Mark Smith & Leon Fulcher 
Residential Child Care in Practice 
Making a Difference

Written by experienced practitioners and academics, this is a core text about the practice of residential child care. It takes as its starting point the fact that residential child care involves workers and children sharing a common lifespace, in which the quality of interpersonal relationships is key. Each chapter highlights relevant policy guidance and is developed around a practice scenario, discussing key knowledge skills and values relating to its theme. This highly practical book should, therefore, be of value to a range of students at different academic levels, from VQ to Masters, and to practitioners and managers in residential child care. The book draws on ideas from child and youth care and social pedagogic traditions and will appeal to a worldwide audience and provides a valuable addition to the emerging literature around social pedagogy.

About the author

Mark Smith worked in residential schools and homes for 20 years before moving to university teaching. He is currently Senior Lecturer in Social Work at the University of Edinburgh Dr Leon Fulcher has practiced in and taught residential child care across different continents for over 40 years. He is currently Chair of the International Child and Youth Care Network at www.cyc-net.org. Peter Doran recently retired as CEO of a residential school in Scotland, having spent his career in residential child care. Since retiring he has undertaken work for The Scottish Government on the education of children with complex support needs.