Postgraduate Course: Collaborative Working in Children's Services (EDUA11249)
Course Outline
| School | Moray House School of Education |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course is designed to enable students to demonstrate specialist knowledge and understanding of collaborative working in children's services.
The major themes and their sequence will be:
Introduction to Collaborative and Inter-agency working
Reflecting on the advantages and disadvantages on collaborative working. Evidence from case studies
Parent and Child Participation in Children¿s Services
Collaborative Working and Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC)
Collaboratively working with Diverse Families and Children Studies
Issues of Child Protection
Collaboration in and beyond the ASL (Additional Support for Learning) Team
International Comparisons of Collaborative Working |
| Course description |
This course will enable students to become critically aware of theoretical principles and processes that underpin interpersonal skills in education and children¿s services including issues of change management, leadership, risk and responsibility. We have developed the course so that participants can critically reflect on their own theoretical constructs of childhood, the constructs of other professionals and compare them to a range of theories that underpin professional practice with parents and children (including psychological, medical, social, anthropological, sociological, pedagogical and those that relate to the early years). Critically compare and contrast theories of child development, family/individual therapy, ecological/environmental models, notions of children¿s rights/agency and post-structural approaches to children¿s services.
The course will also allow students to source and compare different national and international academic writing on integrated working, disability, family work, parenting, children¿s services and diverse family types and to develop techniques for discussing issues of integrated working with specialist and non-specialist audiences.
Participants will also consider diverse childhoods, practical contexts and the policy implications of issues of inclusion, social justice, respect and anti-discrimination e.g. in relation to issues such as culture, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, linguistic access, religion, disability, poverty.
This course is designed to enable students to demonstrate specialist knowledge and understanding of collaborative working in children's services. Taking schools, nurseries, out of school care, youth/community work and family work (including integrated teams and children/family centres) as its focal point, it will enable students to consider issues of inter-professional collaboration. Students will be required to demonstrate a systematic understanding and knowledge of the key issues of collaborative working including inter-personal skills, self-assessment, joint assessment, participation/emancipation, power/hierarchy and the gaps in social policy. This will include the ability to demonstrate a critical awareness of the different definitions of integrated working and different theories (e.g. psychological, medical, social, anthropological, sociological, pedagogical etc) that underpin practice. In particular the course will consider contemporary research that has identified key problems in integrated working and students will be required to assess the impact of this on their own practice. Students will consider how to tackle and solve problems in the work place, act autonomously (e.g. when developing assessments and reports for planning groups) and take part in professional planning meetings. Students will be required to establish techniques of research/enquiry, develop their own initiative and analyse complex situations. They will develop critiques of taken for granted practice (e.g. in relation to the labelling of parents and children) whilst considering best practice in relation to specific case studies (including those concerning Visual Impairment, Hearing Impairment, Restorative Justice, Disability, Young Carers, Child Protection and First Nation People).
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2015/16, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
| Course Start Date |
21/09/2015 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 24,
Online Activities 8,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 8,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
156 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Components of Assessment
Students will carry out a 4,000 word assignment around the theme of 'Collaborative Working: Barriers, Problems and Solutions'.
All four learning outcomes are expected to be demonstrated through this assignment. |
| Feedback |
Formative feedback is given within each class session via discussion groups and activities. There is also the opportunity to submit a 300 word assignment plan between Unit 6 and 8 and feedback via Turn it in will be given by the course organiser/lecturers. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Critically review and apply the theoretical constructs of working collaboratively to forefront developments in the sector
- Analyse and appraise the approaches and skills that facilitate shared assessment,
- Demonstrate an extensive and detailed critical knowledge of a range of key socio-cultural influences on peer relations within collaborative working
- Critically evaluate national and international polices of collaborative working
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Reading List
UNIT 1 Introduction to Collaborative Working in Children¿s Services: Policy and Practice
Introduction
This unit explores the area of collaborative working policy and practice in Scotland, the United Kingdom and a European context. The reading in each unit is designed to stimulate debate and discussion within the student cohort and to help the student recognise the local, national and global context of the work they undertake.
Aims
We will examine the many definitions of collaborative working in children services. It will explore and examine theories around inter-agency and collaborative working. It will as a starting point take a variety of professional perspectives including that of the student¿s own various interpretations/definitions of collaborative working within a social policy framework.
CORE READING:
Cohen, B, Moss, P, Petrie, P and Wallace (2004) A New Deal For Children? Re-Forming Education And Care In England, Scotland And Sweden. Bristol: Policy Press
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 6 Cross National Comparison
Davis, J. M., (2011), Integrated Working in Children's Services, Sage. Ch2 - defining integration
Hill, M. (2012) Children's Services: Working Together, Pearson Chapter 21. Inter professional and inter-agency cooperation: the rough and the smooth
Unit 2: Reflecting on the advantages and disadvantages on collaborative working. Evidence from case studies
Aim
In order to understand the rubric of collaborative working, it is essential that a balanced approach be maintained. Collaborative working in children¿s services should not be seen without its disadvantages and in this session you will begin to understand what these are.
Collaborative working practices are not always successful. Projects often focus upon professionals and their own vested interests. Riddell and Tett (2001) have emphasised the fragmented rather than joined up nature of a great deal of collaborative working.
It is important to consider your own views surrounding collaborative working and your own particular experience of projects that have involved a number of educational, social and health agencies.
We will approach the advantages and disadvantages of collaborative working in this session mainly from a practical case study. This case study examines the assessment of visually impaired children in Scotland. The case study highlights many practical issues of collaborative working which need to be addressed to ensure that the child¿s needs are met.
In this unit we will discuss the barriers/constraints to collaborative working within the areas of children¿s services. In particular, we will consider:
1. the conflicting interests of individuals
2. the role of professionals
3. restricted budgets
4. the varied agenda of a multiplicity of health, social and educational services within collaborative working
Pugh, G., De¿Ath, E & Smith, C, (1994) "Support for Parents" from Pugh, G., De¿Ath, E & Smith, C, Confident Parents, Confident Children Policy and practice in parent education and support pp.149-207, London: National Children's Bureau
Roaf, C (2002) Coordinating Services For Included Children, Joined Up Action. Open University Press: Basingstoke
Smith, M. and Davis, J. M., 2009 ¿Constructions of Family Support: Lessons From The Field¿ Administration (Journal of the Institute of Public Administration: Ireland), Vol. V. (draft paper)
Unit 3: Parent and Child Participation in Children¿s Services
In this unit, we will look at the theories that surround participation and social exclusion. We will take a practical approach to social exclusion and collaborative working by firstly considering the theories surrounding social exclusion and then in consider a case study from a participation project carried out in Liverpool.
Aims
Our aim is not to provide a comprehensive summary of the literature in this field but to tease out the implications of the different theories, policies and practices.
We will consider how the term social exclusion can be described in different ways depending upon the particular social situation. There will be a comparison of the discourses that surround social exclusion.
You will evaluate the theories put forward and form your own views and understandings of what social exclusion means to you and how this relates to collaborative working practices within the area of childhood studies.
Different definitions of ¿social exclusion¿ will be discussed, including those based on ideas of morality, redistribution, employment, social solidarity, and participation.
Using the writings we will critique these definitions and suggest that more consideration should be given to understanding children¿s views on exclusion
Davis JM (2007) ¿Analysing Participation and Social Exclusion With Children and Young People. Lessons From Practice¿ International Journal of Children¿s Rights 15(1):121-146.
Gilligan R (2000) Family support: issues and prospects. In Canavan J , Dolan P , Pinkerton J (eds) Family Support: Directions from Diversity. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Ridge, T (2002) Childhood Poverty And Social Exclusion. Policy Press Chapter 7 p131-152
Unit 4: Collaborative Working and Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC)
Aims
This unit aims to introduce Getting It Right for Every Child (GIRFEC). GIRFEC is a critical component of collaborative working in children services in Scotland. In order to fully appreciate the shift from a deficit model of practice to a child centred model, this unit will outline why this shift became necessary.
Getting it right for every child is part of the Children and Young Person (Scotland) Act 2014 that aims to improve outcomes for all children and young people. It promotes a shared approach that:
builds solutions with and around children and families
enables children to get the help they need when they need it
supports a positive shift in culture, systems and practice
involves working together to make things better
The new Children and Young People Act sets out a range of proposals for taking forward our ambitions for children¿s rights and services. Follow the link to red more about the bill and it's impact on children and children's services.
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/Young-People/legislation
Essential reading
Abbott, D., Watson, D. & Townsley, R. (2005), ¿The proof of the pudding: what difference does multi-agency working make to families with disabled children with complex health care needs? Child & Family Social Work 10. (pp. 229-238)
Fitzgerald, D. & Kay, J. (2008) Working Together In Children's Services. London: Routledge/David Fulton ch5 turning policy aspirations into practical reality.
Stradling, B. and Alexander, B. (2012) 'Getting it right for children: Promoting effective change', in M. Hill., G. Head, A. Lockyer, B. Reid and R. Taylor (eds.) Children's Services: Working Together, Harlow: Pearson.
Unit 5: Collaboratively working with Diverse Families and Children Studies
Aim
Using the knowledge that you have gained from the previous units we will now look at working collaboratively with families and children from diverse groups. Specifically in this unit we will focus in two groups which will lay the core foundation of theories and strategies of working with diverse families.
The first of the two groups that we will focus on in this unit will be working with families who have children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). By focusing on children with ADHD it is our intention for you to gain a critical understanding of the current tensions that exist between adult control and child self-realisation in western societies related to social and education systems. We also want to highlight to you the limitations of medical & social ideas of ADHD as well as examine the idea that there is a lack of professional reflexivity.
The second group we will focus on will be young carers. In this section you will consider disability and childhood theory in relation to avoiding victim discourse and also evaluate disability and childhood theory in relation to parent discourse
Aldridge and Becker article (2002) Chapter 12 Children Who Care: Rights and wrongs in debate and policy on young carers. From Franklin, B ¿The New Handbook of Children¿s Rights. Comparative policy and practice¿ London Routledge (pages 208-222)
Davis J M (2006) Disability, Childhood Studies and The Construction of Medical Discourses: Questioning Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; A Theoretical Perspective. In Lloyd, G, Stead, J and Cohen, D (eds) Critical New Perspectives on ADHD. Taylor and Francis Publishing, London
Gilligan, R. (1999) ¿Working with Social Networks Key Resources in Helping Children at Risk¿ In Hill, M. (ed) Effective Ways of Working with Children and their Families. London: Jessica Kingsley
(pp. 70 ¿ 96 )
Unit 6: Child Protection in Children¿s Services
Aim
The aim of this session is to consider issues of child protection but from a perspective of a strength based paradigm. We will consider traditional concepts of child protection and you will examine in detail a range of case studies. You will be expected to respond to these case studies using the knowledge gained from the previous chapters (especially chapters 3 and 4). This unit will also look closely at the work done by the Centre for Learning in Child Protection University of Edinburgh and relate some of their research findings to issues of collaborative working in children¿s services.
Parton, N. (2006). Rethinking child protection and family support Parton, N. (2006) In Safeguarding childhood: early intervention and surveillance in a late modern society. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Chapter 4.
Walker, G. (2008). The Role Of School and Early Years in Safe Guarding Children. (2008) In Working Together for Children: A Critical Introduction to Multi-agency working. London, Continuum Chapter 5.
Unit 7: International Comparisons of Collaborative Working
Aims
In this unit we will first take a case study approach by looking at the development of services for aboriginal/first nation communities within Canada. Two projects will be examined. In the first series of lectures our aim by focusing on the case study is to give real examples of what can happen if one does not understand the power relations that can exist between those involved in collaborative working. We also aim to give an understanding of how to bring two cultural communities together in order to provide effective collaborative support for children.
The second lecture in this unit focus on a collaborative service which uses a hook and hub approach as a means to providing services to first nation children and adults in rural Canada. The case under investigation uses health care (Hubs) as a way of attracting users to their services and it is our aim in presenting this particular example to you, is for you to examine how one can develop holistic service delivery that can embody cultural values and practices whilst also delivering efficient but yet maintaining a laddering of services for children and families, especially those ¿at risk¿.
The third lecture in this unit provides some real international comparisons of health data from Australia. This lecture looks at data that compares the health outcomes for non-indigenous Australians compared to the indigenous Australian community. Our aim of comparing the data is for us to start to examine notions of resilience and to understand how collaborative approaches could help in deliver resilience and multi-cultural communities.
Moore, Tulk, Mitchell, The First People¿s Child and Family Review, Vol 2, Issue 1 Quallunaat Crossing: p117-129
(This is an interesting/unusual journal it is worth spending a little time just going through some of the articles)
Eades S, Read AW, Stanley FJ, Eades FN, McCaullay D, Williamson A. Bibbulung Gnarneep ('solid kid'): causal pathways to poor birth outcomes in an urban Aboriginal birth cohort. J Paediatr Child Health. 2008 Jun;44(6):342-6.
Patterns, trends, and increasing disparities in mortality for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal infants born in Western Australia, 1980-2001: population database study. Freemantle CJ, Read AW, de Klerk NH, McAullay D, Anderson IP, Stanley FJ. Lancet. 2006 May 27;367(9524):1758-66. Erratum in: Lancet. 2006 Sep 9;368(9539):918.
Unit 8: Collaboration in and beyond the School
Welcome to Unit 7. In this Unit you will continue to develop your understanding of workplace learning in terms of your own role and responsibilities and those of others with whom you work. Collaborative working is often seen as a laudable aim but difficult to achieve in practice. This Unit helps you examine the challenges and also some of the ways to ensure greater success in working together with colleagues from different disciplines.
The Unit views learning as having two important aspects; practical learning and more formal academic learning (Wilson and Demetriou 2007). We know that adults working with children and young people need to develop understanding of both aspects in order to fully understand their own professional role and that of others. The Unit aims to build both kinds of learning. It is premised on the notion that learning involves active engagement with ideas through exploration and experimentation. Although learning can also be gained through observation and association, the ideas which underpin the value of collaborative working are also used to underpin Unit 7; ideas which build on the work of Dewey (1916), Bruner (1996), Vygotsky (1978) and Alexander (2000). We regard learning - and learning to work with others - as complex, dynamic and interactive, involving both reflection and action (Billett 2001).
Stead, J. Lloyd, G. & Kendrick, A. (2001) Hanging On in There: a study of inter-agency work to prevent exclusion in three local authorities. London, National Children¿s Bureau. (Chapter 4)
Riddell, S. & Tett, L. (2001) Introduction, in Riddell, S. & Tett, L., Education, Social Justice and Inter-agency working. Joined-up or fractured policy? London, Routledge.
Wenger, E. (2000) Communities of practice: the social fabric of the learning organization in HealthCare Forum Journal, July/August, Vol. 39, No. 4, pp. 20-26
http://www.ewenger.com/pub/index.htm
Scottish Executive (2005) Happy, Safe and Achieving Their Potential (e.g. Annex A 10 Standards for Personal Support in Schools ¿ Practice Issues)
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
The graduate attributes from this course:
Participants will;
be able to critically assess existing understanding and the limitations of their own knowledge and recognise the need to regularly challenge all knowledge.
Search for, evaluate and use information to develop their knowledge and
understanding
be able to use collaboration and debate effectively to test, modify and strengthen their own views
recognise the benefits of communicating with those beyond their immediate environments
be able to work effectively with others, capitalising on their different thinking,
experience and skills.
work with, manage, and lead others in ways that value their diversity and equality and that encourage their contribution to the organisation and the wider community |
| Special Arrangements |
None |
| Study Abroad |
Not an option |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
There are 8 X 3 hour sessions (usually twilight between 5 and 8pm) to accommodate the need for practitioners to access the courses. All sessions are face to face. |
| Keywords | Childhood Collaboration Integrated Working Education Social Work Health |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Jule Hildmann
Tel: (0131 6)51 6031
Email: |
Course secretary | Mrs Susan Scott
Tel: (0131 6)51 6573
Email: |
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