The importance of families and social relations outside school

This chapter focusses on the importance of young people’ s families and relations outside school. In interviews, a significant number of the young informants from the Danish part of the MaCE project speak of their relationship with parents, siblings, other family members or friends outside school, when they express the crucial role such support or lack thereof have played in relation to their educational experiences. In the final section of the chapter, we argue that when working with children and young people in education, remembering a holistic perspective is of utter importance. Daring to talk with students about their whole personality and extensive experiences, and not just their school identity, seems selfevident, but perhaps too often forgotten.