Book review : Burton, J. (2015). Leading good care: the task, heart and art of managing social care. Jessica Kingsley, 208pp. ISBN 9781849055512

Leading good care: the task, heart and art of managing social care (2015) by John Burton is an interesting read and one that I enjoyed. It is by no means a typical textbook and many readers may enjoy it all the more for that fact. There is little in the way of academic references or citations. Instead, integrated throughout the book are four fictional stories based around managers dealing with and responding to a series of management and leadership challenges. Whilst these stories are fictional, they very much draw from the current realities and challenges facing managers and leaders in the social care sector

Billy’s story : MOOCs, CYC and storytelling

Yuan and Powell (2013) describe Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) as a relatively recent online learning phenomenon which has been developed for a mixture of philanthropic and business motives. The potential of MOOCs has prompted a number of universities to set up open learning platforms and provide courses online. In the UK, the Open University created Futurelearn, a partnership involving a number of leading UK universities, providing a number of open, online courses at no cost to learners (Futurelearn, 2012). The University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, subsequently joined this partnership. This article outlines the process of developing Strathclyde’s fourth MOOC, Caring for Vulnerable Children, its relationship with our MSc in Child and Youth Care Studies by distance learning and explores some of the challenges and opportunities in teaching child and youth care in a completely online environment

Review of Social Work Education : To What Extent Should Social Work Education have a Stronger Focus on Community Development and Engagement?

How is community development and community engagement currently taught within social work programmes in Scotland? How might this be strengthened across existing programmes as a means to support implementation of current Scottish Government policies around strong, resilient and supportive communities? What role do social workers adopt in community development and engagement in other countries and how is this supported by their education and training

Shifting discourse : Threshold concepts in CYC

Threshold concepts open up new ways of thinking. They have a transformative power, not only by enabling a deeper and more integrated understanding, but in the way they can impact identity and world view

Communication and Key Characteristics of Practice

In this session we think about the way in which we communicate with children and young people and the challenges involved when working with those who are experiencing vulnerability and risk. We build on the themes of child development and attachment in the context of communication – the way in which the care giving adults communicate with the child will have significant impact on how they grow and develop attachments. We consider the following questions: What do the principles of good communication with children and young people involve? What are the links that exist between communication and child development? Explain the relationship between touch and communication. What are the links between communication, power and oppressive language? We then go onto think about the ways in which we might intervene in the lives of children and young people who are experiencing vulnerability and risk. We consider the following questions: What traditions of child care practice/intervention exist and what are some of their key characteristics? What is the role of love within caring for vulnerable children and what does this mean for professional boundaries? How can we think about using activities and promoting resilience as we work with vulnerable children? How can we safely challenge and resist pressure to be increasingly risk averse

Children's Hearing System

This session concerns what happens when it is assessed that children and young people are so vulnerable and at risk that they can’t continue to stay in their family home. We will engage with the following questions: What alternative forms of care exist (kinship care, foster care, residential child care, adoption) and what do they consist of? What is the Children’s Hearings System? What happens at a Children’s Hearing? What sort of decisions can be made by a Children’s Hearing? We will introduce the Children’s Hearings System and the sorts of interventions that may be implemented when children and young people can no longer stay in the family home. We consider different forms of intervention, the Children’s Hearings System and the demands and challenges of being a young carer. By doing this we reflect upon the different possible responses that can be enacted when caring for vulnerable children. We also consider the future and the challenges involved in continuing to deliver high quality services for vulnerable children and young people and their families in the current political climate of financial austerity. We consider the following questions: How can we see political and social discourse impact upon the formation of social policy and services for vulnerable children? What are some of the outcomes for vulnerable children? How can we begin to challenge the policy and discourse that repeatedly places children and young people and their families in positions of vulnerability? We will consider dominant discourses of care and the reality of looking after vulnerable children. Within this we think about the politics of caring for vulnerable children, consider case studies and think further about the relationship between poverty, vulnerability and risk. By doing this we will be able to reflect upon the different ways of thinking about how we take forward services for vulnerable children and the role we can play in this personally

Vulnerability and Risk / Attachment and Child Development

In this session we start by learning what we mean and understand by the terms vulnerability and risk. We begin to think about the possible circumstances that lead children and young people to be assessed as vulnerable and at risk and being in need of care and protection. This involves thinking about concepts of vulnerability, risk and good enough parenting. We also consider how concepts such as these are context specific and can vary depending on culture and setting. From here we begin to reflect upon some of the challenges that are involved in managing issues of vulnerability and risk for children and young people and engage in an exercise where we rank different scenarios in terms of risk. We also consider the relationship between poverty and risk as well as the role of the media in shaping attitudes towards vulnerability, risk and risk management. We then move onto begin to learn about the concepts of attachment, containment and child development. We think about how children and young people grow and develop and the different factors and circumstances that influence this process. We introduce different theories concerning how we can assess the growth and development of children and young people – including both ecological and stage based approaches. Central to this is the relationship between nature and nurture and the question as to which of these influences most help children and young people grow and develop. The process of emotional containment is central to this and we reflect upon personal experiences of watching children grow and develop and the influences of both nature and nurture. We also think about attachment, the process by which children and young people form attachments and relationships with key caregivers in their lives, and the impact this has on them as they grow and develop

Book review : Managing children's homes: Developing effective leadership in small organisations. Leslie Hicks, Ian Gibbs, Helen Weatherly and Sarah Byford.

This book details research which aimed to identify the ways in which the managers of effective residential homes work. The research involved the collection of quantitative data from 45 homes in England and Wales, 30 homes from the local authority and 15 homes based in the independent sector. It looked at managers' roles, as well as providing a consideration of resource use and leadership style. The research was motivated in part by the fact that previous research into this area, whilst highlighting significant variation in standards of practice, did not identify clearly those characteristics of managers that contributed to effective leadership. As such, the research upon which the book is based outlines the relationship between structure, process and outcomes

Responses to and Ways Forward in Caring for Vulnerable Children

This session concerns what happens when it is assessed that children and young people are so vulnerable and at risk that they can’t continue to stay in their family home. We will engage with the following questions: What alternative forms of care exist (kinship care, foster care, residential child care, adoption) and what do they consist of? What is the Children’s Hearings System? What happens at a Children’s Hearing? What sort of decisions can be made by a Children’s Hearing? We will introduce the Children’s Hearings System and the sorts of interventions that may be implemented when children and young people can no longer stay in the family home. We consider different forms of intervention, the Children’s Hearings System and the demands and challenges of being a young carer. By doing this we reflect upon the different possible responses that can be enacted when caring for vulnerable children. We also consider the future and the challenges involved in continuing to deliver high quality services for vulnerable children and young people and their families in the current political climate of financial austerity. We consider the following questions: How can we see political and social discourse impact upon the formation of social policy and services for vulnerable children? What are some of the outcomes for vulnerable children? How can we begin to challenge the policy and discourse that repeatedly places children and young people and their families in positions of vulnerability? We will consider dominant discourses of care and the reality of looking after vulnerable children. Within this we think about the politics of caring for vulnerable children, consider case studies and think further about the relationship between poverty, vulnerability and risk. By doing this we will be able to reflect upon the different ways of thinking about how we take forward services for vulnerable children and the role we can play in this personally

Understanding Risk and Vulnerability

In this session we start by learning what we mean and understand by the terms vulnerability and risk. We begin to think about the possible circumstances that lead children and young people to be assessed as vulnerable and at risk and being in need of care and protection. This involves thinking about concepts of vulnerability, risk and good enough parenting. We also consider how concepts such as these are context specific and can vary depending on culture and setting. From here we begin to reflect upon some of the challenges that are involved in managing issues of vulnerability and risk for children and young people and engage in an exercise where we rank different scenarios in terms of risk. We also consider the relationship between poverty and risk as well as the role of the media in shaping attitudes towards vulnerability, risk and risk management. We then move onto begin to learn about the concepts of attachment, containment and child development. We think about how children and young people grow and develop and the different factors and circumstances that influence this process. We introduce different theories concerning how we can assess the growth and development of children and young people – including both ecological and stage based approaches. Central to this is the relationship between nature and nurture and the question as to which of these influences most help children and young people grow and develop. The process of emotional containment is central to this and we reflect upon personal experiences of watching children grow and develop and the influences of both nature and nurture. We also think about attachment, the process by which children and young people form attachments and relationships with key caregivers in their lives, and the impact this has on them as they grow and develop