Browsing by Subject "upper secondary vocational education and training"

In different sectors of education percentage of school drop outs is highest in upper secondary vocational school even though dropping out has decreased in recent years. When discussed about dropping out, it's essential to recognize when it's about increasing risk of alienation and when it's necessary for individual's life. The purpose of this research it to offer a new point of view that considers life choices and turning points as process that continues individually and multidimensionally. In this research interest focus on agency behind dropping out and situational actors that lead to decisions to drop out. The theoretical framework concentrates changes in youth and working life, situational actors behind school drop outs and agency as individual's power to shape their life circumstances by choosing their actions. The research was carried out qualitatively. The data was collected in October 2015 and is based on open interviews that were analyzed using content analysis. In this research nine individual interviews were used. Interviewees were young persons who had quitted at least once in upper secondary vocational school and started another education or got employed after dropping out. Interviews indicated human agency as active operations that contain ability to picture alternative course of actions and possible future outcomes. In narrations agency can be seen as interaction that is strongly combined to time. Decision making is influenced by the past, present and future. As active and planned decision making, narrations show that agency is limited or allowed by structural and social actors that guide individual's actions and decision making. In narrations situational actors that lead to quitting, appeared to be set of various actors that eventually lead to limited agency and quitting school.