3.4. Programmi scolastici e percorsi di apprendimento

UNICEF Serbia and the civil society organisation Centre for Education Policy with the support of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development Republic of Serbia  implemented the project “Combating Early School Leaving in Serbia”.

This project aimed to contribute to decreasing drop-out and early school leaving of children and adolescents through development, establishment, and implementation of the school-based model for early identification of children at risk of dropping out and intervention in situations where dropping-out is taking place.

Combating drop-out and ESL in Serbia has been recognised as a policy priority area.  The Strategy for Education Development in Serbia 2020 (SEDS 2020) calls for the provision of high-quality education for all, an increase of students’ coverage and attainment at all levels of education by maintaining the relevance of education and increasing efficiency. The Strategy implementation is primarily focused on the development of human capital in Serbia, thus underlines importance of the inclusion of pupils from vulnerable and marginalised groups (Roma and children from poor families, children with disabilities and from rural areas etc.).

The Danish Production schools were created in the 1980s with the aim of combating youth unemployment. Production Schools offer alternative education opportunities to improve labour market integration. The fundamental aim of this type of school is to create a practical learning environment to support young people to complete and earn qualifications in general and vocational upper secondary education and/or maintain a job. The students are offered the opportunity to develop professional, social and personal skills through counselling, participation in practical work experience and production in different workshops ranging from areas such as metalwork, carpentry and textile work in theatre, media and music-based workshops. The focus is on social, personal and physical skills which are complemented by more formal knowledge and skills. Learning processes are organised through workshops and classroom teaching, but every young person is free to organise an individual course where they may challenge themselves and build their confidence.
The most significant challenge for production schools is to prepare and motivate “non-academic” students for the ordinary school system. The last legislative change in 2006focused the aims of Production Schools so that its most important task has been to build a bridge to vocational education and training through relevant practical and academic qualifications. In 2009, there were over 6,000 students in production schools. The student capacity at each school can vary from 20-25 to over 200. Generally speaking the schools are small, with half of the schools accepting fewer than 50 students. Today there are 78 Production Schools in Denmark.

In the school year 2015/16 the Schulzentrum Ybbs (a school center consisting of three vocational upper secondary schools) introduced a concept called IndY, which involves that 20% of the teaching time is intended for individualized learning. IndY aims at improving students’ expertise, motivation, self-responsibility, self-management, collaborative skills, emotional intelligence and learning methods.

InnoOmnia, in the city of Espoo, Finland, was founded in 2011. It is the first multi-sector vocational education centre in Finland where entrepreneurs may run their businesses jointly with students and teachers. Work and vocational education are part of a blended learning approach. One of the key aims of the programme is to improve the appeal of vocational education, and to offer “21st century learning” opportunities.
Services include:
1. Entrepreneurship support for current and aspiring entrepreneurs, primarily in arts and crafts or the service sectors.
2. Work-based/on-the-job learning programmes
3. Innovation and piloting of new teaching methods in the context of vocational education, g, e.g. gamification, mobile learning, entrepreneurial teaching methods
4. Teacher and school leader professional development for K-12 and vocational sectors

Al fine di garantire il successo per tutti i bambini e prevenire l’abbandono scolastico, questo progetto realizzato nelle Fiandre (Belgio) è specificamente incentrato sull’introduzione di una cultura scolastica e su una serie di misure volte ad evitare la ripetenza.

La Finlandia ha messo a punto una serie di metodi e procedure di insegnamento innovativi per venire incontro alle esigenze individuali e ridurre l’abbandono scolastico mediante l’utilizzo dell’apprendimento basato sulle attività, dell’insegnamento in piccoli gruppi, della formazione sul lavoro e di ambienti di apprendimento diversi.

La mia istruzione, la mia professione, il mio futuro è un progetto che mira a prevenire l'abbandono scolastico e ad incoraggiare e stimolare gli studenti a continuare la scuola.

Questo esempio descrive gli approcci innovativi adottati in una scuola secondaria superiore in Svezia - Beda Hallberg. La scuola offre una serie di programmi che forniscono le basi per lo sviluppo personale e la partecipazione attiva nella società. La scuola mira inoltre a fornire sostegno costante agli studenti e a ridurre il rischio di abbandono scolastico, adoperandosi per limitare i periodi di chiusura scolastica, con l'obiettivo di restare aperta durante alcune vacanze più lunghe. Inoltre è presente un gruppo di operatori sanitari, tra cui assistenti sociali e psicologi, disponibili ad assistere i giovani nelle loro necessità.
Il liceo Beda Hallberg è una scuola secondaria superiore situata a Kungsbacka, in Svezia. Si tratta di una piccola realtà che ha aperto le porte nel 2013 focalizzandosi sui singoli studenti. Per alcuni giovani di età compresa tra i 16 e 20 anni, l'ambiente fisico e sociale di molte scuole può essere difficile e rappresentare un ostacolo all'apprendimento continuo. La scuola Beda è aperta a chi è alla ricerca di una piccola scuola dove potersi sentire al sicuro e a proprio agio.

The learning hub was implemented at the TGM (an upper-level secondary technical college) as a school experiment in the school year 2016/17. It has been implemented in the school’s Information Technology (IT) Department in two of the four classes in the first year (i.e. grade 9).

In the learning hub students study self-regulated 20 hours per week. Of these 20 hours, 9 hours relate to general education subjects (German, English and Mathematics) and 11 hours involve vocational education subjects (Software Engineering, Systems Engineering, Media Technology, Network Technology). The other 6 school subjects (Geography, History and Political Education, Natural Sciences, Religion, Sports, Computer Workshop), which encompass 13 hours per week, are still taught by using traditional methods of teaching.