Improving the educational experience of children and young people in public care: a Scottish perspective

The context for this paper relates to the policy and practice implications of efforts to achieve social justice for Scotland’s 12,000 children and young people in the care of local government authorities. The paper is located within a growing evidence base of the educational experience of young people in care and leaving care. The data on attainment and exclusion from school in particular are reviewed and confirm that looked‐after children in Scotland, as elsewhere in the UK, typically leave education with significantly fewer school leaving qualifications than is now the common expectation for young people in their age group and are significantly more likely to lose time in school due to exclusion. However, the review also shows the devastating impact of being in care on young children’s attainment in reading, writing and mathematics. The implications of the data reviewed are discussed in relation to the concepts of social justice, resilience and the educationally rich environment.     

Preventing violence against children in schools: Contributions from the Be Safe program in Sri Lanka

Violence against children is a global public health issue with serious social, economic, physical, and emotional impacts. This study evaluates the effectiveness of a school-based program aimed to prevent and respond to physical, sexual, and psychological violence against children in Sri Lanka from the perspective of parents. A cross-sectional retrospective study design was used. A total of 835 parents of children who participated in the program were surveyed across seven districts in Sri Lanka. Dose-response analyses were conducted to assess for correlations between program exposure and perceived prevention of violence against children. Low to moderate correlations were found between exposure to the program and perceived child safety in schools, school policies, and in the community. The findings provide preliminary evidence of program effectiveness; however, more efforts are needed to validate and sustain outcomes. Implications for future violence prevention programming, along with the use of dose-response evaluations, are discussed.     

An evaluation of key working for families of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities

Key working is a way of supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families, and is highly regarded by families and practitioners. However, there is a lack of up‐to‐date research exploring key working in the current context of policy reforms in England. This article reports an evaluation of key working in four sites in England, with a particular focus on the SEND policy reforms. Key working resulted in a number of positive outcomes for children and young people, families and services, including helping services to meet the requirements of the SEND reforms. Challenging aspects included managing transitions and the relationship between key working practitioner and family, but successful strategies were identified. Key working supports the implementation of specific aspects of the English SEND reforms along with more general cultural change in services to align with families' needs and well‐established aspects of good practice.     

Childhood sexual violence in Zimbabwe: Evidence for the epidemic against girls

Sexual abuse during childhood is a public health and human rights concern throughout the world, including Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2011, Zimbabwe initiated national prevalence data collection on violence against children to inform government policy and programs. We interviewed 567 females and 589 males, aged 18–24 years following standardized and previously tested survey methods from the region. Of females 32.5%, and of males 8.9%, reported experiencing sexual violence before age 18. Most female (62.7%) and male (47.9%) victims of sexual violence experienced more than one incident of sexual violence prior to age 18 years. Three in four females (77.7%) and one in four males (26.7%) of those who experienced sexual violence reported that the first incident was perpetrated by a boyfriend or girlfriend. Few victims received professional help (2.7% of females and 2.4% of males who had reported experiencing sexual violence). Violence against girls is at epidemic levels in Zimbabwe. Most sexual violence against girls occurs within the context of peer relationships. Child victims who seek potentially life-saving support tend not to receive it. This study is evidence of a national public health and child rights emergency in the country and a case for increased, longer-term investment by the government and its development partners in policy reform for enhancing adolescent girls’ empowerment and protection.     

The impact of exposure to domestic violence on children and young people: a review of the literature

OBJECTIVE: This article reviews the literature concerning the impact of exposure to domestic violence on the health and developmental well-being of children and young people. Impact is explored across four separate yet inter-related domains (domestic violence exposure and child abuse; impact on parental capacity; impact on child and adolescent development; and exposure to additional adversities), with potential outcomes and key messages concerning best practice responses to children's needs highlighted. METHOD: A comprehensive search of identified databases was conducted within an 11-year framework (1995-2006). This yielded a vast literature which was selectively organized and analyzed according to the four domains identified above. RESULTS: This review finds that children and adolescents living with domestic violence are at increased risk of experiencing emotional, physical and sexual abuse, of developing emotional and behavioral problems and of increased exposure to the presence of other adversities in their lives. It also highlights a range of protective factors that can mitigate against this impact, in particular a strong relationship with and attachment to a caring adult, usually the mother. CONCLUSION: Children and young people may be significantly affected by living with domestic violence, and impact can endure even after measures have been taken to secure their safety. It also concludes that there is rarely a direct causal pathway leading to a particular outcome and that children are active in constructing their own social world. Implications for interventions suggest that timely, appropriate and individually tailored responses need to build on the resilient blocks in the child's life. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: This study illustrate the links between exposure to domestic violence, various forms of child abuse and other related adversities, concluding that such exposure may have a differential yet potentially deleterious impact for children and young people. From a resilient perspective this review also highlights range of protective factors that influence the extent of the impact of exposure and the subsequent outcomes for the child. This review advocates for a holistic and child-centered approach to service delivery, derived from an informed assessment, designed to capture a picture of the individual child's experience, and responsive to their individual needs.     

Journeys across educational and cultural borders: international postgraduate students with young children

There is substantial research about international postgraduate students but little research about their experiences as parents or their children’s experiences. We focus on four postgraduate international students with young children navigating early childhood education and care in New Zealand. A narrative analysis, informed by socio-cultural understandings of learning and post-structuralist understandings of identity, revealed emotional complexities, stress and transformation as parents and children made many transitions. Parents wanted their own culture respected and their host culture decoded. Families experienced tensions around the use of home and host languages as they juggled children’s present and future linguistic needs. Supporting international students in their family identity has positive effects for them, their children and their doctoral studies, and hence for universities. Further research about the experiences of international students who are parents and of their children could assist in the formulation of policies to effect such support.     

The rights of children and young people under special educational needs legislation in England: an inclusive agenda?

ABSTRACT

In this article we consider the rights of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities in England, introduced under the Children and Families Act 2014, within the context of the wider reforms made by the Act. Drawing primarily on key informant interviews conducted as part of an ESRC project on Autonomy, Rights and Children with Special Needs: A New Paradigm? (ES/P002641/1), and making reference to the international framework of children’s and disabled persons’ rights, we present an analysis of the (mostly professional) viewpoints gathered and what they tell us about the progress towards the realisation of children and young people’s autonomy and agency in this field.     

Aiming high: the educational and occupational aspirations and of young disabled people

This article provides an overview of the aspirations and expectations disabled teenagers form for their future education and employment and the factors which are associated with positive aspirations. After reviewing what is already known about the formation of aspirations in general, and among young disabled people in particular, Tania Burchardt presents preliminary analysis from original research using two large‐scale representative surveys: the Youth Cohort Study (YCS) and the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70). The results indicate that young disabled people have similar aspirations to their non‐disabled counterparts, although tempered in some cases with a recognition that there are likely to be obstacles in the world of work. There is also some–tentative–evidence that young disabled people feel less well served by advice and support services. SEN coordinators in secondary schools and further education, and Connexions advisors, need to ensure that they encourage positive aspirations, especially among young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, while offering practical support in overcoming disabling barriers.     

Plans that work: improving employment outcomes for young people with learning disabilities

This article offers a critical reflection on the function of education, health and care plans (EHCPs) in pathways to employment for disabled young people. We consider ‘the education plan’ as an artefact of special educational needs systems. We problematise the often taken‐for‐granted assumption that such plans are always and only a ‘good’ thing in the lives of disabled young people seeking pathways to employment. At the same time, we consider the rise in demand for plans that are understood by many as a crucial mechanism for achieving support. Following the recent policy reforms in England, we describe a context in which the funding of education is shrinking and in which the promise of employment for disabled young people has yet to be delivered. We conclude by proposing some changes to policy and practice to enhance employment opportunities for disabled young people.     

School exclusion and educational inclusion of pregnant young women

This article analyses the school exclusion and subsequent educational inclusion of pregnant young women participating in a course of antenatal and key skills education at an alternative educational setting. It examines the young women's transitions from ‘failure’ in school to ‘success’ in motherhood and re-engagement with education. This article draws on participant observation- and interview-based research carried out with pregnant young women and staff at an alternative educational setting in London in 2007–2008. The young women's participation in the course represented a severing of past negative experiences in mainstream education, allowing a renewed focus on education alongside a positive maternal identity. The setting represented a form of inclusion, and the young women appreciated the focus on their social and emotional well-being, yet the limited academic provision in some cases continued to reinforce an educational exclusion.     

Educating children and young people with medical needs: effective provision and practice

In December 2001 the Department for Education and Skills (DIES) published the Access to Education document setting out minimum standard guidelines for the education of children and young people with medical needs Following this they commissioned a research project that aimed to identify examples of effective practice in this area and provide recommendations for local education authority (LEA) officers and for staff in mainstream and hospital schools/services In this article Karen Harris and Peter Farrell present the main findings of this research project and discuss its implications for improving services for this potentially marginalised group of young people.     

Understanding of epilepsy by children and young people with epilepsy

There is a striking dearth of studies focusing sensitively and in depth on the mainstream educational experiences of children with epilepsy, as viewed by those children themselves. The one‐year project (2006–7) reported here addresses that gap. Children’s perceptions about mainstream teachers’ understanding of epilepsy and school‐based needs are particularly interesting and this work breaks new ground in that connection. The authors report findings from two complementary qualitative methods of data collection: (1) an e‐survey of 44 self‐selected children and young people with epilepsy, and (2) interviews (mainly individual) in mainstream schools with 22 children/young people with epilepsy. Overall, the children and young people (aged 7–18) were clear about the nature of their condition, including seizures. For many, there was an implicit reluctance in accepting epilepsy as a “part of them”; self‐reported feelings of secrecy, stigma and shame abounded. This had repercussions for how schools were seen to need to respond with sensitivity and knowledge‐based understanding. Taking a qualitative methodological approach revealed important insights into complex concepts like stigma in the school context. This was illustrated in children and young people’s readiness to talk about their feelings of “difference” in relation to others when given the opportunity to do so sensitively. The findings have important implications for how schools and services work in a genuinely fully inclusive way with children and young people who have epilepsy.