Dr Marta Garcia Molsosa’s Webinar: A Review of the Extant Literature on Factors, Interventions, and Educational Outcomes of Children in Care 

Dr Marta Garcia Molsosa has been visiting the Centre from the University of Girona, Spain, since the beginning of the year. She has been conducting important research on the educational outcomes of children in care. During her time here, she has been reviewing the existing literature on the factors, interventions, and educational outcomes affecting this group. 

On Tuesday 18 March, Marta presented her preliminary results in a session titled: “A Review of the Extant Literature on Factors, Interventions, and Educational Outcomes of Children in Care.”

The session included discussion about Marta’s review of reviews as a research approach. There was interest in how 18 included review articles led to around 300 interventions, with 122 having an education focus. Marta identified gaps in literature in terms of the origin country, certain populations such as unaccompanied asylum seeking children, and those with special educational needs or disabilities. There were also gaps in the educational outcomes being explored by the literature, with a lack of focus on school engagement, and pupil satisfaction. Marta also identified there were few interventions targeted at extra-curricular activity, access to cultural experiences, and homeschooling. 

Marta will continue her research when she returns to the University of Girona where she expects to complete her research in June 2025. Following that, Marta intends to develop participatory research involving children and young people in care as co-researchers. The focus of this next phase will be to explore ways to make school a protective factor for these children. 

Written by Research Officer, Helen Trivedi.