Internationally, as well as in a Danish context, a relatively high level of education in the population has increasingly become a prerequisite for both individual and national success and stability on the (inter)national labor market and in global competition (Thomsen & Andrade 2016). Thus, the importance of young people having equal opportunities for entering and staying and finishing education has become goal for education policies (European Commission, 2017). However, empirical studies indicate that when it comes to educational equity, making education accessible for all students will not ensure equal educational outcomes, there are still various barriers preventing young people to succeed in education. Educational mobility in Europe as well as in Denmark is thus still relatively low and the dropout rate relatively high, especially for socio-economically challenged pupils and students (Karlson & Landersø, 2021). Implementing an upscaled MaCE-model focusing on the good practices from the former Erasmus+ project Marginalisation and co-creation in new partner schools, is the core objective of COSI.ed project. This in trying to prevent dropout and support students in reentering or completing education, making the schools more inclusive and relational oriented. The model focuses on a rethinking of teaching with a strong focus on student engagement, student-teacher relations and using an indirect approach inspired pedagogy (Gravesen et al., 2021). But how is it to be a young person in a marginalized position in education – and (therefore) in society? How does it feel as a young person not being able to live up to societal norms for education and adult life course? Which experiences does young people situated on the margins of education have with the school system, teachers, social workers, municipalities etc.? Using the indirect interviewing method, and ethnographic inspired fieldwork in the Danish COSI.ed partner school for young people in vulnerable positions, this PhD-project examines this, asking how students in vulnerable positions experience and understand their own life conditions and opportunities/barriers in the context of their educational trajectories (Frostholm & Walker, 2021; Moshuus & Eide, 2016). And furtherly asking how it is to be met and approached differently in the COSi.ed partner school in Denmark. In using the indirect approach, closely connected to the ethnographic interview (Spradley, 1979) and lifeworld-oriented interviewing methods (Brinkmann, 2020) I seek in-depth understandings in trying to let the young people guide the conversation as much as possible. In this presentation, I will present the preliminary findings of the project.

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