The school as a transformative actor: bridging social and educational rights grounded in the lived experiences of children, youth and families.

The project builds on the practice-oriented research conducted by the EQUALITY Research Collective on collaboration between education and social services actors in supporting children (and families) in socially vulnerable situations.
In recent years, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has repeatedly expressed concern about the structural barriers that children from socially and economically vulnerable families and children with a migrant background face in accessing quality education. These barriers contribute to an increasing number of students leaving school without a diploma. Schools that serve many students from vulnerable backgrounds recognize these challenges and face structural inequalities that complicate their social role and educational mission.
Although a wide range of rights and support options exists, in practice these are not always timely, accessible, or self-evident for families living in poverty. They encounter a series of cumulative barriers, including limited access to services, digital exclusion, and material shortages. In addition, administrative burdens, unclear information, language barriers, shame, mistrust, and a lack of cooperation between support channels play a significant role. As a result, a gap persists between the formal right to support and actual access to it—a phenomenon described as under-protection or non-take-up.
Against this backdrop, this project investigates how “the school as a bridge” can function in addressing well-being issues based on a shared social responsibility within the education and welfare sectors. Research on bridge figures and other forms of bridging shows that these practices strengthen the connection between schools, families, and welfare services by creating contact, building trust, and lowering barriers to support. At the same time, many of these initiatives remain dependent on individual professionals or temporary projects. Structural anchoring is often lacking.
This research project therefore has two central objectives. First, it aims to understand the mechanisms that make collaborations meaningful, focusing on the organizational, professional, and structural conditions that enable sustainable collaboration. Second, it investigates the meaning that children, youth, and families themselves attribute to bridging practices and how these practices contribute to the accessibility of social and educational rights.