01/04/2024 - 30/06/2025
5: Succeeding against all the odds: socioeconomic disadvantaged, Roma, migrants and refugees
5: Succeeding against all the odds: socioeconomic disadvantaged, Roma, migrants and refugees
The teams working on WP5 will look at the learning experiences of successful students from disadvantaged groups. The aim is to gain insights into the conditions and circumstances that have supported students in building ‘trajectories of success and wellbeing’ at school. WP5 starts by identifying the young people (from 16-25 years of age) in seven countries. The young people will be interviewed as well as school counsellors and others and the responses analysed. The journey of each young person through school will be written up as individual reports and a final report produced bringing all the findings together. The final task in this work package is the development of a community of practice for student support called STUDENET. Students from disadvantaged groups will be invited to share their own experiences and find support from peers and others in overcoming their difficulties.
The first task is concerned with the 56 young people sharing their life stories. They will use a range of creative methods, such as making documentaries about themselves, art, and photos. They will reflect on the challenges they have faced at school and in their communities and on the conditions and circumstances that have supported them in overcoming these challenges, against the odds. Each young person will be invited to name a significant adult in their lives who has been influential in their school career. This could be, for example, a school counsellor, a tutor or a family member.
The second task is to design and test two sets of interview questions. One set of questions are for the students themselves to identify key incidents and factors in school life which have been transformational in their success at school. The other set of questions are aimed at school counsellors and tutors to highlight good practice in school guidance, counselling and tutorial support.
The third task is conducting the interviews with the selected candidates and designing the process to code the responses to the interviews. The teams will also design a template for a ‘learning biography vignette.’ This will be a way of documenting the journey each student has made through school, showing their social, community, and family context and indicating the key incidents and factors that have been significant for their success at school.
The fourth task is to analyse the responses to the interviews. Individual reports will be written linking to each of the 56 young people who have participated in this study. The individual reports will include the learning biography vignette. There will be a one-day workshop for all partners involved in this work package to discuss the results together. A final report bringing all the findings together will then be written called ‘Transformative Drivers in Successful Academic Journeys’.
The fifth task is the co-production of recommendations for teachers, tutors, school counsellors, and families to encourage and support all those in learning communities to enable students from disadvantaged groups to succeed at school. The 56 young people who have taken part in this work package will co-design the recommendations alongside other key people in each of the seven countries where this study is to take place.
The final task in this work package is the development of a community of practice for student support called STUDENET. This will bring students, teachers, counsellors, and tutors together across Europe, together with academic staff from SCIREARLY. The community of practice will use an existing social media platform. Students from disadvantaged groups will be invited to share their own experiences, talk about any difficulties they are facing and to ask questions. Resources and guidance will be made available. There will be mentorship training and support for setting up a network of advocates for quality education. It is hoped that the students who have participated in this work package will become advocates to support other students facing similar challenges.
WP 5 leader: Universidade Do Porto, Portugal