5.3. Partnerskap: arbetsgivare och företag

Finland har utarbetat innovativa undervisningsmetoder och förfaranden för att tillgodose enskilda elevers behov genom att använda aktivitetsbaserad inlärning, undervisning i mindre grupper, arbetsplatsstudier och olika inlärningsmiljöer för att minska avhoppen från skolan.

Min utbildning, mitt arbete, min framtid är ett projekt som syftar till att förebygga att elever lämnar skolan med enbart grundskoleutbildning och till att uppmuntra och inspirera dem att fortsätta i skolan.

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.

In the past, the Dutch School Inspectorate notified the Warande school about their students‘ low results. The school staff, however, were very much hesitant towards the test-driven-accountability-approach established by the Inspectorate. Therefore, the school team decided to re-define and interpret test-driven accountability in their own way. Instead of emphasising the learning results per se, they wanted to focus on the process of learning itself – starting from children’s needs and guiding them in their own development.

To be able to focus on children’s continuous development, the school also felt the need to integrate the child day care, kindergarten, elementary education and after school care. These issues ignited the need for organisational and pedagogical changes. Overall, the school has been innovative during recent years, and latest innovative approaches represent a continuity of this process and reflect the school’s innovative culture.

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 has been developing innovative practices of informal learning for six years (since 2011). The main aims of these innovative approaches were to improve the educational level of pupils and school performance, to promote their social competences and sensitivity to the surrounding community and to enhance cooperation between teachers. As the first step of the informal learning approach, the school aimed to create informal learning environments by renovating the school yard and make it suitable for the learning purposes. As a second step, the school designed various learning approaches connected to the yard and broader school community (e.g., focusing on environmental education, natural sciences, reading). In this process the school cooperated with external stakeholders (scientists, artists, craftworkers, museums, etc.).   

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.

The overall objective of the project is to reduce the drop out rates of learners in vocational education and training, by providing materials and tools for counsellors and trainers to develop their own skills in working with groups, to detect potential dropouts and the special characteristics of learners’ groups, provide support adjusted to individual needs, and thereby improve the quality of their vocational education systems.

Insatsen Talk of the Town (ToTT) utvecklades av The Communication Trust och ICAN – två icke-statliga organisationer i Storbritannien som arbetar med tal, språk och kommunikation. ToTT drevs som ett pilotprojekt i ett fåtal skolor (på primär- och sekundärnivå) i Manchester i ett socialt utsatt område 2011–2012 för att identifiera utvecklingsförseningar i barns tal, språk och kommunikation. Det är en integrerad, samhällsdriven och systematisk metod som används för att stödja barn och ungdomars tal, språk och kommunikation. Det är mycket viktigt att barnens inlärningssvårigheter identifieras och att de får stöd innan problemet leder till frånvaro från skolan. Forskning har visat att det är viktigt att identifiera elever i riskzonen och att snabbt vidta lämpliga åtgärder. I det här fallet är en anpassad metod mest lämplig. I ToTT följer man en systematisk process för att infoga strategier och uppnå mätbara positiva resultat. Insatsen leddes med fyra huvudsakliga syften: 1. Tidig identifiering av barn och ungdomar med behov av stöd för tal, språk och kommunikation. 2. Samarbete mellan föräldrar och läkare gällande hälsa och utbildning. 3. Positiva resultat för barn och ungdomar med förbättrade kunskaper i tal, språk och kommunikation. 4. En hållbar metod, så att policy och praxis fortsätter att främja positiva resultat.