‘It’s all he’s going to say’: using poetic transcription to explore students’ mainstream and residential school experiences

Abstract

The article explores the experiences of Zac, Bob-Charley, Kip, and Carter (not their real names), four of 15 boys aged between nine and 13 years who, along with their caregivers, families and school principals, were interviewed as part of a project about the students’ transition from a dis-established residential school to mainstream schools. Throughout the course of the project we became increasingly aware of the lack of existing school-focused research that included the voices of students with severe and complex behavioural needs. In this article, therefore, we employ an approach of poetic transcription to illuminate their voices, highlight their experiences, and provide insight into their affective lives.

Keywords:

• student voice
• severe and complex behavioural needs
• mainstream
• residential poetic transcription

Acknowledgements

The research team would like to acknowledge the students, families and principals who all took time to participate and share their experiences.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research project was generously funded by a University of Otago Research Grant.