RESEARCH SECTION: Looking back on school – the views of adult graduates of a residential special school for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties

<jats:p>The authors of this article, Garry Hornby and Chrystal Witte, conducted a follow‐up study with adult graduates of a residential special school for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties in New Zealand. Twenty‐one graduates were located and interviewed ten to 14 years after they had left the residential school. The interviews focused on various factors related to the graduates' quality of life (reported elsewhere) and on their views of their education, both at the residential school and at mainstream schools, which are reported in this paper. It was found that these adult graduates were overwhelmingly positive about the support they received while at the residential school. They talked, for example, about the help they received in addressing their learning and behavioural difficulties. However, they were consistently negative with regard to their experiences of mainstreaming. For example, respondents noted the lack of understanding that they experienced from mainstream teachers. In drawing out the implications of the findings from this study, Garry Hornby and Chrystal Witte suggest that one factor which could result in improving outcomes for these students is better special needs training for teachers in mainstream schools.</jats:p>