Teaching
David has taught courses on assessing and reforming child welfare systems, action research, and poverty in New York City
Most recently he has taught at the University of Central Lancashire (England) and Harvard University in the United States.
Most recent course description:
Analyzing and Reforming Child Welfare Systems
Taught with Andy Bilson in April 2019
At the University of Central Lancashire
Overview: This 5 day masterclass provides a theoretical and practical guide to analyzing and reforming child protection systems in high, middle and low-income countries.
Guest Presenters share a series of case studies of system change in different countries using strategies including top down, bottom up, middle out and when regimes change.
Guest presenters included:
- the Better Care Network
- Family for Every Child
- Hope and Homes for Children
- UNICEF
The use of theories: Sociological and systemic theories provide a framework to understand the operation of systems and to identify, plan, implement, and evaluate strategies for change.
The sociological theories focus on issues of power and culture. They indicate the need for a countervailing force to bring about institutionalized change such as the empowerment of parents, communities or other constituencies.
Systemic practice stresses the need to understand and challenge the assumptions that lead to harmful patterns of response to children and families. The approach involves reflexive conversations involving engagement, emotion and explanation. Participants also explore effective use of information and research for system change.
Andy Bilson and David Tobis taught a course together at the University of Central Lancashire, England. The week-long master class focused on analyzing and reforming child protection systems. This is a picture of them that appeared in The Guardian.
Preparation: Participants prepare for the 5 day program through exercises to reflect on their experience of child protection reform. They work in small groups to consider processes of change relevant to their cultural and country context.
During the 5 day program students identify an area of reform, produce an analysis of this area, and a plan for system reform. Students receive consultancy on their plan from other participants and trainers during the program.
The students included representatives from UNICEF, national and local governments, foundations, service providers, and advocacy organizations. Students came from Egypt, Morocco, England, the Netherlands, Rwanda, Bulgaria, Maldives, and Australia.