To derive or to drift? Youth in transition between secondary education institutes and second chance schools

Abstract

Reducing the rate of early school leaving continues to be a priority action for educational systems. This article analyses the transition of young people after their failure in the formal education system towards second chance schools (E2O), how their profiles are constructed, how educational trajectories are decided, and the role of educational agents involved in these processes in the Spanish context. The aim of this work is to understand how transitions between these educational institutions and their underlying logic are articulated, as well as the coordination and supposed bidirectionality in their trajectories. The methodology is based on a qualitative approach and the triangulation of agents and instruments. Twenty-four semi-structured interviews were conducted with E2O management officials and nine interviews with tutors or counsellors from secondary education institutes (IES). Subsequently, six discussion groups were held with 47 educators and six discussion groups with 56 young people from 24 E2Os. The results indicate different perspectives from educational agents when analysing the profile of these young people. IES teachers focus to a greater extent on individual factors: demotivation, ruptures, and conflict; whilst E2O professionals have a more holistic and comprehensive view of the young person, incorporating reflections on their social and contextual conditions. It is noted that the logic of coordination between institutions does not always prevail. Young people and their families hardly participate in the decision-making of their own trajectories upon their premature departure from the IES. In some cases, referral and externalization are imposed in the IES. Lastly, some unintended effects of educational policies are identified, as well as some divergences in their application at the regional level, which provide elements for reflection.