Fear of the school gate³
School refusal, an anxiety-related form of school non-attendance, is a complex issue at the intersection of education, social services, and family life. Despite the growing emphasis on collaboration among these sectors, young people, parents, and professionals often still experience fragmented support. The previous PWO project, “Fear of the School Gate—Support Services,” resulted in the practice-oriented tool, “Connecting Through Collaboration in Cases of School Refusal: A Resource Guide.” Although practitioners found the development process and the content of the workbook valuable, no research has yet been conducted on how it is used in practice or how practitioners experience its contribution to collaborative support. In addition, the voices of parents and guardians remained underrepresented in the earlier research projects.
This follow-up study therefore comprises two research components. The first research component examines how professionals in education and social services implement the resource guide in their daily practice. Through practice-oriented implementation research with two practice teams, the study investigates which factors promote or hinder the use of the resource guide and to what extent professionals experience it as contributing to collaboration among the involved stakeholders.
The second research component focuses on the perspectives of parents and guardians. Through narrative interviews and participatory research methods, the study will examine how parents make sense of the school refusal process, how they experience collaboration with education and welfare professionals, and what role they wish to take in this process. Particular attention will be given to families whose voices are currently less likely to be heard.
The research will result in a refined version of the resource guide, recommendations for practice and policy, and new insights into how education, social services, and families can collaborate more effectively to address school refusal and school dropout.
