Browsing by Author "Nurmi, Riitta"

This qualitative research considers young people who are at risk of social exclusion.The study considers the stories of two boys who were in school in different eras of the modern Finnish school system, and analyses differences between them, as well as possible reasons for bullying and other events that they experienced while studying in primary school. The purpose of the study is to consider the young people and their individual circumstances, to make sense of the school drop out process, to perceive differences and similarities between each case, and to conclude whether the differences are a result of social and economic trends of the different eras. The research considers political decisions, and what actual or potential impacts they have on a student’s life. This has relevance for how successful an individual is in studying and entering the society. According to previous research, pupils can be more excluded if they are labelled as incapable of participating in classes; another previous result is that dividing courses according to difficulty level may result in underachievement. The research questions are as follows: What is the dynamics of the school drop out process in the life of an individual primary school student? What support is given to such a student? What differences are there between school drop outs in the 1980s and 2000s? The research data includes narrative accounts of two schoolboys, Mika and Toni, both of whom went to school before the previous law on basic education was introduced, and before a model of three stage support was initiated. In both cases, the analysis is based on a qualitative reasoning about the causes of the social exclusion. The analysis is based on narrative accounts, and in the case of Mika it also includes speech transcription. Conclusions are that support should start with listening to the school student and that the school day should be adjusted to fit the family`s regular life. These conclusions are based on the analysis and on experts` experiences. According to figures, the modern basic education model has reduced school drop out cases, whereas economic depression has had the opposite effect. The three stage support model does not appear to work properly if further resources are not available, or if teachers are not freed from some of their responsibilities. Another conclusion is that politics during Mika`s school days has had a more positive impact on support resources than that of Toni`s time in school. Possible fields of application for this study are research on bullying and practical prevention of social exclusion.