to respond to a self-administered survey questionnaire that covered beliefs about and attitudes toward dropouts, and frequency of use of different teaching methods. The analytical procedures used include nonparametric correlations and logit regression.FindingsTeaching methods in the second chance schools are influenced mostly by type of in-service training and not by student characteristics. Most teachers expect most students to graduate; teachers with more years of teaching are the least optimistic.Originality/valueRelatively little research on second chance schools has been published in Latin America. The Second Opportunity Schools are the first effort in Chile to provide public secondary school to dropouts. The study provides detailed information about background and training linked to current teachers' instructional practices. The findings suggest actions that can be taken to improve the new schools.

Investigating the Effects of Sociodemographic Characteristics on Psychological Factors That Impact on Educational Process of Adult Learners in Second Chance Schools in Greece

The present study deals with the influence of various psychological factors faced by adults during the educational process at Second Chance Schools in Greece. We studied how the feelings of shame, anxiety and depression were associated with the demographic characteristics of the adult learners of these schools. Ninety-five trainees took part in the research whose results indicated that socio-demographic characteristics have an impact on psychological factors that can contribute to the educational process of adult learners. 
 
 Sex and marital status were related to the feeling of shame (especially the body shame) and this may be an inhibitory factor to initial integration in or continuation with the studies in SCSs. Single and employed individuals were less vulnerable to development of depression and anxiety disorders, which has been found to have a negative effect on academic achievement. Based on such aspects, counseling approaches and interventions could be designed and implemented by Counselors Psychologists to improve the counseling services provided by the SCSs.

Https://www.ijopr.com/article/an-evaluation-of-second-chance-schools-in-greece-a-national-survey-of-educators-perceptions-10903

The purpose of the present paper is to investigate educators’ perceptions regarding the evaluation of the institution of Second Chance Schools in Greece (SCS) that also operate inside correctional centers (SCSCC). Second chance education is a European programme within the framework of fighting against social exclusion that aims at early school leavers and adult prisoners, who have not completed the compulsory secondary education. A cross-national survey was carried out using a self-reported questionnaire with 367 participants that work in SCS and SCSCC. The outcomes of the study reveal that SCS and SCSCC educators can recognize the ‘curriculum’, the ‘infrastructure’ and the ‘opportunities of socioeconomic integration’ as major factors of SCS evaluation. The educators are generally satisfied with the curriculum and the opportunities of socioeconomic integration provided and have a neutral opinion about infrastructure. According to the findings, infrastructure is evaluated better in SCS located in continental Greece compared to insular located SCS and curriculum is better evaluated by principals and teachers who had completed postgraduate studies. However, teachers working in SCSCC were less satisfied with the opportunities of socioeconomic integration compared to teachers working in SCS.

Back to school: From dropout to Second Chance Schools

In this article, we explore the reasons why individuals who have dropped out of compulsory education in Greece return as adults to the educational system, particularly to Second Chance Schools. Second Chance Schools were planned and funded by the European Union two decades ago so that member states could offset the consequences of student dropout rates and counter social exclusion. In order to answer the question, during the school year 2018–1019, we carried out 23 semi-structured interviews with individuals who were attending Second Chance Schools in the prefecture of Eleia (Western Greece) or had graduated in previous years. The interviews were analysed using the Qualitative Content Analysis method. Four categories of reasons emerged from the analysis (instrumental reasons, inner needs, combined reasons and the influence of ‘significant others’) which reflect the varied ways of perceiving and utilizing Second Chance Schools. Although the majority of the participants belong to financially and socially impoverished strata, they do not face unemployment or marginalization. The use of the institution of Second Chance Schools in this particular area seems to be moving from reasons associated with social exclusion towards the fulfilment of other needs that were created by dropping out of compulsory education.

Teaching Loops At Second Chance Schools (SCS) Using Microworlds

Computing Grammar is a basic part of the Second Chance School degree course. It provides agilities in order to improve the student’s position in the digital world. The degree course is open for all at Second Chance Schools. The teacher according to the students’ needs and beliefs provides the guidelines to be followed. They can be updated from time to time. Teaching loops is elementary in the algorithm theory. In High Schools loops and algorithms are the main field at computing lessons. The usage of Microworlds software is up to the teacher in recent years. This phenomenon is very rare at Second Chance schools and this is the first time that it is implemented. Using a poll, students’ beliefs and views were stored and analyzed by the usage of statistical software in order to extract the results. Family situation, work and age constitute a strong factor of the student’s agilities. Sex does not make any difference, fact that is confirmed by other researches.

Scientific Literacy in Second Chance Schools: Training Science Teachers to Design Context-based Curricula

Second Chance Schools (SCSs) were established in Greece in 1997 in an effort to provide literacy skills to adult school dropouts in order to facilitate their reintegration into society. Science teachers working in SCSs face the challenge of developing scientific literacy-oriented curricula according to the needs of their students. However, empirical data show that most teachers, influenced by their previous classroom experiences in formal education, design theory-laden curricula that aim to introduce SCSs' students to the content of science. This study presents the methodology and results of a two-day constructivist teacher-training workshop which is aimed at changing seven SCSs' science teachers' criteria when selecting and designing topics for their scientific literacy curricula. The analysis and evaluation of the workshop indicated that while science teachers were able to make the critical shift to the selection of topics in line with students' needs (the new topics focused on real-context science-related situations relevant to their students' personal, vocational and social experiences), weaknesses were detected in the science teachers' practices related to the nature of science and the use of scientific knowledge within the context-based issues. The results of this pilot study may be useful to similar teacher training programs that focus on the designing of innovative curricula.

Best Practices in the Development of Transversal Competences among Youths in Vulnerable Situations

(1) Background: The aim of Second Chance Schools (E2Cs) is to provide employment-focused training for young people who left compulsory education without any formal qualifications by encouraging them to pursue initial vocational training. Transversal Competences (TCs) are important for enabling the social inclusion of young people in vulnerable situations by promoting their entry into the labour market. However, TCs are not always systematically developed. The objective of this study is to analyse good practices in inculcating these skills in this group of young people. (2) Methods: In-depth case studies were conducted in six best-practice schools. The following methods were used in the studies: questionnaires to school; a checklist to analyse the teaching materials used: an interview with the people responsible for the programme; an interview with students; and a questionnaire to representatives from the business sector. (3) Results: The six E2Cs attached great importance to TCs, which were taught specifically through a student-centred, active, varied and collaborative methodology that was periodically reviewed and adapted to students’ needs. TCs were evaluated before, during, and after the process was completed. (4) Conclusions: The results identified specific key elements for promoting the development of TCs that could be transferred to other schools and, consequently, could have implications for education policies in this field.

Will the pandemic change schools?

PurposeThis essay offers a perspective for practitioners and decision-makers to look beyond short-term recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and consider longer-term consequences that it may have on schools.Design/methodology/approachIn this essay, I discuss some general observations about education during the pandemic and then provide a perspective to some issues related to educational inequalities and learning from home during the pandemic. The essay is informed by recent media articles and reports of national and international institutions.FindingsThis essay makes three claims: Despite high hopes, there is only a little chance schools will change as a consequence of this pandemic without bold and brave shifts in mindset in how that change happens. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the effects of preexisting social and educational inequalities; fixing these would be an important consequence of the pandemic. During school closures, learning from home has been mostly based on the old logic of consuming information and knowledge rather than creating or cocreating new ideas and solutions to real-life problems.Research limitations/implicationsThis is an essay that offers evidence-informed perspectives to current development in education, and it should not be treated as a research-based article.Originality/valueThis essay will contribute to the evolving public conversation and professional debate on the future of school education. It will be part of the series of essays that will support those who are seeking to not just adapt to meet the pandemic but also to step back and consider the medium to longer-term implications.

Evaluation of Greek Second Chance Schools in Prison by Detainees

Evaluation of Greek Second Chance Schools in Prison by Detainees

Teachers’ identities in second chance schools: A comparative analysis of Buenos Aires and Barcelona

Second Chance Schools (SCS) aim to provide excluded young people with new opportunities for educational success. However, there is scarce research on teachers’ identities as a crucial factor in understanding how these schools operate as sites of educational inclusion. Based on a comparison between SCS in Buenos Aires and Barcelona, this article argues that this modality of schooling contributes to the configuration of a dominant teacher identity, distant from that forged during the emergence of modern secondary schooling. Three elements feature this identity: the ethics of care, the personalization of teaching and the conception of teaching as a collective endeavour.

The Size of Schools affects the Public Annual Average Cost? Empirical Evidence from Second Chance Schools in Greece

Ένα από τα προβλήματα που αντιμετωπίζουν οι οικονομολόγοι στον χώρο της εκπαίδευσης και οι υπεύθυνοι για τη λήψης αποφάσεων για τα συστήματα της εκπαίδευσης και της διά βίου μάθησης είναι το κατά πόσον το μέγεθος των μονάδων εκπαίδευσης και δια βίου μάθησης επηρεάζει το ετήσιο δημόσιο μέσο κόστος, καθώς και την προσέγγιση του βέλτιστου μεγέθους των εκπαιδευτικών μονάδων. Η εργασία εξετάζει το παραπάνω πρόβλημα στην περίπτωση των σχολείων δεύτερης ευκαιρίας στην Ελλάδα. Τα σχολεία δεύτερης ευκαιρίας αποτελούν μια δομή της δια βίου μάθησης. Η εργασία βασίζεται στη θεωρία του κόστους και χρησιμοποιεί δεδομένα που προέρχονται από το Υπουργείο Παιδείας, Έρευνας και Θρησκευμάτων και από έρευνα που διεξήχθη το έτος 2015. Τα δεδομένα καλύπτουν το εκπαιδευτικό έτος 2014-2015. Η εμπειρική ανάλυση αποκαλύπτει ότι όταν αυξάνεται το μέγεθος των μονάδων δια βίου μάθησης, το ετήσιο δημόσιο μέσο κόστος μειώνεται στο ελάχιστο και στη συνέχεια αυξάνεται. Το βέλτιστο μέγεθος των μονάδων δια βίου μάθησης είναι μεγαλύτερο από το μέγεθος των υφιστάμενων μονάδων. Μια νέα δομή του συστήματος με την προσαρμογή των μονάδων στο βέλτιστο μέγεθος, θα μειώσει το ετήσιο δημόσιο μέσο κόστος.

Perceptions of participants’ incentives and attitude of Second Chance School learners

Perceptions of participants’ incentives and attitude of Second Chance School learners

EFL at Greek Second Chance Schools: Examining the Learning Needs of Muslim Adult Learners

Discussions pertaining to minorities and their issues in education have recently been particularly heated in Greece, as changes which have occurred in Greece, Europe and at an international level, have triggered political and social turmoil and a reevaluation of cultural identities. The present paper attempts to contribute to this debate, concentrating on the Greek Muslim minority and their attempt to learn English as a foreign language (EFL) at Second Chance Schools (SCSs). The aim of this research is to explore Muslim individuals’ learning needs in relation to EFL at SCSs, the reasons which prompt them to learn the foreign language, as well as the difficulties they encounter in their quest for this knowledge. Therefore, both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection were applied to increase the credibility and validity of the results. In addition, the issue was examined through the perspective of both learners and adult educators in order to present a more comprehensive picture of the situation. The findings have shown that Muslim learners have associated the benefits of learning English with practical matters such as communicating while travelling abroad and enhancing their professional prospects. As for the learning obstacles they face, these pertain to typical issues in adult learning such as lack of time and fatigue, as well as their deficient knowledge of the Greek language, which can interfere with their learning. Finally, both learners and instructors agree that learning English at SCSs could be upgraded with more teaching hours per week and appropriate infrastructure.

The Challenges of the Inmates’ Adult Educator. A Greek Case Study

The inmates’ adult educator implements the principles of adult education in the enclosed prison environment and makes efforts to reintegrate them socially. In Greece, inmates’ adult educators mainly work in Second Chance Schools (SCS) operating in prisons. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the challenges encountered by inmates’ adult educators at the Second Chance School of Chania Prison. The qualitative method was used in this research. According to the results of the survey, the inmates’ adult educators of the SCS of Chania Prison believe the challenges they encounter derive mainly from the conditions of imprisonment and the inelastic way of prison operation. In addition, they consider that several barriers arise from the particular characteristics of the prisoners and from the deficiencies of the inmates’ adult educators themselves.

A Foucauldian disciplinary theorisation of inmate education in the Second Chance Schools in Greek prisons: A case study

The objective of this paper, which makes use of the concepts of power and discipline from Michel Foucault’s theoretical framework, is the investigation of the impact that the manner of operation of a Second Chance School (SCS) has on the disciplinary work of a prison in Greece. The research was carried out using semi-structured interviews with the learners in the SCS and with those responsible for education in the particular prison. The main findings of the research revealed that the working of the SCS made a positive contribution to the disciplinary work of the prison, which was ensured through the application of a range of disciplinary techniques and mechanisms. In addition, the disciplinary mechanisms that were implemented were the hierarchical surveillance of the learners through the ‘gaze’ of the teachers, the maintenance of an attendance register, the existence of camera and a guard outside the space of the classrooms, as well as the disciplinary examination of the learners.

Initial vocational education and training in a second chance school in Andalusia (Spain): A case study

Since the last decade of the twentieth century, school systems have confronted the dialectic between those increasingly widespread policies primarily aimed at increasing productivity and efficiency and other policies focussed on equity and educational and social inclusion. In this inherently contradictory scenario, in order to improve their inclusive capacity, school systems usually design programmes aimed specifically for delivery to their most vulnerable students. Paradoxically, these differentiated programmes can themselves produce or enhance outcomes of segregation. To highlight this dilemma, in this article, we present the case of a second chance Spanish school, which has developed an alternative educational model explicitly intended to reduce these effects. Specifically, we analyse its Initial Vocational Education and Training Program, which is constructed for those students who, given their problematic scholastic trajectory, do not have even the possibility of completing lower secondary education. As a result, they run a serious risk of early school leaving, of unemployment and of social exclusion. Although this is a single case study, the model developed by this school offers various pedagogical alternatives to conventional programming that could be applied, with appropriate adjustments to local circumstances, in other national and international contexts.

A második esély problematikája az oktatási rendszerben

This paper reviews second chance opportunities in the education system of Hungary. It revises early school leaving data, changes in second chance schools in recent decades, and the questions of equivalence of the qualifications achieved in adulthood. If early school leavers do not receive a second chance their marginalisation is inevitable.

How can a second chance school support young adults’ transition back to education?

How can a second chance school support young adults’ transition back to education?