‘We weren’t trained for this’: Teachers, foster care and permanent care

Schools and teachers are increasingly seen to be an integral part of the welfare system and are expected to cope with very challenging children, many of whom are in residential or alternative family care. The longitudinal action-oriented research which is described in this article, highlighted the joys and difficulties which teachers face in supporting these children and their foster, permanent care and adoptive parents. Themes of role, power, control and support in the teachers’ accounts are explored and three implications for practice are suggested.