Giving opportunities, leaving disadvantages
CONTENTS, INTRODUCTION
Contents
INTRODUCTION
STEP BY STEP IN KISKŐRÖS
Introduction
The background of the programme
The introduction and implementation of the programme
The students
The teachers
The school and its surroundings
Results, failures
Summary
Resources
THE CONCEPT OF NATURAL LEARNING AT THE EDUCATIONAL CAMPUS WINSCHOTEN
Introduction
Natural learning, theory and practice
Lines of learning and development
Conclusion
Used sources
THE CONCEPT OF SLASH 21 AT THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY MARIANUM IN LICHTENVOORDE
Introduction
Concept and school
Evaluation/conclusion
References
PIAZZA DEI MESTIERI
Introduction
History
Current activity
The project objectives in the short, medium and long term
The methodology applied
Future sustainability
THE BENCS METHODOLOGY
Introduction
The programme of the school
Conclusion
Resources
Introduction
The case studies in this book were made in an international cooperative programme, the so called GOLD, which was established within Equal programme by three organisations of the European Union. These organisations dedicated themselves to realising pilot school programmes in their own countries for disadvantaged youngsters, which are either intended to prevent them from dropping out of secondary vocational education or to create new training opportunities for those who have already left their studies behind without getting completed educational attainment.
The programme's name GOLD is an acronym formed from the initial letters of "Giving Opportunities, Leaving Disadvantages". Besides exchanging their experiences with each other and working on a common research on these issues, the participating organisations also decided on publishing a case study book of the most successful implementations and initiatives concerning reducing drop out rates in education. Our intention with this case study book including examples of "good practice" is to draw attention to an issue of high priority, but is also to get through to professionals who might become interested in the methodologies which were made available for use here. If they find useful and worth applying certain elements of these methodologies to their own schools, then can directly contact the institutes where the projects were carried out to get a deeper insight into them.
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The four case studies in this book show different initiatives of dealing with dropping out of school. They were selected for publication from many other similar programmes in their countries by the professionals who participated in the international cooperative programme.
On one hand these case studies indicate that there is no single, ideal model, which would unambiguously solve the problem of early school leaving, but on the other hand they all show similar features. Even if the social backgrounds, the labour markets, the needy are different in the particular countries, and also they have different educational systems, the origins of their problems are very similar, so are the solutions. As we can see the biggest and the most common problem is that students lack motivation that is why every case study emphasises the high priority of stimulating their students to show interest in learning, working and sometimes simply in everyday life, as a project element. They realised that making students become genuinely interested in these issues they need programmes, activities and stimuli that are familiar to them from their own lives, culture and thinking. It is common in all the case studies that their programmes are practice oriented meaning that the traditional way of educating, giving the theoretical input first as a basis for later practical training, reverses and practical training becomes the focal point of teaching and followed by theoretical knowledge to complete it.
We can find however quite a few differences in the details. For example the most significant difference between the Hungarian and the Dutch case studies is the extent to which the student or the school contribute to the composition of the programmes on offer. The Dutch examples are based on the so-called natural learning methodology, which provides a lot of self-reliance for the students, but the Hungarian ones are rather based on project methodology. The different approaches, in our interpretation, mostly originate from their different social traditions and educational systems. The first is based on a rather decentralised system where "self-conscious" citizens try to decide on their own lives, and the latter is on rather centralised traditions of French-Prussian historical origins, where the "enlightened" leaders try to find the best solution from the options for the members of their society, in this case for their students. Both have advantages and disadvantages, and we do not think that either one approach or the other is better.
Contact with the society and its institutes has an important role in each of the case studies, because they do not intend to carry out school experimental programmes that are isolated. They find important to rely on the local communities, their institutes, professionals and of course the families to uncover the potential reasons for school failures and to cease them, and also to get help in assessing the students' achievements and results. The demand for co-operation between schools and the economic sector is more pronounced in the Dutch examples than in the Hungarian ones. Partially because the school in the case study is not a vocational training institute, so the question is irrelevant, and partially because co-operation between schools and companies is traditionally stilted in Hungary. Providing mental help however appears to be more emphasised in the Hungarian examples, which involves greater presence of mental professionals and institutes in their projects, in many cases in the forms of partnerships as well.
Of course the differences due to the different development stages also become obvious, because they have better chances to use the opportunities IT provides in the Netherlands than in Hungary where they cannot rely on them to the same extent. Although it is not apparent from the case studies, but can be suspected that lack of teacher competences and not just missing or limited IT facilities or limited access to IT contributes to the problem.
Our case studies show that thinking together about common issues despite the historical and social backgrounds is possible and worth doing.
Our book of case studies unfortunately will not provide enough information and guidance in depth for those who might become interested in one of the methodologies and wishes to use it in their practices, so we suggest that should contact the institute of the programme they are interested in, and then, after getting a more thorough insight of their methods, they should adapt them to their local needs. That is what we would like to contribute to with this book of case studies.