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ISSN 1357-5279 Contents and Abstracts
Foreword A Modified School Year: Perspectives from the Early Years
Releasing Educational Potential Through Movement: A Summary of
Individual Studies Carried Out Using the INPP Test Battery and
Developmental Exercise Programme for use in Schools with Children with
Special Needs
"High/Scope Supporting the Child, the Family the Community": A Report
of the Proceedings of the High/Scope Ireland Third Annual Conference,
12th October 2004, Newry, Northern Ireland
A Critical Interdisciplinary Analysis of Culturally Appropriate
Research Approach and Practices in Health Care and Social Work
Book Reviews A Safe Place for Caleb: An Interactive Book for Kids, Teens, and
Adults with Issues of Attachment, Grief and Loss, or Early Trauma Learn the Child – Helping Looked after Children to Learn: A Good
Practice Guide for Social Workers, Carers and Teachers Jerzy Szmagalski, Professor of Warsaw University, Head of the Department of Social Work Theory and Methods at the Institute of Social Prevention and Resocialisation Looking for some common denominator in the four articles which are presented in this issue of Child Care in Practice I would propose the term empowerment. Even though the term as such can only be found in Lynne Peyton's article 'High/Scope Supporting the Child, the Family, the Community', it is the very idea of empowerment upon which different concepts of work with children seem to be founded. Moreover, I would go further in this assertion. The idea of empowerment has been, thanks to these articles, broadened beyond the established limits of its understanding as a social service approach. According to widely accepted interpretation, it is an approach, which helps the service users to challenge their disempowerment, to have more control over their lives, and to be able to influence others and bring about change (Croft, Beresford 2001). The articles in question however are concerned (directly or indirectly) with building capacity for empowerment also at later stages of lives of children with special needs. The already mentioned article by Lynne Peyton is a report of the proceedings of The High/Scope Ireland Third Annual Conference in 2004. High/Scope is a codename for the model of early schooling that is meant to enable children to think independently and to problem solve. High/Scope Ireland is an organization, which promotes the quality of early childhood care and education. According to Lynne Peyton, this model was first introduced in the U.S. (1962) and subsequently adapted for Ireland in 1999. The overview of both the model and its resulting implementation, which includes forty years of longitudinal study in the U.S., demonstrates that the benefits of High/ Scope provision for early education in disadvantaged populations last well into adulthood. According to research evidence people who received it are less prone to committing crimes, drug abuse, and to suffer from long term unemployment. The overview of several conference workshops, run by accomplished High/Scope trainers, convincingly shows that High/Scope Ireland is able to spread the model among early education teachers in a way, which may be both attractive and convincing for them. The article by Sally Goddard Blythe is concerned with the academic achievement of children with Neurological Dysfunction. The author describes a series of studies which focus on both: assessing whether Neurological Dysfunction was a significant factor in the educational under-achievement of children and the effectiveness of a Developmental Exercise Programme for use in Schools with Children with Special Educational Needs. Both sets of studies yielded predominantly positive results. Both sets of instruments used in these studies (i.e. the assessment test battery and the exercise programme) were developed at the Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology in Chester, UK. As academic under-achievement in childhood is an indicator of the dysfunctions of adult life, releasing educational potential through movement (the model developed by the Institute) may contribute to the future empowerment of that category of at-risk-children. The article by Eileen C. Winter presents another approach to increasing the effectiveness of early childhood education. The so-called balanced or modified school year model argues for the rearrangement of the traditional school calendar to provide more continuous learning throughout the year. The author's overview of literature, as well as her presentation of the views of early childhood educators from two Canadian schools, speaks to the benefits this model may have for young learners. However, the author also underscores the fact that there is a lack of conclusive evidence on these benefits and that there remain a number of unanswered questions as to their effectiveness. Specifically, she argues that there is need for more research on the impact of the modified school year upon at-risk-children. Simply by addressing these questions the author provides a valuable perspective into works on development of early empowerment through effective education. The fourth article by Manfusa Shams and Lena Robinson is concerned with empowerment in less obvious ways. It presents a critique of research approaches used in health and social work research among ethnic minorities in Britain. The authors conclude their critical analysis with inventory of deficits they found in these research approaches. They believe that avoidance of these deficits can be achieved by integrated interdisciplinary research practice. According to them such research approach may help to provide culturally appropriate services to ethnic minorities of children and young people. It may be expected that such services will be more empowering as well. Finally, in the Book Reviews section the readers may find the recommendations of the three books, which seem to be especially appealing to the practitioners. These books address: mental health services for minority children and adolescents; the issues of attachment, grief and loss, or early trauma among children, youth and adults; the good practice guide for professionals and foster carers, helping looked after children to learn. These books seem to be the good source of ideas and practical methods of empowering both the practitioners and users of their services. Then, if the strive for empowerment of social services users is to be understood as one of the crucial elements of social services workers mission, this issue of Child Care in Practice seems to be a very enriching contribution to the works of those who take this mission seriously. The Readers' Survey that is added to the issue is consequently consonant with its prevailing tone, as it allows the journal's readers to empower themselves for taking their part in editorial policies of the journal. Reference Croft, S., & Beresford, P. (2001). Empowerment. In M. Davies (Ed.), The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Social Work (p. 116). Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
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