Session Information
02 SES 14 B, Pathways and Transitions III: Disengagement and Dropout
Paper Session
Contribution
Vocational education and training (VET) have been put at the centre stage of the European Commission’s (EC) strategies for tackling early leaving of education and training (ELET) (Cedefop 2016; EU Commission, 2015). A joint Eurydice and Cedefop report (2014) indicated that preventing ELET in VET as well as compensating for ELET in general education by attracting, retaining and reintegrating students through VET should be part of the member states’ strategies to reduce ELET. Work-based learning (WBL), is considered a key aspect of VET by the EC. WBL can, however, be found in different forms across the member states. For the policy term 2015-2020, one of the key priorities for the EC Education and Training 2020 VET targets is to promote WBL in all its forms but with a focus on dual learning (EU Commission, 2015). In this paper we primarily focus on WBL in the form of dual learning and its relation to ELET.
Education systems where dual learning is considered a mainstream option are, however, limited to a few member states (e.g. Austria, Germany and Denmark). In the present study, we focus on VET pathways offered in Flemish secondary education. In Flanders (Belgium), VET with a significant proportion of WBL is a rather peripheral phenomenon. Vocational upper secondary education is predominantly school-based, often combined with short periods of work-based internships (EU Commission, 2015). Recently, the implementation of a new dual VET system in Flanders explicitly targets to reduce ELET by increasing the motivation and engagement of students. The piloting of the dual learning system started in September 2016 and continues to be gradually extended to more schools and fields of study until its full implementation in September 2019 (EU Commission, 2018).
Although the overall Flemish ELET indicator measured by the EU Labour Force Survey (2016) has dropped well below the EU wide target of 10%, within Flanders, there exist large disparities between educational tracks. In the school year 2015-2016, early leavers from Flemish education were respectively 7 and 23 times more likely to leave from full-time school-based and part-time (work-based) VET than from general secondary education (Flemish Ministry of Education and Training, 2018). A large proportion of students in part-time VET did, however, not manage to find an apprenticeship placement and are often enrolled in preparatory programs, some of them primarily oriented to providing youth care services (Smet et al., 2015). The recent Flemish policy initiative reforms two separate systems, i.e. the part-time work-based VET and apprenticeship tracks, to one dual learning system. This new dual learning system allows regular secondary schools to program dual learning courses and also excludes the predominantly care oriented programs. The policy targets to provide more students with quality dual learning VET options and hereby tackle the relatively high ELET risk in Flemish VET (Nouwen et al., 2017).
Incited by the new educational policy initiative discussed above, this paper studies the role of the new dual learning pathway on students’ motivation, engagement and risk of dropout. We will build on the theoretical framework of the Self-System Model of Motivational Development (e.g. Connell and Welborn, 1991; Fall & Roberts, 2012) to explain dropout and study to what extent students in the new dual learning track differ from the other VET pathways in terms of feeling supported and related, perceived competence and autonomy, as well as behavioural engagement. For this, we will focus on both their school- and workplace learning environments. In order to compensate for selection bias, we take socio-demographic and prior educational career related risk factors for ELET into account as control variables in making the comparative analyses.
Method
The statistical analyses are based on survey and administrative data derived from the evaluation study of the pilot phase of the new dual learning system in Flemish secondary education (see policy background above). Next to a qualitative case study approach, the evaluation study semesterly collects survey data from students in the dual learning pathways in all pilot schools. These pilot schools can be regular (predominantly) VET oriented secondary schools, centres for part-time secondary education, as well as centres for entrepreneurial courses (so-called SYNTRA centres). At the same time, also the students in the non-dual VET reference courses in the same pilot schools were surveyed (i.e. similar courses in school-based VET or the part-time work-based and apprenticeship tracks under reform, the reference courses provide access to the same VET qualifications). Students in this population can legally be age 15 to 25. For this paper we focus on students of the second cohort in the pilot phase that have started their study course in the academic year 2017-2018. Although the evaluation study collects data from three different cohorts, the data for this cohort cover the most complete level of information. The survey data collection focusses on measuring psychometric instruments related to the Self-System Model of Motivational Development and include measurements of the perceived support in both learning contexts, students' sense of relatedness, perceived competence and autonomy, as well as behavioural engagement indicators. For each survey respondent that gave approval, we linked the survey data with administrative data from the Flemish Department of Education and Training and the Flemish Agency for Entrepreneurial Training (SYNTRA). The administrative data complement the survey data by adding information on the students’ sociodemographic background, prior school career, study success and dropout. The administrative data will therefore provide us with control variables that aren’t self-reported as well as reliable information on the main outcome variable, namely dropout.
Expected Outcomes
Preliminary analyses based on the survey data for the second cohort of students in the pilot schools showed that, compared to students in the reference VET pathways, students in dual learning felt significantly better supported by teachers, colleagues and their mentor at the workplace in the first semester, but only by their mentor in the second semester. Dual students, in both semesters, reported higher levels of feeling related to the school and workplace and valued workplace learning higher. However, the data showed no significant difference in valuing of school-based education. Furthermore, dual students’ professional self-concept was higher but they did not significantly differ in terms of academic perceived competence and control. The preliminary analyses also showed higher levels of behavioural engagement at the workplace but no significant difference with regard to behavioural engagement in school-based learning (Nouwen et al, 2019). At the time of the preliminary analyses, no administrative data were yet available on the dropout of the students in the second cohort. The analyses for the first cohort showed that students in the part-time secondary education and apprenticeship track showed significantly higher dropout levels than for students in the dual learning and school-based VET track. However, when controlling for differences in sociodemographic and prior school career characteristics, the dropout risks did no longer differ significantly (Nouwen et al, 2019). The proposed paper will include the linked administrative data on dropout and include analysis that aims to explain dropout using the latent constructs derived from the Self-System Model of Motivational Development.
References
Connell, J. P., & Wellborn, J. G. (1991). Competence, autonomy and relatedness: A motivational analysis of self-system processes. In M. Gunnar & L. A. Sroufe (Eds.), Minnesota Symposium on Child Psychology: Vol. 23. Self processes in development (pp. 43-77). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Cedefop (2016). Leaving education early: putting vocational education and training centre stage. Volume I: investigating causes and extent. Luxembourg: Publications Office. Cedefop research paper; No 57. http://dx.doi.org/10.2801/893397 EU Commission (2015). European Alliance for Apprenticeships - Good for Youth, Good for Business. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. Retrieved from http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/news-and-press/news/brochure-european-alliance-apprenticeships-good-youth-good-business EU Commission (2018). Education and Training Monitor – Country analysis. Luxembourg: Publications Office. Retrieved from: https://ec.europa.eu/education/sites/education/files/document-library-docs/volume-1-2018-education-and-training-monitor-country-analysis.pdf Eurydice & Cedefop. (2014). Tackling Early Leaving from Education and Training in Europe: Strategies, Policies and Measures. Eurydice and Cedefop Report. Luxembourg: Publications Office. Retrieved from: https://publications.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/8de0908c-7ed0-11e5-b8b7-01aa75ed71a1/language-en Fall, A., & Roberts, G. (2012). High school dropouts: Interactions between social context, self perceptions, school engagement, and student dropout. Journal of Adolescence, vol. 35, pp. 787-798. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2011.11.004. Flemish Ministry of Education and Training. (2018). Vroegtijdig schoolverlaten in het Vlaams Secundair Onderwijs: Cijferrapport voor de Schooljaren 2009-2010 tot en met 2015-2016 [Early School Leaving in the Flemish Secondary Education: Data Bulletin for the Academic years 2009-2010 until 2015-2016]. Brussels: Department Education and Training. Retrieved from: http://ebl.vlaanderen.be/publications/documents/112708. Nouwen, W., Orozco, M., Clycq, N., & Timmerman, C. (2017). Duaal leren op proef: evaluatiestudie van de proeftuinen'Schoolbank op de werkplek': aanvangsrapport [Dual Learning on Pilot: An Evaluation of the pilots ‘School Bench on the Workplace’: Initial Report]. Antwerp: University of Antwerp. Retrieved from: https://repository.uantwerpen.be/docman/irua/6eaac6/147494.pdf Nouwen, W., Orozco, M., Clycq, N., & Timmerman, C. (2019). Duaal leren op proef: evaluatiestudie van de proeftuinen'Schoolbank op de werkplek': Tussentijds Rapport Schooljaar 2017-2018 [Dual Learning on Pilot: An Evaluation of the pilots ‘School Bench on the Workplace’: Intermediate Report Academic Year 2017-2018]. Antwerp: University of Antwerp. Smet, M., Stevens, C., De Rick, K., De Witte, K., Van Landeghem, G., & De Fraine, B. (2015). Leren en werken. Evaluatie van het decreet van 2008. Leuven: KU Leuven. Retrieved from: https://lirias.kuleuven.be/retrieve/525848.
Search the ECER Programme
- Search for keywords and phrases in "Text Search"
- Restrict in which part of the abstracts to search in "Where to search"
- Search for authors and in the respective field.
- For planning your conference attendance you may want to use the conference app, which will be issued some weeks before the conference
- If you are a session chair, best look up your chairing duties in the conference system (Conftool) or the app.