Educational Journeys: Student Perception of School Life in Disaster Recovery Contexts

This article presents data collection and analysis from an interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach qualitative study conducted on student and former student perception of post-disaster or conflict-impacted education and school life set in diverse settings around the globe; post 3/11 triple disaster Japan, Hurricane Irma affected Saint Martin, post-2010 earthquake Haiti, and the resettled refugee context in France. It contextualizes the findings and recommendations for future practice for application to the current Education in Emergencies landscape. Student voices highlight the crucial role of social–emotional learning programs, student-led innovation in response to post-disaster education and resilience-building initiatives for dealing with the loss of school community, adapting to new environments, and handling hardship. They tell the story of academic gaps and the financial burden on school life after disasters or conflicts and light the way forward through their examples of leveraging resilience and tales of the long-term influence of disaster-affected educational journeys on life trajectories. The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are presented as an essential global framework for engagement by students, teachers, and other education stakeholders as they tackle global challenges related to disaster recovery, rehabilitation, and reconstruction.