1st Edition

The Education of Children and Young People in State Care

Edited By Sonia Jackson, Ingrid Hojer Copyright 2016
    170 Pages
    by Routledge

    170 Pages
    by Routledge

    Young people who leave care with few or no educational qualifications are at very high risk of social exclusion in adulthood. Yet in the past their education has attracted little attention from researchers or professionals. Studies by the editors and contributors to this volume show that the educational standards attained by young people in care fall progressively behind those of their peers living with their own families. This research-based book looks at the educational experiences of children and youths in nine different European countries and Canada. It identifies the obstacles that prevent them from realising their aspirations and discusses ways of improving their opportunities.

    How can countries with different traditions, welfare regimes and administrative systems learn from each other? What needs to be done at national, local and individual levels to give children in care equal chances with those living with their families? At present a child in public care is five times less likely to go to university than others. How can teachers, social workers and carers better support their educational attainment, and enable more of them to succeed and progress to tertiary education? This book was originally published as a special issue of the European Journal of Social Work.

    Introduction: Prioritising education for children looked after away from home Sonia Jackson & Ingrid Höjer

    1. Delayed educational pathways and risk of social exclusion: the case of young people from public care in Spain Carme Montserrat, Ferran Casas & Sara Malo

    2. School as an opportunity and resilience factor for young people placed in care Ingrid Höjer & Helena Johansson

    3. The importance of social relationships for young people from a public care background Inge M. Bryderup & Marlene Q. Trentel

    4. Enabling young people with a care background to stay in education in Hungary: accommodation with conditions and support Andrea Rácz & Márta Korintus

    5. Placement, protective and risk factors in the educational success of young people in care: cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses Robert J. Flynn, Nicholas G. Tessier & Daniel Coulombe

    6. Addressing low attainment of children in public care: the Scottish experience Graham Connelly & Judy Furnivall

    7. The managerialist turn and the education of young offenders in state care Tiago Neves

    8. Action competence – a new trial aimed at social innovation in residential homes? Niels Rosendal Jensen

    9. The relevance and experience of education from the perspective of Croatian youth in-care Branka Sladović Franz & Vanja Branica

    Biography

    Sonia Jackson is an Emeritus Professor at the Institute of Education, University College London, UK. She has published over 80 books and articles on children in out-of-home care. As a psychologist and social worker, she first drew attention to the neglect of their education in the 1980s and has continued to research and highlight the issue in many different countries.

    Ingrid Höjer is a Professor in the Department of Social Work at the University of Göteborg, Sweden, and has directed many research projects on children and young people in foster care.