Session Information
05 SES 06 A, Children and Youth at Risk and Urban Education
Paper Session
Contribution
General description
This paper discusses the transition of a piloted research project into a social enterprise thereby addressing the issue of sustainability of research projects. It describes how researchers and students at the University of Northampton who were involved as mentors addressed the challenge of sustaining the EU funded Success at School project (www.successatschool.eu) by making the transition from research to the application of its findings via the creation of a social enterprise. The research team sought to build upon the University’s ‘changemaker’ mission which aims to transform lives and inspire change through a variety of means predominantly by supporting students and academics to establish social enterprises and develop innovative approaches which create positive social impact.
Despite some, but uneven, improvements made by member states (European Commission, 2008), achieving both the Lisbon targets (European Council, 2000) and the Europe 2020 target (Vero, 2012) reducing ESL rate below 10% in particular remains a challenge (EC, 2013). Early School Leaving (ESL) remains one of the main factors creating barriers to growth, social inclusion and regeneration in the European Union (EU) (European Commission, 2008; SAS, 2014). The SAS project used volunteering and mentoring to help 195 young people in 6 EU countries (France, Portugal, Italy, Slovenia, Bulgaria and the United Kingdom) who were at risk of ESL to re-engage. Mindful that current structure and method of formal education could potentially lead to disaffection (Furlong, 2014; Swan, 2014 and Ecclestone, et al, (2014) the 7 research teams provided individually targeted actions and group activities in collaboration with schools, but as an alternative space for learning which bridged the gap between school and the social reality in which the young people lived. Findings from the project evaluation demonstrated that the approach was successful in re-engaging disaffected pupils and the schools’ interest in the continued use of this alternative pedagogy. In their efforts to meet this need and continue this project beyond its life as a pilot programme which was limited by time and other resources, the research team in the UK explored alternative avenues to traditional research funding streams. These efforts were based on the recommendations of the project which were:
- Support and sustain the collaboration between schools and associations within the community in which schools and young people operate and live
- Promote the role of mentoring as a pedagogical role through appropriate training and qualifications
- Promote the building of networks and collaboration between schools and associations and businesses in the community to provide ongoing and sustainable opportunities for volunteering
In search of ways to sustain the success achieved and mindful or the ongoing budget cuts in the public sector and the social services, the researchers and students looked for alternative sources of support, namely, to take advantage of the University of Northampton’s accreditation as an Ashoka U Changemaker campus. This is a visionary programme launched in 2008 which awards the ‘changemaker’ designation to institutions engaged in social innovation and entrepreneurship focusing students as drivers of social change.
The paper by describing the journey from research into applied research through social enterprise highlights two complex types of transition: the first outlines the transition from evidenced-based practice through research into a research and practice based social enterprise. The second outlines the transition of students into an alternative and socially responsible work environment. In doing this the paper is located in the transition of role of universities from a triple helix (Etzkowitz, et al, 2001) to a quadruples Helix (Goddard and Vallance, 2011) in which the mission is one of social responsibility, innovation and social impact
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
References. Commission of the European Communities (2008). Progress Towards The Lisbon Objectives In Education And Training: Indicators and benchmarks, 2008. Brussels: EU. Ecclestone, K. & Lewis, L. (2014). Interventions for resilience in educational settings: challenging policy discourses of risk and vulnerability. Journal of Education Policy, 29(2), 195-216. Etzkowitz, H. et al (2000) The dynamics of innovation: from National Systems and ‘‘Mode 2’’ to a Triple Helix of university–industry–government relations. Research Policy, 29, 109-123 European Commission (2013) Reducing early school leaving: Key messages and policy support. Brussels: European Commission. Available at http://ec.europa.eu/education/policy/strategic-framework/doc/esl-group-report_en.pdf Furlong, V.J. (2014). Sociological perspectives on disaffection from school. In Ved, P.V. (Ed.). Management of Behaviour in Schools. London: Routledge. Goddard, J. and Vallance, P. (2011) The Civic University: Re-uniting the University and the City. In Higher Education in Cities and Regions: For Stronger, Cleaner and Fairer Regions. Paris: OECD Success At School (SAS). (2014). Background to the project: Building a better future for young people in Europe. Available on http://www.successatschool.eu/project-overview/background/ accessed on 11/01/2015 Swan, S. (2014). Pupil Disaffection in Schools: Bad Boys and Hard Girls. Ashgate Publishing Ltd The Lisbon Special European Council (March 2000): Towards a Europe of Innovation and Knowledge. Available at http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/education_training_youth/general_framework/c10241_en.htm Vero, J. (2012). From the Lisbon Strategy to Europe 2020: the Statistical landscape of the Education and Training objectives Through the Lens of the Capability approach. Social Work & Society, Volume 10, Issue 1, 2012
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