1. Introduction

We are happy to Welcome You to our Online course!

The number of the students who are absent from school has increased in recent years all over the world. The newest statics are showing that nearly 4 % of a secondary school’s students aged 13-15 have dropped out of school in Finland. That is why a huge effort is put on to solve this problem and prevent social exclusion of our students. The new models and tools are being created and tested in Finnish education at this very moment. You will learn the most effective parts of that information and used methods in this short course.

Content

Introduction
Reasons for school refusal
Preventing the problem
Recognising the problem
Reacting to the problem
The power of good co-operation
Take aways

As you heard there are three main strategies that Finnish teacher use when dealing with school absence:

Positive attitude
Proactive reacting: the teachers are reacting before or at an early stage of the problem
Problem-solving methods

Task 1. Compare

Think about this issue in Your country? Has the number of students with chronic absences grown? Is there already excisting some kind of models or structures to respond to these problems?

The Possible Problems that Can Be Emerged from School Attendance Problems

Short term problems

Learning outcomes decline
Mental health suffers
Bullying
Alcohol or drug abuse

Long term problems

Total dropping out of school system
Unemployment and financial insecurity
Many kinds of physical and mental health problems
Criminality
Rising cost to society

List is based on the following research sources

Ek, H., & Eriksson, R. (2013). Psychological factors behind truancy, school phobia, and school refusal: A literature
study. Child & Family Behavior Therapy, 35 (3), 228–248.

Gottfried, M. A. (2009). Excused versus unexcused: How student absences in elementary school affect academic achievement. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 31 (4), 392–415.

Havik, T., Bru, E. & Ertesvåg, S. K. 2015. Assessing Reasons for School Non-attendance. Scandinavian Journal of
Educational Research, vol 59 (3), 316-336.

Hill, D., & Mrug, S. (2015). School-level correlates of adolescent tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use. Substance
Use & Misuse, 50 (12), 1518–1528.

Lansford, J. E. (2016). A Public Health Perspective on School Dropout and Adult Outcomes: A Prospective Study of Risk and Protective Factors From Age 5 to 27 Years. Journal of Adolescent Health, 58(6), 652–658.

Latif, A., Choudhary, A. & Hammayun, A. (2015). Economic Effects of Student Dropouts: A Comparative Study.
Journal of Global Economics, Vol 3 (02).

Schoeneberger, J. A. (2012). Longitudinal Attendance Patterns: Developing High School Dropouts. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 85(1), 7–14.

Task 2. Reflect

What is schools meaning in creating a better society? Can you think one little concrete step that You can do in Your school to prevent problems listed above?

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