Looked-after Children: what supports them to learn?

Abstract

This paper outlines a study which explored six young Looked-after Children’s perceptions of what supports them to learn. The participants were aged between eight and nine years old and lived in the UK. The study adopted semi-structured interviews and notepad diaries as research methods and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as the research methodology. Three super-ordinate themes were developed, which focussed on the importance which participants placed on school as the major support for learning as summarised in the themes: a place where I am accepted; a place where I can make choices; and a place which personalises learning. A model seeking to outline the findings was generated and the implications which the research raises are discussed. Additionally, considerations for future research are outlined.

Keywords:

• Looked-after Children
• children in care
• support
• learning
• interpretative phenomenological analysis

Acknowledgments

The author would like to acknowledge the advice and support provided to him in carrying out this research by Dr. John Franey.