Marginalized Youth

Los libros de lecturas que forman parte del paquete de libros de texto gratuitos de la SEP contienen ejercicios discursivos que pueden considerarse como el motor de prácticas de exclusión contra identidades que no pertenezcan al ideal estatal construído a través de estos mismos libros.

Sociological research on inequality has increasingly moved beyond the examination of inequalities as they presumably exist to explore the generic narrative processes that perpetuate that inequality. Unfortunately, however, this research remains concentrated on either individual or ideological grand narratives and ignores the fact that the work narratives do, including the production and structuring of inequality, occurs at multiple levels: cultural, structural, organizational, and personal, and never exclusively at just one of these. In this study, we use Somali origin narratives to describe conceptually the ways in which narratives produced at different personal and societal levels—cultural, institutional, organizational—dialectically structure the generic processes that produce and perpetuate social inequality.

ABSTRACT The large number of young people in Europe who lack formal qualifications constitutes a considerable concern in terms of individual, social and economic consequences. The influx of young migrants into Europe is making this issue even more significant. To avoid social exclusion and youth unemployment, and to ensure economic progress, the European Union (EU) and national governments are providing a variety of educational opportunities for these young people. As traditional approaches have not proved particularly successful, an alternative approach has been developed that seems to overcome previous limitations. This approach is characterized by a focus on learners' agency and identity, and offers young at-risk learners a different, more intrinsically motivating learning experience. The approach was implemented in 12 pilots in six different European countries, including several with migrant youth from different regions of the world. The main result presented here is a comprehensive design framework developed on the basis of a cross-case analysis. The framework includes design principles concerning the organization, as well as the pedagogy, of engaging at-risk youth. SOMMARIO In Europa, il considerevole numero di giovani sprovvisti di qualifiche formali sta destando notevole preoccupazione a causa delle possibili conseguenze individuali, economiche e sociali. L'afflusso di giovani immigrati in Europa rende il problema ancor più pressante. Al fine di evitare l'esclusione sociale, la disoccupazione giovanile e garantire il progresso economico, l'Unione Europea e i governi delle sue nazioni offrono a questi giovani una varietà di opportunità di istruzione/educative. Gli approcci fin qui adottati non hanno dato esito positivo e per questa ragione ne è stato sviluppato uno alternativo, che sembra meglio affrontare gli aspetti critici del tradizionale modo di operare. Questo approccio è caratterizzato da una particolare attenzione all'iniziativa e all'identità dello studente, e offre ai giovani studenti a rischio una esperienza di apprendimento differente, più intrinsecamente motivante. L'approccio in esame è stato adottato in 12 sperimentazioni pilota, in sei differenti paesi europei, coinvolgendo diversi giovani migranti provenienti da differenti parti del mondo. Il risultato principale qui presentato è un quadro progettuale completo, sviluppato sulla base di una analisi incrociata dei casi. Il quadro include i principi di progettazione in materia di organizzazione, così come i criteri pedagogici da impiegarsi con i giovani a rischio.

Perceived social support and a sense of belonging are thought to be protective factors against negative outcomes in adulthood that are commonly associated with childhood adversity. However, while this relationship is well established, very little is understood about how adolescents and young adults define these constructs themselves. This research aimed to examine adolescents’ and young adults’ understandings of perceived social support and sense of belonging, as well as their own understandings of their childhood experiences and current outcomes. Participants in the study were 275 adolescents and emerging adults aged between 17 and 24 (mean = 18.82, SD = 1.50), and included 177 females, 99 males, and 2 transgender participants, with 2 participants not disclosing their gender. Convenience sampling from a national group of young people accessing welfare service organisations within Australia was used. Qualitative data was obtained from thirteen open ended questions to an online survey. The study found that this group of adolescents and emerging adults with a history of childhood adversity understood social support and belonging as having someone who listened, as coming from people who surrounded them, and as impacted by their childhood experiences. We argue that support for this group of youth needs to revolve around building positive relationships in order to maximise resilience and wellbeing outcomes.

This chapter considers the complexities of living a cross-cultural curriculum within the multicultural context of a high school vocational classroom in Ontario, Canada.  Disrupting traditional conceptions of students’ literacies, this chapter seeks to rework the boundaries that define multiculturalism as a series of homogeneous hyphenated spaces from which immigrant, ESL, disasporic youth are expected to speak.  Invoking a theoretical framework of quantum (third) spaces – the liminal, undefined, and transient spaces between cultures – we consider the questions, “what is at play in the hyphen?” and “how might the networked classroom space be considered a “hyph-e-nation”?  To explore these questions, we first address the place of diasporic youth online through a discussion of digital natives and the construction of youth identities in cyberspace.  We then employ a reading of Third Spaces and quantum physics to reread how students might open up dual Third Spaces through self-representations, first through the social network space ning.com, and second through their (self)definition as certain kinds of learners caught in the hyph-e-nated middle of Canadian multiculturalism in Ontario classrooms.  The case studies which follow problematize discourses of comparison between cultural communities in which marginalized youth with diverse cultural and educational backgrounds are (and are not) members.

Purpose-This paper considers the potential of social media for developing public services. The paper approaches social media as a context that can provide information that might otherwise be unattainable. The focus of analysis is on a special hard-to-reach group of marginalized youths who appear to have isolated themselves from society.

Design/methodology/approach-The authors answer the question: How can the experiences of socially withdrawn youth as shared on social media be used to enrich the knowledge base relating to the initiation phase of co-creation of public services? The data retrieved from the Finnish discussion forum are analyzed using the combination of unsupervised machine learning and discourse analysis.

Findings-The paper contributes by outlining a method that can be applied to identify expertise-byexperience from digital stories shared by marginalized youths. To overcome the challenges of making socially withdrawn youths real contributors to the co-creation of public services, this paper suggests several theoretical and managerial implications.

Originality/value-Co-creation assumes an interactive and dynamic relationship where value is created at the nexus of interaction. However, the evidence base for successful co-creation, particularly with digital Citizens as initiators of co-creation