Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T05:46:58.243Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

School-Based Support for Students with a Parent on Military Deployment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 April 2016

Gail Macdonald*
Affiliation:
Department of Education, James Cook University, Douglas Townsville Queensland, Townsville, Queensland, Australia
*
address for correspondence:College of Arts, Society and Education (CASE), James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4816. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Parental deployment to a war zone brings many changes to family life. Changes in family roles and routines unsettle children and interfere with their educational engagement. Defence School Transition Aides (DSTAs) are employed in qualifying Australian schools to assist students from Australian Defence Force (ADF) families to manage transitions associated with a parental deployment to a war zone. Reported here are findings from a study that explored parents’, teachers’ and DSTAs’ perspectives of school-based support designed to assist students to cope with their changed circumstances when a parent is deployed. Results indicate that an appreciation of students’ worries by school personnel eased their distress. DSTAs facilitated processes whereby peers with deployed parents supported each other. Alerting teachers to an intended deployment was also found to be important as it allowed them to be alert to student behaviour changes and prepare ahead for possible student support needs. DSTAs reminded parents through school newsletters to pass on pertinent deployment-related information to the school so that a coordinated school–family approach for supporting students could be enacted. Further research is required to investigate the educational significance of student support offered by culturally aware key adults and student peers during major life transitions.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Astor, R. A., De Pedro, K., Gilreath, T. D., Esquada, M. C., & Benbenishty, R. (2013). The promotional role of school and community contexts. Clinical Child Family Psychological Review, 16, 233244.Google Scholar
Birks, M., & Mills, J. (2011). Grounded theory: A practical guide. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1977). Toward an experimental ecology of human development. American Psychologist, 32 (7), 513531. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.32.7.513 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chandra, A., Martin, L. T., Hawkins, S. A., & Richardson, A. (2010). The impact of parental deployment on child social and emotional functioning: Perspectives of school staff. Journal of Adolescent Health, 46 (3), 218223. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2009.10.009 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing grounded theory. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Clarke, A. E. (2005). Situational analysis: Grounded theory after the postmodern turn. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Cozza, S. J. (2015). Meeting the intervention needs of military children and families. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 54 (4), 247248.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cozza, S. J., & Lerner, R. M. (2013). Military children and families: Introducing the issue. Future of Children, 23 (2), 311.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Defence Community Organisation (DCO) (2007). Defence school transition aide program evaluation: October 2007 evaluation. Canberra, ACT: Defence Community Organisation.Google Scholar
Defence Community Organisation (DCO) (2011). Defence school transition aide program: August 2011 evaluation. Canberra, ACT: Defence Community Organisation.Google Scholar
De Pedro, K. T. (2015). Child maltreatment and military-connected youth: Developing protective school communities. Child Abuse and Neglect, 47, 124131. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.06.004.Google Scholar
De Pedro, K., Astor, R. A., Gilreath, T. D., Benbenishty, R., & Berkowitz, R. (2015). School climate, deployment, and mental health among students in military-connected schools. Youth and Society. doi: 10.1177/0044118X15592296.Google Scholar
De Pedro, K. M., Astor, R. A., Benbenishty, R., Estrada, J., Smith, G. R., & Esqueda, M. C. (2011). The children of military service members: Challenges, resources, and future educational research. Review of Educational Research, 81 (4), 566618. doi: 10.3102/0034654311423537.Google Scholar
Easterbrooks, M. A., Ginsburg, K., & Lerner, R. M. (2013). Resilience among military youth. Future of Children, 23 (2), 99120.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eccles, J. S., Midgley, C., Wigfield, A., Buchanan, C. M., Reuman, D., Flanagan, C., & MacIver, D. (1993). Development during adolescence: The impact of stage environment fit on adolescents' in schools and in families. American Psychologist, 48 (2), 90101.Google Scholar
Esposito-Smythers, C., Wolff, J., Lemmon, K. M., Bodzy, M., Swenson, R. R., & Spirito, A. (2011). Military youth and the deployment cycle: Emotional health consequences and recommendations for intervention. Journal of Family Psychology, 25 (4), 497507. doi:10.1037/a0024534.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fitzsimmons, V. M., & Krause-Parello, C. A. (2009). Military children: When parents are deployed overseas. The Journal of School Nursing, 25 (1), 4047. doi:10.1177/1059840508326733.Google Scholar
Garcia, E., de Pedro, K. T., Astor, R. A., Lester, P., & Benbenishty, R. (2015). FOCUS school-based skill-building groups: Training and implementation. Journal of Social Work Education, 51, S102S116. doi: 10.1080/10437797.2015.1001292.Google Scholar
Gitterman, A., & Germain, C. B. (2008). The life model of social work practice. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Huebner, A. J., & Mancini, J. A. (2005). Adjustments among adolescents in military families when a parent is deployed: A final report submitted to the military family research institute and the Department of Defense quality of life office. Fall Church: Virginia, Virginia Tech, Department of Human Development.Google Scholar
Huebner, A. J., Mancini, J. A., Bowen, G. L., & Orthner, D. K. (2009). Shadowed by war: Building community capacity to support military families. Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Family Studies, 58, 216228.Google Scholar
Huebner, A. J., Mancini, J. A., Wilcox, R. M., Grass, S. R., & Grass, G. A. (2007). Parental deployment and youth in military families: Exploring uncertainty and ambiguous loss. Family Relations, 56, 112122.Google Scholar
Kudler, H., & Porter, R. I. (2013). Building communities of care for military children and families. Future of Children, 23 (2), 163185.Google Scholar
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. California: Sage Publications, Inc.Google Scholar
McGuire, A., Runge, C., Cosgrove, L., Bredhauer, K., Anderson, R., Waller, M., . . . Nasveld, P. (2012). Timor-leste family study: Summary report. Brisbane: Centre for Military and Veteran's Health, Australia: University of Queensland.Google Scholar
Ministerial Council for Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) (1999). The Adelaide declaration on national goals for schooling in the twenty-first century. Canberra: Australian Government.Google Scholar
Mmari, K., Roche, K. M., Sudhinaraset, M., & Blum, R. (2009). When a parent goes off to war: Exploring the issues faced by adolescents and their families. Youth & Society, 40, 455475. doi: 10.1177/0044118X8327873.Google Scholar
Park, N. (2011). Military children and families: Strengths and challenges during peace and war. American Psychologist, 66 (1), 6572. doi: 10,1037/a0021249.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Richardson, A., Chandra, A., Martin, L. T., Setodji, C. M., Hallmark, B. W., Campbell, N. F., . . . Grady, P. (2011). Effects of soldiers' deployments on children's academic performance and behavioural health. Santa Monica: United States Army.Google Scholar
Siebler, P. (2003). Supporting Australian defence force peacekeepers and their families: The case of east timor. Canberra: Directorate of Strategic Personnel Planning and Research, Dept. of Defence.Google Scholar
Siebler, P. (2009). Military people won't ask for help: Experiences of deployment of Australian defence force personnel, their families, and implications for social workers. (Doctor of Philosophy), Monash, Melbourne. Retrieved from http://arrow.monash.edu.au/hdl/1959.1/157678.Google Scholar
Siebler, P., & Goddard, C. (2014). Parent's perspectives of their children's reactions to an Australian military deployment. Children Australia, 39 (1), 1724.Google Scholar
Tudge, J. R. H., Mokrova, I., Hatfield, B. E., & Karnik, R. B. (2009). Uses and misuses of Bronfenbrenner's bioecological theory of human development. Journal of Family Theory and Review, 1, 198210.Google Scholar
Waliski, A., Kirchner, J., Shue, V. M., & Bokony, P. (2012). Psychological traumas of war: Training school counselors as home-front responders. The Journal of Rural Health, 28, 348355.Google Scholar
Welters, R., & Delisle, A. (2009). A holistic analysis of the socio-economic impact of the Australian defence organisation and its interaction with the city of Townsville. Retrieved from http://www.defence.gov.au/Whitepaper/docs/245-CityOfTownsville.pdf.Google Scholar