Disruption and adaptation: The school mobility experience of young people in residential care

Changing schools can negatively impact educational success. Young people in residential care appear particularly subject to such changes and thereby more likely to experience the associated challenges. This article aims to better understand the experience of changing schools among youth in group or residential care placements. We carried out a qualitative interpretive study based on biographical interviews of 35 young people aged 14 to 18. Results show that school mobility remains in Quebec, Canada, a common practice that disrupts the education of young people. Our analysis of their experiences also illustrates how these disruptions can negatively affect their educational experience. It identifies factors that could facilitate school career continuity and improve adaptation. These include involving young people in decision-making, promoting collaboration between schools and social services and between individual schools, improving understanding of the realities of these young people among teachers, particularly in the regular school system, and providing procedural and relationship support to maintain and develop friendships when changing schools.