The Holbrook Group was founded in 1990 to provide a forum for and to co-ordinate research in the field of residential education and care for children. From the start its membership included experts from the social services together with those from education. All members had practical experience in their fields and all had conducted some research. At first, the work was directed towards the Children Act and two books were produced: Anderson, E W and Davison, A J (Editors) 'Applying the Children Act (1989) in Boarding and Residential Environments', London, David Fulton, 1993, pp220; Anderson, E W (Editor) 'In Loco Parentis: Training Issues In Boarding and Residential Environments', London: David Fulton, 1994 pp213. At the conclusion of the work on the Children Act, several members left the group and the focus was deliberately changed. By that time, the group had been in existence for six years and had become relatively well known in schools, the special needs sector and in the relevant government departments. Most importantly, it had established the fact that the problems of residential children in any setting tend to be much the same although the severity obviously varies. It had also espoused the idea that there should be a full career available in the care of children in boarding and residence. In continental Europe, the social pedagogue or 'edukateur' is such an established position. It seems appropriate that in Britain some people in education might wish to have an entire career, the focus of which is upon living with and caring for children. They might also teach an academic subject but that would not be the focus of their career.
Encouragement for the extension of the research in residential education and child care came from two sources. During 1994 I had visited a variety of schools and children's homes in several Middle Eastern, South African and South East Asian countries. The abiding impression was that the problems and issues were very much those which we experience in Britain. Furthermore, we have far more academic and practical support available than any of the countries I visited. The practitioners stressed the need for guidance and training which could well be provided from our experience.
While visiting these various establishments, I was also working on a United Nations supported project on the global disaster relief system. In discussing their various problems with the senior officers of UNICEF, New York, it was put to me that Britain was ideally placed to produce at least one solution. At the time, there were about one million children in Central Africa without families or homes. It was quite clear that any idea of fostering or adoption was not possible and therefore it was suggested that some transferable form of small-scale residential care should be developed. Although some countries have a higher number of children or percentage of children in residential education and care than Britain, we are always regarded as the nation with the greatest experience and expertise.
Having established, through the University of Durham, a Department for International Development (DFID) funded UNICEF project in the Middle East, I was able to collect the data on the problems of children in a particularly fraught environment. This enabled me to present a case both to DFID and later to the Holbrook Group.
The Holbrook Group in the second phase of its work has retained its multi-disciplinary nature but has recruited several more eminent practitioners from the social services sector. The Group was most enthusiastic about the possibility of developing programmes for street children, particularly as these might be transferable to any country in the world.
Two long residential weekends were spent developing the basis for the programme in which the fundamentals of residential care have been identified. From the bases for survival such as food and water, a full social skills programme both for the individual and for group living has been developed. This links in directly with the later requirements for education. The project aims to fill the gap between survival and education, in other words, the process of socialisation. This may seem a long way from boarding but, in fact, it is the same variables such as self-discipline and self-esteem which are considered. The project has received initial support from DFID.
About the author:
Professor Ewan Anderson, Professor of Geopolitics, University of Durham, is a Member of the Privy Council Education Panel, the Wagner Development Group for Child Care, the Department of Health Advisory Group on Residential Child Care and the Holbrook Group (Chairman). He was invited to give written and verbal evidence to the Utting Committee (Children's Safeguards Review).
