New Developments in Childcare Practice and Research: Adoption & Fostering

New Developments in Childcare Practice and Research: Adoption & Fostering
Special Issue: Education
BAAF (2007)
ISSN: 03085759
E-ISSN: 1740469X

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Get hold of this excellent journal! It provides a breadth of perspectives on education in its fullest sense with contributions from a wide range of researchers and “customers”, writes Ken Campbell.

The articles not only investigate and report on barriers to educational achievement but also propose sensible solutions, highlighting the pivotal role of carers and parents and the need to listen to, and effectively engage with, young people.

Education is not simply viewed as a set of targets and destinations. Some of the articles widen the discussion to consider resilience, motivation and self-reliance among other features that contribute to positive development and can lead to a return to education after care.

This development can come from the young person or as a result of spare time activities or of mentoring programmes.

The rightly included study on further education highlights the crucial role played by foster families in raising aspirations and continuing to support young people through degree courses. The message is clear: education is everyone’s responsibility, not somebody else’s business.

Given the perspectives from the range of contributors and the view of education in its widest sense, the article on social pedagogy provides an imaginative way of joining up the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle. It provides an international overview of pedagogy and makes a convincing case for its use with foster carers.

Ken Campbell is a consultant on the education of young people in care