English summary

It is the aim of this report to illustrate "what works" in terms of education and training in relation to the residual group - or more precisely those 17% of a youth year group who do not complete a course of education at upper secondary level. This must be seen in the light of the fact that it is still the objective of education and training for all (UTA) that applies - namely that 95% of a youth year group should complete a course of education at upper secondary level. The general idea in the report is to extract important experience and results from evaluations of recent education and training and activation initiatives in connection with the courses at upper secondary level in order to make a transversal summary of existing knowledge, uncover areas and issues which have not been subject to study as well as raise a debate on a number of central issues.

The report contains a number of very important messages and conclusions which are dealt with below under the themes of "the residual group concept and target group discussion", "individualisation of the courses of education", "guidance", "learning environments" as well as "transversal issues in relation to the system level".

The residual group concept and target group discussion

When we have been screening evaluations and documentation concerning development activities within the area of upper secondary education, it has very quickly proved to be impossible to ask the question "what works" unequivocally in relation to the young people in the residual group. It is thus not possible to answer the question without certain reservations.

These reservations manifest themselves most clearly when you throw a closer look at the young people who belong to the residual group as well as at the target group definitions which are given in connection with the individual development activities and initiatives.

The residual group is not one coherent and homogeneous group - this is only the case when it is considered in purely statistical terms. If you are to take a closer look at the group of young people outside of the formal upper secondary education system and in this context discuss initiatives, models for solving problems, recommendations, new courses of education, reforms of the existing courses of education etc., it is necessary to differentiate the residual group concept and build on an understanding of the fact that the only thing the young people in the residual group may have in common as a group is that they have not completed a course of education at upper secondary level.

In an attempt to get a more varied understanding of these young people and of why they are not using the upper secondary education system, the group has in many studies been described in terms of among other things (youth) cultural conditions and individual psychological factors.

At the overall level, it is possible statistically to identify three characteristics in connection with the placing of the young people in an educational residual group.

They are firstly the importance of the social background when it comes to choice of education and training. In addition to the traditional socio-statistical understanding of social heritage, stability and quality in family relations may be of importance to young people - irrespective of the parents" level of educational attainment and their income level as such.

Secondly, the number of passed leaving examinations is of importance when it comes to getting started with a course of education at upper secondary level. The more advanced leaving examinations that pupils take, the more likely it will be that they get started with a course of education at upper secondary level. The proportion of young people who sit for examinations at the end of basic school is least significant in the residual group. In this context, it should however be underlined that it may be difficult to say something about whether there is a causal relation or more likely a natural connection between the number of passed examinations and the pupil"s desire to continue in the education system.

Thirdly, the academic skills are of importance when it comes to how likely it is that young people continue in upper secondary education.

In qualitative interviews with young people in the residual group, they have voiced criticism of the academic requirements in the education system in which both the creative and the practical sides of the human being are ignored.

Target group formulations in relation to the individual initiatives as well as in evaluation and documentation descriptions reveal a great uncertainty as to how to describe the young people concerned. The target group is often defined in loose and very broad terms. In this context, it may furthermore be underlined that it is apparently not only the residual group concept that should be differentiated but also the individual target groups in connection with the course of education. Thus, students enrolled in vocational basic training may for instance be divided into seven segments, each with its own characteristics.

There is a lot of evidence that suggests that there is still too limited knowledge about the residual group and about the essential factors that exist or should exist for the definition of this group.

It is clear however that in connection with the achievement

of the UTA-objectives it is necessary to create an education system which on the one hand is capable of catering for a larger group than today and on the other hand is capable of catering for even more non-homogeneous groups of young people.

The question is how "accommodating" the education system can be made, and which forms of organisation, educational means etc. will "hit the mark" when it comes to roping in and holding on to the young people in the education system?

In the studies and evaluations we have been dealing with in this report, certain elements appear to "hit the mark" for certain parts of the residual group. This means that it seems to be possible to identify a number of common elements which recur transversal to the different initiatives and courses - often however with different weighting and design - and which seem to be important factors for the educational motivation of the young people.

Individualisation of the courses of education

The initiatives already taken (and in particular vocational basic training - egu, open youth education - fuu, educationally and occupationally qualifying courses - ujf) have apparently all been successful, each in its own right. There seems to have been a market for this very type of activities. In this context, it is essential to keep the differentiated residual group concept in mind. The success therefore (naturally enough) applies to parts of the target group, and some young people, who would also, had these schemes not existed, been pursuing a course of education at upper secondary level, have also made use of the offers. Furthermore, there is a number of "alternative" projects and activities (such as "Sjakket" (The Gang) and "De vilde unge" (The Wild Ones)) which also seem to be successful with some of the young people in the residual group.

Common to a number of the more recent courses is that they are attempts to establish a more individualised effort directed at those young people which the mainstream education system is unable to accommodate. The point is that the point of departure must be taken in the individual young person's desires, needs and experience.

This is done in an understanding of the fact that the individual possibilities are only to be there in those cases where it is not enough with common solutions - they must thus be offers directed at those young people which the mainstream education system is apparently unable to accommodate.

To take the point of departure in the individual young person entails a number of core principles which may largely be said to characterise the individual education and training options.

Generally, the experience of being taken seriously, of being listened to in relation to desires and needs is pointed out as an important factor of motivation.

Flexibility is a core principle which characterises many of the courses and initiatives. It covers many things, such as continuous intake to the production schools and to TAMU (special labour market training programmes for young people), where the offer lasts for as long as the young person needs it. The continuous intake may - dependent on the planning - also be said to apply to open youth education (fuu) and vocational basic training (egu). The fact that the education and training plans can be changed and adjusted, if new needs and desires are felt by the young person, is another way to express flexibility and furthermore to ensure that the education or course accommodates a current need felt by the young person.

The condition for a great extent of flexibility is that the individual offers comprise many and varied options for the young people concerned. The point of departure in the individual necessitates flexibility which in turn requires that there is a system to be flexible in. Different ways of organising a course as well as wide possibilities of different course contents seem to constitute a central element in connection with the success of the initiatives.

There is a need to know more about the type of flexibility needed in relation to the mainstream upper secondary education system and about the costs involved.

Differentiation is another characteristic feature which may be used in relation to the teaching or to the young persons" participation in the project, workshop, course etc. The young person may for instance move from easier tasks to more and more complex tasks. Or the teaching may be based on what the young person needs to learn in relation to a future practical training period. The differentiation gets a somewhat different expression when it covers the young person"s possibility of exerting an influence on and organising his or her own course of education.

Flexibility and differentiation appear to be very important motivating elements for young people. They can test different vocational areas and different sides of themselves. It is possible for them to change the plans, if there is something they regret or want to be different. And this possibility is there without the young person having to drop out of the programme or course.

The above-mentioned principles comprise the possibility of breaking with young people"s experience of what it is like to go to school and with their image of what it is all about to pursue a course of education. This may contain positive perspectives not least as a great part of the young people may be characterised as being school-weary.

The possibility of adapting the course or programme to the individual also seems to "break the ice" in relation to many of the young people"s previous attempts to complete a course of education at upper secondary level.

In continuation of the individualised possibilities, the focus is placed on responsibility for own learning or own education. In this context, it is important to be aware of the fact that some specific competencies (e.g. the competence to make a choice, negotiation competencies) are required in order to be able to commence and act in the individualised courses. How far can you go when it comes to placing responsibility on the individual young person? For which young people does it seem to work and for which may it have an obstructive effect on their motivation and actions?

Guidance

In connection with the individualised education and training possibilities, the guidance effort is a central element, which is among other things captured in the concept of "the plan" which must be drawn up in a co-operation between the individual young person and the guidance counsellor. The individual guidance largely seems to be the thing that makes it possible to take the point of departure in the individual young person"s needs and experience, and it furthermore constitutes an important link when it comes to creating a coherence between the individual parts of the course.

The pupils in basic school are generally content with the guidance they receive, but they do not attach great importance to it in connection with their choice of education and training. If we look at young people who have left the basic school, there is a lot of evidence that suggests that it is mainly the individual and more personal conversation which is perceived as guidance. The general guidance given with a view to preparing them for making the choice is not perceived as guidance and is among other things criticised for placing too much focus on well-known education and training possibilities.

But the parents are important resource persons. It is therefore very important to ensure that they have the necessary resources and the necessary knowledge about the upper secondary education system and its different options.

Experience suggests that the guidance provided by the basic school should be made more visible with focus on guidance as a continuous process. There is furthermore a lot that suggests that it may with advantage be target-oriented towards disadvantaged young people and that focus should be placed on individual and personal conversations as well as better possibilities of first-hand knowledge and possibilities of testing. Here attention should be drawn to the fact that the conversational guidance model may lead to the loss of certain groups of young people due to its verbal and intellectual approach to education and training and job plans.

The same principles largely apply to the guidance provided in the upper secondary system. Here it is a question of ensuring a focus on and a development of strategies for students who find themselves on the edge - about to drop out - so that the schools get a greater understanding of the fact that they can make a more active effort in connection with dropout.

For dropout is very often caused by a number of complex problems rooted in both personal circumstances and the school/educational institution. Headteachers and guidance counsellors primarily perceive dropout as something rooted in the student"s personal problems, lack of abilities or self-discipline.

The motivations for dropping out most frequently used by young people are: lost the interest in the subject, too little practical content, too bad teachers, poor social environment. Other motivations for dropout given are: a too low level of the teaching, problems of finding a practical training place or dissatisfaction with the one found as well as job offers.

In view of the young people who are outside the education system, transparency in the guidance system is an important element, and so is a global effort centred around an equal relationship between the guidance counsellor and the young person.

In many of the more recent initiatives and courses, the young person is followed at close range by a guidance counsellor throughout the course. There is a need for more knowledge about how young people cope with the transition from the very supported situation to a situation "where they have to stand on their own two legs".

Apart from the close-range guidance offered to the young person, a great deal of experience suggests that collective guidance may be successful in certain cases. This applies to those cases where it forms an integrated part of the course of education and training or project. Transversal to school forms and courses of education, there is a need to discuss how it will be possible to organise open guidance environments which form an integrated part of the learning environment of the institution.

In spite of the central place held by the guidance effort, it is nonetheless difficult to say something precise about the extent to which it is actually the guidance which is decisive and about the effects it actually has.

Learning environments

Some experience, especially in connection with young people"s dropout, suggests a need for greater focus on how the learning environment can be developed in accordance with the needs and interests of young people.

The concept of learning environment suggests that the interest should not only be concentrated on course contents but also on the planning and pedagogical dimensions, on teacher qualifications and on the social and physical environments.

Practice orientation

A general theme and thus one of the common elements in the different schemes and initiatives for young people is the orientation away from the school-like and academic and towards a more practical approach. As mentioned above, it is a question of breaking with the experience of school which young people have of the "folkeskole". A number of the mainstream upper secondary courses do not seem to be able to accommodate this need.

Many young people are school weary, and the young people in the residual group seem to be practically oriented (this for instance appears from their motivations for not choosing a course of education at upper secondary level and from their motivations for dropping out). This calls for a higher degree of integration of theoretically and practically oriented teaching as well as for the development of new or different ways of learning academic subject-matter.

The central wishes of young people are more practically oriented teaching and more practically oriented courses of education.

The key element is the integration of the practical and the theoretical teaching, which reveals two important aspects, namely

• that theory should take its point of departure in practical situations and/or be combined with practical exercises
• that the theoretical teaching should be in touch with reality, i.e. it should relate to the situation, experience and everyday life of young people.

The practice orientation is particularly pronounced in vocational basic training and at the production schools, where the practical work and the problems connected with it (in the workshop or the practical training place) constitute the central point of departure for the more theoretical teaching.

Another form of pronounced practice orientation is the in-company training inherent in the so-called ujf-courses (educationally and occupationally qualifying courses), which may with advantage be used also in the mainstream vocational education and training courses.

Democratisation of the courses of education

Another element when it comes to offering an attractive learning environment to young people may be the development of democratisation processes and increased pupil participation in the individual courses of education. All the courses mentioned in this report are characterised by a high degree of pupil participation in the organisation of the courses and/or activities in the courses.

There seems to be a great need for increased focus on the pupils" assessment of both the courses in general and the teaching in the mainstream upper secondary courses.

A paradox appears which reveals great differences in the perception of reality between the young people"s assessments and perceptions and the schools" understanding of themselves.

Many students find the teaching boring and uncommitted, whereas many headteachers perceive their schools as development-oriented and dynamic.

At least three contexts can be identified where the possibilities of pupil participation should be promoted:

• In the teaching situation as such
• In the development and organisation of offers of education and other activities
• More generally participation in various councils, steering groups, committees, boards etc.

A continued study of democracy and education, including in particular the perspectives in relation to the residual group issue raises a number of central questions such as:

Which role may democracy aspects play when it comes to integrating young people into education and training contexts? Is there a need for developing new or alternative forms of democracy in this connection? And what requirements will staff members have to meet?

A global approach

Another common feature in the schemes is the attempt to have a global approach to the work. A possible reason why some young people do not feel attracted to the mainstream courses of education at upper secondary level could be the unilateral focusing on the academic development.

A global approach therefore also implies a focusing on the possibility of developing qualifications which may be characterised as broader and more personal, without a narrow subject-specific affiliation.

The social environment

The social environment and the students" well-being seem to be of importance to their feeling of affiliation to the school. Transversal to the different school forms and courses of education, there are major differences in the nature of the social environment. Especially at the vocational colleges and at the social and health service schools, the students would like more creative and cultural offers and activities, for instance offered in the form of optional subjects.

The number of activities taking place at the schools are of importance to the extent of the dropout. Moreover, to young people, education is not just a matter of obtaining qualifications. It is just as much a matter of personal and social development and being together. Seen in this light, it is important to strengthen the social environments in connection with the courses of education and to focus on the social functions of the courses, too (especially in relation to the institutions" perception of the reasons for the dropout and their role in it, see above).

A particular issue in connection with social environments concerns the practical training period in a business enterprise. The professional and social environment in a company may either intimidate or attract young people. There is a lot of evidence that suggests that there is a need for an increased focus on the practical training period and a particular attention to the definition of what the practical training period is and should be used for.

Teacher qualifications

Global approach, flexibility, differentiation, democratisation etc. call for a change of the teacher role, and there is a need for an effort in the fields of teacher training and continuing training.

Just under a third of those young people who drop out find the teachers incompetent and criticise especially the teaching methods and the communication between teacher and students. Transversal to the mainstream school forms, there is a strong desire for varied teaching methods with a possibility of active participation and development.

Pedagogical flexibility (and creativity) are key words, especially in connection with a number of the more recent initiatives and schemes. The residual group is not a homogenous group, nor are the target groups of the individual initiatives. To this should be added the individual possibility of exerting an influence on the course of education and the principle of differentiated teaching. Young people have different backgrounds, needs, wishes and experience, which - among other things - are decisive for their choices and actions.

In connection with some young people in the residual group, the teacher/guidance counsellor must furthermore be able to take on socio-educational tasks.

Transversal issues in relation to the "system level"

Many of the elements highlighted in this report, which cut across courses and initiatives developed in the 1990s, raise the overall questions of how we should organise the future system of upper secondary education to make it more attractive to a larger group of young people? How do we make the education system sufficiently accommodating and flexible for the residual group without losing its attraction to the majority of young people?

The need for a clarification of these questions is put into a greater perspective by a number of more general trends such as lifelong learning, recurrent education, individualisation, new competencies, etc.

We have a well-developed adult education system, where the residual group is particularly attracted by the non-residential folk high schools and the adult education centres (general adult education).

How are the age-determined participation patterns in adult education, and to which extent does the residual group return to the education system later on in life?

As far as lifelong learning is concerned, it is a great challenge that the residual group, too, goes for and makes use of further education as adults.

The vision behind lifelong learning is a challenge to future educational planning and policy when it comes to ensuring an optimal interaction within the education system as well as between the system and all the other learning spheres and situations. Whatever possibilities and barriers there may be in such a challenge - an in the present context, and which role will it play in relation to the residual group issue - these are open questions which it is necessary to clarify.

In this context, there seems to be a number of activities and projects, which - although they are not formalised could be bridge-building and help integrate young people into the formal education system.

The hierarchical academic structure of the education system raises the question of how one acquires a more equal relationship between the general upper secondary courses and the vocational education and training courses.

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