Research on school attainment repeatedly shows poor outcomes in school achievements for young people in care and for those who are ageing out of care (Trout et al., 2008). Furthermore, their educational careers are characterized by delays and detours (Courtney et al., 2010). However, a social work perspective in (residential) care typically does not focus on this attainment gap, but on behavioral problems of young people living care. Learning and education of these young people are considered to be the duty of school, whereas professionals in care are emphasizing the treatment of young people in order to facilitate school attendance. (Gharabaghi/Groskleg, 2010). The findings of our study on young people who left care and made their way to higher education ("Higher Education without Care Leavers") suggests a reverse perspective that accounts for the meaning of education in coping with adverse life events and stabilizing life course. Informed by a life course perspective, the analysis of twenty-eight narrative interviews of young adults who aged out of care reveals the variety of the meaning of education in their life stories and the importance of educational careers for other life trajectories (accommodation, family relationships, leisure activities). The paper first maps the different meanings of education in the life stories of young people who left care and then suggests a typology of educational careers in the context of critical life-course transitions. The paper concludes with practice implications and suggestions how to support the protective factor of education in the life of young people in care and who are ageing out of care.

1. The Meaning of
Education in
Care - a Life
Course
Perspective
Benjamin Strahl, Wolfgang Schröer,
Stefan Köngeter & Katharina
Mangold
University of Hildesheim
4th September 2014
EUSARF 2014, Copenhagen

2. Outline
 Introduction
 Research Interest
 Methodological Design
 Findings
 Discussion

3. Introduction/Background
Higher Education without Family Support
 International research project (Germany
and Israel) on leaving care and
careleavers` transition into higher
education institutions

4. Introduction
School/Education in Care:
 Poor outcomes in school achievements
(Trout et al. 2008)
 Delays and detours (Courtney et al. 2010)
 Emphasizing treatment in Care ; Learning
and education as duty of school
(Garabaghi/Groskleg 2010)

5. Research interest
Meaning of Education in Care
 No focus on the attainment gap (f.e. Berridge 2012)
 But focus on meaning of school and
educational matters for children and youths in
care

6. Research Question
Education in
School
AgencyLifecourse
What is the meaning of education in the lives of young
people in care?

7. Methodological design
Biographical Research
to analyse meaning of education in care leavers` lives
Sample
Interviews with 28 care leavers in Hei (17 in Germany, 11 in Israel)
Biographical interviews
 To gain life stories of care leavers in HEI
 Open-ended interviews with narrative stimulus:
“We are interested in young persons who didn´t always live with their
birth families but grew up in residential or foster care and are studying in
higher education now. Please tell us about your life, start where you feel
comfortable with. Just tell how one thing came to the other down to the
present day”

8. Methodological Design
Analysis
 Sequential analyses (in-depth line by line
interview)  understanding of the cases
(biographical patterns, case histories…)
 Coding method  identify educational matters

9. Findings
Normality and exklusivity
 Need of normality and exclusivity
 School as normality and exclusivity
 Education and school as source of appreciation
but also as area of conflict
„ they (the carers) studied to work with young people in care, for this
theoretically they know, I am not able to succeed in everything (.)
emotional, I can´t handle every situation, but somehow they think I am
capable to overcome even emotional troubles”

10. Findings
Efficacy
 Lack of control/ Helplessness
 Education as possibility of retreat and
creation of one´s own
 Self-efficacy in the context of education

11. Findings
Continuity and instability
 Instability and discontinuity
 School and continuity
 Education as orientation and stabilising perspective
in transition out of care
„from the nineth grade on, I knew I want to go to university and maybe
this helped me, despite all of the ups and downs like being in child and
adolescent psychiatry, like to find a motivation to keep on going
straightforward…”

12. Discussion
(Biographical) Meaning of education concerns
life course and agency of young people in and
after care
 Coping between the poles of normality and
exclusivity in out-of-home care history
 Experiencing effectivness in out-of-home care
history
 Offering a future perspective in out-of-home
history

13. Implications for Practice
Education und learning must be seen as
integral component of out- of home care!
Findings of our qualitative and also
quantitative research indicate:
Young people without school problems do
not feel sufficiently supported themselves

14. Literature
 Berridge, D. (2012): Educating young people in care:
What have we learned? In: Children and Youth
Services Review, vol. 34, issue 6, pages 1171-1175
 Courtney, Mark E.et al. (2010). Midwest Evaluation of
the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth:
Outcomes at Age 23 and 24. Chicago, Chapin Hall
at the University of Chicago.
 Gharabaghi, Kiaras/Groskleg, Ron (2010): A Social
Pedagogy Approach to Residential Care. In: Child
Welfare 89, 2, pp. 97-114.
 Trout, Alexandra L.et al. (2008): The Academic Status
of Children and Youth in out-of-Home Care. In:
Children and Youth Services Review 30, pp. 979-994.