This paper explores the narratives of at-risk youth concerning experiences in and outside of school with the intention of illustrating the relation between young peoples' perception of school and teachers, and their marginalized position.

The paper seeks to answer the following research question: "Seen from a youth perspective, what characterizes the relationship between professional, educational work and the access to participation among at-risk youth? 

The study that the paper draws on is a research study concerning the role of professional practice in working with expanding the participatory possibilities in school among at-risk youth and hence creates more equality of opportunity. In relation to that, the study asks how increased awareness of and knowledge about the social and academic life of at-risk youth can contribute to successful, professional work with social and academic inclusion of at-risk youth. The study applies three perspectives: the professional perspective, the institutional perspective and the youth perspective - the aim of this paper is to present the youth perspective in regards to the overall objective of the study. 

The point of departure of this paper is hence the narratives of at-risk youth on in- and exclusion of school. These narratives will be collected through biographical interviews with young adults with a history of marginalization and school exclusion with an emphasis on narratives on school and upbringing in a situated context. 

Narrative theory can in this context contribute to a double perspective: on the one hand it creates awareness of the experiences of the youth in question, and on the other hand it provides us with an insight into the cultural and social narratives embedded in these personalized narratives (Horsdal 1999, 2017). 

Generally one can argue that the narrated biographies never depict a 'true story', but at best represent a selective reconstruction of a lived life, and more often are used in order for the narrator to identify himself and his worldviews (Jackson, Michael 2013). In that regard one could ask, which role biographical narratives play in sociological research? The idea here is that through the narrators voice (however 'true' or 'false' it may be), it gives us access to a certain understanding of culture and institutional practices. And since the narrator represents a certain societal representation, a certain societal position, it becomes possible to understand societal obstacles and possibilities viewed from that certain position. According to Daniel Bertaux, biographical narratives can be understood as  ”sources of light on the social contexts, aiming at uncovering their socio-cultural patterns” (Bertaux 2003), with which he says that these systematically chosen narratives contribute with more than mere knowledge on the specific lived life of the narrator. In other words, the narrative approach can help us to understand how the narrator in question narrates himself into a context. 

In conclusion, this paper aims towards presenting narratives of at-risk youth, not as testimonials of the subject in question, but as representations of perspectives on school in- and exclusion, as personal narratives revealing institutional norms and practices.

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