Educational success in school impacts the capacities of young people to come to terms with various challenges in their out-of-home care story. Findings of the project "Higher education without Family Support" suggest, that educational success of children and youth in care has to be seen in association with the experience of self-efficacy and their capacity to act in situations of indeterminacy. The analyses of biographical interviews with care leavers in higher education highlight that educational success is dependent on experiences of agency and participation in decision making processes. In this sense, the educational career has to be seen as a stage of life, where children and youths in care can experience self-efficacy. Background: Compared to their peers, young people in out of home care achieve lower levels of educational attainment. However, against all odds, some of them succeed in their educational career and enter into higher education. According to the concept of education (Bildung) that is prevalent in German Social Pedagogy, education is considered to be a subject-driven process of learning. Methods: A subject orientated approach is crucial to understand the individual accesses to formal education. Therefore, the presented study uses qualitative methods of biographical analyses to reconstruct successful educational careers of care leavers in a life course perspective. 17 autobiographic-narrative interviews with care leavers in higher education have been conducted to analyze the educational processes and processes of learning. Sequential analyses of the interviews are used to explore the interplay of daily life and educational performance. Implications for practice: Young people in care suffer a lot of other-directed interventions. In contrast, education in school can be an area of life, where self-efficacy can be experienced. In order to enable successful educational careers, good learning conditions should be arranged, but young people must not be overwhelmed and pressured with school matters.

1. FACILITATING
EDUCATIONAL SUCCESS IN
OUT-OF-HOME CARE
Benjamin Strahl
University of Hildesheim
5th September 2014
EUSARF 2014, Copenhagen

2. OUTLINE
Background
Methodological design (research question &
methods)
Discourse on Education in Care
Findings
Discussion & Practice Implications

3. BACKGROUND
Higher Education without Family Support
 International reserach project (Germany and
Israel) on leaving care and careleavers`
transition into higher education institutions
 28 biographical interviews with care leavers in
higher education

4. RESEARCHQUESTION
How can educational success be
facilitated?
Analysing biographical interviews
for
 Self-efficacy and control of life
 Configuration of educational career (esp.
school as hardship or/and chance)

5. RESEARCH
Biographical Interviews
 Open-ended interviews with narrative stimulus
 Life stories of care leavers in HEI
Biographical Analysis
 Grounded theory methodology
 Sequential analysis

6. STARTING POINT
Education in Care
Two scientific perspectives on education in care
1. School as additional hardship:
need of psychosocial stabilisation/ overcoming trauma/crisis
before messing with educational/school matters (Zeller
2012, Walther 2014)
2. School as a chance:
Education as opportunity to overcome crisis, traumatic
experiences… (school as resilience: Stein 2005,
Höjer/Johansson 2013)

7. FINDINGS
First Findings (Grounded Theory Methodology):
 3 different types of educational careers
1. Positive educational career started before in Care
2. Positive educational career started in Care
3. Positive educational career started after Care
 Common ground:
helplessness/lack of control at a some time
(esp. against circumstances in birth family)
 Helplessness as opposite of self-efficacy
and control of life

8. FINDINGS
 Sequential analysis
3 Case studies:
Paul – Positive educational career before, in and after care
Pamela – Educational career with disruptions and positive
turn in care
Sebastian – Explicit educational career started after care

9. POSITIVE EDUCATIONAL COURSE STARTED
BEFORE CARE - PAUL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 …
Frequent moves
Parent´s
divorce
(overwhel
med single
mother )
Constant
contact to
1st and
2nd grade
teacher
8 th grade:
last
change of
schools
Frequent school
changes;
But choosing
secondary
school with the
support of the
teacher
Life course
(Crisis, events,
breakings)
Educational
course
Move
into
youth-
shelter
(getting
active)
Move into
own flat
Graduation
from school
1. Connection between life domains (parallel events)
2. Having support in school and educational matters
3. Expressing needs by educational needs
Self-efficacy in and through school/education
Beeing
bullied
Support
by
carers

10. POSITIVE EDUCATIONAL COURSE STARTED
WHILE IN CARE - PAMELA
… 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 …
2nd move
(short-term -
residential
care) 3rd
move (short
term foster
care)
drug use,
promiscuity
and
delinquency
Getting told to
be the stepchild
More and more
trouble at home
Good
grades,
fun in
school
Bad grades,
skipping
school
Beeing
bullied
Life course
Educational
course Graduation
from college
1st Move into
youth-shelter
High school
diploma and
decision to go on
with education
Getting back
to
educational
matters
University
Good
relation
to her
mother
Moving
into an
own flat
 accidental Child….
1. Connection between life domains (Loosing stability at home effects
stability in school; stability and effectiveness in life effect school)
2. Education as possibility to change life perspectives (to effect)
 Self-efficacy in life means the opportunity to feel effectiveness in
educational matters as well
Being
asked to
stay in
foster
care
family

11. POSITIVE EDUCATIONAL COURSE STARTED
AFTER CARE - SEBASTIAN
… 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
Moving
between
father and
mother
Parent´s
divorce
Middle
school
Orientation
stage
Life course
Educational
course
Vocational
training
Involuntary
move into
youth-shelter
Personal
decision:
Moving out
of youth
shelter into
an own flat
Psychological
problems in
school (“panic
attacks”)
Permitted
dropping out
of school
(lowest
graduation)
University
“Rising
like a
rocket”
Positive
feedback in
vocational
training
Decision to
stay in out-
of-home care
without any
alternatives
Night
school
1. Connection between life domains
2. Control of own life enables control of educational life
Self-efficacy as door opener for education

12. DISCUSSION
Self-efficacy/ Control of own life effects educational
career and the other way round:
 Paul: Educational matters are used to get control of
own life
 Pamela: Self-efficacy in general effects self-efficacy in
school
 Sebastian: Control of own life enables control of
educational matters
 Interplay between control of own life and educational
career
 Facilitating educational success for young people in
care has to be seen connected with self-efficacy and
taking control of their own life!

13. DISCUSSION
School/education: chance or hardship
 Both
 Education as a chance (and factor of resilience) for Paul
 Education as a hardship (at least at some point) for
Sebastian
 Education as chance and hardship (esp. Pamela but
also Paul & Sebastian)
 Interplay between chance and hardship
Practice Implications: Supporting children in care to
assume responsibility of their own life enables them to
accept responsibility of their educational career

14. THANK YOU!!!
Literature:
Höjer, I. ; Johansson, H. (2013). School as an opportunity and
resilience factor for young people placed in care. European
Journal of Social Work. 16 (1) pages 22-36
Stein, M. (2005): Resilience and young people leaving Care –
Overcoming the odds. Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Walther, A. (2014): Bildung und Partizipation – Ein Beitrag zum
Bildungsdiskurs in der Jugendhilfe. Zeitschrift für
Sozialpädagogik, Heft 2, S. 116-134 – Education and
Participation – a contribution to the educational discourse
in child- and youthcare
Zeller, M. (2012): Bildungsprozesse von Mädchen in den
Erziehungshilfen. Juventa – Educational processes of girls
in child- and youthcare.

15. LIMITATIONS
 Interviews with care leavers in higher education
 Control of own life without educational success?
 Educational Success vs. Wellbeing
 Long-term findings?