Abstract
Education Matters: A guide for social workers. 128 pages. £10; A guide for foster carers. 110 pages. £11.99; A guide for children's home staff. 116 pages. £11.99 – all by Katy Taylor and Nicola Strivens. St Albans: Akamas Care & Education (2011). ISBN 978 0956597830; ISBN 978 0956597816; ISBN 978 0956597847
Reviewed by Sonia Jackson, Institute of Education, University of London, UK
These three books – by the same authors but with different forewords – fill a significant gap in the practice literature. Each one is precisely aimed at a specific group of professionals or carers. They are concise, practical, written in accessible language and should be essential reading for social workers, foster carers and residential child care workers who understand the crucial importance of school and educational achievement for the present and future lives of looked after children and young people.
All the books follow the same basic format, with variations appropriate to their target readership. They set the context, pointing out that the term ‘looked after children’ (which is explained) covers an enormous variety of young people in many different circumstances. Almost the only thing they all have in common is that they are separated from their birth parents and they are all, at some stage, supposed to go to school. The authors then go on to trace the child's pathway through school and identify the key professionals involved, who are often very numerous. They review the available sources of support at different points in the child's educational journey and go on to discuss issues relevant to their particular group of readers, while stressing the importance of inter-professional collaboration. Later chapters consider the educational needs of unaccompanied asylum seekers, teenage mothers and young offenders, as well as those arising from illness, disability and learning difficulties. It is good to see that all three books have a chapter on children's rights, covering school exclusions and attendance (surely a better term than ‘truancy’). The legal background and associated regulations are clearly set out. Inevitably, some topics are covered very briefly but with pointers to further reading. Since 2010, education has been in a state of constant flux and the internet has to be the best source for fully up-to-date information.
Research on the education of children in care consistently concludes that social workers do not give sufficient priority to school experience, for example in detailed monitoring of progress and attainment, making decisions about placement, scheduling meetings or timing unavoidable moves. Social work training usually includes no more than a token session on the education system, with the result that few social workers feel confident in carrying out their statutory responsibilities under the Children Act 2004. Similarly, education plays too small a part in the selection and training of carers: studies that focus on the minority of young people who are educationally successful nearly all highlight the contribution of a foster family that was knowledgeable and actively supportive. This is not always easy. Jim Bond writes with engaging honesty in his foreword to the foster care book that, even with a teaching background, he found himself ‘out of touch with modern learning’ and had to work hard to catch up. Virtual school heads increasingly see improving social workers’ and carers’ knowledge of schools and education as a key part of their strategic role. They will find these books a very useful resource.