A Poetic Narrative Story of Serenity: "the Girl Who Grew"

Background:

Educational stability is considered a key goal of education legislation for students in foster care. The current knowledge base provides guidelines for continued research to explore factors that hinder and facilitate educational stability for this youth population. A particular guideline adhered to in this study is highlighting the voices of students in foster care to enhance and strengthen knowledge about educational stability and how it is experienced by youth.

Accordingly, this study aimed to highlight the educational stability experiences of a student in foster care. This study and presentation utilize poetic narrative analysis to share the story of Serenity: "The Girl Who Grew." Additionally, Serenity’s advice for research and practice is outlined.

Methods: Data were collected as part of a larger three-phase qualitative study exploring educational stability through a multi-stakeholder perspective of students in foster care, foster parents, and liaisons. Student participants engaged in semi-structured interviews to discuss their experiences of educational stability, including factors that contributed to their feelings of stability and ways to improve educational stability for other students in foster care. This study explores Serenity's (participant’s chosen pseudonym) lived experience. Serenity engaged in one initial interview that lasted about 2 hours and a member-checking conversation for approximately 30 minutes. Following the transcription of her interviews, the research team used thematic analysis and poetic inquiry to make sense of patterns and themes within Serenity’s story.

Results:

Serenity attended more than 10 schools during her four years of high school. She reported never starting and finishing the school year at the same school while in high school. Findings from her story and data moved the team to create four found poems along the following themes: 1) Stability Doesn’t Exist, 2) Grief & Loss, 3) Neverland, and 4) The Girl Who Grew. Each poem will be read and shared during the presentation. Together, these poems highlight the nuances of educational stability and the unique impact of instability on Serenity’s life. Additionally, these poems give insight into how other youth in care may navigate their education in light of consistent moves and life changes.

Conclusion:

Serenity’s story provides depth and nuance to the lived experiences of students in foster care, illuminating the importance of stability, support, care, and consideration in their lives. Serenity advises researchers to keep talking to youth in foster care and getting answers for them. She recommends getting answers about “why” caseworkers and social workers choose their profession, and asking “what are they gonna do to change the system for us?" Her story and advice highlight the need for a transformative systemic change. A need to create a world and a system where students like Serenity don’t have to question why people choose their profession because they see it reflected in how they treat children and students. A system where children aren’t traumatized and bounced around through homes and schools. A system built on compassion, healing, and community support for children and families, where Serenity’s experience stands out as a shocking anomaly rather than a grim reality.