%0 Journal Article
%T Building school capacity to support students from Australian Defence Force families during parental deployment
%A Gail Macdonald
%A Helen Boon
%J Australian Journal of Education
%@ 2050-5884
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/0004944118755779
%X Students who have parents deployed to a war zone are more vulnerable to an increased level of stress and anxiety, health problems, behavioural disorders and academic under-achievement. Yet, little is known about the processes employed by schools to support these students. This study investigated the deployment support work conducted by Defence School Transition Aides who are employed in some Australian schools to support students from Australian Defence Force families to manage the transitions associated with school mobility and parental absence for service reasons. Fifteen parents, 17 teachers and 15 Defence School Transition Aides were asked, in semi-structured interviews, to describe studentsĄŻ responses to parental deployment, how their schools supported students and what specific processes were employed by Defence School Transition Aides to assist studentsĄŻ coping during parental deployment. Findings from qualitative analyses, suggest that Defence School Transition Aides assist school communities to build their schoolsĄŻ capacity to support students with deployed parents by raising the school communitiesĄŻ awareness of these studentsĄŻ specific needs
%K Australian Defence Force families
%K military personnel
%K Defence School Transition Aides
%K transitions
%K teachersĄŻ aides
%K children
%K parental deployment
%K school capacity building
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0004944118755779