Young people involved with radicalisation pathways is a child welfare concern and a growing risk issue for New Zealand, because of the rise of young people engaged in extremist ideas, groups and behaviours. This includes at risk and radicalised young people involved with extremist content online. To date, the contribution of family as a resource for diversion and intervention regarding youth extremism concerns has been absent; this paper offers practice lessons to illustrate. Family and extended kin inclusion is legislated in the Oranga Tamariki Act, best illustrated by the Family Group Conference (FGC), making New Zealand unique. Balancing risks and needs through the FGC rely on comprehensive assessments that help family members to understand the complexity of any given case and the very high stakes at play. Their contribution to diverting young people away from extremism can be planned for. A case study illustrates response practice in action, explaining how the practice framework guides, reinforces and supports family-based diversion and intervention practices regarding youth extremism. The social work discipline offers a necessary balance to law enforcement and security management and any slippage towards this, through an ecological and rights framed contribution that promotes and indeed implores family inclusion.

ABSTRACT With the growing population of emergent bi/multilingual learners (EMLs) in U.S. schools and the central role of language in mathematical sense-making, there is an urgent need to prepare elementary teachers to effectively teach mathematics to EMLs (Fernandes 2012; Roberts and Olarte, 2025). Providing equitable mathematics learning opportunities in linguistically diverse settings requires pre-service teachers to strengthen their skills to notice students’ mathematical strengths, linguistic assets, and resources. However, helping elementary pre-service teachers develop noticing skills is not an easy task for mathematics teacher educators. Our study examined three noticing tasks (i.e. video, interview, and written-artefact tasks) and the skills of elementary pre-service teachers to notice the mathematical thinking of EMLs using these tasks. To operationalise PSTs’ multidisciplinary noticing skills, we share a new noticing rubric that draws on the conceptualisation of an asset-based perspective. Our findings indicated that each noticing task served a distinct purpose in the progression of pre-service teachers towards multidisciplinary, asset-based noticing. While PSTs may recognise EMLs’ linguistic assets through field placements, analyzing written student work can more intentionally support their ability to interpret and respond to EMLs’ mathematical thinking across cognitively demanding tasks. We share implications for mathematics teacher educators and provide recommendations for future research.

Approved Mental Health Professionals (AMHP) are often required to assess people experiencing suicidal thinking and they must make difficult decisions in challenging circumstances that require a range of factors to be considered, not least the safety of the person being assessed. This study explores some of the inherent challenges involved in this work and considers the preparedness of AMHPs, the complex dynamics that inform decision making and finally how AMHPs are supported by the organisations for whom they work. The research is an empirical study based on unstructured interviews with practitioners working in the field. It identifies that AMHPs can often believe the person being assessed is not mentally unwell, rather they are experiencing what the study describes as ‘emotional distress’ relating to stressful life events. The study also identifies evidence that AMHPs feel confident to fulfil their statutory role and reach independent decisions, however, despite some very good support structures, AMHPs would benefit from more enhanced support following cases where an undesired outcome occurs. The findings hope to assist social work training organisations and employers by highlighting the importance of training related to this area of practice and the necessity of robust support systems for practitioners.

Listening to the voices of the people who use adult social care is critical for service improvement and development. There are both proactive and passive ways of achieving this. While proactive methods such as co-produced service design and satisfaction surveys are well-researched, there is limited evidence on the impact that passive mechanisms, such as feedback from compliments and complaints, have on improving adult care services within local authorities. This study examined the effectiveness of learning from compliments and complaints in adult social care. A survey and two focus groups were conducted with adult social care practitioners within a single local authority, focusing on whether feedback supports individual or organisational growth from practitioners’ perspectives. The research found that compliments and complaints are valuable development tools but need to be supported by reflective and quality-assured organisational cultures. While complaints offer valuable learning opportunities, it was the morale-boosting effect of compliments that was highlighted by practitioners, suggesting that sharing positive feedback can enhance workplace culture, support recruitment and improve staff retention. The study also highlighted the need for local authorities to better understand the demographics of those providing and receiving feedback to address the needs of marginalised groups and promote inclusive service improvement.

ABSTRACT Part-time work is often suggested as a panacea to the work/life challenge for teacher parents, and most notably, mothers. This paper reports findings from a wider study on the experiences of Primary and Early Years teachers who are also mothers. Four participant stories are draw upon, collected through unstructured life-history interviews with current teacher-mothers, then analysed using ecological systems discourse analysis (ESDA) to highlight predominant discourses. These include the benefits of flexible working, as well as barriers to accessing part-time work. The barriers include perceptions of flexible working and reticence from school leaders to offer job-share, as well as practical and emotional challenges that securing part-time work can bring. What is not captured in the recent literature is the way school cultures, senior leaders and discourses from the wider system could be an influential resource in supporting women to stay in teaching. It concludes that whilst the option of part-time work may be a supportive measure for some, for others it is an invitation to ‘work full-time effort for part-time reward’, both financially and emotionally. By considering individual demands and resources, part-time working models could be the ‘cure’ for some teacher-mothers; not quite a panacea, but certainly a useful tool in retaining some teacher mothers.

Preparing young people who have been removed from their parents for leaving alternative care is vital to their success as young adults. Most research on this preparation centres on care-leavers’ views of their support requirements. However, there is little evidence on how to develop practice guidelines for leaving care that may work in real-world settings. This paper aims to achieve two things. First, it presents a first-hand narrative account of a qualitative, collaborative and emic methodology for developing practice guidelines. The methodology emerged over four years through a collaborative bottom-up process between researchers and practitioners in South Africa. The author argues that this methodology may be helpful in other countries and practice contexts. Second, it presents examples of the resultant care-leaving practice guidelines, structured according to set headings and designed to be practicable in resource-constrained settings. While the practice guidelines, being emic, may not transfer across contexts, the author argues that the development process, the structure of the guidelines and the larger practice matrix may transfer well.

ABSTRACT This paper analyses recent trends in English Widening Participation (WP) policy over a six-year period from the introduction of the Higher Education and Research Bill and the formation of the Office for Students, up to the completion of Phase 2 of the Uni Connect project. It will draw upon the history of WP policy in England, especially the 1997 Dearing Report to assess whether recent policy measures have come closer to addressing the omnipresent inequality that is present within higher education. The paper will follow the journey of WP policy as it moves through a process of devolution into collaborative partnerships. This period can be defined by the planning and execution of the National Collaborative Outreach Programme (NCOP) and this paper will consider the efficacy of this programme within its immediate policy context. The authors will explore the successes and shortcomings of the policies that define this period and whether the developments discussed have brought England closer to the vision of participation set out by Dearing and by the needs of the contemporary context. It is concluded that the redirection of resources from WP to recruitment diminishes intervention effectiveness, thereby perpetuating inequality. Therefore, clearer WP strategies are required involving broader partnerships to counter market forces and ensure sustainable impact.