Visiones de jóvenes sobre su participación en medidas educativas en el Norte de Portugal: entre desafíos y oportunidades

This article explores the participation of young citizens in educational contexts when almost twenty years have passed since the European Union recognized them as a social group different from children. Young people are now considered to have specificities and rights as European citizens, with a crucial role in the building of Europe. This article argues in favor of the exertion of educational citizenship by young people. Within this framework, young men and women were enquired on the reasons for their participation in an educational intervention measure, in a school, and a compensation measure in a training center, with a view to addressing early school leaving. Biographical inter-views were conducted in two distinct longitudinal phases. The measures were de-signed along the educational lines defined by Europe. The research was carried out within the framework of the international RESL.eu project, in four very different institutions. The school which took part in the research included teaching from kindergarten through to Grade 12, in an area of priority educational intervention covered by the national TEIP program. The training center had to do with the field of wood and furniture. Both institutions are located in the North of Portugal, in an urban and an industrial area, respectively.