Abstract
Reviewed by: Zachari Duncalf, University of Central Lancashire, England
This book provides a selection of papers situating the policy, research and practice in relation to the education of young people in care and care leavers. The book has four main areas of interest: 1) to set out the policy and research landscape on the education of young people in care, 2) to explore how we raise attainment, 3) to relay experiences of being in the classroom, and 4) to explore education beyond care. By bringing together authors who showcase research and knowledge from a wide variety of countries we can, at first glance, see the appeal and internationalisation of the book, but there is here what many edited collections lack and struggle with – a strong sense of purpose or cohesion to the papers. It is identified that the book is designed for teachers, social workers, policy makers, and children’s service managers. This begs the question of whether or not this book would appeal to a wider audience, particularly foster carers, residential workers or students and why, given the area of interest, it was not designed to include the attention of these groups?
The usefulness of the book can be judged on what it provides in terms of content and analysis. By page 4 I have to say I felt quite offended by Jackson’s crass demarcation between residential and foster care. Coming from a residential child care background myself I know all too well how difficult it can be to achieve in all sorts of ways, but we have to recognise that although there are staggeringly poor outcomes for children in care, the reality is that only 10% of children live in the residential sector. For decades now a good 70% of children have lived in foster care. So, with such a high level of poor outcomes for children in care, where do the problems really lie?
In moving beyond Jackson’s introductory chapters it is impressive to see such a cohort of writers, some of whom have contributed substantially to key policy and practice changes within the education of young people in care. It is frustrating, however, to see some of these writers regurgitating papers and thoughts that they have written a number of times before. I would assess that approximately two-thirds of the book is made up of research and ideas that have been repeatedly relayed to us previously, by the same authors nonetheless.
In this portion of the book I found the commentary on poor outcomes and statistics repetitive and lacking in depth, the insertion of policy unimaginative and the ways in which literature and research are brought together pedestrian. This is, however, not simply a product of this book but can be seen regularly throughout the writing on the education of young people in care and care leavers. Given the small cohort of individuals who write within this area it is inevitable there is also a lack of any real critical engagement with one another. This again is evident within many of the papers here.
Being an edited collection, and the richness that comes from being able to engage with some authors and not with others, is probably the only reason I would buy this book. Some chapters have relayed very interesting and unique projects such as the letter box club as outlined by Rose Griffiths, the paired reading project by Gillian Rose et al. and the range of activities that Robbie Gilligan explores in relation to the wider ways in which we can contribute to educational progress. I also really valued the paper by Kate Cairns on trauma. Although she has written about this elsewhere it is an area that has not been given enough space within the education of young people in care.
Fundamentally, Sonia Jackson deserves a huge amount of credit for bringing the education of young people in care to our attention in the 1990s. Twenty years later, however, we need to set a new stage, recognise the complexity of new discussions and be banging different drums in order to find pathways through education for young people in care.