Search results

In this study, the authors offer a practice theory framing of school physical activity transition with conceptual and managerial contributions to whole school approaches (WSAs).

Based on a literature overview of the limitations of WSA, ecological and systems theorisation and a practice theory framing of physical activity, the authors introduce a model that identifies signs of practice transition and conceptualises the relationship between signs and practice reconfigurations. To exemplify insights from the model, the authors provide illustrations from three cases from the national Estonian “Schools in Motion” programme.

The signs of practitioner effort, resistance and habituation indicate how practice ecosystem transition is unfolding across a spectrum from practice differentiation to routinisation. Several signs of transition, like resistance, indicate that reconfigured practices are becoming established. Also, there are signs of habituation that seemingly undermine the value of the programme but should instead be celebrated as valuable evidence for the normalisation of new practices.

The article provides a model for WSA programme managers to recognise signs of transition and plan appropriate managerial activities.

The practice theory framing of school physical activity transition advances from extant theorizations of WSAs that have failed to account for the dynamic ways that socio-cultural change in complex school settings can unfold. A model, based on a practice ontology and concepts from theories of practice, is proposed. This recognises signs of transition and can help with the dynamic and reflexive management of transition that retains the purpose of systemic whole school change.

The primary to secondary school transition can have a significant and long-lasting impact on young people. Autistic children are particularly vulnerable to negative transition experiences; however, there is a lack of research examining effective practices and provision for these pupils. This case study involves a mainstream secondary school in the South of England, which has a dedicated Learning Support base. The purpose of this paper is to collect qualitative data on experiences of the primary to secondary school transition from multiple stakeholders.

A photovoice activity followed by a semi-structured interview was conducted with five autistic pupils aged 12–16 years; semi-structured interviews were also carried out with six parents and four teachers.

Five key themes emerged from the data in relation to effective practices: inclusion, child-centred approach, familiarisation, visual supports and communication and consistency.

As a small-scale case study, there are limitations regarding generalisation. However, this research illuminates transition practices that are experienced as effective by autistic children, their families and teachers.

Practical implications related to each of these themes are highlighted. These implications are important in the context of the mandatory responsibilities of schools in England to include the voices of children and young people with special educational needs in decisions about their education.

The findings challenge a rights-based approach to inclusion and illustrate the importance of a needs-based approach which appropriately recognises and understands what autism means for children, their families and the teachers who support them.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the school-to-work transition of young people from subsequent school exit cohorts between 2001 and 2012 in Egypt, thus, presenting an early evidence on the adjustments of the labor market in terms of patterns of youth transition to a first job following the 2011 Egyptian uprising.

The analysis compares the early employment outcomes of those who left school after the January 25, 2011 uprising to that of those who left before 2011. The authors also separately control for the cohorts who left school in 2008 and 2009, in an attempt to disentangle any labor market adjustments that might have happened following the financial crisis, and before the revolution. Using novel and unexploited representative data from the 2014 Survey of Young People in Egypt (SYPE), the authors estimate the probability of transition to any first job within 18 months from leaving education and that of the transition to a good-quality job, controlling for the year of school exit. The authors also estimate the hazard of finding a first job and a good-quality job using survival analysis.

School exit cohorts of 2008–2009 (following the financial crisis) and those of 2011–2012 (in the aftermath of the 2011 uprisings) experienced a significantly higher likelihood of finding a first job within 18 months than that of the cohorts of 2001–2007. However, this came at the expense of the quality of job, conditional on having found a first job. The results of the hazard model show that school leavers after 2008 who were not able to transition to a job shortly after leaving school experienced longer unemployment spells than their peers who left school before 2007. The odds of finding a good-quality job appears to decline with time spent in non-employment or in a bad-quality first job.

This paper contributes to a limited, yet growing, literature on how school-to-work transition evolved during the global financial crisis and the Egyptian 2011 revolution. Using data from SYPE 2014, the most recent representative survey conducted in Egypt on youth and not previously exploited to study youth school-to-work transition, the paper investigates the short-term adjustments of the youth labor market opportunities during that critical period of Egypt and the region’s history.

Part 2 of the Special Issue on “School-to-Work Transition Around the World: The Effect of the Pandemic Recession-Global Perspective” focuses on the global panorama of school-to-work transition (STWT). With young people constituting a significant portion of the world's population, their seamless transition from education to employment is paramount for the present and future labor force. This study explores various dimensions influencing youth's STWT worldwide, including education-job mismatch, early career outcomes, young entrepreneurs' profiles, gender and informal sector wage gaps, social capital, social network sites' usage, job attributes and returns to schooling. These insights shed light on the intricate nature of global STWT, offering valuable guidance for policymakers and practitioners. This paper aims to discuss the aforementioned ideas.

The study builds on the country-specific contributions of the papers selected in the Special Issue by supporting it with additional literature. Moreover, the study reveals a more holistic and global understanding of the school-to-work transition by zooming out on the specific geographic contexts.

This paper examines the school-to-employment transition challenges in various countries. In Italy, PhD holders face wage disadvantages, especially in physics, engineering, social sciences and humanities. Education positively impacts transition speed, employability and earnings, but effects differ across birth cohorts. Italian women encounter persistent wage gaps, experiencing both a “sticky floor” and “glass ceiling” effect, and in Zambia, working while studying enhances the youth's chances of finding well-matched jobs. Albanian public sector careers rely on political connections over merit, revealing political clientelism. Russian research confirms a 20 percent gender wage gap due to occupational segregation. Polish informal workers generally earn less, with higher penalties for low-wage earners. In Australia, social network site usage yields positive and negative effects on teens' school and work balance. Global analysis reveals varying education returns, with rural areas showing lower returns and women benefiting more than men. Africa and Latin America exhibit higher education returns than Asia and Eastern Europe.

This study provides valuable insights into how various countries address the challenges of transitioning from school to work and identifies the educational and economic factors contributing to a successful transition. Given that extended transition periods, high rates of youth unemployment and high NEET rates continue to be a concern for many countries around the world, the implications of this study are significant and extend beyond national borders, despite variations in the specific circumstances analyzed.

The study summarizes the experiences of specific developed and developing countries concerning youth unemployment and their smooth school-to-work transition. Detailed discussions of country experiences around the globe provide valuable guidance for policymakers and practitioners.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the issue of dual vocational education and training (VET) attritions as indicating difficulties in the transition from school to work.

The methodology consists of a content analysis of semi‐structured interviews with 46 young people who interrupted their dual VET during the first year.

The findings showed that VET “dropouts” experience transitional problems. These can be one of two sorts: diachronic or synchronic. Diachronic problems are related to difficulties with the shift from a standard school system to VET. Synchronic problems are due to difficulties in learning, relational or working environments.

The results stress the need to widen the definition of transition and to consider the context in which the transition takes place. Further research could compare these results with employers' and trainers' points‐of‐view.

Accordingly, interventions should be taken before and after the precise moment of the shift from school to VET and should include all stakeholders of VET.

The paper encompasses three original aspects: it considers school‐to‐work transition as a process beginning before and ending after the concrete shift to VET, suggesting that a transition is achieved only when the person reaches a relatively stable situation on the workplace; consequently, it conceives VET attrition as an indicator of a failure of the school‐to‐work transition process; and it stresses the influence of the social and the learning environment on the quality of VET.

Recommendations for a more co‐ordinated and effective approach to easing the transition from children's to adult services have been recycled by innumerable high‐level committees at national and local level for the past 40 years, and have been incorporated in successive codes of practice and even in legislation. Why is it proving so difficult to put them into practice? The aim of this paper is to provoke national and local discussion of the proposition that the needs of school‐age children and young people with learning disabilities have not been comprehensively addressed in planning and provision following the publication of Valuing People some five years ago. This is reflected in recent research on the experience of young people during the process of transition from school to post‐school provision. Since inter‐agency collaboration is currently a high priority for central government, the time seems ripe for a new attempt to develop a more fully integrated service which includes local education authorities, SEN regional partnerships, Learning and Skills Councils, colleges of further education and the Connexions Service.

The purpose of this paper is to use the two-way fixed effect (TWFE) methodology to estimate the impact of the reform, exploiting its staggered implementation across regions. The analysis is restricted to graduates from the short vocational track before and after the reform.

This paper studies the impact on the length of school-to-work transition of a reform that extended from two to three years the short vocational track in Italy in the early 2000s.

The study finds that the reform had a positive impact and reduced school-to-work transition by around five months (a 24% reduction). Moreover, the new short vocational track proved to be extremely effective for migrants and females, whose school-to-work transition was reduced by 1.4 years and 0.9 years, respectively. In implementing the new short vocational track, some regions adopted a quasi-market organization in which private training institutions competed with public schools. This model proved to be more effective in shortening school-to-work transitions, in particular for migrants.

This study makes an important contribution to the literature on the labor-market effect of vocational education by showing that lengthening the short vocational track, and changing the overall content of curricula, can speed up school-to-work transition.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse and summarise the Australian research on the impact of vocational education and training (VET) on transitions to work for young people aged 15 to 24 years.

The methodology involved the compilation of statistics on VET participation by young people and a review of research on the topic of young people and the longer‐term impact of VET on transitions into work. Research included in the review was restricted to Australian research published during or after 2005.

The findings suggest that young people who participate in VET experience better employment outcomes compared to young people who do not participate in post‐school education and training. However, the smoothness of the transition into work varies for young people who participate in VET programs. Programs linked to the workplace provide the most rapid and successful transitions while other VET programs, such as certificate I and II courses, often require further study at a higher level in order for students to achieve their desired job. The paper also shows that school VET programs have a particularly positive effect on transitions into work for early school leavers.

The paper consolidates the knowledge on how VET assists young people's transitions into work. By focusing on longitudinal research, the paper enhances the understanding of the longer‐term impact of VET for young people.

The purpose of this paper is to present qualitative evidence on the processes and forces that shape school administrator career paths.

An embedded case study approach is used to understand more than 100 administrator career transitions within the Delaware education system. Semi‐structured interview data were collected from 48 principals and assistant principals. Coding and analysis occurred through an iterative process, revealing patterns in processes and forces influencing the careers of school administrators.

While some career decisions are self‐initiated, most are influenced in part or entirely by other actors in the system, described as recruiting/tapping, requesting, reassigning, passing over, and removing. In self‐initiated decisions to move or stay, a number of “pushes” and “pulls” are identified. Findings also suggest the decision to stay‐equilibrium is driven by relationships with students and by district support.

Data are limited to Delaware and represent the voices of principals and assistant principals only. Patterns evident in the data suggest a need to further investigate administrator career behavior qualitatively, as well as directions for future research.

There is a need to better understand and improve local human resource processes in terms of recruitment and assignment of administrators. Additional research is needed to better identify processes and forces related to career decisions in order to improve leadership recruitment and retention.

This research represents the first large‐scale qualitative study of administrator career behavior and is an important companion to recent quantitative analyses in this area.

The differential impact of young adult diagnosis on families during the period of transition from school to adult life was examined. Participants were parents of 246 young adults with severe learning disability aged 18‐26. Young adults were classified into four diagnostic groups: autism (N = 30), Down's syndrome (N = 68), cerebral palsy (N = 95) and an undifferentiated learning disability group (N = 53). Research questions pertained to parent expectations about their young adults' transition to living and working environments post high school. Parental satisfaction and worries were also assessed. The results indicated more community expectations of work for young adults with Down's syndrome, and more restrictive expectations for young adults with autism, including more expectations that young adults with autism would move out of the family home into a residential environment. Parents of young adults with autism also worried significantly more about various aspects of transition than other parent groups.