Abstract
Young people in State residential care nationally and internationally have poorer educational outcomes including higher rates of disengagement in education than their peers who are not in care. Within Aotearoa New Zealand there has been little research that explores the educational experiences of young people living in State residential care, focusing on the home-school partnership. This study explores how the home-school partnership of disabled young people who live in State residential care and who attend a mainstream secondary school within urban Aotearoa New Zealand contributes to their educational experience. Through the theoretical lenses of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory and Childhood Studies, and utilising participatory interview methods, six young people, five male and one female, aged 14 – 18 years talked about their educational experiences and their experiences of the home-school partnership. All participants were New Zealand European. Narrative analysis was used to explore the research question, “What can educators learn from disabled young people living in residential care about their life in school?”
The research found that when provided with the choice of communicative supports in a relational setting, disabled young people living in residential State care were articulate and agentic about their residential and school worlds. Yet these important personal attributes of agency and voice were not sufficient to ensure positive school experiences. Instead, they experienced school peripherally, with less involvement in extra-curricular activities, more involvement in adapted learning programmes and lower than expected academic outcomes for their year level. Most expressed thoughts of their own families and homes and yet relationships with family were generally absent from home-school partnerships. The research identified important factors that contributed to a strong partnership, highlighting that strengthened relationships at the mesosystems level between the young person, their school, their residence, their social worker, and their family are essential for improving the home-school partnership.