Positive youth development through education: Addressing issues of dis/engagement in Aotearoa/New Zealand schools

Abstract

Young people disengage from schooling for a range of complex reasons, and steps toward re-engagement are also often complex. This resource provides insight into factors leading to dis/engagement, and suggests a range of possible strategies for practitioners (including teachers) when supporting young people. Both the reasons for disengagement and re-engagement in schooling suggested in this resource come from a range of sources including the stories of young people with a history of truancy, their parents, and expert practitioners working in the field, as well as international and national research. This resource is the culmination of a research project: Dis/Engagement in secondary schools: Toward truancy prevention1. This resource is aligned to the Positive Youth Development Aotearoa2 resource which provides a framework for practitioners working in the field of youth development. Positive Youth Development Aotearoa calls for a reimagining of practice toward the development of the whole person and connected communities through an approach which fosters respectful relationships, strengths based practice, and ownership and empowerment. In this education-focused document, we suggest an approach which is cognisant of effective youth development practice, and the Positive Youth Development Aotearoa resource provides a useful framework for such considerations.