Exploring New Ways to Address Early School Leaving

A special issue of Social Sciences (ISSN 2076-0760).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 February 2024) | Viewed by 5071

Special Issue Editor

Departamento de Educación y Psicología Social, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, 41013 Sevilla, Spain
Interests: pedagogy; gender studies; early school leaving; gamification
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are calling for submissions of articles for the monograph "Exploring New Ways to Address Early School Leaving". The aim of this monograph is to explore new ways to tackle early school leaving and the associated strategies. We are looking for research articles that address early school leaving from theoretical and/or empirical perspectives, including prevention, impact and mitigation of early school leaving.

We are expecting articles that address topics such as:

  • Research on risk factors associated with early school leaving;
  • Research on the social, economic and educational effects of early school leaving;
  • Research on new theoretical frameworks to explore early school leaving;
  • Research on new methodological approaches to tackle early school leaving;
  • Research on the implementation of new strategies to address early school leaving;
  • Research on the evaluation of programs to prevent early school leaving;
  • Research on tracking and data collection tools to facilitate analysis of early school leaving prevention;
  • Research on educational policies that may contribute to the reduction of early school leaving, with a particular emphasis on lifelong learning policies across different national contexts;
  • Case studies on successful programs to address early school leaving.

Articles must be original, unpublished, and not submitted to another site for publication. Both empirical and theoretical research will be equally welcome. Conceptual articles will also be accepted. Authors from different nationalities and contexts are invited to participate, as it is intended that through this monograph, a map will be developed to show different approaches to the phenomenon, with a particular emphasis on national policies that are currently being developed. Articles will be reviewed by experts in the field, and those accepted for publication will be published in the monograph. 

Dr. Laura M. Guerrero Puerta
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Social Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (4 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Other

14 pages, 287 KiB  
Article
Student Grouping: Investigating a Socio-Educational Practice in a Public School in Portugal
by Armando Loureiro and Marta de Oliveira Rodrigues
Soc. Sci. 2024, 13(3), 141; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13030141 - 03 Mar 2024
Viewed by 582
Abstract
Social inclusion of children and young people and the curbing of school failure, dropout, and early school leaving is are central concerns of the European educational policy and are seen as means to prevent unemployment, poverty, and social exclusion. In Portugal, as in [...] Read more.
Social inclusion of children and young people and the curbing of school failure, dropout, and early school leaving is are central concerns of the European educational policy and are seen as means to prevent unemployment, poverty, and social exclusion. In Portugal, as in other European countries, to address this issue, several programs have been designed and developed. This article aims to investigate how teachers, technicians, and parents involved in a socio-educational practice of student grouping envisage processes that contribute to overcoming school failure, dropout, and early school leaving. This qualitative case study took place in a Portuguese municipality within a school-based nationwide intervention programme. From the voices of the educational agents consulted, some vectors of institutional, dispositional, and situational dimensions were identified that contribute to overcoming ‘barriers to access and participation in education’, which promote some changes among students at an individual level. The research findings highlight processes, factors, and logics of action that allow teachers to work closely with their students and tailor the pace and curriculum contents to their needs, thereby enhancing students’ academic performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring New Ways to Address Early School Leaving)
24 pages, 739 KiB  
Article
Dual Vocational Education and Training Policy in Andalusia: The Nexus between the Education System and the Business Sector in the Higher-Level Training Cycle of Early Childhood Education
by Magdalena Jiménez Ramírez, Rocío Lorente García and Juan García Fuentes
Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(9), 519; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12090519 - 19 Sep 2023
Viewed by 954
Abstract
Dual vocational education and training (dual VET) is a recent policy aimed at establishing strong connections between the education system and the business sector. It serves to ensure the continuity of training, reduce early school leaving, and actively involve the business sector in [...] Read more.
Dual vocational education and training (dual VET) is a recent policy aimed at establishing strong connections between the education system and the business sector. It serves to ensure the continuity of training, reduce early school leaving, and actively involve the business sector in the training and qualification of students, known as apprentices. Consequently, this approach has a favourable impact on their successful integration into the labour market upon completion of the dual training program. In this study, we investigate the implementation of dual VET in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain, focusing on the higher-level training cycle of early childhood education, which falls under the professional family of sociocultural and community services. Through a thorough analysis of interview accounts involving various stakeholders, we shed light on the outcomes of this policy’s implementation. The findings suggest that this emerging policy may have a positive impact on the employability of young individuals by enabling in-company training, which provides them an opportunity to showcase their vocational skills and to combine practical experience with theoretical knowledge. Work mentors are identified as essential contributors to the success of in-company training, as they help foster the necessary capabilities to ensure that dual VET is perceived as a comprehensive training experience rather than as just work experience. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring New Ways to Address Early School Leaving)
Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 336 KiB  
Article
“Bad Students” and the Configuration of School Failure through Their Social Representations
by Ángela María Velasco Beltrán and Rocío del Pilar Velasco Beltrán
Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(9), 514; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12090514 - 13 Sep 2023
Viewed by 1652
Abstract
Social representations can influence, to a great extent, the way in which we relate to people in different situations. In the educational environment, these representations—in terms of their adaptation or not to the school’s academic and behavioural demands—can lead to the school failure [...] Read more.
Social representations can influence, to a great extent, the way in which we relate to people in different situations. In the educational environment, these representations—in terms of their adaptation or not to the school’s academic and behavioural demands—can lead to the school failure of those considered as “bad students”. Following an assessment, interviews and discussion groups were conducted with various members of an educational institution in the south of Bogotá to describe the social representations that prevail in this community about students who were at possible risk of school failure and how these representations could determine whether or not the student does indeed fail. Discourse analysis results yielded categories such as the differential construction between a “good student” and a “bad student” as well as stigmatization and conflicts with the school hierarchy and also showed how, occasionally, student failure is considered a consequence of family or social and economic factors unrelated to the school itself and to pedagogy. In conclusion, it is evident that there is an urgent need to establish institutional mechanisms that promote and adopt inclusion in educational relationships and practices from the perspective of the needs and interests of the most vulnerable pupils. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring New Ways to Address Early School Leaving)

Other

Jump to: Research

29 pages, 583 KiB  
Systematic Review
Early Leaving from Education and Training and Related Matters through the Lens of the Life Course Paradigm: A Systematic Review of the Literature
by Laura Guerrero-Puerta and Mónica Torres Sánchez
Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(9), 521; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12090521 - 19 Sep 2023
Viewed by 1127
Abstract
Here, we present a systematic review of the literature on Early Leaving from Education and Training (ELET), which uses the life course paradigm as an explanatory model or approach. This review has returned little in the way of scientific literature, although interest in [...] Read more.
Here, we present a systematic review of the literature on Early Leaving from Education and Training (ELET), which uses the life course paradigm as an explanatory model or approach. This review has returned little in the way of scientific literature, although interest in the topic has been growing in recent years, which addresses the ELET process from different points of view. First, we highlight the means that this review provides to contextualize ELET in relation to new age-specific norms, reflecting on the process that has led to it. In addition, this review suggests that it is increasingly important to change the focus of research on ELET, exploring the process within a framework of complex trajectories, including the possibility of returning once ELET has occurred. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring New Ways to Address Early School Leaving)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop