Diplomas must remove children's workforce stigma
Cathy Wallace
Friday, March 14, 2008
The head of a leading children's charity has said the introduction of 14-19 diplomas must be used to remove any stigma associated with working with children and young people.
Paul Ennals, the chief executive of NCB and chair of the Children's Workforce Network, said work in the children and youth sector must not be seen as a career for people who are unsuited to university.
Ennals said the diploma in Society, Health and Development, to be launched from September, could be the key to removing the stigma.
"A lot of training to work with children is around those young people who aren't good at getting academic qualifications," he told delegates at the Early Childhood Forum's Working for Children conference in Birmingham.
"Are we training people to work with children if they're not clever enough to go to university? That's been the case historically and I want young people to see working with children as a viable option."
Ennals also called for an end to in fighting between professions within the children's workforce, such as teachers and social workers.
"It's become common for people in one part of the workforce to slag off people in other parts," he said. "Teachers slag off social workers for never returning their calls and think their job is taking children away from families. Social workers think teachers are up themselves.
"Our sector has been so bad at being good with each other. We value the children and families we work with but go into a staff room or a team meeting and you can be sorely embarrassed."
He said part of the reason different professions struggle to respect each other is the current training system, and the new Integrated Qualifications Framework should help with this problem.
Ennals said when he asked professionals in disciplines such as youth work, teaching and social work for a list of values that made them unique, the same values and standards were coming up again and again.
"The process of developing a common set of values across the children's workforce is a piece of cake," he said. "The heart is the same."
Ennals said the diploma in Society, Health and Development, to be launched from September, could be the key to removing the stigma.
"A lot of training to work with children is around those young people who aren't good at getting academic qualifications," he told delegates at the Early Childhood Forum's Working for Children conference in Birmingham.
"Are we training people to work with children if they're not clever enough to go to university? That's been the case historically and I want young people to see working with children as a viable option."
Ennals also called for an end to in fighting between professions within the children's workforce, such as teachers and social workers.
"It's become common for people in one part of the workforce to slag off people in other parts," he said. "Teachers slag off social workers for never returning their calls and think their job is taking children away from families. Social workers think teachers are up themselves.
"Our sector has been so bad at being good with each other. We value the children and families we work with but go into a staff room or a team meeting and you can be sorely embarrassed."
He said part of the reason different professions struggle to respect each other is the current training system, and the new Integrated Qualifications Framework should help with this problem.
Ennals said when he asked professionals in disciplines such as youth work, teaching and social work for a list of values that made them unique, the same values and standards were coming up again and again.
"The process of developing a common set of values across the children's workforce is a piece of cake," he said. "The heart is the same."
