Claire Cameron

Education and Self-Reliance among Care Leavers

Claire Cameron reports results from a study on the use of services by a group of young people who have left local authority care, where the proportion holding educational qualifications is above the average for care leavers. Using the concept of self-reliance, she explores how care leavers managed and directed their educational participation and achievement against a background of a lack of financial, familial and inter-personal support. The article suggests that care leavers, who have often developed self-reliance skills in highly disadvantaged circumstances, can be misperceived by professionals as being ‘difficult’.

Continuing educational participation among children in care in five countries: some issues of social class

Young people who have spent all or part of their childhoods in public care are at particular risk of social exclusion as adults and yet the pathway out of exclusion identified by policy-makers at both European and national levels, namely, education, is very difficult to access. Using data from a five-country study of the post-compulsory educational pathways of young people in public care, this paper examines the rates of participation of young people in further and higher education and considers what might account for the gap, looking at two factors: the impact of background social class on educational support and the educational intentions and practices of the care system. The paper concludes by considering the policy context and some possible tensions between policy aims and young people’s contexts and experiences.

Towards a theory of upbringing in foster care in Europe

Across Europe, foster care is the preferred intervention for children who cannot live with their birth families, yet just what states look for from foster care is rarely articulated. Its use and intended purpose can reflect not only historical peculiarities but also the nature of the welfare regime existing in a particular country. This article reports on a preliminary exploration of fostering across 11 European countries, reflecting different care and education traditions. Irrespective of variations in history and welfare ideology, and any specialist tasks, we argue that foster care, by its nature, fulfils elements of what might be described as an upbringing role on behalf of society. What is meant by upbringing and how might it be theorised? In this article we draw upon the work of the German social pedagogue, Klaus Mollenhauer, to develop a model of upbringing that might help elucidate what is involved in bringing up children, including those in state care. The idea of passing on a valued cultural heritage is central to Mollenhauers understanding of upbringing. This happens regardless of social policy intent merely by virtue of shared daily living and the development of pedagogical relationships. We argue that a concept of upbringing might offer an integrating cross-generational theoretical framework for foster care across different welfare regimes.

La atención a personas dependientes en Europa: conceptos actuales y perspectivas futuras

Ante la constatacion de importantes cambios demograficos, economicos y sociales en Europa que afectan a la provision de servicios de apoyo a las personas dependientes, la Comision Europea financio la investigacion La atencion a personas dependientes en Europa (conceptos actuales y perspectivas futuras que a continuacion se presenta. Entre los seis paises que conforman la muestra se encuentran importantes diferencias conceptuales y estructurales en la atencion a la dependencia, asi como una diversidad en la tipologia del personal, aunque se identifican algunos requisitos del trabajo comunes a todos los sectores de poblacion con los que se interviene. Las conclusiones manifiestan que, salvo excepciones, el sueldo y otras condiciones laborales son insuficientes, aunque el trabajo a tiempo parcial, muy frecuente en el sector ha permitido a la mujer conciliar mejor la vida laboral y familiar aun con el riesgo de seguir manteniendo la excesiva feminizacion del sector profesional. Los trabajadores perciben que la atencion que prestan tiene bajo estatus, aunque no albergan dudas sobre su importancia. Esta situacion puede producir una grave escasez en la dotacion de personal en los paises de la U.E. Se valora la utilidad de tres medidas que pueden complementarse: la estimulacion de la atencion informal (permisos parentales e incentivos familiares); aprovechar bolsas de cuidadores (actuales o potenciales) infrautilizados, generalmente con bajo nivel de cualificacion: revalorizar la atencion a dependientes con nuevos perfiles profesionales y mejora de la cualificacion, formacion continua y desarrollo profesional, lo que redundaria en un mayor reconocimiento social. Todo ello sin olvidar la importancia de aumentar la diversidad en el personal desde los puntos de vista etnico y de genero.

‘Our young people are worse’: family backgrounds, educational progression and placement options in public care systems

Introducing continental European approaches to UK child welfare practice raises a problem of comparison: to what extent are the problems and issues similar to or different from one country compared to another. Social pedagogues trained in continental Europe and working in English residential care services often encountered the phrase ‘our young people are worse’ from their English colleagues, with the implication that the social pedagogic approach was not suitable for the client group. This paper examines two propositions: (1) that in the context of introducing the continental European approach of social pedagogy into childrens residential care services in England, young people are ‘different’ in England compared to other European countries and (2) that the placement options and practices for young people living away from their birth parents in continental European countries differ from those in England. Using data from a five nation study of young people from public care backgrounds, the paper argues that while family backgrounds are remarkably similar there are marked differences in the child welfare systems that might account for the perception that young people in care are ‘worse’ in England.

The children Act 1989 and early childhood services

Abstract This paper considers the implications of including general and non-welfare day care services for children under 8 years in the Children Act, a mainly welfare measure. Day care services do not benefit from becoming subject to any broad principles contained within the Act. With respect to these particular services, the Act is essentially conservative in its approach and modest in its scope. It perpetuates the status quo, in particular the division in early childhood services between day care and schooling for the under-5s, and does not address a number of contradictions in existing policy, in particular between a free market approach to provision of day care services and regulation of services. The paper concludes that an open policy review of the whole range of early childhood services, with the possibility of new legislation specifically for early childhood services, needs to be considered.

The Development of a United ECEC Workforce in New Zealand and England: A Long, Slow and Fitful Journey

A united child care and education workforce serving children under school age has many benefits but despite long held recognition of its advantages, progress towards this goal has been slow in many countries. This chapter traces policy trajectories towards, and away from, workforce integration in two countries, New Zealand and England, over the period 1986 – 2016. It takes three illustrative examples: workforce models, sector voices, and home-based ECEC, to document the complexities and tensions within integrationist shifts in early childhood education and care. New Zealand has made greater progress towards integration than England; nonetheless, sustaining unity is fragile.