Helping disenfranchised young people
An AUT expert in Alternative Education would like to see vulnerable young people better provided for in mainstream secondary schools.
Alternative Education is a system of last resort for those who have been excluded or are disengaged from school. Outside contractors provide the service with the aim of turning the lives of these disenfranchised young people around.
A recent article in the Education Gazette looked at how one contractor, Praxis Education Kenepuru (PEK), combines the skill of trained teachers and youth workers.
AUT Senior Lecturer Judy Bruce helped shape the development of PEK’s programme.
She told the Gazette that consistent, culturally responsive and trauma-informed practices are essential to helping struggling young people in Alternative Education and also in schools.
“For schools, having the occasional PD day will introduce some concepts to teachers, but one-off workshops will not embed real change in practices,” Dr Bruce told the Gazette.
“Taking an evidence-based approach to change is where I would recommend schools start.”
One such approach is Russell Bishop’s GPILSEO model, she says, which is based on a systems wide approach to school change
“Alternative Education practitioners (teachers, tutors, support workers and youth workers) are often exceptional and have a lot to offer high school teachers and school leaders,” she said.
“Many are expert practitioners working with the most disenfranchised young people to see them thrive.
“My hope is that Alternative Education can evolve into a spotlight of best practice and support schools to develop a range of alternative pathways within high schools – and not just on the outside.”