A second chance of participation: school re-engagement in Italian Early School Leavers between agency and vulnerability

Abstract

This article presents the phenomenon of Early School Leavers in Italy in relation to the European policies and the approaches to prevention and compensation of school dropouts, especially the Second Chance School (SCS) and the Vocational Education and Training (VET). The latter, over the time, has become as a privileged way of re-engagement for many of those who have lived a previous drop out. Both in Europe and in Italy the strengthening of this educational sector is seen as valid contrast to the drop out, for the learning by doing, work oriented, closer to the feel of young dropouts. The risk incurred is to bypass the understanding of those individual and social factors involved
in choosing a career training. The article discusses the importance to conceptualize and sustaine studies on educational success in school re-engagement through focus on the constitution and operation of educational agency of young people, that is, the ability of student to act according
to aims and perspectives to which they themselves give value. This step is the key to promote the participation of students as active agents and not mere passive users of prepackaged solutions.