Meaning
Making sense
The Making Enabling Spaces Framework is built around the principles of Connection, Control and Meaning. One of the most significant features of the Making Enabling Spaces Framework is the overlaps between the key concepts of Connection, Capacity and Meaning.
Meaning is about making sense; the willingness to explore and accept uncertainty based on an expectation that past learning, current awareness and sense of identity inform current activity and future possibilities, so as to have a sense of purpose. The element of Meaning relates to young people developing a stronger sense of purpose about their learning in relation to their own lives. Programs can help young people develop an understanding of their own strengths and potential.
Meaning can derive from participating in positive and respectful relationships (through Connection), and is connected to recognition of the value of young people's contributions by peers and supervisors. Programs can provide young people with opportunities to contribute and participate in their own communities, working to shift a young person's self-perception so that they see themselves as someone who is valued with something to contribute.
The links below include useful published resources and (via the "composite of" links) provide pathways to related program objectives of three sample organisations. Each of these organisations has a different relationship to the concept of Meaning and the links are intended to give visibility to the different approaches to measurement that exist within the shared framework. As each organisation and their approach to programs are different, their use of the concepts of Connection, Capacity and Meaning is also different.
See also:
Composite of
Published resources
Journal Articles
- McGregor, Glenda & Mills, Martin, 'Alternative education sites and marginalised young people: 'I wish there were more schools like this one'', International Journal of Inclusive Education, vol. 16, no. 7-8, 2012, pp. 843 - 862. Details
- McGregor, Glenda, Mills, Martin, te Riele, Kitty & Hayes, Debra, 'Excluded from school: Getting a second chance at a 'meaningful' education', International Journal of Inclusive Education, vol. 9, no. 6, 2015, pp. 608-625. Details
- Mills, Martin, Renshaw, Peter & Zipin, Lew, 'Alternative education provision: A dumping ground for 'wasted lives' or a challenge to the mainstream?', Social Alternatives, vol. 32, no. 2, 2013, pp. 13-18. Details
- O'Donovan, Richard, Berman, Naomi & Wierenga, Ani, 'How schools can move beyond exclusion', International Journal of Inclusive Education, vol. 19, no. 6, 2015, pp. 645 - 658. Details
- Ross, Sharon & Gray, Jan, 'Transitions and Re-engagement through Second Chance Education', Australian Educational Researcher, vol. 32, no. 3, 2005, pp. 103 - 140. Details
- Te Riele, Kitty, 'Raising Educational Attainment: How Young People's Experiences Speak Back to the Compact with Young Australians', Critical Studies in Education, vol. 52, no. 1, pp. 93-107. Details
- Te Riele, Kitty, 'Educational Alternatives for Marginalised Youth', Australian Educational Researcher, vol. 34, no. 3, 2007, pp. 53-68. Details
- Uptin, Jonnell, Wright, Jan & Harwood, Valerie, ''It felt like I was a black dot on white paper': examining young former refugees' experience of entering Australian high schools', Australian Educational Researcher, vol. 40, no. 1, 2013, pp. 125-137. Details
Reports
- Homel, Jacqueline, Mavisakalyan, Astghik, Nguyen, Ha Trong & Ryan, Chris, School completion: what we learn from different measures of family background, Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth, Research Report 59, Social Policy, Evaluation, Analysis and Research Centre, Australian National University, Canberra, 5 July 2012. Also available at http://www.lsay.edu.au/publications/2503.html. Details
- Noble-Carr, Debbie, Barker, Justin & McArthur, Morag, Me, Myself and I: Identity and meaning in the lives of vulnerable young people, Institute of Child Protection Studies, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, April 2013. Also available at https://www.acu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/503375/Identity_and_Meaning_OnlineReport.pdf. Details
- Te Riele, Kitty, Putting the Jigsaw Together: Flexible Learning Programs in Australia. Final Report., The Victoria Institute for Education, Diversity and Lifelong Learning, Melbourne, 2014. Also available at http://dusseldorp.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Victoria-Institue-1-7-MB2.pdf. Details
Online Resources
- Cole, Peter, 'Learning in Alternative Settings: What makes a sustainable program?', 2004, http://dusseldorp.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/lc/docs/Learning_Settings.pdf. Details
- Grandin, Bob, 'Is Disenfranchised a more appropriate term than Disengaged?', newTransitions, May 2008, http://www.yanq.org.au/newtransitions-journal. Details
- Harber, Pauline, 'Light the fire, spark it up, get naked', newTransitions, May 2008, http://www.yanq.org.au/newtransitions-journal. Details
- McGregor, Glenda & Mills, Martin, Sketching alternative visions of schooling, Social Alternatives, vol. 30, 2011, 20-24 pp. Details
- Reid, Amy & McCallum, Faye, 'Becoming your best': student perspectives on community in the pursuit of aspirations, The Australian Educational Researcher, vol. 41, April 2014, 195-207 pp. Details