The experiences of adoptive parents with their children’s education: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

Research suggests that adopted children often experience challenges in school, \nincluding cognitive, social, emotional and behavioural difficulties, usually due to \nadverse pre-adoption experiences. Other research suggests that schools sometimes \nhold misconceptions about the needs of adopted pupils. Parents play a mediating \nrole in their children’s education through their interactions with schools, so this study \nsought to investigate the lived experiences of adopted parents concerning their \nchildren’s education. \n \nThe study used an interpretative phenomenological analysis framework. Semi \nstructured interviews were conducted with six adoptive mothers. All had at least one \nadopted child of primary school age, who had attended a school in the UK for at least \none term following their adoption. \n \nThe transcripts were notated, analysed and interpreted using the steps suggested by \nSmith, Flowers and Larkin (2009). Five participants reported overwhelmingly \nnegative experiences with schools, while one participant reported a more positive \nexperience. Six superordinate themes were identified: ‘Every school is different’; \n‘Transitions’; ‘Parents taking action’; ‘Learning’; ‘The power of people’; and \n‘IMPACT!’. Each of these contained several subordinate themes. \n \nSeveral conclusions were drawn from the data. First, the variety of experiences \nreported suggests that schools across England and Wales vary in their recognition \nand support of adopted children. Second, most participants in this study felt ignored \nby schools and needed to fight to have their children’s needs met. Third, it became \nclear how strongly individuals within schools can alter the educational experiences \nof adoptive families, both positively and negatively. Finally, a clear message from all \nparticipants was the impact that their children’s school experiences had on life at \nhome, and vice versa. The main implication was that schools need greater support to \nrecognise, understand and meet the needs of adopted children. Educational \npsychologists are in a strong position to facilitate this.