Project and Research Coordinator: Federica D Armini Partnership researcher and local coordinators: Zoe Albani (GR), Inta Baranovska (LV), Iveta Bebrisa (LV), Dave Ellis (UK), Alina Gravilita (RO), Marica Iorio (IT), Mihai Jigau (RO), Ingrid Jung (DE), Malgorzata Miklosz (PL), Cesare Moreno (IT), Dave Oborne (UK), Salvatore Pirozzi (IT), Ludger Reiberg (DE), Dave Tynan (UK), Zaiga Velsa (LV). Thanks to: The National Agency for Leonardo da Vinci Programme II phase All Young people, families, experts, teachers and professionals from Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Romania and United Kingdom involved in the interviews realised. All public and private organisations which had cooperated as external partners: Centre of Education and Bringing Up MDK Lancut (PL), Centre of Psychological and Pedagogical Advisory in Rzeszow (PL), Chance School (IT),Evolution Association - Bucharest (RO), Greater Manchester Residuary Body (UK), Greater Manchester Youth Network (UK), Italia Lavoro Servizi Pubblici per L impiego (IT), JWK ggmbh Jugendwerk Köln (shop for youth - DE), Labor House Organization (GR), LOC (Latvian Orthodox Church) St. Nicolay - Riga Christian Children Shelter - Day Centre (LV), Mädchenprojekt Zukunft Projektteil Kneifzange Handwerkerinnenhaus Köln e.v. (Girls project future project: Pairs of nippers, by the association of the House of craftswomen) (DE); Malpils Basic Boarding School - Riga region (LV), Polish Association of Pedagogues and Animators KLANZA (PL), Project Millennium Volunteers (UK), Refugees Reception Centre in Thessalonica (GR), School no. 103 and School no. 136, under the Centre of Resources and Educational Assistance, (CMBRAE) Bucharest (RO), SOS Children s Villages for the youth community in Sibiu (RO), Sozialpädagogische Beratungsstelle für Berufsanfänger/innen Internationaler Bund GmbH (International Association of the Social Workers in the area of Vocational Training/Counseling - DE), University of Rzeszow Institute of Pedagogies (PL), Valmiera Youth Centre Vinda - Support Centre (LV), Vesbe - Verein für europäische Sozialarbeit, Bildung und Erziehung e.v. (DE), Youth Offending Teams (UK), Youth Service (UK). Audio-Video Technical Staff from all countries Gianfranco Pintus (Graphics) Special Thanks to Mr Dave Ellis
INDEX INTRODUCTION TO ONCE AGAINST ABANDON PROJECT 5 PREMISE 9 GERMANY 13 ENGLISH VERSION - Contents: Interview to Young Dropout Short Premises 14 Interview 1 House of craftswomen, project pair of nippers Interview to youngsters 15 Interview 2 - House of craftswomen, project pair of nippers Interview to operators 17 Interview 3 - Interviews for youngsters 21 Interview 4 - Interviews operators Association for European Social Work, education and Training 23 GERMAN VERSION 25 GREECE 37 ENGLISH VERSION - Contents: Interview to Young Dropout Short Premises 38 Interview 1 - Member of Staff of the specialized Center for the social and vocational integration of ex drug dependent individual 43 Interview 2 - Young Dropouts 65 Interview 3 Refugees Reception Center 90 Interview 4 Labour House Orgnisation 107 GREEK VERSION 138 3
POLAND 237 ENGLISH VERSION - Contents: Interview to Young Dropout Short Premises 238 Interview 1 - The Center of Psychological and Pedagogical Advisory in Rzeszow 239 Interview 2 - University of Rzeszow Institute of Pedagogies 241 Interview 3 - The Centre of Education and Bringing Up MDK Lancut 243 Interview 4 - Polish Association of Pedagogues and Animators KLANZA 246 ROMANIA 248 ENGLISH VERSION - Contents: Interview 1 - Interview with Experts 249 Interview 2 Families: Interview with a mother 258 Interview 3 - Interview with the young in dropout situation 260 ROMANIAN VERSION 271 4
INTRODUCTION TO ONCE AGAINST ABANDON PROJECT Once Again-st ( 2007-2009) is a dissemination and valorisation pilot project co-financed within the LDV Programme II phase, focused on actions and practices aimed at coping with school abandon. It has been conceived as a follow up of the outcomes achieved by the implementation of the pilot project Again-st Abandon (2003-2005), concerned with the identification of: social, cultural and economic factors that characterize young dropouts good practises implemented at local level in UK, IT, ES, LV. Project Direct beneficiaries are Guidance and counselling operators and organisations, while Indirect beneficiaries and potential users are Young drop-out (14-24 y.o.); Education and training Institutions (schools, vocational training centres, employment services, etc).the sector concerned is the one of services aimed at supporting individuals in their personal and occupational development. RESEARCH FIELD OF REFERENCE The KEY aspect characterizing the whole of analysis and outputs realised by both the projects is Communication as a substantial practice and mean implied in the relationship between: Young dropouts and Institutions (School) and viceversa Young dropouts and the community Young dropouts and the territorial/national services/systems (training, counselling, etc) and viceversa. Therefore, Communication has been analysed by both the projects, since it means and implies: verbal and non verbal language and codes; social and relational behaviours; services (information towards the client, education, training); pedagogical and counselling practices (approach). MAIN GOALS The project idea was based on the necessity of verifying, integrating and valorising the outcomes achieved by Against Abandon project, by: opening the outcomes achieved to a group of new countries (GR, RO, PL, DE) represented by organisations holding a long experience in counselling and training services addressed to people at risk of social exclusion and in promoting and realising studies concerned with the young dropout phenomenon; integrating the analysis made, considering not only the practices addressed to the early school leavers (young up to 14-16 y.o.), but to the over 16 y.o. young dropping out the training pathways; promoting the creation of a Transnational network of organisations providing services to people at risk of social and occupational exclusion, willing of supporting each other through the exchange of practices, experiences, analysis, tools, ect.; promoting the direct involvement of Young in experimental activities concerned with communication; 5
creating a permanent virtual community (Portal on School Abandon), with the aim of making available on line a space where rationalize, disseminate, exchange and valorise the practices, solutions, materials and tools identified and validated by different local subjects through their own experience and work; promoting the enhancement of communication/relational efficacy and efficiency of counselling, guidance and training services addressed to young drop out. PROJECT BACKGROUND ISSUES Both the projects are grounded on a few main assumptions: dropouts are young at risk of social and occupational exclusion because for the most they are not visible by the national/local systems (they really disappear) and are difficult to be found, that is, it is very difficult to trace their moving on the territory and to quantify them (in terms of percentage rates at national/local level); if young drop-out, it means that the system is not able to be effective and efficacious in providing services that are addressed to them; many of the successful interventions and actions implemented around Europe (best practices), aimed at reintegrating these young in social, education and training systems are not always or necessarily directly supported by Institutions, but have been promoted and realised by other subjects that in general have a strong link with the territory. The core idea is that there actually exists, all around Europe, a wide range of different practices and processes that can differ from each other but that share a basic theoretical approach Young Centred, from which arise: a complex whole of methodologies, techniques and information that can be useful to valorise and share; interventions and actions consistently structured, implying also specific tools. Within this whole of practices, the project focuses on the communication and relation process implemented by subjects providing education, training and counselling services when dealing with young at risk of social-occupational exclusion, analysing in particular two main aspects: the outreaching modality when the organisation/institution make itself visible to the service target. In this case the aim is to highlight the mutual communication behaviour that operators and young establish when they meet inside the young context of reference; the settings implying the analysis of communication and relation behaviour that operators and young establish when they meet outside the young context of reference. In this case, the target moves towards the organisation. MAIN ACTIVITIES 1. Desk analysis to identify relevant Case Studies implemented in all countries involved (projects, actions, interventions, etc.) 2. Field analysis (interviews with operators) to identify good practices adopted by the operators with young dropouts, in terms of communication/relation techniques and methodologies. 3. Field analysis (interviews with young dropouts) to integrate the Glossaries and Word lists (GR, PL, RO, DE) created during the previous project, describing the verbal modalities adopted by young dropouts. 4. Publishing and promoting a Portal on school abandon (Project website) with the aim of providing subjects with a space to exchange information, tools and materials that can be uploaded and downloaded by them directly on line. 6
5. Realisations of 7 experimental Laboratories with young dropouts, aimed at: making them live a short but real working group experience; providing them with basic information on process, methodology and technical aspects related to the editing work. In particular: 6 Labs have been realised in GR, PL, RO, DE, UK, LV, within those have been produced 6 Newsletters in national language and English; 1 Lab has been realised in IT, to produce 1 Video Master (DVD). MAIN PRODUCTS The outcomes of the Desk analysis realised have been described in a Comparative Transnational Report (the present document) focusing 3 main aspects: 1. the main National/Local Norms related to the theme of preventing and opposing the phenomena linked to the education and training abandon. The selection of norms has been pursued (IT, ES, LV, UK RO, PL, GR, DE ), taking into account the most exemplary ones, since the research aimed at identifying examples and models useful to specify how the phenomena have been punctually and successfully approached within the national normative system. The norms identified consider aspects linked to: the punishment of the compulsory school abandon or focused on the phenomena linked to it (black labour market, young crime or the related physical and mental difficulties, etc.); the support to families and schools for counselling interventions or in economical terms (school tax allowance); fostering or introducing some flexibilities for the exploitation of the training offer opportunities (easy returns, institution of second chance schools, timetable flexibility, individualised pathways, etc.). 2. National/local programmes and intervention schemes, in order to provide data and information on policies and strategies differently concerned with the fight against school abandon in the countries involved in the partnership. 3. National/local Case Studies, providing models potentially transferable and/or reproducible. The Field Analysis Report, presenting in original version - the full transcriptions (in national and English version) of the interviews realised in all countries, with Young and Operators, that have been audio-video recorded and edited (not in the full version) on the project Video Reportage (DVD). The information collected have been useful to integrate the collection of case studies exemplifying communication-relation methodologies and practices; to integrate and deepen the analysis and identification of good practices (communication-relation processes) - collected in the project Compendium - adopted by the operators to re-involve and re-integrate young dropouts within education, training and employment pathways; to integrate the Glossaries and wordlists, describing the young dropout s communication styles. The Glossaries and Word lists, as a Collection of the main expressions adopted by young dropouts living in all partnership countries. For each word or expression selected are provided: the original term in national language; the translation and definition of the term in English; a simulation of its use. The Compendium of Good Practices, including an organised list of the main communication, relational, methodological, organisational and deontological practices tested and validated by operators approaching and working with young dropouts. 7
The Project Magazine What s new? Stories from the world of young, where have been collected all the 6 Newsletters realised during the editorial Labs realised in GR, D, LV, RO, PL; conceived, realised and written by Young themselves with the support of tutors, book designers and partner s staff (national language + English version). The project Publication The Young s Voice, collecting the 7 Brochures realised in each country with the contribution of Young (national language + English) that have been asked to write down about their own personal stories and feelings without imposing a theme. Video Reportage (DVD) - Abandoning education a pan European perspective The Voice of people IN and AGAINST school abandon. The Reportage (120 minutes) has been edited and produced within a Lab realised in Italy, involving tutors and Young. The material selected and edited (with subtitles in English) was the one recorded by all partners during the interviews made to operators, Young and families (field analysis). The Portal on School Abandon (project website www.once.againstabandon.net) The Portal as been conceived as a Virtual Resources Centre, that is, an open source channel and tool, where all users can enter without limitations to upload and download on line materials. The Model for quali-quantitative territorial analysis, this tool - addressed to guidance, training and employment operators as been conceived to support the operators in the collection of information concerning the characteristics of the territory where they work, in order to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the service they provide to young dropouts. The grids and questionnaires provided are aimed at mapping the different typologies of guidance, training and information services (and related organisations) existing on the local territory, (referred to both formal and informal contexts); and organising information on the quality level of the service offered by them. Cd-Rom including: The Compendium of good practices. The collection of Glossaries and Word lists (IT, EN, LV, EL, D, PL, RO). The Transnational Report. The Field Analysis Report. Once Magazine and Once Publication. Model for quali-quantitative territorial analysis. 8
PREMISES The project workplan frame within which the field analysis presented in this Report has been realised, was aimed at improving the communication-relation competences of operators working within guidance, counselling, training and employment services addressed to young dropouts, fostering the exchange, transfer and dissemination of experiences and practices. The specific goals to which the survey referred were: 1. to integrate the collection of case studies exemplifying communication-relation methodologies, practices and techniques, identifying them within all different countries involved in the project; 2. to integrate and deepen the analysis and identification of good practices (communication-relation techniques and methodologies) collected during the Again-st Abandon project (2003-2005) 1 - adopted by the operators to re-involve and re-integrate young dropouts within education, training and employment pathways; 3. to integrate the creation of Glossaries and wordlists 2, describing the communication styles adopted by young dropout, in each country. The research actions realised have been differently articulated and implemented within the partnership with respect to the countries involved: on one side, the ones (UK, IT, LV) already involved in the implementation of the previous against abandon project had worked in order to integrate, deepen and verify the research outcomes already achieved; on the other, to the new countries (GR, RO, DE, PL) have been asked to realise ex novo the survey as planned, so as to reinforce the exemplificative and informative value of the analysis outcomes on the whole, produced during both the first and the second session of the project. So, the two teams worked in parallel, but the contents approached and the grid formats used were different, even if complementary. As far as the point 2 is concerned, whit good practices we refer to a whole of practical and technical methodologies designing a process, focused in particular in the actions aimed at gaining the attention of the young and inducing them re-enter education or training paths (it implies actions similar to the first level guidance that we have called welcome actions to which generally follows a more structured and continuous relation with the organisation providing the service of training/tutoring). Substantially, starting from the assumptions that in general dropouts are at risk of social and occupational exclusion because, generally speaking, they are not visible (from the point of view of the institutions disappear ) and difficult to be found, it is very complicated to trace their moving on the territory and to be quantified (in terms of percentage rates at national-local level). The study was focused on the practices adopted in each national country preceding the attending, by the young, to a training pathway alternative to the compulsory or institutional education (that is the process implemented by operators to involve dropouts in reintegrating themselves in the system, to ensure themselves the chance to enter the occupational market). With the obvious differences linked to each national systems represented by the partnership (IT, UK, LV, RO, PL, GR, DE), these practices could differ in terms of the Institutional organisation of the services provided by the territory, but show relevant affinities in terms of communication and relational methodologies applied to approach young. In fact, there are many important similes that have been focused already at the end of Again-st Abandon project, that refer to the methodological communicative and relational practices, centred on a theoretical approach Young Centred from which arise a complex whole of practices, techniques and information that operators must know and share, so as interventions and actions consistently structured, implying specific tools. On the other side, as far as the point 3 is concerned, the creation of a reasoned and structured Glossary during Against Abandon project, highlighted a few similes existing among the communication codes used by Young 1 Compendium of Good Practices with dropouts communicative, relational, methodological, organisational, deontological for Operators use Again-st Abandon project I Edition December 2005. 2 Young dropouts communication styles Collection of main expressions Glossaries and Word Lists (IT, LV, UK, ES), Again-st Abandon project I Edition December 2005. 9
independently of their national language and the country/social system of provenience - and showed the aspects (that are behind and under their expressions) that young dropouts have in common and that they communicate through their linguistic and communication habit. Actually, the young expressions collected showed that whatever language or slang used - they refer to specific and transversal themes associated to their cultural, psychological, behavioural and emotional world coming from the relation they establish with: the cultural context in which they were born and live (family and territory); the education and occupational system in which they live (e.g. School, market labour or society in general); adults in general (they can be parents or teachers or employers or institutions representatives, etc.). FIELD ANALYSIS Referring to the team 1 (UK, IT, LV), organisations partner have interviewed operators working within Institutional or Formal contexts 3 providing services to inform the project target group on the opportunities available on the territory aimed at reintegrating or including them in education/training contexts or labour market. In this case, on the base of the choices made by each partner, the age of the target could be 14-16 or + 16. The analysis was focused on the procedures, channels and tools adopted by formal organisations to communicate with the target, to urge young to act and to transfer useful information. In general, K- themes 4 were: the general socio-cultural context of the target (to stress possible changes occurred during the last 5 years); the communication and information process adopted with respect to the prevailing target typologies (or more frequent situations) and consistently with the typology of organisation providing specific services; a description of the settings (places and timings) aimed at: first-level guidance, listening, discussion, code used and eventual code-switching, communication of information; a description of the information tools and channels used; a self-evaluation of the effectiveness of the service provided; of the communication process adopted and of the information tools and channels used, to highlight strengths and weaknesses; the eventual amendments and solutions applied to improve communication and information addressed to the target. With reference to the Team 2 (PL, DE, GR, RO) organisations partner have interviewed 5, using a common semistructured grid 6 : 1. operators involved in programmes and actions addressed to young aged 14-16 or +16 aimed at: - integrating communication-relation good practices, (methods, techniques, processes and tools), validated through experience; - working out and validating glossaries and word lists describing verbal and non verbal modalities generally adopted by the young persons. 3 E.g.: Employment services or similar; Centres/Schools of vocational training or higher education (including Universities); Second Chance Schools; Organisations/Associations acting as mediators for social inclusion; Social Parties; Organisations involved in European interventions (also municipalities or provinces); Guidance Centres; Other Projects/interventions working in the same topics at local, national level that cooperate with Institutions. 4 See grid format and protocol Annex 1. 5 All interviews realised by team 1 and team 2 have been audio-video recorded and have been published in the project DVD - Reportage - Abandoning education a pan European perspective The Voice of people IN and AGAINST school abandon. 6 See grid format and protocol Annex 2 10
The operators (street operators/teachers, volunteers, social workers, tutors, counsellors, teachers of second chance schools or training centres, etc.) represented different typologies of structures (public or private) 7 implementing actions considered as good practices at regional, local or national level, in order to obtain a wide view of modalities and processes addressed to the same target but carried out by different subjects, so as to be emblematic of different approaches to the same problem. Also subjects involved in the implementation of local and national financed actions and projects concerning the drop out phenomenon as representative of local national good/best practices were included. 2. Young aged 14-16 or +16, in order to collect information useful to integrate: - the analysis of the reasons which led them to leave school; - the evidence of how they speak and communicate (this is why you have to audio-video record them and to transcribe the interview). MAIN CONTENTS: INTERVIEWS WITH FIELD OPERATORS In general, the whole of information collected by the two survey groups (team 1 and 2), were aimed at highlighting the good practices that operators validated through direct experience, focusing on the analysis of the different steps of the process finalized at reintegrating the target group within the social, cultural and occupational system. To this scope, the questions proposed considered all different moments implied in this process: a. General Data b. Description of the service c. Target Group identikit d. Modalities to catch and contact the target (process and communication-information devices) e. Relation-communication strategies and settings f. Description of specific communication-relation techniques/methodologies g. Evaluation It is to underline that the survey main goal was not the detailed reconstruction of the process and related variants, but the identification of prototypical modalities implied that have been tested, validated and then systematized by operators, as good practices in terms of communication modalities - ascribable to a system of procedures derived from the experience on the field. For this reason, the partnership preferred not to create a structured grid but to provide researchers with key concepts and themes of reference, in order to leave them a wide margin of freedom. MAIN CONTENTS: INTERVIEWS WITH YOUNG DROP OUT Meetings with Young representing the project target group (drop out aged 14-16 or +16) were aimed at realizing individual/group interviews to collect research material on problems and issues studied by the project. The interviews have been realised by means of a semi-structured Grid of key-contents 8, worked out to facilitate interviewers in doing the task and supported by the cameraman audio-video recording the events. Young have been asked to provide their point of view, feelings, opinions and to describe their experience with respect to K- themes as: 7 Employment services or similar; Centres/Schools of vocational training or higher education (including Universities); Second Chance Schools; Organisations/Associations acting as mediators for social inclusion; Guidance/Counselling Centres; Social Assistance Services, etc. 8 See grid format and protocol Annex 3 and Annex 4. 11
a. Why do they abandon? - the most common reasons that caused the abandon, deepening elements concerning the level of consciousness held by young at the moment of the choice. The aim was to describe synthetically the process that led the young to the choice of leaving school and to perceive if when the choice has been made they really were aware of effects and consequences. b. School memories - Young feeling towards: - School places and rooms; - relationships created or used within the school context (with teachers, headmasters, or others adults caretakers) and group of peers. In particular how they addressed him/her, remarks, judgements, the words the teachers used in relating to him/her; - interest towards learning; - problems and difficulties experienced and encountered by Young related to learning; - problems and difficulties experienced and felt by Young related to the Language used at school as both means/channel of learning and of relation-communication. c. Formal and informal networks: the young social context of reference - the level of knowledge Young have of counselling, guidance, reintegration services addressed to them, focusing on: - what are Young informal channels for help, support and guidance (family, friends, adults, parish, voluntary associations, sensible teachers, etc); - what kind of information Do Young hold on typology and variety of training and/or counselling options available on the local referring context/area; - if Young ever experienced some of these options, focusing on which ones, how they have come to know it or how they have come in contact with it. - what kind of relationship Young hold with Social Assistance Services and what is their opinion. d. Young and services: feelings and opinions Young have on the basis of their experience, of the quality of the services addressed to them existing in the local context/area, in terms of efficacy and usefulness. In particular it was requested to highlight what are for Young the elements and factors of attractiveness, difference or weakness, focusing on: - typology of places and spaces; - typology and modalities of the relationships created with operators/tutors/teachers-trainers, etc; - level of interest and involvement in the activities and experiences made; - difficulties and problems felt related to these experiences; - difficulties and problems felt related to the relationship-communication modalities created; - other learning-teaching methodologies experienced. e. The effective communication - the opinion Young hold of the quality of tools and channels commonly used by structures (formal and informal) to disseminate information on the services and options they provide. f. Attractiveness of the places/activities alternative to school: what are them and why. The material following is original: the text provided are the full transcriptions (in national and English version) of the interviews made that have been audio-video recorded and edited (not in the full version) on the project DVD - Reportage - Abandoning education a pan European perspective The Voice of people IN and AGAINST school abandon. For privacy reasons we had not indicated the full name of the interviewed. In this section, are provided the interviews realised by the work Team 2 represented by the organisations partner from DE, GR, PL and RO. 12
Germany 13
INTERVIEWS TO YOUNG DROP OUT SHORT PREMISES Interviewer: Ingrid Jung, Schulamt für die Stadt Köln (education authority of the city of Cologne) The interview took place in the House of Craftswomen, Cologne with two teenagers (girls) who participate in the project pairs of nippers. They are both 16 years old and preferred to stay anonymous so you only see them from behind and their names are changed. Both are still obliged by law to attend school. They participate in the project pairs of nippers instead of going to the regular school. The interview took place in one of the project s classrooms: In the back of the room you can see the project s co-coordinator Ms. Zimmermann. WHY DO S ABANDON? IDENTIKIT OF THE YOUNG INTERVIEWED: SHORT PRESENTATION OF THEIR STORY There are two languages spoken in the family of the girls - biography (English/stay in the US and the dad of the other family comes from Poland). Both girls had to change school quite often and also the type of school they attended. They justify their behavior and the changing of schools with difficulties they had with their teachers. The communication went wrong, the girls even argued that they were hit by one of the teachers and that chairs and tables were thrown at them. All the changing of school destabilized the girls deeply so that they refused to go to school at all. Since they are still legally obliged to go to school, the parents were informed but even they were unable to motivate their daughters to start going to school again. SCHOOL MEMORIES The atmosphere and the rooms and the equipment in school were okay according to the girls. Only the relationship to and the communication with the teachers went wrong and led to big problems. They talked about physical assaults (hits) on the part of the teachers and on the part of the girls. Each girl liked one teacher in particular from her schoolthe English- and the physical education teacher that is why they were interested in learning something in theses subjects and where they were motivated to participate because they liked the teacher. They were not interested in other classes and didn t enjoy attending them. FORMAL AND INFORMAL NETWORKS: THE YOUNG SOCIAL CONTEXT OF REFERENCE Both girls told us that their parents didn t know at all about their situation that they stopped going to school, for a pretty long period of time (about 1 year). Especially the mothers suffered when they learned about it. They didn t know about counseling centers or similar institutions for a long time. Only when they had to decide whether to take part in the project pairs of nippers did they have first contact with the counselors office (Sozialpädagogischen Beratungsstelle, Mr. Börsch). One girl even started psychotherapy. YOUNG AND SERVICES: FEELINGS AND OPINIONS Both girls like the fact about the project pairs of nippers that it is not like normal school, but that you gain practical experience instead and work with your hands for ex. in a shop. Their decision was also influenced positively because it is an only girls project. Both girls know that it is their last chance to finally graduate ( Hauptschulabschluß ). They prepare themselves for the real world/working life and train to be punctual and to participate on a regular basis. THE EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION. The girls learned about the project through the counselors (Sozialpädagogischen Beratungsstelle) who come to the different school regularly. A flyer gave them an overview on the content of the project. The next steps where part of a predetermined procedure by the school, the counselors and other institutions to keep contact to the girls until they decided to participate in the project. The parents are informed by the counselors about the projects and that it is an opportunity for their children to participate. If the girls are interested they can come and talk to the supervisors of the project directly and have a look at the rooms. Both girls liked the process from the first contact till the final decision to take part. ATTRACTIVENESS OF THE PLACES/ACTIVITIES ALTERNATIVE TO SCHOOL: WHAT ARE THEM AND WHY Instead of going to school the girls were hanging around town, walking around, visited their brothers and sisters, went to the movie theatre or slept in. The projects pairs of nippers leaves them with more freedom... 14
INTERVIEW TO YOUNGSTERS INTERVIEWER: I. J. House of craftswomen, project: pair of nippers Participants: a) Jacky; b) Jojo. Biography A: Before participating in the shop project, I lived together with my parents. We spoke in English and German. When I was younger I lived in the United States for four years. Now I live in Cologne in a shared flat. I have five brothers and sisters. I attended "Hauptschule and a "Förderschule. I didn t graduate from either one school. Back at that time I wanted to become a florist. B: I live at home together with my mother and my brother. We sometimes speak Polish. My father comes from Poland. I actually attended Realschule, and then I had to go to Hauptschule where I only was for three days before quitting school. School memories A: In my class we had a big room and an additional small room, that was quite nice. All of us pupils helped each other, only the teachers were kind of stupid. My teacher threw chairs, tables and a lot of things at me so that I had to jump on. The table. The nicest teacher was my English teacher because she listened when I talked to her. I liked learning English. B: We were about 25 pupils, it was actually a nice atmosphere. I didn t like the teachers at all. The class teacher was not very good, she always hit me and I hit her back and then she was really offended. My physical education teacher was nice. He was more on our side and understood when we were making fun, once he even joined in. I didn t like to do anything. I just sat around and was basically asleep most of the time. A: We had a new teacher. At first he was very nice like all new teachers but then he changed and started picking on me. That is why I decided to change schools but it was equally bad. The only person I got along with was the headmaster and that is why I never went to school. I actually was never interested in learning. - My parents didn t know anything about the situation in school. After one year they figured it out because the teacher always called them at home. I was in trouble, my parents were angry but I told my mum to forget it and that I didn t want to go back to school. B: I changed schools five times all together and nothing changed, it was like going in circles. The atmosphere between us and the teachers was bad, we were not very nice either, and we threw chairs around. It was a group thing and you were basically forced to participate. And then I decided not to go anymore or asked the doctors for a medical certificate to be excused from school. I just lost interest in learning. At first my parents didn t know anything and after changing schools (from Realschule to Hauptschule ) I only went to the new school for three days before quitting school completely. My mum thought that I would go to school every morning when I left the house. Then my teacher started calling every day, so I went back and attended school sometimes but only until the breaks and then I left again. My mother was really disappointed and that was actually one of the main reasons why I decided to participate in the shop project here. Social network A: I couldn t talk about my problems to anybody And I didn t look for someone to talk to, I just didn t want to because then my parents and my brothers and sisters wouldn t have stopped getting on my nerves. I don t care what they did, I will push my plan through, no matter what I won t go to school anymore. They were all mad at me. 15
Nobody really understood me back at that time. My mum tried to understand me, now she does. I didn t have any counseling or anything similar to this. B: When it was actually too late Mr. Börsch helped me (vocational training centre of the social work department). He was responsible for the pupils in my old school. I was also able to talk with a therapist about my problems. Evaluating the offer A: I don t remember anymore how I learnt about the shop project pairs of nippers. My mother talked to me about it. She had a flyer and I decided to come here to have a look. I liked it a lot. I quite didn t understand the flyer. But I read that we would be working here and that is why I wanted to take part. Here I m able to finish school and then I can finally start with my apprenticeship. Already have a place where I will be taking care of cars. Before starting the project I did a three weeks internship with a carpenter and a two weeks internship with the car shop and I liked it there. B: In school I saw a flyer of the shop project for teenagers. I thought it to be a new perspective for myself. I talked to Mr. Börsch (counseling) and he too, emphasized the importance of continuing school instead of dropping out. He presented different shops for teenagers to me. Here are only girls and we have a joiner s shop and I immediately liked it here. For me it s important that we don t have classes the whole day. Here I m able to catch up on my graduation ( Hauptschulabschluß ). It works out better than in school because I always know that this is my last chance. And I want to take it. I haven t participated in any internship yet, I just started three months ago. Communication A: If I hadn t known about the shop project, I would still have been sitting around at home. It was good to come here and have a look at the project and to participate in it. B: The way it was, it was okay. Attractiveness of alternative to school A: During the morning you can sleep in or go to the movie theatres or visit friends or sisters and brothers or just walk around town. B: It s better, you have more freedom. A: There shouldn t be any teachers, if you need someone you can go and talk to the headmaster, he is often more at ease than most of the teachers are. B: Everything! More diverse If there weren t any teachers, then there wouldn t be any schools any more. If you don t understand anything, there would be nobody who could explain it to you. Here during the shop project we also have school, but it s different, we don t have to sit in class for 6 hours straight. One group works in the shop, then another one, every group takes turns. It s more diverse. The project pairs of nippers is way better than school!!! 16
INTERVIEW TO OPERATORS KNEIFZANGE Participants : A: Mädchenprojekt Zukunft Projektteil Kneifzange Handwerkerinnenhaus Köln e. V. (Girls project future project: Pairs of nippers, by the association of the House of craftswomen). Mrs. A. Z. B: Sozialpädagogische Beratungsstelle für Berufsanfänger/innen Internationaler Bund Gmb (International Association of the Social Workers in the area of Vocational Training/Counseling). Mrs M. B. Description of the function within the organization and the main competences Diplom-Sozialpädagogin (degree in social education and additional degree as social therapist) working in the project: pairs of nippers. Field of duty: A: Coordination, acquisition and first contact to the girls who are interested in the project, assistance to the girls throughout the school year, counseling, talks to prevent problems, working together with parents or other persons who are important to the teenagers, public relations, assistance during their internships, vocational training, how to plan their future, group work. B: educator, Diplom-Sozialpädagoge (degree in social education) with the Internationalen Bund in der sozialpädagogischen Beratungsstelle für Berufsanfänger/innen (International Association of Social Workers in the Field of Vocational Training/Counseling). Field of duty: Counseling in the area transition between school and working life for teenagers who still have to attend school according to the law and teenagers who do not need any schooling anymore according to law, counseling takes place in schools and also in the counseling office, assistance, placing teenagers in independent projects like the projects pairs of nippers. Goals: to give individual vocational training/counseling to those teenagers who have problems to attend school. Description of the offer/service A: (Handwerkerinnenhaus Köln e.v.),the association of the House of craftswomen was founded in 1989 to be able to ensure equal opportunities for girls and women in handcraft. Field of duty To help teenagers who don t want to go to school anymore, education, vocational training, occupational orientation in cooperation with the schools, handicrafts, support for teenagers who refuse to go to school at all. B: Counseling centers (with legal mission) independent from schools in order to give guidance to teenagers and young adults till the age of 27. Field of duty: Vocational guidance, occupational orientation, emphasis on the teenagers who legally have to attend school and who left school without a diploma and those who refuse to go to school at all. 17
A: If pupils don t attend school ( Hauptschule ) regularly, let s say they skip school, than in Cologne the schools are required to file an application for those teenagers that a place in one of the educational projects independent from school can be organized for them. The project pairs of nippers is one example. The project has a cooperation with the Förderschule für emotionale und soziale Entwicklung Augustusstraße (spezial type of school to support emotional and social development of the teenagers) Teachers from this school teach the girls from the project. B: The Counseling office works together with the schools. To better get to know to the pupils there are fixed opening hours for the Counseling office at each school. To be able to support the teenagers thoroughly the counselors have to have a good knowledge of the variety of measures in the field transition from school to working life offered in the Cologne area. Different groups work closely together. The counseling office is linked to the homepage of the centers of occupational orientation such as www.bildung.kolen.de. The Counseling office is part of the required search for alternatives if pupils refuse to go school. The target group the teenagers are A: 14-16 years old and 16 years old and older; volunteering participation for pupils who legally still have to attend school and an application to extend schooling if they already attended school for the required 10 years. B: 14-16 years old and older than 16 years; target group of the counseling office are all teenagers and young adults till the age of 27 (legal mission). A: Often they dropped out of school or stopped going to the measures they were put in, they often changed schools due to divorce of the parents, they moved away, no adequate or continuous support: - personal problems like violence and aggressions, abuse, or a close family member passed away - Psychological illnesses - The school system can t really back those teenagers anymore - They loose the motivation and interest in school. B: Similar reasons to those already mentioned before under a; additional reasons: The counselors have regular opening hours in school and they reported that the school performance usually declined between grade 7 and 8. The responsibility to bring up their children was too much for a lot of parents, they weren t able to cope with it. Especially because the peer group seems to be of great importance and influence the teenagers to a great extent when they reach puberty. Conflicts arise in school and at home and the school is unable to react properly. A: The teenagers become more and more difficult. We have to cope with complete neglect, they refuse to go to school at all, we also denote an increase in mental disorders, ex. the girls start to injure themselves, and they have suicidal tendencies. B: Changes affect both genders. Pupils (12 to 13 years old) already have a very strong will of their own, they don t care about the friendly advices given by the teachers to stay in school and finish it. Concerning the gender problem, we are very lucky to have counseling projects especially for girls. A: They are at home, watching TV, chat in the internet, sleep in, meet up with friends and other people who also skip school from the same neighborhood they come from, they hang around outside in the city center and the shopping areas. B: They spend the day alone at home. 18
How is he target group reached? How is the group addressed? A: Usually when teenagers in Cologne refuse to go to school at all (to Hauptschule ), then counselors specialized in the field of youth work are involved to provide the teenagers and their parents with guidance. Together with all participants and the school authority a decision is made whether the teenagers can participate in a handcraft related project like the pairs of nippers or if they go to the House of the craftswomen or to a shop for teenagers. If they agreed to have the teenager participate in one of the projects where he/she has to attend extra-classes, he/ she is exempt from going to regular school. We do not have to do a lot because our projects are part of a process. Pupils ( Hauptschüler ) are in close contact to counselors. At the beginning of each school year the counselors call to put new groups together, sometimes the girls even register themselves to participate in the projects, usually when they have friends who already take part in the measure or when they learn about the projects during Open Door Days. Parents from pupils from other types of schools might have looked the information up on the internet or they saw the newspaper article. B: Directly from school or they go to the counselors office or they call because they found our number on the internet. It is very rare that the youth welfare office is providing the contact data, usually people come here on their own initiative. When we get to know to the teenagers through their school, we only meet the parents at a later stage. Usually we invite them to come to the counseling sessions and interviews or we call them, present ourselves and make an appointment to meet them. When the parents contact the counselors office themselves they usually come along to the first meeting. A: We have a homepage which actually addresses more the group of multipliers than the pupils. Our offer is part of several networks: (Deutsches Jugendinstitut) German Institute for Youth; (Best Practice-Projekte) Best-Practice- Projects; (Arbeitskreis Schulmüde ) Working Group refusing to go to school or they are mentioned in the press. The most important access still comes through school and counseling. We offer talks without any obligation and show people around who are interested. Assisting is not possible because it is usually not necessary. Until two years ago we did the layout of the booklet ourselves. Now we have contracted a design office and a lyricist to have the layout professionalized. It s the last chance you have, take it! Our keyword is pairs of nippers backs you up ( Kneifzange fängt auf! ). We want to make it easier for the girls, we want to clear the way for them, but they also have to want it. Teenagers who refuse to go to school, are sometimes absent for weeks or even months. Before they stop going to school, they already miss several classes or are absent for some days which the school also recognizes, of course. The school has already taken measures against it. The parents are informed; they sit down together with the teenagers and the parents and try to solve this issue, in some cases the Youth welfare office is contacted. We as counselors only enter the process at that point or a bit earlier. We then have to find the most adequate solution for the teenager. Teenagers often refuse to go to school, because they find themselves in an unsatisfied situation, he/she is unable to cope with. We try to find a way out of the problem together with the teenagers. But the teenager has to realize that he/she is unsatisfied and would like to change something. It often starts with the statement I m bored. They usually spent long hours alone at home where they could sleep in, watch TV all day long and had all the freedom they liked. That is always a good signal that they themselves are ready for a change. B: Parents should be involved in the process, so that they can influence their children positively. On one hand parents often see their limits, they can t cope with the situation and often they are frustrated and resign because they are unable to reach their children. On the other hand many parents are still interested and they make an effort to find something they can be involved in. Our task is to support the parents and not to let them down. The language used to talk to the parents, plays an important role (there should be no use of technical terms etc.). A: It is important to gain the parents trust because we have to establish a relationship to them! 19
Ways of communicating and the structures of relationships A: We show the teenagers that the offer to join one of the projects is an invitation. When a girls decides she would like to participate in the project we usually accept her for one of the projects, there are no reasons why girls should be turned down! It is an open access for everybody. I usually talk to the girl either alone or together with the carpenter or the teacher. I explain her how the project works, ask her about her background, show her around the shop and the classrooms. Then we agree upon a time frame where she has to decide whether she wants to join and agree how we want to stay in contact. I won t motivate the girls because I m of the opinion that the girls have to want to participate in the project out of their own will, we can t force anything and persuade them to take part, that just won t work out well. B: When the contact was given to us by the counselors, we already tried to motivate the girls. We explain them that we are in school but that we are not like school. I tell them what advantages the project has and that it is a chance for them. Most important for counseling is the interview and the talks, at some point we use standardized interviews. I explain who I m and why I m at the school today. We then have several talks with the teenager to assure that she/ he realizes why they had to leave school. Then we analyze the situation and try to find a solution. We help to set up the first contact with the offer/measure, fix an appointment and try to reach some smaller goals for example that the teenager has to find an internship on his/her own (always depending on their performance and what they are able to do right now). They should understand that we want to help them and that they have to collaborate with us as the basis for the support. We support them but also demand something from them. If a teenager doesn t follow the agreement, we try to figure out why she/he didn t do so; we try to progress step by step, very slowly. A: If a girl encounters problems: we try to motivate her, talk to her, try to find out the reason for the problems. We have to make it clear to them that they can t just come and go as they like to, that they have to follow certain rules! Sometimes we also ask the counselors for support. Repeatedly ask the girls if they still want to participate in the project and to explain them how serious their situation is for them. Skipping classes results in warnings and at the end in the exclusion of the projects (sometimes direct pressure has a better effect on the girls understanding). B: We use certain homepages from the counselors, vocational centers, professional orientation and Chamber of Handicrafts because they could be of importance for the teenager at some point in time. Depending in which phase the teenager is right now, we offer different trainings, if they are about to apply for a job, an internship or an apprenticeship, we simulate the situation of an interview on camera. It is important that we use the material appropriately and according to the situations. But still the most important tool is to talk to them. A: Availability on site is always assured. The teenagers can come and talk to me directly, but usually I set them up for appointments. Evaluation A: We only start checking the effectiveness if there are not enough girls registered for the project. We have regular team supervision meetings where we try to solve the problems which are urgent right now ex. when the majority of the girls don t want to come anymore, then we have to look for the cause, and when there are personal problems, we have to find a solution individually. Sessions and meetings where all the colleagues meet to discuss certain cases. B: The program and the offer of a counseling office have to change constantly according to the different measures. The counselors always have to be up to date in order to be able to pass the most recent information on to the teenagers. Our offer on information always has to meet the demand. Our strength is that we have a statistic about competences which is important for the professional orientation. We further develop our way of working, ex. usually a lot of people/ offices work on one single case which requires a flawless exchange of information. It is important for an adequate teamwork to define competencies and make arrangements. A: Changes are difficult because the project is part of a process. The process works quite well because we also have a feedback system and take care of problems in the aftermath. It is very important to handle the schedule in a very flexible way, always adjusted to the individual situation of each girl. Therefore it is necessary to be able to restructure in a flexible way. 20