The institutional shaping of children’s educational experiences in secure custody: A case study of a secure children’s home in England

Secure Children’s Homes accommodate some of the most vulnerable children in society and yet they haveevaded sustained academic attention. Consequently, little is known about children’s education in this type ofsetting. Through the lens of institutional ethnography, this paper explores how experiences of education insideone Secure Children’s Home in England are shaped by the institution. This approach makes visible that while thesmall-scale of the setting is of value, the mix of children accommodated for qualitatively different reasons isproblematic for both the delivery of education and the children’s engagement in learning.