Conference Agenda

Research has increasingly highlighted the pivotal role of homeroom teachers in school life (Sapir & Mizrahi-Shtelman, 2024). Homeroom teachers hold a central role in leading their class toward change; they contribute to students’ empowerment and success, influence their academic performance, and establish classroom social justice and equal opportunities so that students can control their lives as independent members (Liew et al., 2010) regardless of their background. In countries where homeroom teachers’ role is significant, such as Israel, the homeroom teacher’s role is managerial, educational, and social, with a commitment to fulfill his/her obligations to the students, class teachers, and students’ parents (Oved & Raichel, 2025). However, research on homeroom teachers is scant—particularly on their empowerment practices in the context of students who are under survival threat of home relocation/demolition.

Empowerment is understood as “a philosophy that creates an atmosphere in which individual students are supported by the classroom community to take responsibility for their lives in trying to meet their needs within learning settings” (Sullivan, 2002, p. 2). McQuillan (2005) discussed three kinds of student empowerment: academic, i.e., developing the ability, confidence, and motivation to succeed academically; political, whereby students enact formal or informal power and influence in the school context; and social, the dimensions of which include, e.g., dialogues between teachers and students in which everyone feels that they can speak and that all voices will be respected.

Psychological empowerment, as conceptualized by Zimmerman (1995), centers on individuals’ internal sense of control, perceived competence, and belief in their capacity to influence their educational trajectories and broader life circumstances. Christens (2012) extended empowerment theory to highlight the relational components in the psychological dimension: collaborative competence (interpersonal relationships to create group membership, solidarity, and collective capacity), bridging social divisions (through trust and mutual relationships among diverse groups or social identities), and facilitating others’ empowerment. Drawing on empowerment theory (e.g., Zimmerman, 2000), this study seeks to understand the empowerment practices aimed at supporting students who live under ongoing threat of displacement and demolition.

In the context of the threat of displacement/demolition of homes, as addressed in the present study, research has found that children face a wide range of risks to their development from their physical environment (e.g., lack of electricity and basic living amenities) and lack of supervision and relationships that affect their development, health, and well-being (Marey- Sarwan et al., 2020). This constant threat of home demolition/displacement is found in Palestinian Arab unrecognized villages (UVs) in the Negev of Israel, defined as "Bedouin settlements that are deemed illegal and, as such, are constantly threatened by the state’s efforts to make them disappear" (Hall, 2014, p. 147). The Israeli government does not recognize these villages (Abu-Rass & Yiftachel, 2012). Their specific status in the country—they are citizens—differentiates them from illegal immigrants or refugees, who might otherwise share certain experiences of poverty and marginality.

The people in UV live under difficult conditions. The government denies them basic services and infrastructure, such as running water, electricity, health institutions, and access roads (Rotem & Gordon, 2017). Most of these people live in tents and barracks built from cheap materials because the Israeli authorities refuse to grant them permission to construct permanent living structures (Abu-Rass & Yiftachel, 2012). A large number of homes that have been built without government permission are demolished every year by Israeli authorities, some more than once (Al-Said, et al., 2018).

Using two case studies of homeroom teachers—one local and one non-local—the study aims to examine the empowerment practices they enact and how their positionalities shape these practices.

This participatory mixed-methods study focussed on the learning and coping strategies used by children in a German primary school during the COVID-19 home-schooling period. While educational research has increasingly provided national and international data on the pandemic in general (cf. Helm et al. 2021, Bujard et al. 2021), the perspectives of primary school children have often been overlooked (cf. Budde et al. 2021). Therefore, the aim of our research was to look specifically at the children’s perspectives on home-schooling phases during COVID-19 lockdowns and the related challenges, as well as coping strategies used by the learners themselves during this time of crisis and instability.

The main research question asked: How do school beginners (age 6 to 7) navigate the challenges between classroom teaching and home-schooling?

A participatory research approach was chosen. According to Von Unger (2014) and Eßer et al. (2020) participatory research approaches are characterised by the involvement of actors as researchers in order to describe and changing social reality as well as measures for the individual and collective empowerment of the partners. As is appropriate to a study involving children, ethical considerations were given priority (Bertram et al. 2015).

Theoretically, the study combined social constructivism, where school is viewed as being constructed through local practices ("doing school"), with a relational understanding of agency (cf. Eßer et al. 2020). Children were regarded as competent actors who actively shape their social environment (cf. Hüpping/Büker 2019). The primary aim was to make children's voices heard through a participatory research approach grounded in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and New Childhood Studies. Different theoretical frameworks were therefore combined: including the social constructivist perspective, where a setting, in this case a school is continuously constructed in and through local practices, i.e. where activity is produced and adapted by the actors involved in the sense of doing school. The lens of relational understanding of agency was also employed, where specifically, school was understood as a network of relationships, characterised by the diverse interactions of the school community of actors - adults as well as children.

The study traces how school beginners in Germany coped with learning demands in times of instability and crisis, when normal schooling was interrupted. It demonstrates the different creative coping strategies owned by the children, but also points to the high relevance of school as a social interaction space (Hummrich, 2015) in addition to being an essential learning and educational space for children. Data from this study suggest that children value the notion of ‘school’ beyond merely a place to learn. This study argues that educators and policy makers should give greater consideration to the school’s role in children’s social development and well-being when planning for alternative education, not only in times of crisis. Besides the presentation of empirical findings of the children`s own perspectives at a specific time of educational instability, the research team take a critical look at their own research approach and their original claim of enabling participatory research and taking children's agency seriously.

Against the backdrop of current multiple crises and society's demand to continue strengthening children's (school) well-being in line with children's rights (the three Ps: protection, provision, and participation) in the future and not to lose sight of this, the presentation also draws on empirical findings and reflections to make current references to childhood and learning in times of crisis.

This paper examines student voice within educational systems through the experiences of children designated as at risk, particularly those experiencing social, emotional, behavioural, and educational marginalisation, and those living in alternative care. Drawing on doctoral research in Educational Psychology conducted in Maltese nurture centres and residential care settings, and informed by Jacques Rancière’s political philosophy, the paper interrogates how dominant educational practices and rights-based discourses can fail to meaningfully engage the voices of children most vulnerable to exclusion.

The paper argues that educational systems often operate through a deficit-oriented logic that categorises children at risk as non-compliant, dysregulated, incompetent, or difficult to teach. Within this framework, student voice is selectively recognised. Children whose communication fits normative expectations are more likely to be heard, while those whose expressions emerge through refusal, withdrawal, anger, silence, or disruption are frequently rendered unintelligible. As a result, children at risk may be positioned less as speaking and rights-bearing subjects, and more as objects of intervention, surveillance, assessment, and remediation.

Using Rancière’s concepts of the police order, equality, and dissensus, the paper explores how schooling regulates who is permitted to speak, what forms of expression are considered legitimate, and how educational and psychological assessment practices can contribute to the silencing of marginalised children. Diagnostic and educational categories, while often intended to secure support, may also narrow how children are seen and heard when complex lived experiences are translated primarily into individual deficits.

Empirical material is drawn from a qualitative case study with seven boys aged 8 to 15 attending nurture centres in Malta, all of whom were living in residential care. These settings provide alternative educational provision for children experiencing significant relational, emotional, behavioural, and educational risk. Using an adapted Mosaic and Reggio Emilia-informed approach, the research engaged children through photography, drawing, child-led tours, play, informal conversations, and observation, enabling forms of expression beyond conventional verbal participation. The findings show how children at risk often communicate distress, agency, moral reasoning, and resistance through actions that schools may interpret as disruption, failure, or incapacity.

The paper reconceptualises student voice not simply as a procedural right granted or facilitated by adults, but as a political act that emerges when children challenge the terms of their own exclusion from educational meaning-making. Through the concept of dissensus, it argues that some behaviours commonly understood as problematic can also be read as claims to equality, recognition, and relational justice, particularly when conventional avenues for participation are unavailable, unsafe, or ineffective.

The paper concludes by outlining implications for Educational Psychologists and educational practice more broadly. It calls for a shift away from gatekeeping practices that prioritise categorisation and risk management, towards relational, reflexive, and ethically grounded approaches that recognise children at risk as already capable social actors. By centring lived experience, resisting premature deficit labelling, and remaining open to forms of expression that disrupt normative schooling practices, education systems can move closer to genuinely inclusive and rights-respecting practice.

Background, objective and conceptual framework

Nowadays, young Europeans are expected to complete education at least at the upper secondary level in order to establish themselves in work and society (OECD, 2022). Those who fail to meet such expectations are generally subject to measures aimed at bringing them back into mainstream education (Nouwen, 2016). Research has commonly focused on identifying factors behind, and interventions addressing, school failure (e.g. González-Rodríguez, 2019), while knowledge about how young people themselves perceive their situation remains relatively scarce. However, listening to these young people’s accounts may offer valuable insights into the complex interplay between contextual factors and individuals’ sense-making and agency. Such insights can also contribute to rethinking policies and practices aimed at supporting children and young people at risk of early school leaving and social exclusion. Existing research drawing on narratives from students attending alternative learning provisions indicates that physically, and psychologically safe and supportive environments foster a sense of belonging and promote re-engagement with education (e.g. Byrne & Smyth, 2010; Laundal & Solberg, 2022; O’Gorman, 2016).

This article revisits interviews with 57 young Swedes attending the Introductory Programme (IP), either due to incomplete grades from compulsory school or because of recent migration. Our objective is to deepen the understanding of how young people who do not qualify for upper secondary education make sense of and navigate their past, present, and future trajectories.

The Swedish context

According to Swedish legislation, including all children in regular classes is the main principle. In 2025, 2% of students in the nine-year compulsory school received special support exclusively in separate groups and/or individually. Performance-oriented curriculum reforms during the 2010s introduced earlier grading and more extensive national testing. Requirements for eligibility to national upper secondary programmes were significantly raised. Since then, between 12 and 17 percent of 16-year-olds have lacked eligibility for a vocational or academic upper secondary programme—high in an international comparison (Schmid, 2020).

The Introductory Programme (IP) is offered to young people with insufficient grades from compulsory school and/or those who recently migrated to Sweden, with the aim of helping them gain eligibility for upper secondary education. The IP provides more teacher support, smaller groups, and individualised instruction than mainstream education. Transitioning to a national upper secondary programme or adult education is often a long process, particularly for students enrolled in the two tracks on which we focus: Individual Alternative (IA) and Language Introduction (LI).

Conceptual framework

We understand the relationship between structure and agency in education as a connection between the institutionalised life course and subjective biographies (Evans, 2002; Walther, 2015). Young people’s paths and choices unfold within a field of uneven power relations where interactions and pragmatic considerations take shape (Hodkinson & Sparkes, 1997). We depart from a categorisation of educational trajectories from Walther’s (2015) research on European youth, where the remedial and intermediate trajectory refers to students who have experienced interruptions in schooling and face limited choices. IA students’ trajectories more often fell into the remedial category, whereas LI students’ trajectories more often fell into the intermediate category.

Sense-making and agency are central concepts in the analysis of the informants’ narratives. Sense-making focuses on how people interpret events and construct meaning—workable stories that allow them to navigate uncertainty and guide action (Weick, 1995). Young people’s understandings of themselves and their circumstances are not only cognitively and individually grounded, but also relationally and affectively constituted. Emotions form an important basis for agency (Barbalet, 2001; Covington, 1984): they influence whether young people believe they can learn and develop, whether they perceive themselves as agentic subjects, and how they view their future.