“Each term they complete is a victory for each and every one”: A development project to establish an upper secondary diploma after completing a short, workplace-based educational programme

Abstract

Context In Iceland there are long standing concerns about high dropout rates from upper secondary schools. According to new information from Statistics Iceland, only 44% of students who started secondary schools in 2003 graduated within the normal four years of study, while the average rate within OECD was 68%. Two years on the OECD average had risen to 81% but was 58% in Iceland, the lowest of 11 countries with comparable statistics (Hagstofa Íslands, 2012a, 2102b). Lög um framhaldsskóla (The Upper Secondary Act, nr. 92/2008) entitles students access to schooling until the age of 18. Upper secondary schools are also authorised to establish short, workplace-based programmes and grant students an upper secondary diploma when they have completed 52 credits of the 140 credits required for the matriculation exam. In many European countries, such as Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Norway and Sweden, there is a rich tradition for vocational education with a strong connection with workplaces, and many of those countries are pursuing such educational programmes as a means of preventing dropout (European Commission, Education and Training, 2012a, 2012b; European Parliament, 2009; Hoffman, 2011; Kunnskapsdepartementet, 2009.) The study Akureyri Comprehensive College (VMA) has for a number of years offered a programme of study within its Department of General Studies (DGS) for students without the required prerequisites. Even though this programme has been successful for some students, it does not seem to have met the needs of the students that are most at risk of dropping out of school. In an attempt to improve provisions for students who are thought to be unlikely to graduate without special measures to meet their needs, the school has responded to new opportunities opened in the Upper Secondary Act of 2008 to grant students an upper secondary diploma after having completed 52 credits and engaged in a workplace-based programme of study aimed at these students. The aim of the current study was to investigate the progress and outcomes of a development project that commenced in the school year 2011–2012 and continued in the school year 2012–2013. Twelve and six students in each year respectively were offered to participate in a workplace-based programme aimed at enabling them to complete the 52 credits, required for the upper secondary diploma, in two years. The main emphasis was on the views and experiences of the participating students (cf. Fielding, 2006; Fletcher, 2005) and three teachers who led the development project. To this end, group interviews were conducted with each group of students in the beginning of the school year, followed by individual semi-structured interviews in the middle of the spring term. The interviews were supplemented by an analysis of the students’ diaries. In-depth interviews were also conducted with the head of the DGS, who was in charge in the school year 2011–2012, a new head appointed for the school year 2012–2013, and the teacher in charge of the workplace programme in both years. Findings and discussion When the individual interviews with the students in the first year were conducted in the middle of the spring term, five students had dropped out, but the remaining seven had all confirmed their enrolment for the coming school year of 2012– 2013. In the second year, all six students who had entered the programme in the preceding autumn term were still active. The high dropout rate in the first year was disappointing but all students in both years who finished the two terms commended the workplace programme, and thought that its mixture of work placement and in-school studies had suited them well. However, despite their determination to stay in the school for the coming school year, they had no clear plans for the kind of vocation they would like to pursue. All of them had attended both their work training and in-school studies regularly; they were generally happy with their workplace training and the content and organisation of the inschool studies, and maintained that they had acquired new and useful knowledge and skills. The heads of the DGS and the teacher in charge also maintained that despite the disappointing dropout of five students from the programme in the first year, the remaining students had gained from it and were unlikely to have stayed in school in the traditional DGS programme, let alone decided to enroll for another year. However, they pointed out that it would be a challenge for the school to find suitable future learning opportunities for these students, and there were limits as to how far the school would be able to reach, e.g. in terms of funding and other resources, to fulfil their individual needs. Even though the small-scale nature of the current study makes generalisations difficult, the study nevertheless does seem to indicate that schools such as VMA have the potential to establish programmes that meet students’ needs and work against their dropping out. After all, despite the disappointing dropout of five students from the first year programme, to a large extent the programme did meet the needs of those who remained. This should encourage VMA and other similar schools to maintain momentum in developing programmes of study that enable students to leave schools as “winners”.