Theorising educational engagement, transitions and outcomes for care‐experienced people: Introduction to the special issue

Abstract

Theorising educational engagement, transitions and outcomes for care-experienced people: Introduction to the special issue BACKGROUND Most countries have a system in place to care for young people whose birth families are not in a position to look after them safely, usually owing to neglect or maltreatment. While the terminology differs (e.g. 'children in care' in the UK, 'foster youth' in North America or 'out of home care' in Australia) along with the configuration, funding levels and services provided, the purposes of providing a safe and stable home are broadly comparable. Care can take different forms, including foster care, residential facilities or living with extended family. Young people may spend short periods or many years in care, leaving through adoption, returning to live with the birth family or when they reach adulthood.Care-experienced people are among the most educationally marginalised of any identifiable social group, both in childhood and in adulthood (Cameron et al., 2018). Typically, they have markedly lower educational outcomes than their peers, as well as a higher propensity to leave education early (for example, for England, see Berridge et al., 2020;Harrison et al., 2023;Sebba et al., 2015). They are also more likely to be formally excluded (Department for Education, 2019;Kothari et al., 2018), forced to change schools (Sebba et al., 2015) or routed into educational pathways that have been traditionally viewed as being 'lower status' (Harrison, 2020;Harrison et al., 2023).The reasons for this marginalisation are complex and multidimensional. Pre-care experiences are often traumatic and can lead to later mental health issues and challenges with engaging in formal schooling (King, 2016); this trauma can be compounded by removal from the family or later experiences of care. Many children in care undergo significant social upheaval, losing links to family, friends and community (Ward, 2011), as well as the educational disruption of frequent school moves (Jackson & Ajayi, 2007). Low expectations from adults (Jackson & Cameron, 2012;Köngeter et al., 2016), financial issues (Jackson et al., 2005) and societal stigma (Stein, 2012) can also contribute to the trauma experienced by those with a care background.Nevertheless, many care-experienced learners do thrive in education. Stability (Sebba et al., 2015), access to educational opportunities and the support of trusted adults appear vital (Flynn et al., 2013;Gazeley & Hinton-Smith, 2018), but may be in short supply owing to the structures of the state and constraints on resources. For some care-experienced learners, their educational success may be delayed as a result of the disruptions to their schooling in childhood. This emphasises the importance of post-compulsory and adult education programmes as a form of 'second chance' pathway for educational success (Brady & Gilligan, 2020;Gilligan & Brady, 2023;Montserrat et al., 2013), with many care-experienced students participating in higher education later in life (Harrison, 2020).