Success in alternative settings - attendance

Success in alternative settings

Success in alternative settings is a slippery concept but one that we need to come to terms with if we are to understand and justify the continued expansion of alternative education and the movement of vulnerable students in a system that is increasingly fragmented. I have taken as my definition of success a quote from Eric Sidoti’s keynote at the first national get together of flexible and alternative sites sponsored by the Dusseldorp skills forum:

...even the (most difficult to reach students) could be found a place where they could receive an education in a style that suits them, with the personal support they might need and the prospect of being equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary for them to exercise genuine options in their adult lives. (Sidoti 2004)

  Eric referred to them as Larakin Learners

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Too often the idea of success in alternative education lies in finding young people a place that is different from school.  The emphasis is on the individual success of the young person who overcomes adversity to emerge success. This is the media, and even the schools, measure of success.  Across the media landscape in newspapers, magazines on tv and the radio stories are told of the young person who was “saved” by their involvement in one alternative program or the other.  In our paper on the social inclusion and FLO, we quoted the story by the then premier extolling the virtues of FLO by highlighting the story of Amanda:

Amanda was a student who stopped going to school after she found it too hard to connect with her fellow students. Enrolled through the Flexible Learning Options in ICAN, Amanda found, through her involvement with the outdoor education program, leadership skills that she never knew she had. Engaged through V-Tech, Amanda excelled and was awarded a scholarship to attend the Australian Technical College. She has commenced a four-year automotive apprenticeship and is now excited about her future. (South Australia, 2010).

Amanda’s story is the familiar trope of young people who find themselves in alternative placement. Their success should be applauded but we know  taking the story of one individual or even a small cohort of individuals as emblematic of the success of the whole program doesn’t contribute to our understanding of success in alternative settings - To put Amanda’s story in perspective the department commissioned “learning and earning report found:
Among leavers, former FLO students were more likely than other students to not be in employment, education or training, were less happy with what they had achieved since leaving school and were less likely to strongly agree that they had successfully made the transition from school. (ACER, 2020, p. 120)

 We have little information about the “success” in alternative education – at best we rely on the anecdotes and stories that talk about young people like Amanda having found a place where they can make connections with other students and teachers. “ One measure cited is of the individual student, like Amanda, who is now attending.

Despite “individual success stories” attendance remains an issue in alternative sites, often pitched in terms of seeing any attendance as a success.  The Graham report found that attendance in FLO was so sporadic that it was impossible to tell if a students enrolled in FLO were doing FLO.  Of the four SAS in South Australia who cater for students in year 8 -10, attendance ranges from just under 50% to just under 75% - the number of students who are attending for at least 90% of the year ranges from 0 -20%.  To quote a teacher from one of the SAS – “the kids that were there loved it.”

The research into Alternative sites that gives student voice bear out the fact that for some students these schools and sites are successful and give them a place of belonging. What remains at issue is students who are interviewed are the young people who are attending and often chosen by site are the ones who are successful. The students who haven’t yet found the place where they can receive an education in a style that suits them continue to be non-attenders and will often be pinballed between different programs.  Significant numbers of students in SAS in South Australia have come from FLO/TL and moved between programs.  This becomes part of the career path of those who “not found a place where they could receive an education in style that suits them.”  

In the last post I wrote about the common inputs of SAS under the idea of an ethic of caring. Sites that are small, relational, caring are precursors to providing a good education.  Attendance is one factor that is important, but it is only important in the context of the prospect of being equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary for them to exercise genuine options in their adult lives.