The 'child in need' and 'the rich child': discourses, constructions and practice Abstract Drawing on two principal theoretical perspectives-social constructionism and Foucault's ideas about power-and data from a study of sponsored day care for children in need, the article problematizes the concept of 'the child in need'-which plays a major part in current discourse, policy and practice in British social work-and explores how the concept is both produced from dominant discourses about childhood, and is in turn productive of a particular construction of the child and particular practices. A different experience, from Reggio Emilia in Italy, is described to make visible some of the assumptions that underlie the concept of 'the child in need'.

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Dillon, Jean (2011) Black minority ethnic students navigating their way from access courses to social work programmes: key considerations for the selection of students.

This paper provides an account of one university's experience of involving service users and carers in the delivery of the new undergraduate and postgraduate social work degrees. It poses the question as to whether user and carer involvement in social work education can be viewed as a means of promoting citizen participation or whether it is a case of manipulating relatively powerless groups. In addressing this question, service users and carers and social work tutors describe, from their own distinct perspectives, the processes in which they were both involved.

Given the imperative to redress the education inequalities between Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) and White students, this contribution explores advances and challenges from within Social Work education (SWE) in relation to the experiences of Black social work students. Drawing on critical race theories and the concept of racial battle fatigue, it explores the impacts of race and racism on students’ academic experience and wellbeing. It proposes the significance of relational wellbeing which has been a constant strand within Social Work education and comprises a valuable approach to the decolonisation process within higher education (HE). Linking this to critical pedagogy, it highlights the role of staff to build safety, confidence and trust to support students to overcome prior education experiences of under-attainment, disadvantage and social marginalisation. Despite the pervasiveness of managerialism within HE, which compromises the teacher-student relationship and emphasises measured changes in student ‘outcomes’, Social Work educators are invited to nurture safe and transformational learning environments.