Henk Ritzen

Early school leavers' attitudes towards online self-presentation and explicit participation

Attitudes of low-educated towards social media are compound and non-dichotomous.Attitudinal factors point to a diversity of emerging needs of support.Activation policies show a lack of understanding modern, informal forms of agency.Future research should focus on technology-mediated sociability and employability. Active participation in economic and social settings increasingly demands social-communicative skills, i.e., interactive and interpersonal skills, as well as the networking skills to access and use resources provided by online social networks. The development of these skills both depends upon and determines the proficient and strategic use of social media and explicit participation in different types of formal or informal networks and communities. Low-educated early school leavers typically lack the access, awareness and attitude required to develop these skills, suggesting a widening digital divide or participation gap. This study presents results regarding low-educated early school leavers attitudes towards social media and social networks as a factor that can influence the conditions and opportunities that determine or enhance their economic and social mobility and improvement. The data were analyzed by means of 12 cases. Looking beneath the surface of a complex compound problem involving cultural, social and attitudinal factors, we found signs of ambivalence or even conflict in attitudes, stemming from personal doubts and insecurities or contextual fears and restraints. These attitudinal thresholds should be overcome by aiding and supporting these young people as much as possible in gaining leverage in the online world of haves and have nots.

Enhancing student engagement in pre-vocational and vocational education: a learning history

Abstract Interest in student engagement has increased over the past decade, which has resulted in increased knowledge about this concept and about the aspects that facilitate engagement. However, as yet, only a few studies have focused on engagement from the perspective of the teacher. In this study, we capture the experiences of teachers who were explicitly working with their teams on fostering student engagement. We used the learning history method to capture those experiences and at the same time to stimulate learning within the participating teams. A learning history includes the voices of the different participants involved in order to stimulate reflection and learning. Three teams of teachers participated in the writing of this learning history. Several teachers (n = 10), students (n = 10), and managers (n = 5) from or related to the teams were interviewed. The learning history shows that, on the one hand, teachers emphasized positive relationships and structure in relation to student engagement, yet, on the other hand, students continued to provide examples of negative relationships and mentioned a lack of structure, although they also mentioned improvements. Furthermore, the learning history showed that teachers in all teams reflected on their experiences and learned from the activities employed to foster student engagement, which included taking a more positive approach, conversations about a skills form, and being more consequent. These results taken together indicate that it is possible for teachers to do a better job of engaging their students and that their repertoire can be expanded to include more engagement-related actions. Finally, the learning history produced offers insight into the difficulties experienced by the teams. An important limitation mentioned by all teams was that teachers found it difficult to address each other’s behavior when someone did not act as agreed upon.

Teachers' Beliefs About Using Technology to Enhance the Learning Process of At-Risk-Students

In this case study, we explore the beliefs of teachers (AKA teachers) who work with at-risk students and consider using social media in their learning environment. We interviewed and observed a group of teachers who, as a project team, explored social media use in order to develop their practical knowledge and make informed decisions. We used a two-phased exploratory sequential design, combining qualitative and quantitative instruments to explore how and why AKA teachers consider and approach social media use. The teachers beliefs were challenged and changed by the encounter with lived, practical examples of social media use in education. This is consistent with other research. Quantitative data indicate that teacher beliefs are also strongly influenced by the opinions of team managers and the practices of colleagues. What is most remarkable about these external influences is that these opinions have not been explicitly expressed and these practices have not been explicitly witnessed.