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WHERE ARE
THE ARTICLES BY CHILDREN? We'll see what we can do Maggie - thanks for the e-mail - Editor REACTION TO "INCLUSION" - April's article by Rowan Dickman I have just enjoyed reading
Rowan Dickman's article on Inclusion. It is so good to have someone
from the residential special education sector actively participating
in children.uk. I sometimes wonder if there is really anybody
else out there. There must be dozens of people like Mr. Dickman
who have valuable things to tell to the rest of us from their
own experience of working with children. |
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While welcoming Rowan Dickman's
attempt to explain 'Inclusion' I wonder if he deliberately left
out one vital factor. Most of the children presently in residential
special schools, particularly in those dealing with emotional
and behavioural difficulties are there because all other options
have failed them or they have failed in them. In my experience nobody these days takes decisions lightly which will have serious financial implications for some years ahead.So for a child or young person to be placed in a residential facility providing education on the premises means that they have or have had some pretty serious problems. How then are they to be expected to cope any better in the kind of pressured environments which Rowan touched on where schools are driven by SATs results, League Tables and where teacher performance is scrutinised by Ofsted Inspectors and the buzz words are outcomes,achievement and success? And how will just the same kinds of schools to the ones which failed them before, with very similar teachers, with very similar skills and motivations do any better in meeting their individual needs? Yes, I agree with Rowan that children mature and circumstances can change, so that for some it may become appropriate to try again with all the right planning and proper support. But let us not be lulled into thinking that this is the kind of Rolls Royce service many of our special needs children will get. They could just be condemned to join the others for whom there is no point in turning up to school these days once you have become bored with creating disruption and for whom truancy provides a more attractive option. I wonder if any of our colleagues from abroad have any views on this issue? Kate Jervis |
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Re: Inclusion If there were no Residential Special Schools where would all the children with special needs and behavioural difficulties be? Surely there would be better resources in mainstream schools if so much was not spent on special provision somewhere else? Isn't this what the Government is aimimg for? P.P |
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Why History is Important in Childcare Barbara Kahan's article last month suggested that we should learn from the past. This echoes a letter to the Times a couple of years ago in which a retired Admiral castigated NATO for dropping the policy of convoying across the Atlantic in the event of conflict. He pointed out that the policy had been developed during the First World War because of the success of U-boats in picking off loan ships, and it had proved effective in the Second World War, despite the losses. It mirrors the flocking behaviour of birds in the face of predators. Apparently NATO had decided that this was old hat now, and the Admiral did not think much of their dismissive approach to history. In childcare, the problem is even greater as we are dealing with human behaviour rather than technological developments, and in each generation we seem to need to learn again the lessons which our ancestors learnt. Studying the history of childcare should be a must for professionals and people responsible for policy so that they can avoid the pitfalls which our predecessors - and we ourselves - have fallen into. If we don't base our plans on past learning, we risk failure. It is not just that we will waste time re-inventing the wheel. After all, the wheel was a brilliant technological advance. We are more likely to reinvent the sledge, and suffer a bumpy ride. If we base our plans just on our own thinking, the chances are that our proposals will be flawed. FGL |
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Cats, Cows and Children Barbara Kahan pointed out the care we take in looking after the welfare of animals, by comparison with children. Have you noticed that because of the (understandable) concern about BSE and CJD, every individual cow can now be traced from birth through to slaughter via computer records, but that the Government thinks that registering childcare workers would be too bureaucratic to be worth doing. Presumably the care of the country's children figures lower in their priorities than the sale of beef in Europe. If not, why can't they spend the modest sum needed to get a proper register going? MCW |
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Back to the Future? Like the debate in the UK some years ago after the murder of James Bulger we have to face in Germany nowadays a discussion about how to handle children who have committed crimes (mostly not serious ones) before the age of criminal responsibility, which in Germany is 14. There is a strong call in some sections of society to react with "short sharp shocks". Residential homes and other extrafamilial settings are being forced to establish again closed units for delinquent kids. The Bundeslaender Niedersachsen, Bayern and Hessen have launched special "innovation programmes". In this context "innovation" means a rollback to locked homes although practice experience and different research studies have shown poor and negative results of locked settings and cast doubt on the success of secure units. But mindful of the electorate the stance of the politicians isn't primarily to assist kids in need, educate them and support their development but to be seen to be advocating punishment. The big question for us in Germany is: Is punishment the task of the child and youth care system? We would like to hear the views and experiences of our colleagues in other countries. by Wolfgang Trede, Secretary General of FICE-Germany |