Tactics or strategies? The Governance of Early School Leaving in Naples and Albacete

Early school leaving is considered a notable obstacle for the economic development and the social inclusion all over Europe. In that respect, there is a joint effort of European countries to develop policies of remediation and prevention that may reduce the negative impact of early school leaving for supporting smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Sociological literature on early school leaving is quite extensive. It relates early school leaving to socio-economic status, social class, school effects as well as individual agency (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977; Coleman, 1966; Lamb et alii, 2011; NESSE, 2010). Accordingly, early school leaving is considered as a measurable effect of many social, educational, individual variables. By drawing on mobile sociologies of education (Landri & Neumann, 2014) in this paper I would like to contrast two ways of dealing with early school leaving: a tactical approach aiming at 'harm reduction' and a strategic approach that assumes a holistic view on transforming the school and the ecology of education practice (De Certeau, 1990). I will describe the practice of tackling early schooling as an assemblage of knowledge, people and educational technologies that enacts 'early school leaving', responds, and modifies it in different ways. To describe these practices in detail I will illustrate two ways of tackling early school leaving emerging in a program funded by Comenius Regio Project "A care for every child", in 2012-2014, aimed at reducing early school leaving high risk for children living in some highly deprived socioeconomic territories of Albacete in Spain and Naples in Italy.