This article is based on a study commissioned to find out how agencies providing children's services in England used workforce development research in the transformation of children's services. Workforce development research is primarily about how new organisational practices are learnt, embedded and developed. Survey and case study methods provided broad and in-depth data that was mapped against a typology developed to capture a diverse range of research activities.Findings: Three cross-cutting themes were identified from the analysis: the involvement of children and young people in workforce development research; the development of reflective practice; and the significance of inter-organisational learning cultures. Workforce development research can contribute to a creative culture of inquiry shaping change processes especially where both practitioners and children and young people are involved. In some specialist areas a lack of engagement was attributed to the demands of complex practice and bureaucracy, but in other similar contexts, learning cultures were evident.Application: Accounts of learning cultures producing active concepts of childhood link with 'new' childhood studies and contrast with accounts of crisis management informed by individualised models of 'problem families' highlighted in critiques of neo-liberal forms of government. The study shows that this opposition is not an inevitable consequence of complex practice or service configuration per se, but is contingent on a range

The Every Child Matters change agenda is leading to the creation of new services and new working practices across the children and young people's sectors. These new configurations are leading to the development of new roles that do not necessarily fit with existing, traditional professional qualifications. This paper outlines the response of one university to this policy agenda. The experience of inter‐disciplinary collaboration and interprofessional curriculum development has mirrored many of the challenges facing colleagues in practice settings. In reflecting on these challenges, this study highlights some of the key issues facing higher education providers in developing an appropriate educational response. The study identifies the need for collaborative and strategic partnership between higher education and practice colleagues in order to prepare a future workforce. It further identifies the desirability of a champion with the capacity and determination to keep the agenda from getting lost within all the other uni‐disciplinary agendas that operate within universities.

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