Page 247 - Štremfel, Urška, and Maša Vidmar (eds.). 2018. Early School Leaving: Contemporary European Perspectives. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut.
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students’ social and civic competencies: predictors of esl

Conclusion

Social competence, problem behaviour and to some extent civic compe-
tence have a long-lasting research tradition. In relation to ESL, the review
of studies shows that externalising behaviours (e.g. alcohol, drug use and
abuse, disruptiveness and oppositional behaviours, delinquency, teenage
parenting) are most consistently linked with ESL, while there is less re-
search on internalising behaviour and social competence and even less on
civic competence. Concerning internalising behaviour, ESL’s links with de-
pressive symptoms and mood disorders have been established. Social com-
petence seems to be especially important for a student at risk – it seems to
help build their resilience to ESL. Evidence regarding the link between civ-
ic competence and ESL is limited, but its role has been demonstrated via
extracurricular activities – participation in extracurricular and communi-
ty-based activities plays a role. Peers also play a role – ESLers more often as-
sociate with deviant peers and other ESLers.

It is also important to note that externalising and internalising be-
haviours, low social competence, peer relations, and achievement problems
strongly correlate with each other. Despite the solid evidentiary base on the
relationship with ESL (especially for externalising behaviour), these aspects
are often overlooked in policy discourse dealing with ESL. In the future, ef-
forts to address ESL should take this into consideration.

References

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Alexander, K. L., Entwisle, D. R., & Kabbani, N. S. (2001). The dropout process
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Alpert, G., & Dunham, R. (1986). Keeping academically marginal youths in
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Audas, R., & Willms, J. D. (2001). Engagement and dropping out of school: A life
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Bandura, A. (1993). Perceived self-efficacy in cognitive development and func-
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