'Voiced' research as a sociology for understanding 'dropping out' of school

How we obtain more complex understandings of the phenomenon of 'dropping ou t' of school is one of the most urgent policy and practice issues facing ed ucational practitioners, policy-makers and sociological researchers at the moment, as increasingly numbers of young people fail to complete their seco ndary schooling. In this paper, we argue that a different 'sociological ima gination' is required-one that is simultaneously more attentive to the life worlds of young people, that is more reflexive of its own agenda, and that is mindful of the wider politics within which 'dropping out' is being exper ienced. A heuristic around 'voiced research' is discussed in the context of an Australian study that explored the circumstances of 209 young people wh o left school prematurely. It is argued that such an approach enabled the p henomenon to be 'named' in a different way, which was more inclusive of the lives, experiences, aspirations and complexities of what was occurring at the point these young people decided to exit school.