Positive leadership and management in residential child care: what do these involve and how do we bring them about?

This short article reports on an interview with Graham McPheat, Senior Teaching Fellow, University of Strathclyde. Drawing on his experience as a children's homes manager and educator, Graham offers a starting point for debates about the nature of leadership and management in children's homes, and ways of bringing about best practice. Graham considers aspects of the 'leadership toolkit' by thinking mainly about the distinctions between leadership and management, ways of establishing leadership approaches in children's homes and the concepts of 'learning organisation' and 'managing risk'.