Capacity Building for Children at Risk: Building a Child's Capacity for What?
This paper provides some insights, considerations and discussion material from a social work student in an Active Learning Centre. A case study, a pilot program in Wodonga Victoria on a farm property will be used as a base from which to discuss how a school community, several families and individuals can integrate to build strengths in children so they can better cope in the mainstream school system.
The social worker's role in this educational setting is one of responding to the support needed by teachers in working with children at risk. There will not be a normal curriculum but one that aims to increase health and well being.In a program of capacity building the task of the social worker is to focus on the inter-relationships between all players, and how these relationships might model behaviours that lead to positive outcomes as determined by the development of each individual.
My experience in this program has been that there is conflict between whether it is for the betterment of an individual or the group as a whole. The theoretical bases are quite different between the medico/educational solutions and the strengths based solution focusses of the social worker. In working through these conflicts capacity building is often tested with the result not necessarily suiting either professional group. It is my assertion that for social work to be able to work effectively in an alternative school setting there needs to be at the outset a meshing of ideology if this program is to be developed and implemented successfully.