Adoptees’ experiences of education; a positive psychology perspective.

Adopted young people from care are likely to have experienced profound adversity. Understanding the enduring impact of their early life experiences has been historically overlooked by educational professionals, with adoption perceived to be as a ‘happy ever after’ ending. However, increasingly, research has shown that adopted young people are achieving poorer educational outcomes than their peers. Few studies have elicited the voices of adopted young people about their experiences of education, those that have, are predominantly negative in their discourse. This study seeks to focus on strengths and resilience from a positive psychology perspective so that positive educational outcomes can be facilitated and understood better for adopted young people. The current study sought the views of four adopted young people (aged 17-23 years) about their positive educational experiences through semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis of the data identified the following themes of positive educational experiences: 1. Academic success; 2. Supportive teachers; 3. Other nurturing adults; 4. Awareness and support for adoption related needs; 5. Positive peer interactions and 6. Identity. Participants further identified three factors of resilience (sense of relatedness, sense of mastery and sense of emotional reactivity) to be of importance in their educational experiences as well as identifying further sub-themes that were of increasing importance to this group. Participants also suggested that there are three ways in which educational settings can do better: 1. Upskilling teachers to show that they care and to support them to have greater knowledge in understanding the needs and ways in which to support adopted young people; 2. Adapting the school curriculum to ensure that it is sensitive to the life experiences of adoptees; and 3. promoting support for mental health to enable adopted young to seek out support when needed. Findings highlight the need for whole school relational approaches centred around viewing young people with unconditional positive regard. Implications of the research are further outlined for educational professions, Educational Psychologists, policy makers and researchers.