(From the ISHN Member information service)  A recent article describing a growing trend in the United states to voluntarily delay entry into high school in order to strengthen students academically and socially reflects increased attention to various transition periods in a child's schooling. A report on grade retention done by UNESCO is primarily focused on involuntary cases but does include some students who have volunteered to wait a year. That UNESCO report concludes that    “Grade repetition represents inefficiency and wastage of resources for society, but its voluntary forms may be beneficial to students in certain circumstances,”. In Ireland, a voluntary "transition" year has become so popular that the vast majority of students now make the choice to wait a year before proceeding. See our previous blof post on the Irish program here. In both of these cases and others, it may very well come down to the supports that are available to students as they make the transition. this is where effective, comprehensive health and social programs that are linked effectively within the school systems can be of the greatest service. Read more from the American news story.    

(From the UCLA Center on School Mental Health) Students and their families are involved in important transitions every day and throughout the years of schooling. Interventions to enable successful transitions make a significant difference in how motivationally ready and able youngsters are to benefit from schooling. Transitional failure can be viewed as stemming from factors related to the environment, person, or both. For example, school systems and individual schools are quite variable in the degree to which they are prepared to address the transitional needs of highly mobile students, recent immigrants and other newcomers. Thus, some new students enter friendly and inviting settings; others encounter settings are nonaccommodating or even hostile. And, of course, newcomers vary in terms of their capability and motivation with respect to psychological transition into new settings. (Excerpt from a resource package) Read more>>

(An item from the ISHN Member information service) The research about the importance of the transition in adolescent development has been confirmed again in two longitudinal studies reported in Issue #3, Journal of Adolescence. One article reports on a British study that concludes that "Depressive symptoms, school liking and conduct problems predicted lower attainment across time having controlled for the temporal stability in psychological functioning and attainment. School concerns predicted lower attainment for boys only, and the effects of depressive symptoms on later attainment were significantly stronger for boys compared to girls. School liking – and school concerns for boys – remained significant predictors of attainment when controlling for conduct problems." The Australian study correlated cannabis use with depression at all ages during the transition into adulthood. Read More>>

(An item from the ISHN Member information service) An article in Issue #2, 2013 of the Canadian Journal of Counselling & Psychotherapy reviews the literature on youuth to work transitions and then extracts the implications for counsellors. The authors "first discuss today’s hypermodern world, specifically the meanings being conveyed by today’s complex social realities and their impact on individuals’ (work) lives. An overview of research, most of it framed from the perspective of current youth studies literature, follows, addressing how today’s youth think, feel, and act while negotiating work transitions. Finally, some implications for career counselling theory and practice are derived, using some of the most recent developments in the career field theory as an integrative framework."  Read More>>

(An item from the ISHN Member information service) An article in Issue #2, 2013 of the European Journal of Education describes the policies and pathways used to help young people make the transition between secondary schooling and employment. The authors report that "young people's transitions from education to work are shaped by a variety of structural and institutional relations in education and the labour market. We argue that analysis of developments in approaches to education and training benefits from including these perspectives. This article explores these differences and similarities in a comparative transnational context across two continents. The article suggests that it not useful, whether from a policy or scholarly perspective, to link education and employment without examining the role and type of the welfare state, including the role and type of capitalism within that state, and the relationship of the welfare state to transition systems. With these concerns as our focus, the article has two objectives. The first is to establish some links between comparative research on transition systems and the literatures on welfare state regimes and varieties of capitalism. The second is to draw out some of these links with two concrete and contrasting examples in a comparative manner, focussing on Denmark and Australia. Free access to full text is provided. Read More>>

(An item from the ISHN Member information service) The Transition Year (TY) program in Ireland is an optional one-year program that can be taken in the year after the Junior Certificate in Ireland and is intended to make the senior cycle a three year program encompassing both Transition Year and Leaving Certificate.[The mission statement of the Transition Year is to promote the personal, social, educational and vocational development of pupils and to prepare them for their role as autonomous, participative and responsible members of society.. The TY was introduced as a pilot project in September 1974 and was introduced as a mainstream option in 1994. Students in the TY do not have exams but are assessed, The program s intended to be a broad educational experience which assists in the transition from the school environment by encouraging creativity and responsibility for oneself. Approximately 75% of second-level schools offer TY. It consists of both education and work experience. Schools generally set admissions criteria and design the program based on local needs in accordance with departmental guidelines. The year focuses on many non-academic subjects, such as life skills including: First Aid, cooking, self-defense, driving and typing. A lot of sport goes on, with many different types including: rock-climbing, hill-walking, horse-riding, kayaking and orienteering. Voluntary Work is a requirement in many schools, with students helping out in local communities and charities. It is not possible to fail Transition Year overall: all students continue to their next year of education no matter what their results. However, if a student does not do the set work or is absent for a large amount of time, there is a chance that the school will request that they leave. An article in Issue #2, 2013 of Irish Educational Studies documents the development of the program since its inception.The use of the TY to offset economic or other disadvantages is also discussed.  Read more>>