Child welfare clients and school satisfaction

Abstract

Despite long-standing knowledge about child welfare clients’ poor educational outcomes, we know less about these vulnerable young people’s situation in school. This article addresses school satisfaction among upper secondary students who have been in contact with the child welfare services. These child welfare clients’ school satisfaction is compared with their peers’ satisfaction. The results from a survey indicated that the majority of child welfare clients were satisfied with school but that they were less satisfied with school than were their peers. The results showed that the association between school satisfaction and positive school experiences explains a large part of this difference. Among students who reported they were doing well in school, had supportive teachers and friends at school, the difference in school satisfaction between child welfare clients and others was small. Among students who did not report similar positive experiences in school, difference in school satisfaction between child welfare clients and their peers was more substantial. These results show that school can be a good place for child welfare clients, but that facilitating support from teachers, increasing opportunities for making friends at school, and working to develop the child welfare clients’ academic performances are important as efforts to improve school satisfaction

Studier har i lang tid vist at mange barnevernsbarn presterer dårlig på skolen og ofte ender opp med lavt utdanningsnivå. Likevel finnes det lite kunnskap om barnevernsbarnas skolesituasjon. Basert på en spørreskjemaundersøkelse blant elever i videregående opplæring undersøker jeg i denne artikkelen skoletrivsel blant barnevernsbarna. Deres skoletrivsel sammenliknes med elever uten barnevernserfaring. Resultatene viser at flertallet av barnevernsbarna trivdes på skolen, men at deres skoletrivsel var noe lavere enn deres klassekamerater. Videre viser resultatene at forskjell i skoletrivsel mellom barnevernsbarna og andre elever i stor grad kan forklares med ulike erfaringer på skolen. Blant elever som oppga positive erfaringer på skolen var det lite forskjell i skoletrivsel mellom elever med og uten barnevernserfaring. Blant elever som oppga færre positive erfaringer på skolen, var skoletrivselen mindre og barnevernsbarna oppga oftere enn andre lav skoletrivsel. Resultatene viser at skolen kan være et godt sted for barnevernsbarn, men at for disse elevene er det nødvendig med en skolesituasjon hvor de opplever støtte fra lærere, har venner og opplever at de gjør det faglig godt på skolen