Paul Downes

Developing a Framework of System Change between Diametric and Concentric Spaces for Early School Leaving Prevention

Abstract A ‘spatial turn’ is observed as taking place across a range of disciplines. This article discusses the relevance of this ‘spatial turn’ to the issue of early school leaving prevention and engagement of marginalised students and their parents within the educational system and other support services. Building on reconceptualisation of an aspect of structural anthropology a specific dynamic spatial interaction between diametric and concentric structures of relation is proposed. Reification is interpreted as involving a diametric space of assumed separation, closure and mirror image inversions. Concentric relational space as assumed connection and relative openness is a precondition for trust, care and voice. Diametric and concentric spatial features of school and related systems are interrogated for early school leaving issues, such as the importance of relational supports to keep students in the system; the precondition of trust for parental involvement of more marginalised parents, including a lifelong learning and family support aspect; the need to challenge the school as a closed system with reified hierarchies.

Conceptual Framework and Agenda: Beyond Bronfenbrenner (1979, 1995) to Interrogation of Blocked Systems via Structural Indicators

Systems theory is one way to anticipate key issues to bridge the gap between idea and reality, policy and implementation. As a key purpose of this book is to examine access strategies and policies in order to develop positive system level change, there is a need for theoretical interrogation of systems. As a starting point, a key framework is Bronfenbrenner’s (The ecology of human development. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1979) well-recognised ecological theory of systems used in developmental, educational and community psychology, where he distinguishes a range of different system level interactions, ranging from microrelations in the immediate setting to meso-, exo- and macrosystem levels. Key strengths in Bronfenbrenner’s (The ecology of human development. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1979; Developmental ecology through space and time: a future perspective. In: Moen P, Elder G, Luscher K, Bronfenbrenner U (eds) Examining lives in context: perspectives on the ecology of human development. American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, pp 619–647, 1995) systems focus are discussed.

Diametric and Concentric Spatial Structures Framing Belief Systems

The Primordial Dance: Diametric and Concentric Spaces in the Unconscious World (Downes 2012) highlights specific unconscious spatial structures projected into beliefs as prior frames actively organizing such beliefs. As purportedly dynamic a priori structures, prior to intuition, diametric and concentric spaces of relation in relation are developed from Heideggers (1927) phenomenological concerns with a background level of being and from aspects of Lévi-Strauss’ structuralist anthropology, conceptually prior to cognitive schemata. These dynamically interacting concentric and diametric spatial systems are explored, here, in reconstructing key concepts in Gilligans (1982) moral reasoning for neglected spatial aspects of Freuds psychoanalysis and Eastern thought.

Anti-bullying procedures for schools in Ireland: principals’ responses and perceptions

Abstract The role of the principal is imperative in creating a school climate that nurtures differences and equality at the same time. Policy and legislation in Ireland dictates the responsibility of school principals in preventing and intervening in issues relating to bullying. The current research investigates the extent to which principals consider the impact of bullying on their students and the strategies they take to combat it in their schools. We consider how principals respond to bullying and what supports they feel are missing for them to adhere to relevant policy. A sample of 918 principals from a range of schools across Ireland completed an online survey. The results demonstrated some positive actions by principals such as the provision of anti-bullying policies. However, they also document areas that need more action such as increased access to counsellors and appointing a specific staff member to deal with and tackle bullying in each school. Guidance from the Department of Education and Skills in Ireland on the development and provision of an anti-bullying programme is called for. Results are discussed in light of the current Anti-Bullying Procedures established by the Department of Education and Skills and the Action Plan for Bullying 2013.

Conceptual foundations of inclusive systems in and around schools for early school leaving prevention: An emotional-relational focus

Against the background of the EU2020 headline target of reducing early school leaving to 10% across Europe, this article examines the conceptual foundations of the understanding of inclusive systems for early school leaving prevention that has emerged in EU policy documents and research reports in recent years. Traditionally, inclusive education has referred to a focus on children with special educational needs. However, this conceptual review examines how inclusion is increasingly being examined in broader terms.This review seeks to critically reconstruct foundational understandings of systems and resilience in developmental and educational psychology. A systems focus on inclusion needs to address the neglect in psychology of system blockages and power imbalances. Resilience is typically framed as the capacity of the individual to navigate their way to environmental resources. This places the onus of accessibility onto the individual’s efforts rather than a concern with responsive systems accessible to marginalised groups. A concern with inclusive systems goes beyond not only the well-established framework of individual resilience in developmental psychology, but also beyond its expansion into resilient systems, as these omit a focus on outreach and multidisciplinary teams in systems of care for integrated services. Common principles for a framework of inclusive systems include children’s voices, equality and non-discrimination, parental involvement that is integrated holistically with family support, and lifelong learning principles for schools. Illustrative examples of these principles for reforming authoritarian teaching and discriminatory bullying, for opening schools to the local community and for targeting those with highest levels of need are highlighted.

Structural indicators for inclusive systems in and around schools. Analytical Report

International evidence indicates that school systems need to change in order to tackle early school leaving and improve social inclusion in education and society. Policy-makers and school actors require practical tools to assist them in this process, made all the more urgent by the EU2020 headline target to reduce early school leaving. This report develops such practical tools; it is designed to inform strategic policy and practice by offering an innovative framework of structural indicators for early school leaving prevention and inclusion in school. It draws upon key European Council and Commission policy documents on early school leaving prevention, and also on the Paris Declaration 2015 on promoting common values of freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination through education, which includes a focus on social marginalization.

System Blockages for Access to Education in Europe: Paper Commitments and Substantive Gaps

Two of the five EU benchmarks for Education and Training ET2020 are central to the issue of access to education for marginalised groups and are prima facie relevant to a view of access to education being an EU strategic priority on paper. These are that (1) the share of 30–34-year-olds with tertiary educational attainment should be at least 40 % and (2) an average of at least 15 % of adults aged 25–64 should participate in lifelong learning. There is a need to place opening up barriers to access to higher education more firmly on the policy agenda at EU level and across national levels in Europe. Despite a number of commitments in EU Council and Commission documents in the past decade, it appears that the equity, social cohesion and active citizenship issue of access to higher education for lower socio-economic groups are currently falling between two stools in relation to the ET2020 targets. It is relevant on paper to both higher education and lifelong learning benchmarks but arguably being sufficiently prioritised by neither.

Introduction: Developing a Conceptual Framework for Access to Education for Socio-economically Marginalised Groups: A Systems Focus

The key purpose of this book is to develop a system level scrutiny to promote access to higher education and lifelong learning for socio-economically excluded groups in Europe. Traditional research on barriers to accessing education tends to focus on discrete issues such as situational, institutional, dispositional or informational deterrents rather than examining these issues in a holistic, systemic fashion. Generally, research in education has tended to neglect a systemic approach. The conceptual framework developed in this book will seek to translate structural features of system change into structural indicators for system scrutiny and accountability (at macro-exosystem and meso-microsystem levels) for a social inclusion agenda. In this interrogation of systems of access to (a) higher education, (b) non-formal education and (c) prison education, the primary dimension for current purposes is access to education with regard to social exclusion and social class. This will be done by analogy with the UN framework on the right to health which has done much to develop systemic examination through structural indicators.

Access to Higher Education for Socio-economically Marginalised Groups: Indicators at Macro-Exo Levels

Some national reports highlight how particular third-level educational institutions place access central to their ethos, strategies and structures. Institutional strategies must also encompass change to the institutional culture itself through proactive outreach and dynamic ‘inreach’ for socio-economically excluded groups. In reconciling a balance between giving increased force to the imperative of widening access to education for marginalised groups, on the one hand, and university autonomy, on the other hand, the discourse tends to focus on incentives for institutions to improve access. It cannot be assumed that institutions are willing or aware of the need to develop outreach targeting underrepresented groups.

Prison Education: Indicators at Macro-Exo Levels

It is evident from a number of national reports that prison education is completely lacking in strategic focus and intervention at national level in some countries. A concern emerging from the Austrian report is that in contrast to the impetus for recent reforms to prison education, for example, in Belgium (Flanders), Estonia and Lithuania, there appears to be little appetite for further engagement with prison education at a national level in Austria. The Bulgarian national report provides clear evidence not only of availability of prison education but also successful graduation by prisoner students from education courses across a range of prisons. The Estonian national report provides an interesting approach to preventing prison officer resistance to prisoners’ learning through involving them centrally in the delivery of some of the key programmes. While a national strategic approach to access to lifelong learning in prison is evident in the English national report, it nevertheless remains a concern that the goal of employment subordinates other legitimate goals of lifelong learning, such as active citizenship, social cohesion and personal fulfilment. An EU Commission conception of access to lifelong learning operates with a broader lens and includes all citizens and therefore encompasses prisoners and prison education.