Abstract
This dissertation is based upon a regional education-oriented development project, concerning additional support, targeting mentally vulnerable young people in the transition from primary school to secondary education.
The project's prior knowledge is linked to known research on vulnerable young people's needs for a relational contact person during this particular period, where changes and increased demands often lead to a risk of dropping out of secondary education.
With the desire to integrate experiences from the project into the practice of educational counselors in seven selected municipalities, the project period of two years constitutes a space for qualification of current efforts in the area.
The youth target group is often at the center of social measures, due to their significant development potential, just as they are in the most crucial part of life in terms of shaping their forward-looking educational and employment opportunities.
In social work with vulnerable young people, two concepts, in particular, are often used in order to support them in dealing with their challenges and achieving their goals. These two concepts are “contact person” and “professional relationship”.
This dissertation operates with a problem definition according to how the municipal educational guidance can integrate a visible effort aimed at mentally vulnerable young people in the educational transition, based on avoiding reproduction of vulnerability through social stamping and instead achieving an increased rate of young people completing secondary education.
Through a defined goal of change this dissertation includes an action research where both empirical and theory is discussed and reflected upon by a relevant and specific composed working group. The knowledge of the dissertation has been acquired through methodological frameworks according to the perspective of the learning organization.