1.4. Συνεργασία στο πλαίσιο εκπαιδευτικών συστημάτων

The aim of the report Nordic Projects to Combat School Dropout is to improve and inspire new initiatives for young people, and to create enriching contacts between actors and organisations in the Nordic region.
The Nordic Web Resource on Dropout from Upper Secondary Education was a project commissioned by the Nordic Council of Ministers and run by the Nordic Welfare Centre between 2012 and 2015. The aim of the project was to compile good examples of initiatives aimed at increasing the proportion of young people in the Nordic region who complete upper secondary education.

This project was set up more than 10 years ago to reintegrate students who refused to go to school. Since 2007, the programme has focused solely on students who suffer from school phobia, anxiety disorders or depression. The programme is unique in Austria and is publicly funded.

For Arvika, Centralskolan is a big school with students coming from the city centre and surrounding areas. Students are from very mixed backgrounds, including students from disadvantaged areas. Several years ago, the school had a significant number of students whose academic achievements after the 9^th grade were not sufficient for entering an upper secondary education. One of the key issues in Centralskolan, as well as in other surrounding schools, was that the student reading comprehension skills across various subjects were poor. Subjects of maths and science have been extra prioritised by Centralskolan as student results within those subjects were especially low. Therefore, the school has started practising an explicit teaching of reading strategies within specific subjects for grades 7 – 9. These reading strategies have been implemented together with scaffolding, which means that a teacher gradually empowers students to lead a reading and text comprehension exercise.

The school’s approach to teaching and learning is based on attaining educational excellence and achievement for all students. The school developed a stimulating curriculum which seeks to provide its students with an understanding of the learning processes in which they are involved (meta-cognition) – and to build their self-belief. The provision of specialist teaching in certain subject areas (science, music, art, physical education) is a key element in this process, as is the development of maths teaching throughout the school (for 6th graders). The teaching of philosophy to all students is also a vital element in developing students’ thinking skills, resilience and self-confidence. Curriculum innovation is undertaken on the initiative of the school, working in co-operation with its Federation partners at Whitmore Park Primary School. All staff, the governing body, students and parents are regularly consulted and made part of the process of curriculum development, and the school is strongly engaged with community partners in developing broader learning activities.

The school practices several innovative initiatives:

- The ‘Exercise company’ supports students to go through all the steps of setting up a company, from the creation of its administrative structure to its daily management, supporting students’ entrepreneurship competences. This project is regarded very positively by the whole school community and national authorities.

- The ‘Different school’ (‘Şcoala altfel’) programme significantly changed the relationship between students and teachers, thanks to its flexibility. Coupled with the participation in trainings of non-formal education by the teaching staff and practices acquired during Erasmus+ projects, it helped to reshape the educational process at the school.

- Teachers have been involved in curricular innovation dedicated to their particular field of study (tourism and economics) while members of committees set up by the Ministry of Education and the National Centre for the Development of Vocational Education (CNDIPT) contributed to the renewal of the national curriculum.

Το Ευρωπαϊκό Δίκτυο Πολιτικής για τη Σχολική Ηγεσία (EPNoSL) έχει αναπτύξει ένα εργαλείο για τον προβληματισμό, τον προσδιορισμό των προκλήσεων και τη θέση σε προτεραιότητα των τομέων δράσης πολιτικής για την υποστήριξη και την ενίσχυση της διεύθυνσης των σχολείων με στόχο την ισότητα και τη μάθηση. Απευθύνεται σε φορείς χάραξης πολιτικής, σχολικές αρχές, σχολικούς φορείς, ερευνητές και ινστιτούτα εκπαίδευσης διευθυντών. Το School Leadership Toolkit (Εργαλειοθήκη για τη Διεύθυνση των Σχολείων) έχει σχεδιαστεί προκειμένου να υποστηρίζει την ανάλυση του τρόπου αλληλεπίδρασης των διαφορετικών πολιτικών και των προγραμμάτων διεύθυνσης του σχολείου και της επιρροής τους στη συνολική ικανότητα των σχολικών διευθυντών και των σχολείων τους να διαχειρίζονται αποτελεσματικά και συστηματικά τις προκλήσεις που αντιμετωπίζουν τα σχολεία τους σε θέματα ισότητας και μάθησης. Προσφέρει μια σειρά από χρήσιμο υλικό, βίντεο, περιπτωσιολογικές μελέτες και εργαλεία σχετικά με τις διάφορες πτυχές της διεύθυνσης των σχολείων.

Ο κύριος στόχος του πορτογαλικού προγράμματος TEIP είναι να προωθήσει την ένταξη της εκπαίδευσης σε σχολεία που βρίσκονται σε μειονεκτικές περιοχές, όπου φοιτούν παιδιά που διατρέχουν κίνδυνο κοινωνικού αποκλεισμού. Στο πλαίσιο του προγράμματος, καταρτίζονται ειδικά σχέδια βελτίωσης και προωθείται ένας κύκλος βελτίωσης σε κάθε ομάδα σχολείων.

The project Try it again, Sam! is an inter-institutional and integrated project that addresses children’s social and educational needs. It is composed of two main programmes: Integrated Tutelage (directed at students who dropped out of school) and Dropout Prevention (directed at students with temporary and reversible educational difficulties to prevent school dropout). Those involved– teachers, volunteers, school principals, social workers, psychologists – are all convinced that drop-out is the result of a long and insidious process triggered from common learning and relational difficulties. Therefore, timely responses to students with common difficulties in social relationships and/or learning activities is an effective way to prevent social students’ problems, which are much more difficult to address once they are established.
Try it Again, Sam! experiments with a new model of prevention-action training regarding failure in the transition from primary to secondary schools in Turin. It fosters the educational success of all students and combats school dropout. It is based on an integrative process between the acacemic and the extra-curricular, creating conditions for constant dialogue between them, and ensures learning of foundation skills in the first cycles of education. The project works within a network of non-profit associations and parishes. Schools and other actors - through joint collaboration - can thus foster learning processes that take into account the story of each child, giving them a space to listen and express themselves, develop their self-confidence, support their academic success, and combat early school leaving. Dropout Prevention is an offshoot of an earlier programme, Integrated Tutelage.

The “Volunteering@WU - Lernen macht Schule” program works with kids from socially disadvantaged backgrounds and student helpers by encouraging social responsibility and volunteering activities. The program follows the principles of service learning.
The initiative was established in 2010 by Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU), in cooperation with Caritas Vienna and REWE International AG. In this program, WU students can volunteer as learning or music buddies to help kids who have restricted access to educational opportunities due to poverty or social exclusion.