1. Social communities of Youth and the Significance of these communities to Participation in Education
Vibe Larsen, Üzeyir Tireli, Tekla Canger, Lone Brønsted,
Charlotte Bie, Lise Aagaard Kaas, Tim Vikær Andersen, UCC

2. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Which social communities does the youth enter into? How are these communities talked of and valued by professionals and by the youth?
How do the professional agents, institutions, the educational practices and the urban space support or work against the social communities of the youth?
How do the social communities affect the youth’s perception of being connected to or marginalized from education?
On this basis, what possible measures may be taken in educational practices regarding youth?

3. Conceptual framing COMMUNITIES YOUTH In Danish: Fællesskaber
Defined by the interactions and the actions involved
Defined by space and place
At times interchanged with networks, groups, alliances
YOUTH
A diffuse term
Subjective or objective?
In our case: young people in transition

4. METHODOLOGY A micro-sociological project frame
An ethnographic approach
Field work in a local school and the surrounding youth clubs
Semi-structured interviews with students, social educators and youth
An intervention – learning laboratories consisting of 3-4 workshops with students of social education, teachers, social educators and other professionals working with youth

5. THREE PRESENTATIONS
On space and place – how social community and local community are intertwined and form basis for an understanding of inclusion and exclusion among youth in the last year of compulsory schooling
On stability and change in lower secondary schools and its impact on professional practice
On learning labs as a means of embedding research in practice

6. Social community and local community
– how the relation between the two can have an impact on youths’ experiences of inclusion and exclusion
Tekla Canger, UCC
Lone Brønsted, UCC
Üzeyir Tireli, UCC

7. The presentation The scope of the presentation
Social community and local community
Social inclusion and social exclusion
Characteristics of neighborhood and youth
Three cases
Local community and school
Local community and youth clubs
Concluding remarks

8. The scope of the presentation
To argue that understanding social in- and exclusion in a school setting calls for an attention to what goes on outside of school
To argue that although social relations are strengthened through local community, this local community are also provide the possibility for bonding communities that in turn exclude as much as they form basis for inclusion

9. Social community and local community
The distinction between local and social community is an analytical distinction
In this analytical distinction: local community being linked to place and social community being linked to space
However, local communities breed social communities and social communities are embedded in local communities
Communities can be seen as bridging communities or bonding communities (Putnam 1995)

10. Social inclusion and social exclusion
An understanding stressing the complexity of in- and exclusion, including institutional setting and societal structures as conditions shaping understandings of in- and exclusion
An understanding that moves beyond what happens in a specific setting and that challenges an understanding of inclusion being a pedagogical approach with the purpose of making space for all

11. Characterization of the neighborhood and of the youth
Local community in this presentation equals the local neighborhood that is home to a great deal of the pupils at the school
Situated in a large city somewhat on the outskirts
Characterized by a large number of immigrants, descendants of immigrants, inhabitants on social welfare and a somewhat high crime-rate
The youth – boys and girls of the ages in their last year of compulsory school at the district school.
All with minority background being refugees or descendants of immigrants and refugees from different parts of the world – mainly the Middle-East and Former Yugoslavia

12. Songül – out of the neighborhood – into group
Songül is a fifteen-year-old girl who is part of the class at the local school. She has been part of the class since 1st grade but has had a slip of a couple of years when she lived in Turkey with her parents. She is one of the first girls I notice during my fieldwork as she is an active part of a larger group of girls who talk a lot, laugh a lot and tease each other in a crude as well as friendly manner. In the class the pupils have designated seats, but apparently not all the teachers know these seats or don’t enforce the rule, because sometimes Songül sits at the table where her designated seat is, but most often she seeks the table of the girls with whom she laughs and jokes. Songül does not live in the aforementioned neighborhood, but most of the girls that she hangs out with in class do.

13. Majida – into the neighborhood – out of the group
Majida is also a fifteen-year-old girl in the same class. As Songül she has also attended the school from 1st grade. Majida is not one of the first girls I notice in the school class, but she is one of the first ones I talk to. First time we arrive at the school, we arrive during a break, and Majida is sitting outside of the classroom and we start chatting. She tells me a little about her plans after ending 9th grade and about whom she hangs out with in school. In class she always sit at the same table, a table that holds her and two other girls. One of the other girls also stays at that table during different lessons. During our six weeks in the school I do not see Majida interact with a lot of different pupils, and I never see her interact with the larger group of girls that Songül hangs out with; most often she is seen with the other girl placed at her table. Majida has lived her whole life in the aforementioned neighborhood and is next-door-neighbor to one of the other girls in the class, but does not hang out with the girls in neighborhood.

14. Fatima – into the neighborhood – into the group
Fatima is fourteen years old at the time of our fieldwork. She is part of the larger group of girls and is as loud and outgoing as Songül. However, she also hangs out with the boys, particularly when they have to do school work. Fatima has attended that particular class since 1st grade and lives in the local neighborhood. My first impression of Fatima was that along with being part of the larger part of the group of girls, she was also one of the loudest. During one of the first breaks I observed, she was the first to go to the class computer and put on music. She got to choose what they were going to listen to, and not till she left the classroom did one of the other girls get to choose music
During breaks the pupils are allowed to stay in the classroom and they get to listen to music through the computer, eat their snacks, play on their phones etc. If they choose they can also leave the school premises during breaks, but they tend only to do that during the long lunchbreak

15. Local and social community - inclusion
Belonging to a local community can strengthen the relation between social community in the neighborhood and social community in the school
The transfer of social experiences is strong
Since the local community is considered an informal and naturalized setting (by those who are included) it provides opportunities for constructing bonding communities; eg. Fatima

16. Local and social community - exclusion
Creates vulnerability for those who form part of the the local community but are excluded from the social community; eg Majida
In that sense local community can be seen to enhance experience of exclusion; a sort of double exclusion:
Those who do not belong to the local community has to work harder to establish and maintain social communities constructed in a school setting, since the informality of the local community shuts down the possibility for formal arrangements in the social community; eg. Songül
Majida bor i boligblokkene, men oplever sig ikke som del af klassefællesskabet. Hun bruger i øvrigt heller ikke lokalområdet på samme måde som de der i højere grad oplever sig som en del af klassefællesskabet.
Såfremt man føler sig ekskluderet i klassen, får det betydning for om man ’vover’ at bruge det uformelle forum som ’gården’ er. Det ultralokale bliver i den forstand ’farligt’ på en anden måde end ovenfor beskrevet; det bliver farligt idet de (i klassen) ekskluderede unge, risikerer dobbelt eksklusion hvis de ikke inddrages i fællesskabet i gården såfremt de vover sig derud.

17. Local community and youth clubs
Like school and neighborhood form basis for social in- and exclusion, so do the youth clubs
The use of youth clubs among the youth is dependent on locality and informality; are only used if they are in near, near vicinity
They provide a frame for maintaining friendships, but do not as such form basis for social community.
Insofar as the youth club is ’ultra-local’ (part of the local community) the employees take on another role and ideally serve as a ’transfer agent between the youth clubs and the local community
Skoledelen: klubberne bliver ikke brugt meget, og de klubber som de interviewede fremhæver, er karakteriseret ved 1) at være situeret i trygge omgivelser (jf. de boligblokke hvor de bor), 2) at være et sted man er sammen med sine venner, 3) et sted som bliver brugt mindre end tidligere. I forhold til at undersøge relationen mellem lokalmiljø og klub fremhæver blandt andet Naima at den klub der lå der hvor hun bor nu er lukket (det lader til at have været et projekt med udløbsdato), så nu bruger hun ikke klubber så meget mere. I hendes tilfælde får det altså betydning at det er den lokale klub hun har brugt, og som nu – da den ikke eksisterer længere – ikke bliver erstattet af noget andet. Hun bruger også en pigeklub fra tid til anden, men ikke i samme omfang som dengang der var et lokalt tilbud (når jeg siger lokalt her, mener jeg faktisk ultralokalt). De har prøvet at sammenlægge klubber i lokalområdet, men klubberne skal være ultralokale for at de unge kommer. Selv om den nye klub blot ligger 500 meter længere væk end den kendte så kommer de ikke. Især ifht. ”udsatte”.
Her ser vi et eksempel på hvor stor betydning det helt nære miljø har. Ud over at de ikke-formaliserede fællesskaber opstår og udvikler sig i det ultralokale, er det også det ’ultralokale’ klubmiljø der har betydning – det skal ligge så tæt på at man kan gå derover og enten være sikker på at der er nogen man kender. Også pædagogerne i klubberne fremhæves som ’venner’ (jf. Adnan) og det vil sige at klubbernes betydning er knyttet til de unges forhold til de pædagoger der er i klubberne… flere fremhæver at klubpædagogerne er nogle de også kender/ser/har kendskab til udenfor klubberne; som bor i boligblokkene eller lige i nærheden, og som på en eller anden måde er synlige i andre sammenhænge end blot i klubben. I den forstand bliver klubben og klubbens personale betydningsfulde, såfremt der er tale om klub og personale i det ultralokale. Og klubben er frivillig modsat skolen.

18. Concluding remarks
The relation between local community and social community in school, youth club and neighborhood is complex and cannot be said to single-handedly add to an improved learning and living environment in school
But… an attention by professionals towards the mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion among youth in the paths between school, youth club and neighborhood might contribute to an understanding of some of the difficulties that some young people in a school environment experience

19. Vibe Larsen Charlotte Bie UCC
The impact of school changes in lower secondary school – youth’s social relations and teachers support
Vibe Larsen
Charlotte Bie UCC

20. Background
Different structures are important to understand the teachers and the youth’s possibilities in the field of social relation in a school context
One is the practice of pupils who leave the school class and pupils who begin in an already established school class.

21. Changing schools
I: Why have you been in three different schools? F: I started in School A, but then my family wanted me to improve my Arabic, because I was really bad at Arabic, so they said that the school B was good, but now it has turned bad, and there was also Arabic there. So I went there, but after that a while ... it just became worse. So I moved to this school C.

22. Political decisions
Students in the Folkeskole have the right to a good educational environment. (Decisions regarding this are spelled out in the Act on the Educational Environment for Students)
An important factor in this regard is the extent of bullying that takes place at the school.
( Danish Ministry of Education

23. Why changing schools?
It is mostly in the upper primary school and lower secondary school grade 7-8-9
The pupil does not feel well in the class, or feels a lack of common understanding with their class mates
The pupil has been bullied
The parents are avoided of the academic level or the pedagogical practice at the school
The parents want a school that gives their child an opportunity to improve their mother tongue or that focus on ’their culture’.
They family moves to another town
The pupil has other kinds of problems.

24. Different way of organizing the school
Traditional public schools from grade 0 to 9
Public schools (overbygningsskoler) which only have pupils from grade 7 to 9 ( Rikke Brown followed this new organizational forms)
Public schools where they create new grade 7 classes, taking pupils from several different classses at the same school and placing the pupils in new classes

25. Research questions
How do these patterns of change and stability in the final year of compulsory school convince and construct the teachers’ practice in supporting youth’s social relations in school?
How does it impact on the possibility for an included or excluded position in the school?

26. The school case

27. The situation in the class
There are 20 pupils in the class
They have changed teachers many times
In 7th grade they were merged with another class
From 7- 9 grade 10 new students have entered the class and about 5-6 has left the class.

28. The teacher situation
First, I was just history teacher quite normal grade 7. Then I was in the class two hours every week ... But then their head teacher, she said ... or she resigned after six months. And then there was like a rotation around the organization in the lower secondary school, and then I went in as a Danish teacher and head teacher, along with Eva, we had to start up from the beginning. Or Eva should have started up with the another teacher

29. To work with a kind of community
There has been an incredible amount of work!! Just after the camp. There has been so much with the class, because there was simply so much work ... But it is different to be at a school camp They cannot really escape ... and therefore ... you'll have to do something ... So something just happens to the girls and their groups.

30. To be aware of the social life
I do not know what you can call it, but why they withdraw from these groups. What happened then, and so on. It's just not everything we can find out. Sometimes we come in and make ... you could say that ... A detective work. Then we have someone we can ask, I sometimes ask Ali, and things like that. I do not ask directly how and what happens in the classroom now. I ask around it; it sounds like a stitch, but it's not what it is. I go in and do this if it is necessary, and then I suck information out, like: what's happening in the classroom, what happens here? And why is she so sad, or have you noticed that there are someone who is alone in class, and things like that.

31. What challenges the teachers’ practice?
The school class is not only understood as a normal form of organizing the everyday life in the school, but also as a cultural understanding of the perfect setting for the social life of the pupils. It offers possibilities for some pupils to be a part of the great group, but at the same time it excludes others, because you need to have a lot in common to be a part of the group of class mates.
The teacher in our case still works on improving relations and the social well-being in the class but is challenged by 10 new pupils the last 2 years, 5 who show up sporadically, and already established groups in the original school class. So when social relations in school are emphasized from the political and the research fields, it puts a pressure on the teachers’ practice.
In one way parents and the student look for a kind of stability in the school and at the same time some of them use the school system as if they were a kind of modern consumers.
The educational politics in Denmark are influenced by an understanding that one can improve the academic level in the schools, by measuring effects, comparing schools and by the free choice of schools. At the same time it is emphasized that supporting the students social development , working with bullying in the school can contribute to increasing the academic level and to lower the drop-out rates.

32. LEARNING LABS AND SOCIAL IN- AND EXCLUSION OF DANISH YOUTH IN EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS
Assistant Researcher Lise Aagaard Kaas
Assistant Researcher Tim Vikær Andersen

33. Background for the intervention project
Embedded in the UCC research on social inclusion and exclusion of Danish youth in educational settings
Purpose: To make knowledge from research available to the practice field – the social worker and teacher profession
Ambition 1: To bring practitioners and researchers together to reflect upon the importance of social community among youth in relation to education - in order to qualify practice and in order to qualify the research project
Ambition 2: Experiment with how research can inform practice - and have an impact on the professionals' understanding and actions in practice

34. Research question
’How may research on social community of youth interact with practice in order to develop the professional understanding of the social communities among youth? And how might the reflections and analyses of the professionals contribute to improving the research process?’
Imperative to find a methodological approach that support the idea that knowledge derived from the research project may serve to promote reflection on the research topic and at the same time may challenge and verify the knowledge production

35. Theoretical and methodological framework
Various surveys and discussions in the research group concluded that we chose to be inspired by the framework of ‘learning labs’ as developed in a Danish context by Cathrine Hasse et al (2014)
Learning lab draws methodologically on ethnographic methods (Følstad, 2008) and is a ’place where people learn and develop through experiments’ (Hasse, 2014: 172)
At this point the results and analyses are not completed to form the basis for a genuine learning laboratory/experiment - therefore, we have used the term ‘intervention workshop’
Furthermore, the term laboratories may give associations to testing, developing and experimenting with concrete materials. Instead, we work verbally with reflections, discussions and proposals for action measures.

36. Framework of the intervention workshop (1)
Participants:
2 Assistant Researchers: Presentation and facilitating
1 Researcher from the research project: Observer
Participants: Students from the Academy Program in Youth Education
Background: Experience from the youth educational field
Part-time students with continued daily practice during their study
Intervention Workshop day l: 4 participants
Intervention Workshop day II: 5 participants

37. Framework of the intervention workshop (2)
Cases: To reflect the participants practice to the empirical findings:
Based on two cases from the empirical data the professionals' discussed perceptions of young people's social communities
Based on 2 cases from empirical data they discussed the professional's role in working with young people's social communities
Posters: presentation of participants' work:
Part l: perceptions of young people's social communities
Part II: view of the professionals' role in young people's social communities
Part III: proposals for action measures in relation to young people's social communities

38. Preliminary findings: Social communities
Social communities are understood as affiliations: communities are related to common interests or common social issues (for example ethnicity , religion, upbringing or geography)
Young people can be participants in various social communities
Observation: the professional knowledge language is characterized by everyday understandings
Observation: the professionals' understanding of communities match the material in the research project

39. Preliminary findings: Participation
The social workers play a key role in working with social communities
The youth club: young people's social communities is a central part of their work
At secondary school : ‘competence loss’
Proposal for action steps: Football Tournament
Understandings of participation : participation in social communities requires that you participate in the institution's official activities
Parallel participating: ‘you are not participating if you don’t participate in the institutions official activities’
Being enrolled: ‘we work with those who volunteer for activities’

40. Preliminary findings: Intervention Workshop
The framework:
The facilitation: creates motivated discussions
Space for conversation and participation
Posters: captures the essential
Cases: create a basis for discussion and reflection on their own practice. Cases invite to discuss social communities in relation to ethnicity
Exercises: must be framed short and precisely
The facilitator: a withdrawn role or a participating role?
The participants dividends:
Discussion and reflection on practice is perceived as valuable for the participants
Have participants learned more about how to understand and work with young people's social communities?
Contribution to the research project: insight into how educators understand their role and how they facilitate social communities

41. Next step
An inter-professional intervention workshop with teachers, social workers , youth counselors and teachers from high school
The intention is to further develop the intervention workshop in order to create ideas on how to work with young people's social communities in order to strengthen participation in education