Today I am starting a six-week online course called Caring for Children Moving Alone: Protecting Unaccompanied and Separated Children, organised by Strathclyde University. The reason for taking this course, is that in order to help vulnerable children and to find suitable family-based solutions, it is essential to be aware of the needs of the children. Children from different backgrounds, in different situations, have different needs that need to be met to make sure that they are safe and that they are able to develop well and thrive.
When I talk about the need to provide training for people who are (going to be) involved in the care of children or in the decision-making about what is in their best interest and how this can be best served, I am not just talking about ‘other people’ needed training. That goes for me just as well and anyone. It does not matter whether you are already an expert in the field or not. However much I, or anyone else, may already know, there is always more to learn, as well as new discoveries made through research leading to a need for updating best-practice protocols.
This makes it essential to constantly look around for opportunities to fill up gaps in your knowledge, to further fortify or update acquired knowledge and to expand your awareness of relevant issues. Courses, webinars and conferences are one way of doing this, both through taking in the knowledge provided there and through the exchanges with the other people participating.
The exchanges with people from dozens of other countries, from a wide range of backgrounds that are all in some way connected to the care or protection of vulnerable children is extremely useful and valuable. I have been part of these kind of mini-forums as part of courses a few times now and the exchanges there are usually at least as educational as the course itself. It seems rather a shame that these mini-communities of peers can become a relatively close-knit group quite quickly, but then the course is over and the platform disappears.
This experience is starting to make me consider whether there would be an interest in creating a forum for a community like this separate from any course. As mentioned in the previous blog, I will not have much time to dedicate to Why Family-Based Solutions until September. However, if the plan sticks, I may look into the possibility of starting a forum of this kind later on in the year.
I would love to hear from people whether there is an interest in something like this, as well as what kind of shape would be preferred.
In the meantime, I’ll keep busy with the course and earning my keep. And of course over time I will be sharing new insights gained from the course.
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