Dr Robin Dallas-Childs
Postdoctoral Fellow
Education and Society, School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Law
Contact
Biography
I studied Philosophy at the University of Leeds before a 15 year career in London working variously as a youth worker, education programme manager and head of school for pupils described as having social, emotional and behavioural needs (SEBN).
My PhD, completed at the University of Edinburgh in 2023, focused on the experiences of young people who have spent time in residential schools and residential child care in Scotland, particularly in relation to their developing identities and senses of self. At the University of Edinburgh’s Moray House School of Education and Sport, alongside postgraduate tutoring roles, I was Research Associate for Beyond Behaviour, a Scotland wide study that looked at the social impact of (non) diagnosis of secondary school pupils identified as having behavioural and neurodevelopmental disorders.
In 2023, I was awarded an ESRC postdoctoral fellowship to disseminate findings from my doctoral research with the broad aim to explore and further develop the potential of socio-educational approaches to child social care in Scotland.
Publications
MacLeod, G., Dallas-Childs, R., Brough, C. & Toye, M. (2021). 'She just got me’: Supporting care-experienced young people negotiating relationships and identities at school. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs. 21(1), 25-35. Dallas-Childs, R. & Henderson, D. (2020). Home and belonging: Mapping what matters when moving one. Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care, 19(2), 32-49.
Awards
- 2023 -2024 Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Postdoctoral Fellowship
Research
My research spans education and child social care. I have a particular interest in young people’s understanding of their identities and senses of self as they navigate within and move beyond the institutions of school and social care.
I explore the types of relationships, environments and practices that support identity and self-development amongst young people in care and those who, for various reasons, struggle to engage with mainstream education.
I draw largely on sociological and philosophical literature and am interested in how philosophical thinking might further contribute to the theorisation of child social care research and practice.