17

This paper examines early school dropout prevention as a category of public education policy and a set of professional practices within high schools. First, it will look back at the way that the category has arisen within European education policies and the way it has acquired meaning and content. Next, the subject is looked at in three highly different educational territories (France, Luxembourg, and the Swiss canton of Valais), thus shaping the question of prevention in a national way. However, the national framework cannot fully rule and regulate concrete practices of prevention. Indeed, headteachers reinterpret the notion of prevention to make it effective. This shows that, beyond its original aim (to help pupils), prevention also has an impact on staff management within schools.