Educational success for children in public care: advice from a group of high achievers

ABSTRACT Research over the past 20 years has consistently shown that children in public care fall behind at school, seldom achieve good qualifications, and are much less likely than their peers to go on to further or higher education. However, a small minority of looked‐after children do well academically. This paper examines the opinions of 38 high‐achieving young people who spent at least a year in residential or foster care on what they think are the best ways to enhance the educational experience of looked‐after children. An evaluation of four key questions from a semistructured interview highlighted the importance of foster carers, residential workers, social workers and teachers in providing support and encouragement for academic achievement. On the other hand, many of these individuals emphasized their dislike of being ‘singled out’ by the teacher. A third of the participants believed that negative stereotypes and low expectations of children in care among professionals and care providers were major obstacles to their educational success. Over half the sample reported that in many children’s homes basic necessities such as books, a desk and a quiet place to do homework were lacking. In addition their opportunity to engage in outside interests and hobbies was severely limited. By contrast, for these individuals foster care had provided better opportunities. On entering higher education the majority of the participants had faced severe problems. They stressed the need for continuing financial support and adequate year‐round accommodation, because, unlike most students, these care leavers usually have no parental home to return to during university vacations. A third of participants also felt a strong desire for a ‘guardian angel’ to support and encourage them during their time at university. The paper concludes that the views of these thoughtful and resilient individuals should be taken very seriously and translated into improvements in policy and practice. Official guidance now highlights the importance of education for looked‐after children, but changing attitudes and priorities at ground level presents a major challenge.     

The comfort of strangers: social work practice with unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and young people in the UK

Unaccompanied children and young people seeking sanctuary as political refugees are increasingly visible within many industrialized nations, where several studies confirm their vulnerability and needs. These studies also highlight what appears to be the poor quality of social work services and practices that these minors encounter. This paper examines some of the details contained in such reports of deficiency and seeks to place them within a more optimistic appraisal of social work practice. Based on a small research study, it suggests that resettlement for unaccompanied minors is complex and contains different types of loss as well as gain. It also asserts that practice by some social workers shows they have a grasp of this complexity as they offer practical assistance, therapeutic care and companionship to the young people to help them resettle in new environments.     

Playing with sound: The therapeutic use of music in direct work with children

Children rarely have the language or the cognitive development to process and convey their experiences solely through words, so spontaneously complement these with symbolic forms of expression and communication, such as play, metaphor and a variety of visual, auditory and kinaesthetic imagery. Consequently, social workers need to supplement verbal methods of assessment and intervention with more symbolic modes of communication and engagement when working directly with children. The play therapy literature has been a key source of guidance and the expressive arts therapies, such as art and drama therapy, are now well represented in the literature and training of social workers in ‘direct work with children’. However, principles and practice from music therapy are under‐represented. The writer, who is a social worker, psychotherapist and musician, shares her reflections on introducing techniques and theoretical approaches from music therapy into her own therapeutically orientated direct work. Suggestions are made as to how other practitioners (both musically trained and not) could develop the use of music as a further ‘tool’ in their direct work with children.     

Putting Programme into Practice: The Introduction of Concurrent Planning into Mainstream Adoption and Fostering Services

Originating in Seattle, USA, in the early 1980s, concurrentplanning aimed to speed the placement of children into permanentfamilies, either birth or substitute, and to reduce overallthe time spent in impermanent care. When the first pilot concurrentplanning project was introduced in the UK in 1998, independentevaluation was a requirement of government funding. The evaluationwas expanded to include two additional projects when the numberof initial referrals failed to meet the projected target. Thispaper looks beyond the successful outcomes of the pilot projects,focusing instead on the local authority context in order toexplore some of the difficulties in setting up such an innovativeprogramme, and to shed light on why concurrent planning appearedslow to take off. Based primarily on interviews conducted withsocial workers at different levels of responsibility, the researchersencountered a steep learning curve for all the professionals.The research findings indicated positive outcomes for the childrenplaced through concurrent planning, but limited understandingof the concept of concurrent planning, uncertainty in the divisionof responsibilities, and failure to take up preparation andtraining opportunities contributed to the initial slow progressin the incorporation of the programme.     

Investigation or Initial Assessment of Child Concerns? The Impact of the Refocusing Initiative on Social Work Practice

This paper is based on a qualitative research study of socialworkers’ and parents’ experiences of attempts to‘refocus’ child protection practice in England sincethe late 1990s. A review of the research base for the refocusinginitiative is presented, leading to an exploration of one ofthe key changes arising from the initiative: the move away frominvestigations in ‘borderline’ cases towards lessintrusive initial assessments. Methods involved qualitativeinterviews with parents and social workers in twenty-three casesdrawn from two local authorities. The main conclusions are thatinitial assessments, as developed through the refocusing initiativeand the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need andtheir Families (Department of Health, 2000), provide a formof practice that offers benefits in terms of balancing childprotection and child welfare approaches, and in terms of relationshipswith parents.     

Children's Views of Family Group Conferences

The note reports one part of a research study which looked atthe experiences of the first twenty families who participatedin a family group conference pilot project. The research reportsthe largely positive views of twenty children aged between sixand sixteen who were interviewed and/or returned questionnaires.Based on the experiences of the children in this project, children’sinclusion in family group conferences is generally to be encouraged.They mostly valued the experience of being consulted and welcomedopportunities for families to develop relationships and worktogether on issues, free from the attentions of social services.Nonetheless, although family group conferences can usefullyinclude children and have a clear role in child welfare practice,they are not necessarily the route to empowering practice forall children and families.     

The ADHD treasure hunt: a group intervention using a social model approach to disability

ABSTRACT

This article describes the ADHD Treasure Hunt - a groupwork model that integrates the spirit of a social model of disability into therapeutic practice with parents and children. Following a discussion on the discourse and controversy over the nature and treatment of ADHD in Western society, we evaluate our intervention in terms of its usefulness in addressing a family’s sense of helplessness and frustration in the face of social interactions. The model also focuses on helping the families recognize the value of their own experiential knowledge. We examine the contributions of the model to current practice as well as offer future directions for its development.     

园本文化感知对幼儿园教师工作投入的影响——基于四川100 所公立普惠幼儿园的调查

幼儿园教师对园本文化的感知程度究竟如何影响其工作投入，这是学术界和实践界关注的一个非常重要的话题，对幼儿 园教师职业发展具有重要意义。采用自编问卷，对四川100所公立普惠幼儿园876名教师的调查表明：幼儿园教师对园本文化的 感知程度可以正向地影响其工作投入程度；敬业精神可以中介园本文化感知对幼儿园教师工作投入的效应；职业倦怠越低的幼 儿园教师，其敬业精神就越容易影响工作投入，表现为有调节的中介效应。为了增强幼儿园教师对园本文化的感知，激发幼儿园 教师的工作热情，“明示复习”是基本的应对策略，“精神引领”可以增强幼儿园教师的敬业精神和克服职业倦怠感。     

农村留守儿童心理教育问题的缺失及对策

我国农村留守儿童心理教育缺失问题日益严重。留守儿童在成长过程中长期缺少父母关爱,对他们的心理健康造成不良影响,而且会造成各种社会问题。从政府公共政策的角度,提出了解决留守儿童心理教育问题的对策。     

对农村留守儿童犯罪原因的探析——以社会控制理论为视角

以赫希的社会控制理论为视角,审视农村留守儿童犯罪现象,指出由于农村留守儿童的现实处境削弱了社会联系中依恋、奉献、卷入、信念的控制力量,因而促成了违法犯罪的发生.期望通过对社会控制理论的分析和研究,扩大研究者的理论视野,增强对农村留守儿童犯罪现象的认识,以丰富这一领域的研究。