The expression “unhooking school”, enough with the mode in the French educational medium, comes in fact from the minister of education from Quebec. Even if the sets of themes are close, it is not possible to compare “school unhooking” to “school failure”: school unhooking is the ultimate expression of the failure since it is about the exit of a course before obtaining the diploma.

Introduction

The minister of education of Quebec studies school unhooking in the driving course with the diploma of the secondary. Is regarded as “decrochor” any pupil who was registered beginning one school year and which is not to it any more the following year without being titular of a diploma of secondary studies. The deaths and the removals abroad are not included. A pupil is known as “at the risk of school unhooking” when he always attends the school, but which he presents a strong probability of unhooking.

The decision to give up the school is the result of an office plurality of situations complex school, relational, social and/or personal. It is thus about a long process including of the multidimensional factors.

Characteristics of the pupil called at the risk

Individual data

Among the variables of an individual nature, the difficulties of training and the behavioral problems constitute the personal factors most determining of school unhooking. Indeed, the pupil in behavioral problem shows an important deficit in his capacity of adaptation to the school. According to the majority of the studies, the young décrocheurs take part less in the school activities, pay attention in class little, spend less time making their duties, have problems of absenteeism and develop remunerated work more that the studies, compared to the other pupils.

The majority of the studies shows that the boys are more numerous to take down school. The figures reflect a rate of access to the lower diplomas among boys who tends to be maintained from generation to generation. The young girls at the risk of school unhooking present more interiorized disorders, most frequent being the depression, while the boys have disorders more exteriorized such as the disorders of behavior.

Relational data

The writings also report that these young people test important gaps in their social skills. Thus, their lack of social skills would decrease their aptitudes to be interacted adequately with others. Their relations are summarized mainly by irritation, social exchanges hostile and by intimidation.

Social data

The family circle is strongly related on the academic success and the adaptation of the young people. A weak socio-economic statute, a low level of schooling of the parents and several aspects of the family structure (conflict, alcoholism, violence,…) are characteristics strongly related to the school abandonment. The determining role of the parents relating to the school risk of abandonment is well documented in the writings. Indeed, the values of the parents, the parental supervision as well as waitings of the parents towards academic success represent elements implied in the phenomenon. The lifestyle of the parents is also a dimension of the family operation which must be considered as one speaks about school unhooking. The results of many work make it possible to affirm that a weak parental framing, one of engagement in the school activities and the absence of encouragement to autonomy have a direct influence on the risk that the child leaves the school definitively.

Maladjustment or risk factors?

By noting the existence of these factors of school unhooking, it is important to know if this phenomenon results from a particular factor or if he is rather a general symptom of social maladjustment.

Concept of standard groups

The pupils at the risk of unhooking form a very mixed group. For example, a study of Janosz and Al (2000) identify four groups of potential décrocheurs:
  1. Décrocheurs discrete: they like the school, are committed, no behavioral problems present and they have a a little weak school output. (40%)
  2. Décrocheurs misfits: they have school failures, behavioral problems, are delinquent and come difficult families . (40%)
  3. Décrocheurs disengaged: they do not present problems of behavior and have notes in the average, but are very disengaged vis-a-vis their schooling. (10%)
  4. Décrocheurs under-powerful: they are in situation of school failure and are disengaged vis-a-vis their schooling. They present disorders of training, but any disorder of behavior. (10%)

To prevent unhooking…

There exist simple actions making it possible to limit the risks of school unhooking. Family education must allow:
  1. to support the socialization of the children and to develop some social skill ;
  2. to learn management from the stress and the anguishes by organizing an emotive support;
  3. to organize a good relational network;
  4. to provide a broad basic culture in particular by encouraging the extra-curricular activities.

Moreover parents must:

  1. To build good relationships with the teachers;
  2. To follow the course of the child from a school and personal point of view.

A pedagogy of the project to limit unhooking

The majority of the studies relating to the teaching devices and their effects are intended to affirm that there do not exist unfortunately simple solutions for enrailler the school phenomenon of abandonment nor of completely effective teaching devices. The school must undertake various means to motivate the young person to continue his process of training.

Social skill

To adopt a multidimensional approach represents an element to be considered in the creation of the programs of intervention. The teaching devices must take account of a combination of risk factors since school unhooking, such as statement a little higher, gathers a panoply of personal variables, social and environmental. To prove to be effective and act on the difficulties of training and the behavioral problems of the young person at the risk of school unhooking, the intervention must relate on the school problems but also to the social skills. Several results of the study reveal that the training of the social skills, particularly competences of assertion of oneself and self-control, represent a strong element of the programs of intervention. The acquisition of these skills would make it possible the pupil to develop healthy relations with others and of the socially acceptable interactions.

Comprehensive approach

The implication and the participation of the people belonging to the life of the young person bring positive effects to the program of intervention. The programs indicate better results when the main targets of the intervention are the pupils, the teachers and the parents.

The pupil

With regard to the pupil, the intervention must enable him to feel committed in the planning of the project in order to increase its motivation and the responsabiliser. The main objectives of the teaching devices aim at academic success, the development of the adaptive behaviors and the acquisition of the aptitudes of work. These objectives must be accompanied by rules of discipline clearly defined and included/understood well by all. These rules are important since they make it possible to clear up the role of each one, their rights and waitings under consideration towards them.

Dedicated services must be available to answer most adequately possible the cognitive and psychoaffectives difficulties had by the pupils. The pupil with the responsibility and the duty to contribute to the good performance of the class, the school and the project in question. The installation of the council of pupils and the Cooperation Council gives to the young person the chance to be expressed and exchange on its lived school while developing social skills.

Parents

As regards the parents, several researchers stress the importance of parental engagement in the school life of the young person. The implication of the relative in the program of intervention is irrefutable since it supports the integration of the trainings in the family circle. Of this manner, the relative informs himself on the lived school one of his child and responsabilise compared to the intervention under all these aspects (the care to give, the supervision…).

The teaching body

The teacher also constitutes an element to be considered in the intervention. A formation is necessary in order to better manage this category of pupils and to make it possible to the teachers to adopt positive attitudes.

The teacher must take part in the program scheduling. To be effective, a program can contain a personalized modular teaching of the school matters and a training course in a field which interests the young person. A follow-up in the acquisition of knowledge of the pupil can be done by an individual meeting with the teacher. This moment of meeting would make it possible to evaluate the projects of the pupil and the attack of the objectives, to make solutions to problem vis-a-vis the difficulties encountered by the young person and to develop a relation positive and privileged between the teacher and the pupil.

Duration

Several authors think that the programs of intervention must propose a continuum of services to the pupils strongly at the risk to take down the school who spread themselves over one long period of time. According to them, the programs must be continuous to allow the young people to advance at their rate/rhythm and, by the fact even, to integrate basic school knowledge and essential social competences to support the transition towards employment.

Evaluation

To evaluate the effects of a programme of intervention near the young people at the risk of school unhooking, it is essential not only not to consider the school marks. The school performance of this category of pupils does not make it possible to evaluate the real effect of the program in question. The evaluation must also carry on the aspects of a nature behavioral, motivationnel and social in order to have a better idea of the beneficial effects, on the young person, of the program.

Statistics

See DEMS: Evaluation of the risk of unhooking in school

See too

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