Transitions in learning and education: international perspectives

Dr Lesley Doyle lesley.doyle@glasgow.ac.uk

SRHE: Student Experience Network: Transition In Theory and PracticeSheffield Hallam University May 17th 2013

Purpose

• To use the ‘lens’ of various countries to present the experiences of young people (ie from adolescence to early adulthood) during transition

• To stimulate new conversation about the meanings of transition for young people

• To critically examine transition theories in the context of the economic and social pressures young people face and the changing societies in which they live

In brief: structure and agency

• The fundamental problem of linking human agency and social structure stalks through the history of sociological theory (Archer, 1982, p455)

• Crucial to the idea of structuration is the theorem of the duality of structure…the constitution of agents and structures are not two independently given sets of phenomena….represent a duality (Giddens, 1984, p25)

• Rationally purposive action (Weber, (1978) [1922], p9)

The challenge of structure

• Taking ‘structure’ as my underlying theme• The challenge of ‘structure’ for young people’s

‘agency’• Social ‘structure’: in sociology normally associated

with eg class, gender, ethnicity • Here: the challenge of economic structure – ‘the

market’ - for young people’s ‘agency’• ‘The market’ vs ‘the collective’• Development of agency dependent on the

collective

Some facts

• In the EU, in March 24% of under 25s (1 in 4) were out of work (21% in the UK)

• In the US, in April, 22.9% were out of work• Suicide is the second leading cause of death among

Canadian youth, after accidents• Giroux (2013) in the US writes about a ‘war on youth’

More facts

• After the 2011 UK riots, the detaining of under-18s without criminal records was criticised by UNICEF for possibly breaching the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.[258]

• In August 2012, 1292 rioters were handed a custodial sentence totalling 1800 years at 16.8 months on an average

• Sentences of four years in a Young Offender Institution were given to two men who promoted riots via Facebook

Context

• Economic and associated socio-structural pressures

• Poor understanding of the tensions for young people

• Studies from:

– Japan– Bolivia– England – Malawi

Transitions in Japan

Inui*; Brinton, 2011•End of traditional transitions in Japan•‘Discontinuous change’ and precarious transitions since 1990s•Freeters/unemployed/hikikomori•Self-inflicted/Disparaged•Careers Education to find their own way through

*in Special Issue

Transition to work

• Unsupportive experiences: left alone with work demands - hikikomori

• Supportive experiences: ‘Hang in there!’ – sustained, successful employment

• Need for supportive environment in ‘precarious, individualised transitions’

• Draws on Erikson: ‘communality’ to strengthen identity and ‘agency’ (direction and independence)

Transitions in Bolivia

Arrueta and Avery* •Economic disjuncture as a result of globalisation and far-reaching structural changes. •Cultural and linguistic diversity eg difficulties over which language of instruction in schools•Rural youth but urban jobs

*in Special Issue

Transition to a new society

• Societal development more dominant than agency

• Cultural diversity in an age of globalisation • Individual agency and choosing whether or not to

stay in the rural community:When I was in Tarija I missed the countryside, I don’t like the town, it’s okay for a while but then I want to come back. It’s more comfortable at home because you work when you want, and you can rest. (Punch, 2002, p. 132)

• ‘Structured individualisation’ and real choice

Transitions in the UK: England

• Economic demands for young people to be flexible members of workforce

• Conflictual relationship between vocational and academic routes - social class

• League tables• Wolf Report 2011

Learning transitions

• Unsupported learning transitions• Damaging transitions• Serendipitous transitions• Supported transitions

Supported transitions: King Beach

Transitions in Malawi

Zozie*•Long-standing problems with university student drop-out rates

– Lack of orientation– Disconnection at university with subjects studied

at secondary school– Lack of information and choice– Need for career information and guidance (CIAG)

in school (for university) and in university (for work)

*in Special Issue

Malawi: CIAG

• Africa Centre for Guidance, Counselling and Youth Development est. 1997 with UNESCO support

• Training teachers for CIAG• Impact not felt• Austria’s effective model

Significance of CIAG

• Crucial role of CIAG in transitions• Individualised societal structure has impacted on

individual’s access to CIAG despite research findings• Barnes (2011) writes that English careers service has

been progressively dismantled• Bassot (2012) theorises on an effective CIAG model

which is social constructivist rather than constructivist

Transitions, structure and agency

Connecting structure and agency

References

Archer, M. Morphogenesis versus Structuration: On Combining Structure and Action British Journal of Sociology Vol. 33, No. 4 p455-483Bassot, B. (2012) Career Learning and Development: a social constructivist model for the twenty-first century, International Journal of Educational and Vocational Guidance , 12, p31-42 Brinton, M. (2011) Lost in Transition: Youth, Work, and Instability in Postindustrial Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge University PressBeach, K. (1999) Consequential Transitions: a sociocultural expedition beyond transfer in educationtransitions, Review of Research in Education, 24, p101  

More references

Giddens, A. (1984) The Constitution of Society. Outline of the Theory of Structuration. Cambridge: Polity.Lally, V. and Doyle, L. (2012) Researching Transitions in Learning and Education: international perspectives on complex challenges and imaginative solutions (Special Issue) Editorial in Research in Comparative and International Education Volume 7 Number 4 p394-408Raffo, C. (2010) "Educational Equity in Poor Urban Contexts - Exploring Issues of Place/Space and Young People's Identity and Agency." British Journal of Educational Studies: 1-19 Weber, M. (1978) [1922] Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretive Sociology. Berkley, CA: U. California Press