The Relevance of Training for Work Among Youth at Risk: Research in Accredited Second Chance Schools in Spain

Context: The Spanish Ministry of Education has commissioned our research group to conduct a research on all accredited second chance schools where we are inquiring young people on their past and present educational experience; trying to differentiate the relevance of the personal, the social, and the occupational dimensions. We are also finding out about the educational practice of second chance schools: their projects, methodologies and organizational arrangements, as well as their choices of occupations for the vocational training. Approach: Our theoretical framework assumes that early school leaving is a multidimensional process where individual and social features are combined with a sense of fail in the experience of schooling (Bonal, 2003; García et al., 2013; Escudero, 2005; Bernad et al., 2015; Horcas et al., 2015; García-Rubio, 2015). Furthermore, we assume that second chance schools offer these youngsters chances to reengage, reconnect and develop a sense of belonging through a space of personal and vocational identity that restores their educational experience and invites them to search and follow their vocation (Martínez-Morales, 2021). The research question we want to address in this contribution is what the relevance of work-based learning, practical teaching, and occupational training in the reengagement of young people is. In order to find this out, we will use our data to establish differences among types of students according to the value they attribute to the vocational dimension of second chance schools. Findings: Regarding the opportunities offered by second chance schools, we found that 20,6% of survey responses state that second chance schools help them to get a job, 16,3% of the answers show that the school encourages them to look for a job. Furthermore, 17,6% declare the school will help them to achieve their GESO. Conclusions: Even if our data show that the role of work and vocational training in second chance schools is not of major relevance, considering the high youth unemployment rates in Spain and the fact that our sample is within second chance schools, vocational training seems a better chance than reengaging in the school system or even taking control over their own lives