Overcoming Barriers in Education: Research and Social Practice

The paper discusses the socio-cultural, economic, territorial, and other barriers in the educational sphere and the possibilities of overcoming them. The first part presents the results of research carried out on national empirical data from the 1960s to the present. The significant impact of barriers on the formation of educational and professional careers of young people is shown. It is noted that overcoming barriers becomes possible if the family has the resources to get over them; otherwise, children are forced to adjust their intentions by lowering their demands for education. The second part of the article analyzes the experience of several low-resource schools with students from low-status families. That schools undertake targeted efforts to help students overcome barriers. The teachers and management of these schools use special strategies for their work. Pedagogical measures are a significant part of these strategies; however, complex social conditions require a response by means of social measures. The most important is the formation of the motivation of all participants in the educational process. As a result of the school’s efforts, academic performance is improved, students’ intentions for further education are growing, their understanding of educational and professional careers, on the possibilities of social mobility are expanding. Changing orientations associated with building a life path is taking place. Examination of the experience of the social practice of these schools makes it possible to conclude: their activity manifests itself as a powerful resource that schools provides to families when they do not have the opportunity to overcome barriers. This resource can increase not only the potential of the educational organization but also the life chances of students, helping them no less effective than other types of resources are able to do it.