Exploring Special Guardianship. Experiences of School Belonging from the Perspective of the Young People, Guardians and Designated Teachers: A Bioecological Perspective

Abstract

Located within social and education policy, the central aim of this research is to explore the concept of school belonging of young people who live under the legal status of a special guardianship order (SGO) in the United Kingdom. Literature highlights that a high proportion of young people with a SGO have experienced early neglect and developmental trauma. There is a dearth of research gathering the views of these young people about their school experiences. The Children and Social Work Act (2017) has placed more emphasis on the role of the designated teacher in schools towards this group of young people. This study comprised seven cases and a cross-case analysis. Each case included a young person, their guardian/s and their school’s designated teacher, resulting in twenty-one semi-structured interviews. Adult interviews followed a hierarchical structured interview approach and the young person interviews involved personal construct psychology techniques. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data within each case. In-depth analysis of young peoples’, guardians’ and designated teachers’ experiences of school belonging was undertaken using Bronfenbrenner’s Process-Person-Context-Time framework (PPCT; 1999) as a conceptual aid throughout analysis. This offered the potential for insight into the complexity of the theory of school belonging. The cross-case analysis examined all of the themes generated from the individual cases to identify similarities and variances between them. The overarching themes identified included: Identity, diagnosis, individuality and association, fitting in, connection to others, protection and autonomy, support and intervention, systems as obstacles to support, school processes, school features, and organisational change. The findings emphasise the importance of establishing a broad focus when considering the concept of school belonging, to include the individual’s peer and staff relationships, along with school processes and the interactions between the school, home and the wider community. This study provides original, enlightened and new understanding with implications for education and social care policy and school practice.