KEEP-ON
Start date: Nov 1, 2016,
End date: Oct 31, 2018
PROJECT
FINISHED
School dropout rate in Spain is nearly 24%, the highest among European countries. According to EUROSTAT school dropout rates in the countries of the consortium are: Spain 23,6%, Portugal 18,9%, Greece 10,1%, and France, Belgium and Austria have less than 10%. The Europe 2020 strategy sets out the target of reducing school drop-out rates to less than 10%.Drop Out phenomenon, quitting students from basic education, causes several negative impacts:- higher rates of dissatisfaction in interpersonal relationships and more emotional problems- higher rates of unemployment, lower wages and less career opportunitiesAccording to the literature the main risk factors for Drop Out are associated to the individual, familiar and social spheres. The three spheres will affect directly or indirectly the final behavior and performance of migrant pupils in the school. Low achievement, poor attendance, low educational expectations, low commitment to school, misbehavior or early aggression, are possible effects occurring in the school. Regardless of where these problems become, schools are the suitable place to intervene in order to apply measures to prevent Drop Out of migrant students.Professionals from School Education have a fundamental role in avoiding Drop Out phenomenon. School educators and teachers have very frequent contact with students so they can early recognize drop-out signs and provide a kind of intervention in order to influence the decision-making process. In the other hand, one main European priority is to develop actions related to adequate training young individuals, in order to acquire proper qualifications and develop the skills necessary for the working arena. Skills that teachers need to manage several social and ethnic backgrounds from their students, should be developed and strengthened during initial and continuous teacher education.Taking into account the afore mentioned context, KEEP ON project aims the prevention of Drop Out of migrant students, as well as refugees and asylum seekers, by means of supporting teachers and educators in dealing with cultural diversity.The partners will carry out the following activities:- Online Digital Database of good practices and resources in Drop Out prevention of migrant students (IO. 1)- Training Curriculum for the assessment, validation and recognition of learning outcomes on Drop Out prevention of migrant students in School Education (IO.2) - KEEP ON Pedagogical Handbook: with new approaches and innovative pedagogical methodologies to prevent Drop Out of migrant students in School Education (IO.3)- KEEP ON Professional Toolbox for School teachers (IO.4) with practical recommendations on Drop Out prevention of migrant students, based on the approaches and pedagogical methodologies of the Handbook.Five partner organizations will form the consortium which shall develop this project, including one Regional Directorate of Education, a Secondary School, a social nonprofit organization and a private educational entity from Spain, Turkey, Greece and Austria) KEEP ON project shall integrate within its outputs, educational methodologies and approaches aimed to empower young migrants and ethnic minorities in self related concepts and build strategies, in order to better cope with the influence of group membership on self-evaluation. Dialogic learning, Peer learning and other innovative pedagogies will be applied in order to foster an active role of students in the teaching and learning process, as well as aimed to build intercultural settings in schools.The products and outputs of KEEP ON project are aimed at school educators and teachers working in multicultural environments, as main target users. Other beneficiaries of the project will be: school centers, principals, policy makers, educational institutions, social partners, Public Administrations and NGOs; aiming to provide support to migrants and ethnic minorities. The final beneficiaries are students from migrant and ethnic minorities’ background, especially those in risk of Drop Out.KEEP ON project activities will involve 64 education professionals (school teachers and educators, counselors, staff from partners and collaborators); 100 students in multicultural classrooms and 405 stakeholders, direct users and beneficiaries of the project activities and products. A wider audience, 1.000 recipients minimum, will be reached through the planned dissemination activities at local, regional, national and European level.