Projects / Programmes
Systemic aspects of educational strategies and facilitation of social inclusion in education
January 1, 2004
- December 31, 2008
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 5.01.00 |
Social sciences |
Educational studies |
|
| 5.07.00 |
Social sciences |
Criminology and social work |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| S285 |
Social sciences |
Social pedagogy |
| S270 |
Social sciences |
Pedagogy and didactics |
education policies and strategies, social exclusion, justice, school system, special needs, gender, social status, civil education, etnicity, system science, complex systems, deviance, prevention, evauation, quality in education, school failure, unemployment
Researchers (10)
Organisations (2)
Abstract
The research programme is based on the thesis of a necessity of interdisciplinary building of educational strategies and models of social inclusion in education. Thus the research group is composed of professionals of six different fields. In this multidisciplinary endeavour the approach of the system science will be the one most emphasised.
More definite conceptions and/or theoretic fields on which our research programme is based are: theory of globalisation and information society, risk society and individualisation; theory of social exclusion/inclusion and its socio-cultural determination; the conception of social capital: second order cybernetics and theory of complex systems; life span paradigm; theory of special needs; orientation into life field theory (in social pedagogy); research on youth and risky trajectories of growing up.
The aims of the programme will be focused mainly into the educational field, understood as consisting of institutional and non-institutional, non-formal and extra-mural education; community education and socialisation, life span education. In these fields our group aims to deepen the research on interrelations between formal and non-formal forms of education and formal and non-formal factors of effectively of education.
In the five year period of carrying out research in this research team 19 different sub-projects will be carried out. Among them are: analysis of general principles of educational policies/strategies and their evaluation; development of measures of quality in education; development and evaluation of systems and models of basic and continuing education at all levels; developing measures and measuring justice in education; research of the roles and functions of education as a reproductor of social inequality and discrimination; researching processes of professionalisation in professions which are found in educational field; developing and evaluating models of professional supervision in education; developing of models of educating persons with special needs; researching different aspects of social exclusion (cultural and social deprivation, unemployment, ethnic and other stigmatisation) and their role in education; different deviant phenomena (drug use, violence, non-tolerance) and developing models work with them; conceptualisation and facilitating building of self-help networks as forms of offering support to marginalised and excluded groups of population.
Significance for science
Research in the framework of the 19 specific research topic clusters contributed – among others - the following important scientific results: The analysis of general principles and theoretical backgrounds of educational policies deepened conceptualizations of educational policies as an interdisciplinary field and contributed to the on-going theoretical discussions on the background, nature and direction the changes in higher education, and to the establishing of interdisciplinary field of higher education studies. An analysis covered the key new trends in higher education (accessibility, enrolment numbers, quality, diversification, internationalization, Europeanization, etc.), reflected on and interpreted the main concepts (massification, transnational and global character of higher education, knowledge and the relation between meritocracy and democracy; higher education governance; knowledge and ethical aspects) and produced a new interpretation of the concept of higher education transition. An analysis of the mechanisms generating injustice, social inequality and discrimination in school, as well as strategies with which the educational system can diminish its role in the generation of social inequality and become more inclusive produced a conceptualization of marginalization in the school context. Multicultural research in relation to this issue emphasized poverty and poor socio economic status of the pupil's family. A contribution was made to the development of a holistic concept of inclusion and to an analysis of the contributing and restricting factors to develop inclusive school. In the field of complex systems’ theory, a fundamental meta-study of epistemological and methodological possibilities was done to research areas where the researcher and the research subject are not separated (participant position) and research phenomena are not repeatable. This work presents a theoretical philosophical study of options for "reconciliation" among different epistemological views (objectivism and the so called "participatory position") and an analysis of the potential consequences the application of the proposed model would bring. Its conceptual background is in the work by Heinz von Foerster, expert in cybernetic, and the theory of non-trivial systems. The paper looks into the possibility of applying alternative measures of the validity and relevance of research studies in fields where the observer cannot be excluded from the observed system. Using action research, a new model of socio educational work with specific vulnerable groups of young people was developed, based on integrative work including the theatre media along other socio educational dimensions. It is an interdisciplinary program of work, aimed at validation, development of personal and social skills through the process of creative artistic group work. The situation of the homeless and the nature of this phenomenon were comparatively and theoretically defined, followed by an empirical analysis of living conditions and characteristics of the homeless in Slovenia. Life situations of the homeless, their organisational structure, public opinion in this area, media discourses were studied and on this basis using action research we devised new models and projects for work with the homeless. The key scientific contribution in this regard was identification of protective and risk factors and placing homelessness as a social phenomenon in the matrix of different social discourses. In the area of unemployment among young people, their situation was analysed and the hypotheses on the relationship between individual dimensions of their social exclusion assessed; the protective and the threatening factors affecting their psycho-social situation and development have been established and the current expert practices in this area evaluated.
Significance for the country
Research in the framework of the 19 specific research topic clusters contributed – among others - the following important socio-economic or socially relevant results: On the basis of the analyses of theoretical concepts and strategic solutions in (a) the Bologna process (understanding of the role university has, management / quality in higher education; changes in the study structure, the European/social/external dimension, etc.); and (b) teacher education as a specific segment of higher education (educational structures; post-graduate and doctoral studies; the European dimension, Bologna process and international cooperation in teacher education; research in/on teacher education) strategies for a reform in higher education, European and international cooperation in higher education in general and specifically in teacher education, etc.) were developed and proposed on different levels: institutional (University in Ljubljana, partially some other tertiary institutions in Slovenia and abroad), national (Slovenia, partially other national systems, especially in South-Eastern Europe), European (cooperation with the European Commission, The Council of Europe). Systems and models of undergraduate programs and in-service teacher education were developed and evaluated in the light of skills the Slovenian teacher in the 21st century should possess. The skills were discussed as a starting point which led to all further steps in the planning and development of study programs and individual syllabuses and in consideration of our findings we have started developing new study programs. Standardization of the Roma language in Slovenia was made as a part of an integral project to include the Roma language and culture in the programs of public educational system and to integrate the Roma community into the broader society. The project has been run by an interdisciplinary (linguistics, lexicography and educational academic disciplines) and international group of experts in cooperation with Roma native speakers; it standardized the language of the Roma groups from Prekmurje and Dolenjska. Standardization of the language facilitates the long-term development of the Roma culture (code F.29) and languages and leads to: a) the introduction of the Roma Language and Culture as an elective subject; b) an improvement and development in the teaching of Slovenian language; c) the introduction of specialist training for Roma assistants and teachers teaching Roma children. The international cooperation that has been established has enabled the introduction of specialist knowledge in the field of linguistics in relation to new technologies and methods of language processing in Slovenia. A comparative research study of supervision models was made, a relatively original Slovenian educational-developmental model of supervision was developed and analysed from the aspect of specific methods and techniques, possibilities for expert of personal development and necessary professional competences. This enabled development of new postgraduate study programmes and the development of new professional fields of practice. An innovative model of working with multiple and extremely excluded people was developed and tested. Its basic orientation was a non-invasive approach through dialogue, the basic direction of the newly set up networks is the creation of networks for self-help for these individuals in order to reduce their dependency problems and assist them in their gradual autonomy.
Most important scientific results
Final report,
complete report on dLib.si
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Final report,
complete report on dLib.si
