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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Educ.
Sec. Higher Education
Volume 9 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2024.1405395
This article is part of the Research Topic Education Not Cancelled: Pathways from absence to post-secondary education View all 5 articles

Secondary School Students' Perspectives on Supports for Overcoming School Attendance Problems -A Qualitative Case Study in Germany

Provisionally accepted
Chiara Enderle Chiara Enderle 1*Susanne Kreitz-Sandberg Susanne Kreitz-Sandberg 2*Åsa Backlund Åsa Backlund 3Joakim Isaksson Joakim Isaksson 3Ulf Fredriksson Ulf Fredriksson 2Heinrich Ricking Heinrich Ricking 1
  • 1 Faculty of Education, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Lower Saxony, Germany
  • 2 Department of Education, Faculty of Social Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
  • 3 Department of Social Work, Faculty of Social Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    School attendance problems (SAPs) affect both young learners’ education and development. There is a need to better understand what supports are necessary to overcome and prevent SAPs from students’ viewpoints. The aim of the current study is to explore students’ perspectives on what challenges they faced, and what they perceived as helpful in overcoming attendance challenges on their pathways towards completing their education. We conducted interviews with students (n = 9) in a local comprehensive school (Stadtteilschule) in the city-state Hamburg in Germany. Students were in their final year before obtaining a certificate that qualifies them for possible admission to post-secondary education. Data was analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Findings show that students experienced complex challenges to school attendance associated with emotional distress, negative school experiences and reduced well-being. Our findings point to common protective mechanisms in students’ perceptions of what helped them overcome SAPs. The key drivers of school attendance are located in students and their social contexts, encompassing personal resilience, supportive relationships in school and social environment. Based on students’ views, we present a model that illustrates the interconnectedness of perceived challenges and supports in the function of risk and protective factors moving across ecological systems in the development of SAPs. We highlight how these areas can guide prevention and intervention to support students in successfully completing their education and transitioning into multiple post-secondary pathways.

    Keywords: School attendance, School absenteeism, Student perspective, resilience, ecological systems approach, Secondary education, Post-secondary education

    Received: 22 Mar 2024; Accepted: 02 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Enderle, Kreitz-Sandberg, Backlund, Isaksson, Fredriksson and Ricking. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Chiara Enderle, Faculty of Education, Leipzig University, Leipzig, 04109, Lower Saxony, Germany
    Susanne Kreitz-Sandberg, Department of Education, Faculty of Social Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, S-106 91, Stockholm, Sweden

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.