To describe educational transition from people with disability words like “challenging”, “barrier” and “risks” (Bergs/Niehaus 2016; Winn/Hay 2009) are used to refer to the problems of this target group. For youth with disability (educational) transitions goes like for other so called risk groups (youth from socio-economic disadvantaged families or with migration background) along with numerous risks of leaving or dropping out. On the transition to secondary school (SEC) II this risks are particularly visible, because just a very view number of youth with disability “decide” to attend a general or vocational upper secondary school (Fasching/Felbermayr/Hubmayer 2017, 306).

A decision of “great biographical relevance” must be made. So has for example the choice for a specific school type a considerable influence on the later social and occupational opportunities for participation (Pfahl 2011, 221). Making a decision means taking one´s choice between different options that cannot be realized at the same time (Dausien 2014, 40-41). Therefore young people with disability and their parents/families have to deal with the question of “Where?”, the location of schooling (forms of regular schools or special institutions) and “How?”, the way children are schooled (integrative/inclusive, segregative or for hearing impaired students bilingual; single integration or integration classes).

Adolescents and their parents/families have to make several important decisions at the same time, which decisively shape the course of the childrens´ future school career and life paths (Ecarius/Miethe/Tervooren 2014; Neuenschwander et al. 2012; Walther 2016). In this context also the question of “Who makes the decision?” is of interest. Is it the youth with disability, the parent/s, both in a participatory understanding together? You influences the educational decision?

The motives for educational decisions are manifold and are discussed from different theoretical points of view. In general, a distinction is made between decision-theoretical (rational-choice theory) and reproduction-theoretical approaches (Bourdieu's habitus and capital types) (Miethe/Dierckx 2014). Although there are already various explanations for (educational) decision making there is still a lack of research involving people with disability. Only a few researchers (eg Lindmeier 2015, Walther 2016) deal with the question of how people with disability make and experience educational decisions and to what extent current theories reach their limits.

Therefore this presentation focuses on the decision-making process and ask how students with disability and their parents (with/without disability) experience this process when it comes to transition from SEC I to further education.

The empirical data are collected in the FWF (Austrian Science Fund) project “Cooperation for inclusion in educational transitions” (project number: P 29291-G29, leader: Helga Fasching; duration: 1.10.2016-30.09.2019; http://kooperation-fuer-inklusion.univie.ac.at/en/) at the Department of Education (University of Vienna, Austria). As part of this longitudinal study, narrative interviews are conducted with young people with disability and their parents/families (together they form a “case”) at different points during the transition process. The sample of the research project can be divided into a school and extracurricular group. For my PhD-dissertation and also for this presentation “cases” from the school area are used. The sample consists of young men and women with various forms of disabilities who attend different types of school before and after the transition. Some of the interviewed participants also participate in Reflecting Teams (RT) (Andersen 2011). In separate groups for young people, parents and practitioners, the members meet as co-researchers and talk about topics that arise from the interviews (Fasching/Felbermayr/Hubmayer 2017, 316-317). The whole research process is guided by the Constructivist Grounded-Theory Methodology (GTM) according to Charmaz (2014). The GTM is well suited for previously under-researched, structured and sensitive research fields (Biewer/Fasching/Koenig 2009, 399), as is the case both with regard to the decision-making process and the transition from SEC I to SEC II in relation to people with disability. The aim is to generate a theory based on the data, since the data already speak for themselves (Böhm 2012, 476). In terms of the GTM, data collection, data analysis and theory formation take place simultaneously, whereby in the sense of theoretical sampling the data collection in the research project is not yet completed. The interviews are conducted according to the method of “intensive interviewing” (Charmaz 2014, 56), meaning a “gently-guided, onesided conversation”. The aim is to collect the personal experiences of respondents about the research topic. Research question and interview guide are the starting point for the research process, which is characterized by a high degree of flexibility (ibid.). When analyzing the data, Charmaz (2014) differentiates between “initial coding” and “focus coding”. Supplemented by the writing of memos and the technique of constant comparison, it is the aim to break up the data material and gain step by step higher levels of abstraction (Mills/Bonner/Francis 2006).

The aim of the presentation is to give an insight in how students with disability and their parents (with/without disability) experience the decision-making process from SEC I to SEC II. Therefore also the question of “Who make the decision?” is of interest. In the second part of the paper presentation I´ll present first findings of the qualitative interviews with the target group. Based on this findings I´ll will describe arising issues and challenges at the end.

Andersen, Tom (2011) (Hrsg.): Das Reflektierende Team. Dialoge und Dialoge über Dialoge. 5. Auflage. Dortmund: Verlag Modernes lernen. Bergs, Lena / Niehaus, Mathilde (2016): Berufliche Bildung. In: Hedderich, Ingeborg / Biewer, Gottfried / Hollenweger, Judith / Markowetz, Reinhard (Hrsg.): Handbuch Inklusion und Sonderpädagogik. Bad Heilbrunn: Julius Klinkhardt, 293-297. Biewer, Gottfried / Fasching, Helga / Koenig, Oliver (2009): Teilhabe von Menschen mit einer intellektuellen Beeinträchtigung an Bildung, Arbeit und Forschung. In: SWS-Rundschau 49(3), 391-403. Böhm, Andreas (2012): Theoretisches Codieren. Textanalyse in der Grounded Theory. In: Flick, Uwe / Kardorff, Ernst von / Steineke, Ines (Hrsg.): Qualitative Forschung. Ein Handbuch. 9. Auflage. Reinbek bei Hamburg: Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag, 475-485. Charmaz, Kathy (2014): Constructing Grounded Theory. 2nd Edition. Thousand Oaks: Sage. Dausien, Bettina (2014): „Bildungsentscheidungen“ im Kontext biografischer Erfahrungen und Erwartungen. Theoretische und empirische Argumente. In: Miethe, Ingrid / Ecarius, Jutta / Tervooren, Anja (Hrsg.): Bildungsentscheidungen im Lebenslauf. Perspektiven qualitaitver Forschung. Opladen u.a.: Budrich, 39-61. Ecarius, Jutta / Miethe, Ingrid / Tervooren, Anja (2014): Bildungsentscheidungen im Lebenslauf. Dis-/Kontinuitäten, Paradoxien und soziale Ungleichheit. Eine Einleitung. In: Miethe, Ingrid / Ecarius, Jutta / Tervooren, Anja (Hrsg.): Bildungsentscheidungen im Lebenslauf. Perspektiven qualitativer Forschung. Opladen, Berlin, Toronto: Barbara Budrich, 9-15. Fasching, Helga / Felbermayr, Katharina / Hubmayer, Astrid (2017): Forschungsnotiz. In: SWS-Rundschau 57(3), 303-323. Lindmeier, Bettina (2015): Bildungsgerechtigkeit im Übergang. Jugendliche mit Unterstützungsbedard im Grenzbereich zwischen Lernen und geistiger Entwicklung im Übergang von der Schule in die berufliche Bildung und Beschäftigung. In: Sonderpädagogische Förderung heute 60(3), 308-322. Miethe, Ingrid / Dierckx, Heike (2014): Was ist eine Bildungsentscheidung? Theoretische und empirische Betrachtungen aus einer biografischen Perspektive. In: Miethe, Ingrid / Ecarius, Jutta / Tervooren, Anja (Hrsg.): Bildungsentscheidungen im Lebenslauf. Perspektiven qualitativer Forschung. Opladen, Berlin, Toronto: Barbara Budrich, 19-37. Mills, Jane / Bonner, Ann / Francis, Karen (2006): The development of constructivist Grounded Theory. In: International Journal of Qualitative Methods 5(1), 25-35. Neuenschwander, Markus P. / Gerber, Michelle / Frank, Nicole / Rottermann, Benno (2012): Schule und Beruf. Wege in die Erwerbstätigkeit. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. ´ Pfahl, Lisa (2011): Techniken der Behinderung. Der deutsche Lernbehinderungsdiskurs, die Sonderschule und ihre Auswirkungen auf Bildungsbiografien. Bielefeld: Transcript-Verlag. Walther, Andreas (2016): Pädagogik als Gestaltung und Gestalterin von Übergängen im Lebenslauf. In: Sonderpädagogische Förderung heute, 61(2), 121-138. Winn, Stephen / Hay, Ian (2009): Transition from school for youths with a disability: issues and challenges. In: Disability & Society 24(1), 103-115.