An inclusive learning culture: Post-compulsory education for a 'second chance'

A significant proportion of young people in Australia continues to leave school before completing senior secondary education. This paper is based on research carried out at two senior colleges in New South Wales, aimed at providing a 'second chance' for completing post-compulsory general education. Mainstream schooling practices played a major role in causing the senior college students to leave their previous school. It was also schooling practices, but different ones, that caused more positive educational experiences at the senior college. One specific factor which emerged was the difference in learning culture, perceived by students, between their previous school and the senior college. The significance for equity lies in the possibilities these colleges show for schools to 'accommodate folk that fit outside the norm'