Our project set out to explore the childhood, educational experiences, and reflections of ‘grown-up’ children from military families. These ‘grown-up’ children are currently overlooked and ‘missing’ in research, policy and practice, as the focus continues to be on currently serving members of the military, veterans, and their families, including school-aged children.
The ‘very specific and complex barriers’ faced by children from military families as identified by The Office for Students (OfS) indicated that further research at the different stages of the life-course on this very specific group could shed light on their experiences and help inform policy and practice in relation to supporting young people from military families.
The aim of this study was to examine the experiences of this under-researched and under-represented group of individuals. Using multiple methods, an online survey collected data from 114 respondents who self-identified as being from a military family. In addition, in-depth interviews have been conducted to date with 10 participants which looked at their educational experiences, reflections of their childhood, family deployment, mobility, and notions of home and belonging. Although our research is ongoing, we have identified six key findings on their childhood and educational experiences:
- Participants experienced high levels of geographic mobility throughout their early and late childhood.
- Participants identified a number of challenges associated with this ‘super-mobility’ in the form of curriculum gaps; disruption to their primary and secondary education; difficulties creating and maintaining relationships with family and friends; long-periods of separation from family members; fitting in and feeling a sense of belonging to the different communities in their lives, including their extended families.
- A number of participants also spoke about the opportunities that came with this ‘super-mobility’ in the form of international travel; living in other countries and experiencing different cultures throughout their childhood and early adulthood. Moreover, participants felt that this ‘super-mobility’ and experiences of living in different countries made them resilient, independent, adaptable and more open to new experiences.
- Participants expressed a reluctance to talk with their parents about their experiences of growing up in a military family.
- Participants expressed mixed reactions in terms of identifying and feeling a sense of pride in coming from a military family.
In identifying the opportunities and challenges that came with their lives as children from military families, the participants acknowledge that they ‘just got on with it’. They indicate the complex navigation they are involved in when living with the positive and negative aspects of their experiences.
These individuals all spoke of unique experiences that shaped their educational and personal experiences, sense of home and belonging.
by Ellen McHugh, Anne Chappell and Chris Ince