Tasmania's hidden dragons: Tackling education participation equity beyond year 10

‘Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon’ (Wuo hu zhan long) is a Chinese idiom in which the words ‘Tiger’ and ‘Dragon’ directly refer to people with special hidden talents. This idiom reminds us never to underestimate anybody’s abilities. The research to be discussed relates this message to post-Year 10 education and training aspirations of a sample of 22 Tasmanian Year 10 students. The PhD research was conducted between 2012 and 2014. Twelve of the students who participated in the research attended schools in communities classified as being of low socio-economic status, and were considered by their teachers as ambivalent toward future education participation, including enrolling and completing Years 11 and 12.5 The research is significant at a time when educators and policy makers throughout Australia are concerned with educational disadvantage and are collaborating with researchers to find ways to increase the participation rate of young people in education up to Year 12. Socio-economic disadvantage, cultural attitudes, and the stress of living in impoverished communities places many Tasmanian young people at higher risk of discontinuing education participation after they complete Year 10.