Post-school Options Research Articles

“School is not for me”: Young people’s perceptions of being a self-directed learner in a small rural Tasmanian town

The Education Act (2016) was introduced in Tasmania to address the state’s high rates of early school leaving. Such legislative reforms may overlook informal factors that influence educational outcomes. In this paper we argue that a deeper understanding of the underlying drivers of retention and engagement in diverse social and cultural contexts is vital in supporting the Education Act. Drawing on qualitative data, this paper provides insights into how a group of Grade 10 students in a small rural town in Tasmania made the choice to leave school early or continue on to some form of post-compulsory education. Using Berger and Luckmann’s theory of sociology of everyday life together with Bourdieu’s (1990) concepts of social and cultural capital, this paper highlights how perceptions of being a self-directed learner and feelings about the future shaped the young people’s educational decisions. It emphasises how a localised form of social and cultural capital was associated with feelings of failure and anxiety about future learning, whereas a broader form of social and cultural capital was linked with more optimistic perceptions of being a self-directed learner. The paper suggests that the career aspirations, including university study, of young people living in regional areas may be supported through familiarisation with larger regional towns and raising their awareness of post school options.

Understanding student decision-making about VET as a pathway: an Australian study

ABSTRACT Although vocational education and training (VET) can lead to lucrative and fulfilling careers and plays a vital role in skilling workers for contemporary workplaces, it continues to have a low status in schools, among parents, and in the wider community. Many countries are now seeking to enhance the status of VET to increase its uptake by school leavers. The study reported here investigated factors that shape students’ decisions about post-school options and their views about promoting VET as a viable post-school option. Interview and survey data from 176 students from 11 schools and three VET institutions located in metropolitan and regional communities are discussed here. Their decision-making is influenced mainly by the information they received from familiars (i.e. parents, teachers, and friends). They suggest more detailed information about the utility and status of VET and occupations it serves may assist young people to consider it as a viable option.

Understanding student decision-making about VET as a pathway: an Australian study

ABSTRACT Although vocational education and training (VET) can lead to lucrative and fulfilling careers and plays a vital role in skilling workers for contemporary workplaces, it continues to have a low status in schools, among parents and in the wider community. Many countries are now seeking to enhance the status of VET to increase its uptake by school-leavers. The study reported here investigated factors that shape students’ decisions about post-school options and their views about promoting VET as a viable post-school option. Interview and survey data from 176 students from 11 schools and three VET institutions located in metropolitan and regional communities are analysed and discussed. Their decision-making is influenced mainly by the information they received from familiars (parents, teachers and friends). They suggest more detailed information about the utility and status of VET and the occupations it serves may assist young people to consider it as a viable option.

Reconstructing curriculum as philosophy of practice

This is an essay about philosophy and the application of philosophy for social and educational practitioners on a daily basis. It argues that philosophy as social practice, as a way of living, is the great absence in formal education at all levels in many countries around the world. Philosophy is not to be taught in schools but is to be lived through curriculum, pedagogy and assessment. Unfortunately, the institutionalised learning of children is often complicit with neoliberal economic and political dictates (Harvey 2007). This is particularly so when schooling is taken to be primarily concerned with the transmission of knowledge already known. According to the American pragmatist, Dewey (1916), education can be seen as philosophy and philosophy as education when citizens and children actively confront the issues in their own lives and act in such a way as to convert an uncertain situation into one with more certain intent. Personal and collective reflection on the effects of such experience produces human knowledge and, over time, principles and values of mutual historical benefit, for peace and justice. Many neoliberal systems of schooling do not operate in accord with this general proposition. While there is international consensus regarding the central role of primary schooling in supporting the literacy and language development of young children, there is less agreement on the purpose of secondary schooling including subject content to be encountered and outcomes regarding post-school options. Radical reconstruction of the organisation of schooling and approaches to personal knowledge formation are urgently required. Following a brief discussion of current issues to illustrate dominant neoliberal requirements, this paper outlines some key ideas arising from the history of Greek philosophy, considers the significance of American Pragmatism for schooling today and then proposes a philosophical model and approach to curriculum, pedagogy and assessment that fundamentally redirects the purpose of education for all children regardless of socio-economic background. It takes a stand in opposition to pernicious neoliberalism.

Individual planning starts at school. Tools and practices promoting autonomy and supporting transition to work for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder.

There is an increasing need for effective services and strategies to favor the transition from school to post-school/working experience for individuals with disabilities and specifically with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Post-school options are still limited, and most adults with ASD struggle in finding adequate and stable job opportunities. This work analyzes the increasing number of laws issued in Italy in the last decades in order to improve social and working inclusion. The central role of the individual educational planning (IEP) as part of the broader individual project is discussed. Also the potential of pathways for transversal skills and orientation for future employment outcomes is taken into consideration. Good practices promoting autonomy and supporting transition to work starting from school years are reviewed. The international literature shows different models and tools, which could be applied to the Italian school. The COMPASS consultancy model could favor the achievement of individualized transition IEP goals. Peer mediated intervention could improve social skills, a core weakness in ASD, though a central element for success in the workplace. Another key element is the parental involvement in the construction of the future of their children with ASD.

Opportunity to Transition with Dignity: Silos and Trialling in Aotearoa New Zealand

Transition out of school is more than an administrative procedure, biological life stage, or public policy issue; transition is a human right. Yet, community participation in post-school life is challenging, particularly for those with significant disability. Findings from this 6-month ethnographic study confirm that two issues—silos, or breakdowns in collaboration, and trialling post-school options—were impediments to a transition with dignity. Deep examination into the experiences and perspectives of 3 young men demonstrated the challenges they faced in moving from schooling to a life in the community. Their experiences were analysed in a disability studies framework using the capability approach (Nussbaum, 2006; Sen, 1985) to prioritise opportunities to transition with dignity.

Classroom learners of Chinese in senior secondary school

Abstract This study looks at the Chinese-learning experiences of six classroom learners who continued to the end of secondary school in Victoria, Australia, through in-depth interviews. Various systemic deterrents to continued Chinese language study are identified by the participants, including: (1) the schooling journey, including transition between primary and high school and disruption from uninterested students in compulsory classes; (2) the curriculum and the learning demands dictated by the form of assessment; (3) the risk of poor assessment results prejudicing post-school study options, in particular because the cohort includes large numbers of home speaker learners. In Victoria, Australia, a large part of what schools provide is dictated by the metasystem of education and the assessments at which it aims. Thus the structural deterrents to Chinese classroom learner continuation identified are within the power of government agencies to change, in order to enable more of these students to continue.

Equity, Access & Quality Education in Rural Australia

In 2017, SPERA members and supporters were surveyed on their views of rural education. Forty-two participants responded to the online survey through targeted and snowball recruitment. Participants shared their opinions of the main issues in rural education, the challenges facing rural communities and schools, and what they would like to see change to improve the futures of rural youth. There were two consistent themes: concern about access to quality education for all learners and the survival of rural communities. This included worries about isolation, the attraction and retention of teachers, the availability of opportunities for different types of learners and knowledge, insufficient infrastructure, and post-school options for youth. It is noted that these findings are similar to those in other key reports such as the recent Independent Review into Regional, Rural and Remote Education, 2000 Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) Report and the 1987 Schooling in Rural Australia Report, with their persistence a disappointing concern for education in Australia.

Evaluation of an Innovative Interest-Based Post-School Transition Programme for Young People with Autism Spectrum Disorder

After leaving school, young people with autism spectrum disorder often struggle with social, educational and employment participation. A post-school transition programme underpinned by individualised case management, where mentees are guided to complete self-selected projects by mentors with multimedia skills, was evaluated using a qualitative approach. The programme’s impact on mentees’ social participation, emotional well-being, project skills and awareness of and transition to post-school options was examined. Eleven mentees (17–21 years), 12 family members and 7 mentors participated in semi-structured interviews. Mentors completed fortnightly records. Findings included positive impacts on mentees’ motivation and enjoyment, social participation, emotional well-being and skill development; and an appreciation of the programme flexibility and the high-quality mentor–mentee relationships. Some mentees developed their awareness of future options, while others struggled to articulate their goals. Two of 11 mentees transitioned to further education. Overall, the programme appeared to fulfil a critical need for nurturing, post-school transition programmes.

Beyond aspirations: addressing the unique barriers faced by rural Australian students contemplating university

Central to the widening participation agenda in Australia is a focus on rural and regional students given their continued underrepresentation in higher education. The ACT University Experience camp is a joint venture by the Country Education Foundation Australia, the University of Canberra and the Australian National University providing academically able rural students a first-hand experience of university and city life. Utilising both quantitative and qualitative methods, the current research explored the unique factors affecting rural students’ transition to higher education. Along with increasingly positive views about university, students reported greater understanding of their post-school options and greater confidence in making this choice. Students’ descriptions of their imagined futures highlighted the strong connection between these young people and their families and communities, emphasising the need for a continued focus on the unique aspects of rural young people in securing their educational and occupational futures.

Post-school options for young adults with intellectual disabilities in Sweden

The aim of this article is to examine life after school for young adults with intellectual disabilities in Sweden. It identifies a snapshot of the post-school destination in 2011 of students of Swedish Upper Secondary Schools for Pupils with Intellectual Disability (Special Secondary Schools), who graduated between 2001 and 2011. This national registry study used personal identification numbers to link data for about 12,269 former students in the Halmstad University Register on Pupils with Intellectual Disability with data about labour market participation and service provision under the Swedish disability legislation (Swedish LSS Act, 1994, the Act Concerning Support and Service for Persons With Certain Functional Impairment). Results showed that the largest proportion (47%) of former students participated in disability day programs, known as “daily activities”; 22.4% were employed, most with some type of wage subsidy; and 6.6% participated in various types of further education programs. A sizeable group (24%) were described as being “elsewhere”, not engaged in employment, education, or disability day programs. The type of post-school occupation is associated with gender, the type of educational program undertaken at secondary school, and age. The authors found a high risk of young people with intellectual disabilities falling through safety-net welfare or post-school participation provisions. Even in a country such as Sweden, which has comprehensive post-school programs, almost a quarter of young adults with intellectual disabilities were socially excluded, without education, disability day programs, or employment.

Moving elite athletes forward: examining the status of secondary school elite athlete programmes and available post-school options

Purpose: The purpose of this study focused specifically on examining the status of and the promotion of two elite athlete programmes (EAPs), the students/elite athlete selection process and available post-school options. The research was guided by Michel Foucault's work in understanding the relationship between power and knowledge.Participants, setting and research design: Two EAPs, a state school with a sport academy option (School A) and a private correspondence school designed specifically for elite athletes (School B), were purposefully selected for the study. Twenty key informant elite athletes and five teachers/coaches became central to the ongoing qualitative data collection for this study.Data collection: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with key informants and teachers/coaches. During the class visits, field notes were recorded using a digital recorder focusing upon key informants' reactions to the course content, their learning experiences and the social interactions between key informants and teachers/coaches. Documents were also collected to contextualise the two EAPs.Data analysis: First, I analysed the data following the method of constant comparison using NVivo, a software package that assists researchers in the analysis of qualitative data. This involved coding the data to identify key themes. After the data were clustered into key themes, I examined the discourses within the themes that positioned both teachers/coaches and elite athletes in particular power relationships using Foucauldian theory.Findings: The findings revealed that elitism within the ranks of the EAP created tension and jealousy amongst the elite athletes as some were more highly prized than others. Furthermore, the elite athletes and sponsors promoted the EAPs and in turn the EAPs and sponsors promoted the achievements and successes of the elite athletes as their skills and knowledge were highly valued in comparison to other students within the school. The EAPs also offered limited post-school options of obtaining an athletic scholarship to study at a university and/or to become a professional athlete.Conclusions: Foucault's theoretical framework of govermentality helped map how the EAPs were talked about within discourses of power, and assisted in understanding how acceptance and resistance by participants normalised practices of social exclusion. The data highlighted the need for EAPs to provide more information about possible post-school options and to develop a critical orientation to the labour market, recognising the relationships between elite sports, knowledge, skills, credentials and post-school options.

Transición a la vida adulta de jóvenes con discapacidad intelectual. La opinión de los profesionales de servicios escolar.../Transition to adulthood of young people with intellectual disabilities, views fo professionals from school and postschool services

ABSTRACT The transition to adulthood and working life is an extremely complex process for youth with disabilities. The diagnosis of the context in which young people with intellectual disabilities develop their transition to adult life is essential to make proposals that improve social and work inclusion. This article presents a study in which Delphi method has been applied in order to obtain data on the adequacy of the services that work with young people with disabilities throughout their transition to adulthood and active life. Two panels of experts, the first one with educational professionals and the second one professionals working with afterschool services, were asked about the following topics: vision of the transition process, curricular and organizational aspects of the services, support itineraries, collaboration between professionals, family counseling, adequacy of post-school options, professional training, and service coordination. The analysis of the questionnaires allowed us to identify the main barriers perceived by experts in each of the topics and to provide basic guidelines for improving transition processes. The need for reinforcing the role of multidisciplinary teams and enhancing interdisciplinary work are some of the findings of this research.

Special Issue: Transitions for Students With Special Educational Needs

For learners with special educational needs (SEN) an area of particular challenge occurs frequently during transition times. There are a range of inter- and intra-school periods when major changeovers are required. Preparing to enter school, moving from primary to secondary schooling, and leaving school into postschool options are all very demanding times, especially for youngsters who have difficulty with changing routines. Moving between activities, subjects, teachers, classrooms, and year groups are also very demanding tasks for some students. This special issue of the Australasian Journal of Special Education includes a series of papers that consider aspects of school transitions for learners with SEN. The papers address transitions between primary and secondary schools and into postschool options focusing on research and innovations for providing positive learning outcomes for learners with disabilities, learning difficulties, or with autism spectrum disorder from across the Asia-Pacific region.

Schooling Transitions Within the Lifespan of People With an Intellectual Disability: Perceptions and Recommendations of Ageing Mothers

In this paper the authors examine the perceptions of mothers about the schooling transitions, including transitions to postschool options, made by their adult child with an intellectual disability (ID). Twenty mothers of an adult child with an ID living in New South Wales, Australia, and the Czech Republic, aged 48 years or older, were recruited to participate in this study. Mothers were interviewed following a semistructured protocol. The audiotaped interviews were transcribed verbatim, and analysed using a constant comparison analytic approach.The experiences and issues faced by mothers at differing transitions of their adult child with an ID will be discussed, including issues of school selection, lifelong planning, and engaging with professionals. Common and unique themes within and between each country will be drawn, along with a comparison of findings from recent research reporting on transition experiences of mothers with young children with ID. The concluding discussion will focus on lessons learned about lifelong transition experiences, and pose future directions for enhancing the quality of transitions for persons with special needs and their families.

Students' Perceptions of Learning, Post-school Options and Status in Two Elite Athlete Programmes

Students' Perceptions of Learning, Post-school Options and Status in Two Elite Athlete Programmes

Aligning and Inventing Practices to Achieve Inclusive Assessment Policies: A decade of work toward optimal access for US students with disabilities 2001–2011

The decade following the publication of the No Child Left Behind Act 2001 was an innovative period with respect to inclusive assessment practices for students with disabilities (SWDs). As the United States educational policies under the Obama Administration’s Race to the Top initiative re-conceive the inclusion of SWDs in state assessment-based accountability systems, there is hope that the next generation of general assessments will better serve the principle of promoting access to the general education curriculum for SWDs, and will move beyond access to foster their inclusion in post-school college and career options to the maximum extent possible. The present paper traces some important “lessons learned” in the development of inclusive assessments over the past decade for students with disabilities, and makes recommendations for the direction of future assessment research for the incorporation and extension of these innovations.

A lost opportunity? Vocational education in physical education

Background: Vocational education in Australia and elsewhere has a history of being gendered and classed, thereby limiting the post-school options of students undertaking this form of study. Drawing on Foucauldian theory, the authors used Gore's eight techniques of power to examine the micro-functioning of power relations at two case sites. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine learning outcomes of Physical Recreation (PR), motivation of students selecting PR, and the implications of training in this vocationally-oriented subject in terms of their learning and post-school options. More specifically, we explored the following research questions: what motivated students to select PR; what were the learning outcomes for PR students and what did PR students perceive as their post-school options. Participants, setting and research design: Two schools (Seinfeld and Bedrock), each with different socio-economic and PR strand composition, were purposefully selected for the study. The PR Year 11 and 12 students, aged 15–19 years, at both schools were invited to complete an introductory survey. From the survey data 12 key informant students, two teachers and two teacher aides became central to the ongoing qualitative data collection for this study. Data collection: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with key informant students (one to four interviews), teachers (two to three) and teachers’ aides (one to two). During the class visits, field notes were recorded using a hand-held tape recorder focusing upon key informants’ reactions to course content, their learning experiences, and the social interactions between key informants and teachers. Documents were also collected to contextualize PR. Data analysis: First, the authors analyzed the data following the method of constant comparison using NVivo, a software package that assists researchers in the analysis of qualitative or text-based data. The authors analyzed the units emerging from the data and the placement of those units into key themes. After the data were clustered into key themes, the authors examined the discourses within the themes that positioned both teachers and students in particular power relationships using Gore's eight techniques of power. Findings: Results indicated that the students selected PR based on the expectation of minimal academic requirements. The students’ learning focused on technical skills using logbooks to monitor their completion of modules for certification rather than more complex and engaging tasks. The binary system of vocational and academic streams of learning impacted the career pathway options available to students undertaking PR and teacher expectations of the students’ post-school options. There was a lack of interest (or willingness of teachers to take action) and resources invested in post-school options for PR students, contributing to limited life pathway options. Conclusions: The authors concluded that a curriculum model of physical education that has a vocational orientation could be beneficial to the schooling of senior secondary students. In order for students to receive favourable outcomes, it must employ educational content and pedagogies that offer alternatives to competency-based training and provides students with a range of post-school options.

Young people’s aspirations for education, work, family and leisure

Young people are arguably facing more ‘complex and contested’ transitions to adulthood and an increasing array of ‘non-linear’ paths. Education and training have been extended, identity is increasingly shaped through leisure and consumerism and youth must navigate their life trajectories in highly individualised ways. The study utilises 819 short essays compiled by students aged 14–16 years from 19 schools in Australia. It examines how young people understand their own unique positions and the possibilities open to them through their aspirations and future orientations to employment and family life. These young people do not anticipate postponing work identities, but rather embrace post-school options such as gaining qualifications, work experience and achieving financial security. Boys expected a distant involvement in family life secondary to participation in paid work. In contrast, around half the girls simultaneously expected a future involving primary care-giving and an autonomous, independent career, suggesting attempts to remake gendered inequalities.

Transitions from school for young adults with intellectual disability: Parental perspectives on “life as an adjustment”

Background Few studies have investigated transition programs and outcomes for young adults with disabilities as viewed from the parent perspective. The current Australian study provided a voice for parents to report on the experiences of and outcomes for young adults following their recent transition from school into post-school life.Method A mailed survey gathered statewide data from parents (N = 218) whose family member had completed schooling at a secondary or special school. The majority of those participating were parents of adults with intellectual disability and high support needs.Results Findings detail school preparation for employment, community activities, and daily living; parent and student involvement in transition goal-setting; and post-school outcomes for young adults and their families.Conclusions Parental reflections on family adjustment and life satisfaction for the young adult since leaving school highlight the lack of post-school options and the impact of these circumstances on the whole family.