From discrete intervention to engage marginalised students to whole-school initiative to engage all students

What is it about?

The article is about a government secondary school in a disadvantaged outer urban area in Melbourne, Australia. The school was inspired to scale up from an intervention targeted at the engagement of a distinct group of students, to a whole-school initiative aimed at the engagement of all students. Case-study research throughout the first year of implementation revealed that the majority of students did report engagement in the whole-school initiative. However, the most socially and economically disadvantaged students faced barriers to full access and participation.

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Why is it important?

The research is important as more schools look beyond conventional pedagogy for ways to meet the needs of educationally disadvantaged students. The research indicated that the process of a school scaling up a successful intervention was not straightforward. In its first year, the initiative did not produce an equitable distribution of benefits. Rather, it conformed to schooling’s predisposition to produce exclusivity and exclusion. This investigation reinforced the ongoing need for vigilance in schools to remove mechanisms of educational disadvantage and to target educational needs in order to provide equitable educational experiences and outcomes that engage all students.