What do foster parents think about their foster children’s education?

ABSTRACT Background It is widely understood that children who enter foster care are likely to have had previous traumatic experiences which can affect many aspects of their lives, including their ability to thrive at school. In order to better support the educational needs of children who are fostered, deeper insight needs to be gained into the relationships between children in foster care, foster parents, and schools. As a contribution to this under-researched area, this study focuses attention on the viewpoints of foster parents in relation to their foster children’s school experiences, in a Polish context. Purpose This research sought to explore the perceptions of foster parents on the education of their foster children and investigate how they understood these experiences. Methods A qualitative, interpretive phenomenological study was undertaken to analyse foster parents’ lived experiences of their foster children’s education. A purposive sample of 62 foster parents participated across seven focus groups. An in-depth, interpretive analysis was conducted. Findings Overall, analysis of the rich data set identified four main themes, which crossed all focus groups: Experiences of discrimination; Advocating for the child, Feelings of futility, and Connecting positively. Conclusions The study highlights more widely how foster parents can feel routinely excluded from their foster children’s education and suggests that feelings of discrimination may be common experiences. It also draws attention to the opportunities for meaningful connectivity between school professionals, foster parents and children. Implications for practice, which may be of use in other settings internationally, are offered.