Child protection training for teachers

These notes make particular reference to the central role that members of the education service can play in protecting children, within the context of both the Children Act and Working Together. They also provide a brief account of training available for teachers in Rochdale, in both single agency and multi-disciplinary courses. The importance of multi-agency working and training is emphasized and the main issues included in the new Rochdale multi-disciplinary training courses are identified.     

Child protection training for primary health care teams: making a difference?

The role of health professionals in child protection is central to effective interagency working, yet there has been in the past criticism of their contribution to the process and recognized difficulty in engaging some health professionals in relevant training. In 2001 the author, working as Child Protection Adviser for an NHS Trust in Scotland, obtained funding to deliver child protection training to 23 primary health care teams across the region. Participants included those seen as having a key role in child protection and those often overlooked such as clerical and reception staff. Learning outcomes were established in response to the identified needs of the target group, national recommendations and the requirements of the funding body. A number of methods of evaluation, both planned and opportunistic, were used during the 1‐year project. All evaluations indicated that, in the short term, the training had been effective and the learning outcomes had been achieved. Results of an internal audit suggested that the training had resulted in a significant increase in awareness and knowledge. Further audit and evaluation will, however, be required to establish the extent of any lasting changes in practice. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Child protection training in sport‐related degrees and initial teacher training for physical education: an audit

This article reports on an online survey of child protection training for students on sport‐related and Initial Teacher Training Physical Education degrees, and on the views of recently graduated teachers of the usefulness of such training in their everyday work. The results indicate that child protection training is provided in most courses but in varying amounts. Respondents to the survey reported positively, in the main, about the effects of new requirements for teacher training (Every Child Matters: Change for Children, Department for Education and Skills, 2004). Reasons given for not including child protection in courses were: lack of time; the perceived vocational nature of the topic; lack of fit with course aims and objectives; lack of relevance; and the research rather than professional orientation of the course. Recently graduated teachers' views on their pre‐service child protection training differed from the claims made about this in the survey. In particular, they raised concerns about their lack of preparation for dealing with potential child protection situations. The article concludes that child protection training within sport‐related degrees is deficient in both consistency of delivery and in content, and that, in addition to preparing students to recognise signs and indicators of abuse, curricula should also address undergraduates' confidence and skills for responding to abuse in their everyday professional practice. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Child protection decision-making

The effects of interagency collaboration on risk assessment in child protection practice were analysed in respect of the decision-making processes in child death inquiries. Universal features in the assessment of risk as identified in psychological literature were applied; in particular, the concepts of ‘groupthink’, the ‘certainty effect’ and ‘group polarization’. It is suggested that case conference decisions are inherently more risky than those taken by professionals with individual responsibility because of the way in which cases are framed in terms of losses.     

Gender training for development practitioners: only a partial solution

This article considers gender training for Oxfam staff working on a development program or project in a particular context where their experience of gender relations and ability to seek gender equality is informed by their hierarchial position, by their national culture, and by the fact that institutions are also gendered. Thus, the article focuses on contextualizing gender training and on the potential of such training to transform institutions. The first section looks at gender training in the Oxfam head office and notes that, although Oxfam identifies itself as a learning organization, the former Training Department has been devolved into separate divisions, so there is no longer any centrally available gender training. The next section describes gender training in the field context where hierarchial positions that may influence the effectiveness of training are created by the age and sex of the trainer and where it is important to distinguish between gender frameworks (what is taught) from pedagogy (how it is taught). Oxfam's present gender training is limited by a lack of documentation of gender training efforts, by trainees' personal resistance to concepts of gender, by language barriers, and by logistical problems. The article then explores Oxfam's use of gender training as a transformative tool and notes that Oxfam focuses on individual rather than internal organizational transformation. It is concluded that gender training is only a partial solution unless its potential for personal and political transformational is recognized and fostered.     

Child protection: An unreflective practice

This paper highlights the need for social work education to focus on the ideological, cultural and organisational influences that shape practitioner perspectives and determine case careers, particularly in the area of child protection. Using the findings from a case study on the processing of child abuse referrals made to a social work team in Ireland's largest health board region, this paper illustrates the dissonance between the 'official' child protection discourse and the complexities and dilemmas of everyday practice. It also highlights practitioners' apparent lack of awareness of the dynamics that determine the way in which decisions and assessments are reached. The need to encourage and facilitate social workers' use of theory as a means of addressing these complex areas is endorsed, and implications for educational programmes are discussed.     

Child protection: Principles and applications

The protection of children worldwide requires a framework and criteria agreed upon by the international community. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the World Summit for Children have gone some way in setting out agreed minimum standards for children's survival, health and education and the minimum protection required by children against abuse, exploitation and neglect in war, at work or in the home. These principles need to be applied at a national as well as an international level. The current situation in Asian countries is presented and discussed.     

Child protection and radiography: social and emotional context

The earlier part of this review (Child Abuse Review 6, 191–198) considered issues of technical choice and clinical management which arise in the medical imaging of abused children. The present article highlights the contextual knowledge, interpersonal skills and workplace support which are needed. Radiographers are required to use a range of interpersonal skills in creating a child-friendly environment in a technological setting, and in responding to parents who may be upset or angry. Like anyone else dealing with child abuse they may experience strong emotions and it is important that workplace support as well as professional education equips them for this aspect of their work. Departments which deal mainly with adults are likely to face difficulties in dealing appropriately with children, and it is recommended that further work is undertaken to find creative solutions to the problems which arise. There are implications for superintendent radiographers and for those responsible for education and training. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.