Project description

The acquisition of formal education is highly valued in our society. A school-leaving certificate forms the foundation for future career choices, leading to financial independence and self-reliance. In this context, some young people experience disadvantages that jeopardise their participation in society. This group sometimes includes care leavers - people who have spent part of their lives in an institution or with foster parents and are in the process of transitioning to an independent life or have already left the support system. In most cases, the age of majority becomes a criterion, meaning that assistance for young adults is approved less frequently. Children and young people who grow up in residential care experience educational disadvantage in many respects, which can make the transition to an independent life considerably more difficult. It is therefore necessary to scrutinise what support young people from residential care need on their educational path.

The research project aims to gain empirical findings on the educational situation of care leavers. The study focuses on formal educational pathways and their significance for the overall life situation and life organisation of young people. The significance of different social contexts is to be systematically analysed in order to develop perspectives for improved practice and to enable educational opportunities.

Keywords: education; care leavers; young adults; residential educational assistance

Supervision: Prof. Dr Ute von Düring & Prof. Dr Gisela Schulze

Project description

Substance use in adolescence (e.g. alcohol and cannabis use) is one of the normative developmental tasks, but represents one of the greatest health risks. Schools are regarded as central places of prevention, with teachers as direct caregivers of pupils being the central actors. For evidence-based school-based prevention, it is particularly relevant to consider findings on risk and protective factors for the school context. High prevalence of use in general and in particular among students with special educational needs in the area of emotional and social development (ESD) indicate the relevance of knowing school protective factors for substance use and understanding how their effectiveness differs for different groups of students. In systematic reviews, a variety of risk factors on the part of students and protective factors on the part of teachers could be summarised in isolation from each other. So far, however, there has been a lack of empirical evidence on how they are related to each other and how their effects differ for students with and without special educational needs.

The project aims to identify relationships between student- and teacher-related risk and protective factors for substance use in order to better understand them and to derive differentiated, evidence-based recommendations for further research projects and future teacher training.