Left Numb and Unengaged. (Re)Conceptualising Risk: What (Seems to) Work for at-Risk Students

David Zyngier
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David Zyngier: Faculty of Education, Monash University, Wellington Rd, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia

Social Sciences, 2017, vol. 6, issue 1, 1-17

Abstract: This review of current research into ‘at-risk’ programs serves to categorise and characterise existing programs and to evaluate the contribution of these programs to assisting students ‘at-risk’ from marginalised backgrounds. This characterisation questions the (sometimes) implicit assumptions and the consequences of those assumptions inherent in and behind these various accounts. Using as a lens the (various and varied) understandings of social justice and the goals of education, three sometimes overlapping and sometimes contesting standpoints are identified in relation to ‘at-risk’ students; they are characterised as instrumentalist or rational technical, social constructivist or individualist, and critical transformative or empowering. I argue that a critical transformative understanding of ‘at-risk’ may deliver improved outcomes for young people by challenging ‘the school context in which the young people are located’.

Keywords: student risk; social justice; critical pedagogy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:6:y:2017:i:1:p:32-:d:93284

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