Several students have experienced a lack of belonging in their professional and social learning community.
- Several studies and interviews with students in Oslo underline that many students experience a decrease in students’ motivation and mastery. This has led to worrying absence from school among students.
The main picture shows that students, who are vulnerable in a normal school day, are extra vulnerable when the framework around the training will be different and – for many – weakened. At the same time, there may be new groups of students who become vulnerable in this situation. Some get it also better when more of the teaching takes place on digital platforms. For example, students with already a lot of absenteeism experience it as easier to participate in the training.
- Truancy has increased in Barcelona. Taking 2018/2019 as a starting point, school dropouts in 2019-2020 respond to the school closure and the lack of data register for that school year. In 2020-2021, once schools reopened, some students remained at home. Data shows that some groups, such as Roma families’, were especially reluctant to bring their children to classes after confinement. Schools were not considered safe enough for their children and they were afraid of infecting elders living together at home. 2021-2022 was a difficult school year. Several Covid waves (up to six) forced frequent confinements of groups in schools. Schools tried to stop covid spread organizing students in “bubble groups” with no contact with other students. Teacher’s infection implied a high degree of teachers’ rotations, the cancellation of social activities in schools and so on. All these circumstances limited the chance to consolidate a school identity among students and led to the increase of disaffection feelings.