HOW TO PREVENT SCHOOL DROPOUT

ANDRONACHE MDLINA
SCOALA GIMNAZIALA LUDOVIC COSMA, GALATI

First of all, in order to find interactive methods and best practices to prevent school dropout in
European schools one has to start from understanding the notion of dropout.
School dropout is a form of school failure "- this is the definition given by an authority in the
field. He also gave us other definitions for school dropout: leaving the education system before
completing compulsory education " or "leaving school before completing one of its levels" or "leaving
school in general, regardless of the level without getting the diploma certifying the completion of the
studies "or" leaving the education system without a certifying act on the professional market ".
Then, one has to analyze the causes of school dropout in order to know what aspect to approach
in the interactive methods used to prevent school dropout,. These causes can be represented by
psychological causes such as: health, insufficient cognitive acquisitions; social causes: family and its
influence, family economic problems, family environment, lack of parental control and low cultural
level and pedagogical causes: teachers, teaching style, school curriculum and school problems.
The next step that naturally follows is to prevent school dropout. The word "prevent" has the
following definitions in the dictionary: prevent verb\pri-vent\ to stop (something) from happening or
existing; to make (someone or something) not to do something; to stop (someone or something) from
doing something. And it is the teachers duty, supported by the students family and society to avoid
school dropout when talking about students who are at risk.
Consulting various sources, both bibliography and online sources on interactive methods to
prevent school dropout, I consider the most effective the ones that directly involve students who fail to
adapt to the school.
Considering the psychological causes that lead to school dropout: low school motivation, lack of
interest, low confidence in school education, fatigue, anxiety, low self-efficacy, damaged self-esteem,
feelings of inferiority, reduced social skills, passivity; refusal to adhere to a choice made by others
(reaction to adult wishes pressure), some interactive methods to prevent these reasons can be
represented by competitions and contests based on the students abilities. .

For certain the power of the example will have, in this case, the greatest impact on students who are
at risk of school dropout and by means of the experience of those who have already dropped out of
school, may be more than useful. Thus, students who have already quit school prematurely come into
contact with those at risk of dropping out, telling them their current opinion about school, how did their
post-school lives pass by, answering questions and talking permanently to students
In case of health problems such as anatomic and physiologic problems or problems determined
by certain disabilities of the psycho-intellectual development, extracurricular activities to meet the
students interests, needs, passions, characteristics shall be implemented, without emphasis on the
informative side of the educational process, but on the formative aspect. The students must be deeply
involved in organizing and conducting the educational act, revealing their hidden talents and fructifying
their skills, realizing that storing the subjects taught in school is not the ultimate goal of the school.
Here, we can include sports competitions, competitions of artistic creation; computer games
competitions, environmental actions, contests like "Students have talent", and may other competitions
in which students feel appreciated for other qualities that are not so obvious in the classroom. And a
student who feels appreciated shows little chance of school dropout
Researches also show that when students make connections between their own identity and the
school, lifelong learning and the development of important skills are fostered.(McCombs, 1991:
McCombs & Marzano, 1990).
The student must always be motivated not to give up institutionalized mass education, motivation
being characterized by the need for self-esteem and personal fulfillment. These include methods that
appeal to curiosity, creativity and higher thinking of students, which are stimulated by relevant,
authentic and original learning objectives of optimal difficulty for each student. "Curiosity is a skill
which enables the student to make assumptions, to investigate various alternatives, to weigh the
outcome and to consider various options in a given situation" (Schurr, 1994, p.64).
Such methods may include videos, songs and PowerPoint presentations, an international project
be like an eTwinning project or a national or school project on this topic, an information seminar in
which a teacher or educational advisor of the school will present to the participants the findings
"Prevention in the school deviance" study. Problem students with their parents will participate in formal
and informal discussions, will complete questionnaires to determine the causes of school deviance
which are very useful to establish preventive and intervention strategies.
Referring now to the social causes of school dropout, such as family and indigent parents,
family, family cultural dimension or lack of support from parents, a program of individual and group
counseling for students and parents by the school psychologist or a counseling program for parents

only will be introduced. There will be monthly meetings with parents of children at risk of school
dropout in order to support their families by developing parental responsibilities, by providing models
of educational practices aimed at improving the socio-emotional and educational family by providing
information and action models in solving various problems involved in raising their children.
Pedagogical causes , represented by teachers methodological errors, insufficient knowledge of
students by teachers; lack of teachers permanent worry from "weak students" can be removed by
holding courses for teachers by the education counselor, courses focused on student-centered active and
interactive teaching methods, on topics related to classroom management, conflict mediation
techniques, ways of collaboration with parents, etc.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
1 Iuc, Dorina, Lupu, Mihaela, Psihopedagogie pentru examenele de definitivat i gradul
II, Iasi, 2010, pag. 15
2 - Neamu, Cristina, Deviana colar, Editura Polirom, Iai, 2003, pag. 193
3 - Prevenirea i combaterea abandonului colar http://www.cie.roedu.ro/index_htm_files/2h.%20Prevenirea%20si%20combatarea
%20abandonului%20scolar%20lb%20romana.pdf