Children who grew up in care institutions tend to have many difficulties in the years after leaving care, including challenges related to their low education achievements when they were still in care. Pathways to higher education are therefore challenging to the point of being impossible. Therefore, it is important to discover the factors that predict the integration of care leavers in higher education. The aim of this study is exploring events that could be identified as "turning points" in the biographical stories of the care leavers, who were successful in their integration into higher education. We attempt to understand the various components of these events making them positive turning points. Method: We used a biographical approach in collecting and analyzing qualitative interview data. As part of a German-Israeli research project, we conducted 28 biographical interviews with care leavers who had successfully enrolled in higher education. We chose two interviews for the current presentation, one from Germany and one from Israel, where a life event led eventually to integration in higher education. In analyzing the substance of the turning points in the stories of two care leavers, we identified four critical components contributing to the process of integration in higher education: 1. A significant life event that occurred, which created an opportunity for a change in the life course. 2. This opportunity is connected to a biographical learning process of the person 3.This opportunity is accompanied and prepared for with the help of significant others. 4. Ongoing personal support following the event and the biographical learning process in order to create a lasting change. Therefore, instead of the idea of a "turning point" as a single event, we claim that it is necessary to look for a "turning point process" in the life story of care leavers who had successfully enrolled in higher education. The implications for practice highlight the importance of creating opportunities for positive changes for young people in care, but also the need for ongoing support to preserve the effects of these changes.

1. DISCUSSION
In the presented case studies, within the life stories there were crucial moments. These moments represent a significant change in the
expected life course-positive turning points (Gilligan, 2009).
The events did not take place in an isolated moment -but instead had clear antecedents and also clear follow-ups:
1. A significant event is happening and creates an opportunity for change in the life course.
2. This opportunity is connected to a biographical learning process of the person himself.
3. This opportunity is accompanied and prepared for with the help of significant others.
4. Ongoing personal support after the opportunity and biographical learning process is important to convert a turning point into a lasting
change.
Therefore, we prefer to speak of Turning Point Processes (Berglund, 2007).
Introduction
Care leavers and higher education
A particular challenge for care leavers is acquiring higher education. Compared to their peers, young people who grew up in out-of-home care
have lower high-school achievements. However, against all odds, a small number of care leavers succeed in entering higher education
institutions. Existing research on high achieving care leavers shows that their preliminary conditions (e.g. family background, traumatic
experiences) do not differ from those of other children and youth in care. Therefore, efforts are made to identify factors that can explain the
educational outcome of youths in out-of-home care.
Turning point
We hypothesized that turning points in the biographical stories of care leavers can explain the educational outcome in the lives of those who
have become engaged in higher education. Turning points are seen as a positive departure from the expected life course. It is a radical change
of a person´s life plan and life perspectives (Gilligan, 2009).
Method
Biographical research
Biographical interviews with care leavers in higher education
Sample
28 biographical interviews were conducted with young care
leavers in higher education (17 from Germany and 11 from
Israel).
Data analysis
1.Sequential analyses (analyzing line by line and word by
word)
2.Grounded theory methodology
Research Goals
1.Check the concept of turning
point (processes) to better
understand the path of care
leavers into higher education.
2.Explore the underlying
characteristics or components
that are able to generate turning
point processes.
Literature:
Education and Care:
Jackson & Cameron, 2010; Martin & Jackson 2002; Schiff & Benbenishty, 2006
Turning Point:
Berglund, 2007; Elder, 1999; Gilligan, 2009; Laub & Sampson, 2003
Research methods:
Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Schütze, 1983
Implications for practice
 The importance of creating opportunities for positive changes for young
people in care.
 The need for ongoing support to preserve the effects of these positive
changes.
Case Studies
Paul:
Identified Turning Point: Moving into youth shelter
Dimensions of the turning point:
1. The move into the group home appears to be a significant event in his life.
2. To get to this point he needed help from others (“well I always was surrounded by people who supported me ”)
3. This significant event in his life was also related to internal transitions, from a passive to an active person.
4. The support offered by the group home staff and
his elementary school teacher helped him deal
with the new challenges.
Michael:
Identified Turning Point: „Leaving“ Residential Care–
Participating in a Regular Swimming Course
Dimensions of the Turning Point:
1. Participating in a swimming course outside the
residential care facility was a significant event in that it exposed him to 'regular' children.
2. His reaction revealed his own agency (“I grabbed a few people, caretakers in the facility … so I learned to read and write at the age of
twelve”)
3. His change (from illiterate child to a literate one) was supported and accompanied by others before and after the encounters with children
out of care
Benjamin Strahl, Institute for Social Pedagogy and Organization Studies, University of Hildesheim
Tehila Refaeli, School of Social Work, Bar-Ilan University