An Educator’s Perspective on Teaching Children in Care

The number of children in care has reached an all-time high, according to the latest figures from the Department of Education. As of 31^st March 2021, 80,850 children were in care; 679 in every 10,000.

These children need education just as much as any other. Teaching children in care requires attentiveness and attention from a tutor who allows the child to build up their confidence. But the methods of instruction may differ considerably from those in place for children in mainstream schools.

Formal education in topics like maths and English may be less important than overcoming deep-seated emotional and cognitive obstacles through a more adaptive way of teaching. In this situation, games are played and the student brings a hobby to the table. A game-based approach requires the tutor to be particularly flexible. They might rely on pre-established games like Scrabble or a more freeform, creative approach. This may be in the form of colouring by numbers, adding dice, Lego or anything else that interests the student.

On occasions the pupil may want to plan their own lesson. This may cause a challenge for the tutor. Nevertheless, a tutor who has prepared the session, should put this aside by assisting the student with some research and adding his/her own comments. The tutor should balance their own input with the work and research the pupil has done themselves. A pupil might plan a lesson out of a wish to assert their independence and showcase their ability to find out information.

A great pleasure of working with children in care is supporting children to express themselves through creative writing.

I feel it is vital to have a wide range of techniques and approaches. The tuition should be stimulating, thought- provoking and convivial for the student, whatever their specific problems like autism, ADHD or dyslexia (though I do not like getting too fixated on labels for students). It is paramount to discover the student’s strengths and develop them

Music is very therapeutic. As a music teacher who listens to music constantly, I include as much of it in my lessons to allow pupils to appreciate both melody and verse. One lesson I taught was based on Desert Island Discs, where I asked the pupil to select eight pieces of music that mean something to them.

This was particularly fruitful when teaching English as a second language. My pupil particularly enjoyed listening to the music from the ‘60s and ‘70s because the words were so clear, giving them the chance to soak up the linguistics and move to the rhythm. This active physicality - marching, clapping, singing - made it much easier to explain the concept of the present continuous tense in linguistics. It is so exciting for both tutor and pupil.

Finally, the tutor should always invest time in getting to know the pupil and helping them adjust to the transition from a school setting to a 1:1 situation. Once a healthy rapport has been established, then it’s only a matter of time before the pupil starts to develop a new attitude to their work. True friendships can be formed when teaching children in care.

Tutoring children in care isn’t just about English and maths. We have to be creative to include geography, history, biology, poetry art and music into 1:1 sessions that broaden the perspectives of some very vulnerable children.

Educators are driven by a passion for helping others, and nowhere is that more evident than when teaching children in care.