Newswise — Young people living in poverty are among society’s most marginalised and the pivotal role of schools and teachers to close the gap cannot be fulfilled in current education systems.
With prospects for Australian children living in low income households relatively unchanged this century, a new study led by Flinders University aims to reignite the debate calling for sweeping reform and stronger economic, social, cultural and political policymaking to focus on a better future for all young people.
The study of the responses of more than 3,500 Australian 13-14 year olds – carried out before the pandemic – reports their experience of social exclusion at school, in terms of engagement, teacher support and bullying victimisation.
“The risk factors for social exclusion at school are worse for young adolescents who live in low income households or who experience poverty. Adolescents who live with a disability, care for a family member, speak a language other than English at home, or identify as Indigenous are all more likely than other adolescents to be living in poverty,” says Flinders University sociologist Professor Gerry Redmond.
“Feedback from marginalised young people in the study shows how the experience of disadvantage and exclusion affects their life satisfaction, which is a predictive indicator of wellbeing and mental health in adulthood.
“If schools don’t have the resources and systems to counter or fully address the needs of marginalised young people, then there’s clearly the need for wider reforms and actions to support these young people’s situation.”
Australian and international co-authors of the new study, just published in the Journal of Social Policy, say the weakness in school systems – particularly in rich countries – is the handing back of responsibility to the family and student.
Diana Harris, acting CEO of the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY), says the study highlights the “systemic forces in play” which continue to lead to the marginalisation of low income, children managing disabilities or chronic disease, and those from an Aboriginal or culturally diverse background.
“This characterisation of exclusion as failings of a young person’s own level of
‘grit’ or resilience, or the behaviour of a school bully who needs to learn empathy, fails to recognise the systemic forces in play,” Ms Harris says. “These aren’t things that a school can fix with an anti-bullying policy or a buddy bench, and they have real-world, long-term effects on a young person’s life and future.”
The researchers conclude that, in general, Australia’s weak social investment policies are failing to make a difference because they focus mainly on individual responsibility or ‘self-reliance’, with limited efforts to reduce inequality in educational outcomes through focusing on bigger inequities both within and outside the education system.
“There is no reason why poverty should be associated with experiences of exclusion at school,” Professor Redmond says. “Yet the evidence we have gathered suggests that this is what happens in Australian schools.”
Acts of exclusion can be seen as compromising young people’s life chances … and policymakers need to do more to address the causes of exclusion, researchers say, adding the concerns raised in the study relate to many other advanced OECD economies and other countries around the world.
The article, Who excludes? Young People’s Experience of Social Exclusion (2022) by Gerry Redmond, Gill Main, Alexander W O’Donnell, Jen Skattebol, Richard Woodman, Anna Mooney, Joanna Wang, Sabera Turkmani, Catherine Thomson and Fiona Brooks has been published in the Journal of Social Policy DOI: 10.1017/S0047279422000046
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