"Hanging Out - Hanging On - Hanging In" or is it "Elect Out, Drift Out and Driven Out." What works for “At-Risk” students - how a Connected or Generative Pedagogy improves student educational outcomes for all but in particular for marginalised students
Paper presented at the Australian Curriculum Studies Association
Biennial National Conference
CONVERSACTIONS
28 – 30 September 2003 - Adelaide, South Australia
Correspondence:
David Zyngier Faculty of Education, Monash University,
P.O. Box 527, Frankston, Victoria, 3199 AUSTRALIA.
Phone: (03) 9904 4087 Fax: (03) 9904 4027
Email for complete paper: David.Zyngier@Education.Monash.edu.au
David Zyngier recently completed the development of the ruMAD? Program (http: //www.rumad.org.au - Kids Making a Difference in the Community) – for the Education Foundation of Victoria. He was an Education Consultant and former school principal currently undertaking his PhD in education at Monash University where he lectures in the Faculty of Education. The area of his research is "How School Connectedness can improve student engagement and student outcomes, particularly for at risk students." He is also part of team investigating the effectiveness of "Non Systemic and Non Traditional Programs" in addressing student disengagement with learning for the Frankston Mornington Peninsula Local Learning and Employment Network.
Significant interest and concern are currently evident in Australian education with regard to student retention; attendance (participation) and achievement rates in post compulsory schooling. Important work is currently being undertaken in Australia (and elsewhere) on the kinds of classroom pedagogies that improve outcomes for all students, but in particular those variously labeled as "at-risk". The literature suggests a picture of an "upside down quality" in schooling with those procedures most likely to engage students in learning decreasing at the very age when it was most needed. Research published in various national and international reports reinforces the conclusion that the curriculum for many if not most students but in particular marginalised working class youth, is not connected to their personal life experiences and/or interests. This paper reports on research-in-progress that seeks to determine whether a change from a dominant school pedagogy to one which has at its core students' backgrounds and lived experiences, will improve student educational outcomes for all but in particular for those nominated as at risk students. Findings suggests that a Generative or Connected Pedagogy needs to take account of students own reasons for why they are disengaged from schooling and explores the changes schools and teachers themselves need to consider, including the interests and involvement of students in decision-making processes and the inclusion of intellectually challenging material for students ‘at educational risk’.