Interdisciplinary Approaches to Examining Postdisaster School Recovery

Area of Science:

• Social Sciences
• Education Research
• Disaster Recovery Studies

Background:

• Interdisciplinary research (IDR) is crucial for complex problems like postdisaster school recovery.
• Existing research often lacks common frameworks, hindering knowledge synthesis.
• Understanding the interplay of child trauma, educational outcomes, school safety, and community recovery is vital.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine integrative problem formulation and synthesis as key tenets of IDR in postdisaster school recovery.
• To propose common frameworks across diverse school recovery domains.
• To illustrate the value of IDR and mixed-methods approaches in understanding school recovery patterns.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a postdisaster school recovery research domain as a case study.
• Examined four key domains: child trauma, educational learning outcomes, school safety, and household/community recovery.
• Employed mixed-methods approaches, including statistics, geospatial analysis, and spatial statistics.

Main Results:

• Identified commonalities and frameworks across different school recovery domains.
• Demonstrated how interdisciplinary approaches can address complex research questions.
• Highlighted the influence of school contexts and geographic location on recovery patterns.

Conclusions:

• Advancing interdisciplinary knowledge requires integrative problem formulation and synthesis.
• Common frameworks are essential for connecting disciplinary insights in school recovery research.
• Mixed-methods, including geospatial analysis, are valuable for understanding place-based recovery dynamics.