Page 116 - Štremfel, Urška, and Maša Vidmar (eds.). 2018. Early School Leaving: Cooperation Perspectives. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut.
P. 116
There is an impression that such multi-professional team cooperation
in European countries is a recent phenomenon. For example, Edwards and
Downes (2013) state that a great deal of inter-professional collaboration in
and around schools is “work in progress” without any robust evidence of
outcomes for children and young people. However, the study shows that
many European countries have a well-established multi-agency partner-
ship practice for tackling ESL at the school or community level (European
Commission/EACEA/Eurydice/Cedefop, 2014). Where it is well estab-
lished, it may: (1) take the form of a legal obligation to form the partnership
(e.g. Spain) – even though the legal framework does not guarantee effec-
tive partnerships; or (2) be an institutionalised partnership practice (where
teams work together in a structured and institutionalised way, e.g. France,
Luxembourg, Slovenia). In other countries, (3) these partnerships may be de-
veloped within projects (e.g. Latvia) or (4) the partnerships are just begin-
ning (e.g. Hungary, Norway) (ibid.). Generally, these partnerships are not
necessarily established specifically to address ESL but within a wider action
framework (in any case, the partnerships are reported as contributing to ESL
prevention and/or intervention). The professionals involved vary between
countries, but school heads and teachers are the key professionals in all
European countries. Psychologists and education and career counsellors are
present in most countries (either based in schools or as part of external or-
ganisations), social workers (usually external to the school) and youth work-
ers are also important partners. The team works together locally to identify
the most suitable support on a case-by-case basis – both the composition and
scope of the teams vary according to each student’s needs (Thibert, 2013).
There is a lack of research on the evaluation of such teams and how
they function. The TITA project aims to fill this gap. As an exception, on-
going research work in France on ESL multi-professional teams has iden-
tified four types of collaborative work within ESL prevention groups in
secondary schools: Narrowly based collaboration; Structured, collabora-
tive preventive effort; Broader approach to prevention; Whole of the school
community (Maillard, Merlin, Rouaud, & Olaria, 2016). These types differ
in how they approach the prevention of ESL (e.g. a focus on absenteeism
only or a wider focus on any difficulties in education, health and social do-
mains as well as a lack of academic success and perseverance) and their un-
derstanding of ESL (e.g. does it result from the student’s lack of investment,
inappropriate choice of school or inadequate teaching and learning, or the
lack of parental involvement).
116
in European countries is a recent phenomenon. For example, Edwards and
Downes (2013) state that a great deal of inter-professional collaboration in
and around schools is “work in progress” without any robust evidence of
outcomes for children and young people. However, the study shows that
many European countries have a well-established multi-agency partner-
ship practice for tackling ESL at the school or community level (European
Commission/EACEA/Eurydice/Cedefop, 2014). Where it is well estab-
lished, it may: (1) take the form of a legal obligation to form the partnership
(e.g. Spain) – even though the legal framework does not guarantee effec-
tive partnerships; or (2) be an institutionalised partnership practice (where
teams work together in a structured and institutionalised way, e.g. France,
Luxembourg, Slovenia). In other countries, (3) these partnerships may be de-
veloped within projects (e.g. Latvia) or (4) the partnerships are just begin-
ning (e.g. Hungary, Norway) (ibid.). Generally, these partnerships are not
necessarily established specifically to address ESL but within a wider action
framework (in any case, the partnerships are reported as contributing to ESL
prevention and/or intervention). The professionals involved vary between
countries, but school heads and teachers are the key professionals in all
European countries. Psychologists and education and career counsellors are
present in most countries (either based in schools or as part of external or-
ganisations), social workers (usually external to the school) and youth work-
ers are also important partners. The team works together locally to identify
the most suitable support on a case-by-case basis – both the composition and
scope of the teams vary according to each student’s needs (Thibert, 2013).
There is a lack of research on the evaluation of such teams and how
they function. The TITA project aims to fill this gap. As an exception, on-
going research work in France on ESL multi-professional teams has iden-
tified four types of collaborative work within ESL prevention groups in
secondary schools: Narrowly based collaboration; Structured, collabora-
tive preventive effort; Broader approach to prevention; Whole of the school
community (Maillard, Merlin, Rouaud, & Olaria, 2016). These types differ
in how they approach the prevention of ESL (e.g. a focus on absenteeism
only or a wider focus on any difficulties in education, health and social do-
mains as well as a lack of academic success and perseverance) and their un-
derstanding of ESL (e.g. does it result from the student’s lack of investment,
inappropriate choice of school or inadequate teaching and learning, or the
lack of parental involvement).
116
