| Abstract: | The education of children in public, or Local Authority (LA), care, known in the United Kingdom (UK) as looked‐after children (LAC), is supported by government initiatives to reduce the attainment gap that exists between LAC and their non‐LAC peers. These children often find remaining in education a challenge, are twice as likely to be permanently excluded, and three times more likely to receive a fixed‐term exclusion than other school‐age children. A high proportion (61%), have been labelled as having special educational needs (SEN) (DfE, 2015a ). In the UK, the Virtual School (VS) has a statutory role in the education of LAC (DfE, 2014a) and aims to encourage more stringent monitoring and intervention for pupils. This is partly achieved through the creation of a personalised education plan (PEP) for each LAC pupil, which outlines progress, strategies intended to accelerate attainment, and resources needed for doing so. The process involves the pupil, their social worker and the designated teacher (responsible for the welfare of LAC pupils) of the school attended. The current study uses Actor‐Network Theory (ANT, e.g. Latour, 1999 ) as a lens through which to conceptualise change for LAC pupils during the PEP process. The focus is upon three PEP meetings in one LA setting, in order to explore the people and things that are active in driving forwards change for LAC, with a view to examining the efficacy of the process and the roles of those involved. The analysis made visible the importance of the role of the designated teacher in the PEP process, in contrast to the relative inactivity of social workers and of pupil voice. |
