Projects / Programmes
Systemic aspects of educational strategies and facilitation of social inclusion in education
January 1, 2009
- December 31, 2014
| 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 |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 5.03 |
Social Sciences |
Educational sciences |
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 (12)
Organisations (1)
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
Modern strategic development of higher education in our country, in Europe and in the world is based on a series of assumptions that are sometimes taken as inherently understandable: for example, open access to study programmes, the quality and ranking of universities, market positioning of education, competitive approach in higher education and the like. These assumptions are, in other words, often articulated as "ideology(ies)« of the current understanding and processes of changing higher education. Contributions of our research group belong to the circle of Higher Education Studies as a relatively young interdisciplinary field: an interdisciplinary field of research on dynamics of higher education began some decades ago in the US, in Europe practically only in the eighties, but in our region it is still in the process of formation. With our own work in this area, therefore, we contribute to the formation and consolidation of this field in our region. We try to contribute to the ongoing international scientific debate, especially with specific approaches and findings, which provide a special perspective of the region. Research verifies the operation of the above-mentioned assumptions, their implications, their development and placement in the implementation of school systems and contributes to new conceptualizations in this area. In the research work in 2014 we have, by using the theory of centres and peripheries, revived an approach that has been neglected although it contains a potential for interpreting some of the features, as well as problems in the creation of the European Higher Education Area. As understanding the human living experience is essential for many disciplines, the phenomenological research approaches are receiving in recent years an important role in the spectrum of qualitative methodologies. Our work contributes to the theoretical understanding and classification of this area, particularly to the development and complementarity of the two central research methods - phenomenological dialogue and phenomenological case study. In 2014 we contributed to this field mainly by verification of two phenomenological data acquisition techniques (modified version of the descriptive sampling experience and elicitation interview) The modern teacher education programs increasingly include training for work with vulnerable children. This raises the question of our efficacy in the education of teachers to work in inclusive classrooms success, which was one of the focus of our research group 2014. Research on the training of teachers for work with vulnerable children often underline the importance of knowledge, that the future teachers acquire during their study. But research also shows that even if teachers possess knowledge about the work in inclusive classrooms, it is not in itself a sufficient condition that they will use it in their work. Based on our research of the life and experiences of vulnerable families, and of functioning of institutions working with these families, we opened a new research field, which provides for new knowledge in the field of social pedagogy. Our work contributes to the evaluation of existing social pedagogical paradigms and concepts, and to developing new concepts that will enable the development of new, more empirically based intervention approaches. Specifically, the research involved broadening the knowledge about the needs of vulnerable subgroups of parents and the development and evaluation of new forms of community action on parenting. The importance for the development of science in the field of extreme and multiple social exclusion (homeless, long term unemployed ...) is in introducing and testing methods through which where classical objects of research become their subjects. The development of these methods is based on the development of dialogic approaches in research.
Significance for the country
The vast majority of research findings is more or less directly useful for the development of specific policies in Slovenia or it represents applicative development of new approaches/practical methods/doctrines in the field of education and social inclusion. In this context, our research implies a continuous reflection of practice in the field of education and social inclusion issues in education, as well as assumptions and their role in the broader political and socio-cultural context. This reflection consists of evaluations of the expert conceptualisations and development/suggestions of new conceptualizations, searching and proposing relevant new solution to the problem in this area. Previous research has shown that such solutions can not be easily transferred from one system to another, so research work includes international debate and starting from the specifics of the Slovenian society. Research has contributed to the emergence and consolidation of the interdisciplinary field of researching the dynamics of higher education in our region. On the one hand, it is about integration with foreign researchers, including their visiting lecturing in Slovenia and publishing activities, and the other hand mentoring and encouraging doctoral students for training in research in this area. The special importance of our research we also see in contributing to the development of strategies and individual solutions in the development of higher education at the national, university and faculty level. In the area of integration of children and youth with special needs our research have contributed to solving a special problem. In Slovenia there is a lot of discussion on the quality modes of inclusion of vulnerable groups of pupils in schools and classes, but much less less on the education of teachers to work in inclusive classrooms. An analysis of the work of teachers in classrooms has shown a lack of knowledge, especially the positive attitudes of teachers to work with vulnerable children. It is therefore important and well-founded finding that future teachers should be more systematically trained to deal with their implicit theories about how to teach vulnerable pupils, their prejudices and stereotypes. In Slovenia the issues of vulnerable families, their own perceptions and working methods of treatment and welfare institutions have been so far unexplored, although there are many reasons for research in this field. Expressions of the needs for understanding better the position of these families are coming from different institutions, especially the educational ones. Our findings will enable professionals to develop new insights into the complexities of situation of vulnerable families and lead them to develop more appropriate ways of professional conduct. In the area of occurrence of extreme social exclusion, our research revealed the gray areas of social identification of these phenomena, both in substance and volume terms. It also meant developing new technologies, models, approaches and platforms addressing these problems, both in terms of individual treatment, and in terms of the necessary organizational and institutional changes. In 2014, we focused on the evaluation of newly developed intervention approaches. Research has contributed to the development of new (measurement, research) instruments or to their calibration and verification. This activity - among other things - contributes to increasing the potential for scientific verification of the effectiveness of different interventions or activity programs. The importance of the development of Slovenia is finally reflected in the fact that all the members of the research group are also university teachers in the Faculty of Education. They regularly integrate the findings of the research group in their teaching process, and by this directly contribute to creating more competent key personnel in the education system and education.
Most important scientific results
Annual report
2009,
2010,
2011,
2012,
2013,
final report,
complete report on dLib.si
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Annual report
2009,
2010,
2011,
2012,
2013,
final report,
complete report on dLib.si
