School dropout rate in Spain is nearly 24%, the highest among European countries. According to EUROSTAT school dropout rates in the countries of the consortium are: Spain 23,6%, Portugal 18,9%, Greece 10,1%, and France, Belgium and Austria have less than 10%. The Europe 2020 strategy sets out the target of reducing school drop-out rates to less than 10%.Drop Out phenomenon, quitting students from basic education, causes several negative impacts:- higher rates of dissatisfaction in interpersonal relationships and more emotional problems- higher rates of unemployment, lower wages and less career opportunitiesAccording to the literature the main risk factors for Drop Out are associated to the individual, familiar and social spheres. The three spheres will affect directly or indirectly the final behavior and performance of migrant pupils in the school. Low achievement, poor attendance, low educational expectations, low commitment to school, misbehavior or early aggression, are possible effects occurring in the school. Regardless of where these problems become, schools are the suitable place to intervene in order to apply measures to prevent Drop Out of migrant students.Professionals from School Education have a fundamental role in avoiding Drop Out phenomenon. School educators and teachers have very frequent contact with students so they can early recognize drop-out signs and provide a kind of intervention in order to influence the decision-making process. In the other hand, one main European priority is to develop actions related to adequate training young individuals, in order to acquire proper qualifications and develop the skills necessary for the working arena. Skills that teachers need to manage several social and ethnic backgrounds from their students, should be developed and strengthened during initial and continuous teacher education.Taking into account the afore mentioned context, KEEP ON project aims the prevention of Drop Out of migrant students, as well as refugees and asylum seekers, by means of supporting teachers and educators in dealing with cultural diversity.The partners will carry out the following activities:- Online Digital Database of good practices and resources in Drop Out prevention of migrant students (IO. 1)- Training Curriculum for the assessment, validation and recognition of learning outcomes on Drop Out prevention of migrant students in School Education (IO.2) - KEEP ON Pedagogical Handbook: with new approaches and innovative pedagogical methodologies to prevent Drop Out of migrant students in School Education (IO.3)- KEEP ON Professional Toolbox for School teachers (IO.4) with practical recommendations on Drop Out prevention of migrant students, based on the approaches and pedagogical methodologies of the Handbook.Five partner organizations will form the consortium which shall develop this project, including one Regional Directorate of Education, a Secondary School, a social nonprofit organization and a private educational entity from Spain, Turkey, Greece and Austria) KEEP ON project shall integrate within its outputs, educational methodologies and approaches aimed to empower young migrants and ethnic minorities in self related concepts and build strategies, in order to better cope with the influence of group membership on self-evaluation. Dialogic learning, Peer learning and other innovative pedagogies will be applied in order to foster an active role of students in the teaching and learning process, as well as aimed to build intercultural settings in schools.The products and outputs of KEEP ON project are aimed at school educators and teachers working in multicultural environments, as main target users. Other beneficiaries of the project will be: school centers, principals, policy makers, educational institutions, social partners, Public Administrations and NGOs; aiming to provide support to migrants and ethnic minorities. The final beneficiaries are students from migrant and ethnic minorities’ background, especially those in risk of Drop Out.KEEP ON project activities will involve 64 education professionals (school teachers and educators, counselors, staff from partners and collaborators); 100 students in multicultural classrooms and 405 stakeholders, direct users and beneficiaries of the project activities and products. A wider audience, 1.000 recipients minimum, will be reached through the planned dissemination activities at local, regional, national and European level.
According to data collected by the EUROSTAT report (December 2014), the phenomenon of school dropout is closely related to poverty and exclusion; it is more prevalent in people of migrant origin and ethnic minorities; It affects the interpersonal relationships and emotional health of these people and leads to higher rates of unemployment and fewer social and labor opportunities. For all these reasons, the Europe 2020 strategy proposes the reduction of school drop-out rates to less than 10%. In this context, the KEEP ON project is framed, which aims to improve the professional development of professionals in the field of education by providing them with innovative approaches and methodologies to manage cultural diversity in order to prevent school dropout among immigrant students, refugees and asylum seekers and ethnic minorities and promote their integration into the classroom. To achieve this, the project integrates methods and approaches aimed at training professionals in the educational field, so as to empower immigrant students in concepts such as self-control, self-efficacy, positive self-assessment, social identity and group membership. The project applies innovative pedagogies, such as dialogical learning and peer learning, to help students play an active role in the teaching-learning process and to build intercultural environments in the classroom. In the development of the KEEP ON project, 5 partner organizations from 4 different countries participated, with extensive experience in the field of social, educational and labor inclusion of immigrant population and vulnerable groups, led by the social entity Solidarity Without Borders (Spain): INFODEF (Institute for the Promotion and Development of Training, Spain), the Regional Directorate of Primary and Secondary Education of Crete, Greece, RPDSEC; a Secondary Education Center, Manisa Superior School of Fine Arts, MGSL and a private training institution, BEST, Austria). The following intellectual products have been developed to prevent the dropout of migrant students and ethnic minorities: The Online Digital Database of good practices and resources (IO.1). The Training Curriculum (IO2). The KEEP ON Pedagogical Manual (IO3). The KEEP ON Professional Tool Box for professionals in the field of education (IO4). The KEEP ON consortium has met at 5 different times throughout the project. There have been 4 transnational meetings to coordinate actions and monitor compliance with the objectives set according to the established proposal and schedule, as well as a meeting for the training activity and Capacity Development, in which professionals were trained in the products developed in the framework of the project. Throughout the project, project management and evaluation activities and dissemination and exploitation of the results have also been carried out. Among the diffusion, periodic meetings with personnel of the educational field in the 4 countries stand out, to make them aware of the results of the project and obtain feedback for their improvement, as well as to facilitate the large-scale integration of KEEP ON products in collaborating schools. The project has had a great impact on several levels. The partner organizations have benefited from the knowledge acquired and materials produced by KEEP ON. Both professionals in the field of education and those who work directly with people of diverse cultural origin and vulnerable population have improved their intercultural skills and socio-educational intervention skills. This has had a positive impact on the indirect beneficiaries, migrant students, with their empowerment and training, helping to reduce the risks of dropping out of school, and therefore, improving their social and educational integration. Externally, thanks to the dissemination activities and multiplier events carried out by each partner entity and in which more than 280 people participated, other educational entities and groups interested from the local to the European level, have known and are applying the materials KEEP ON in their fields of work. It is estimated that, between training and dissemination activities, the project and its products have reached more than 13,911 teachers, 1,285 schools and approximately 20,000 students. The extension of the project to other entities outside the participating countries that are defining common strategies in prevention of school drop-out in migrant students and ethical minorities stands out. Thanks to the development of the KEEP ON project, alliances and new ways of collaboration between social organizations and other associated organizations have been forged.