Critical social work and competency practice: a proposal to bridge theory and practice in the classroom

Social work education in North America is increasingly focused on competency criteria and micro skills training for future practitioners. Market forces are transforming the nature of social work practice in Canada, and social work regulators are concerned about the lack of evidence-based competencies in social work education. Since the Controlled Act of Psychotherapy was proclaimed in 2017, social work practitioners are in a position to offer psychotherapy services; as a result, universities are under greater pressure to shift to competency-based learning that meets the requirements of a regulated profession. This has raised concerns about the narrowing focus on critical social work theory in preparing students for practice. The divergence between anti-oppressive and direct practice schools is widening with the result that many students have difficulty bridging the gap between critical theory and competency-based practice. This paper attempts to integrate both traditions by offering students a course that directly links critical analysis of structural barriers and client centered interventions. The course is part of a developing critical competency curriculum that focuses on methods of facilitating empowerment and change in the helping process by articulating key relational components between service user and practitioner from a critical-competency perspective.     

The Resilient Survivor—A Student Social Worker's Journey on Placement

This paper represents the continuation of my ‘personal and professional journey’ from social work student to social work practitioner focusing on my first Practice Learning Opportunity (PLO). Recognising the potential impact of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) in a classroom environment is as important as the potential impact on actual practice learning and practice. This is salient in the real world of social work practice as the potential misuse of a painful childhood experience has greater ramifications. Utilising the ideas and assumptions of social constructionism (including context and multivocality) the significance of silence from social work educators shall be examined in relation to self-disclosure as a means of aiding PLO learning and practice. This paper will also focus on the concept of critical reflection and its significance in exploring the transferability of a childhood experience such as CSA and personal and professional dilemmas regarding self-disclosure. This paper concludes by highlighting areas for consideration for both students and social work educators and conveys an important message regarding the importance of communication between students and social work educators.     

Delineating the Learning Process in Generating a Research Culture among Undergraduate Social Work Students: A Case Study of Student Participation in an Academic Conference

Conferences provide excellent opportunities for academics, HDR students and social work practitioners to network, learn and contribute to the general body of knowledge, and establish or maintain credibility, yet there is little research about the possible opportunities conferences may provide to undergraduate students. This article introduces the notion that undergraduate social work students have much to gain from participation in academic conferences, particularly for generating a research culture among students. It follows a specific case study of undergraduate students' attendance at an international conference by analysing their learning in the development of a greater appreciation of the links between social work research, theory and practice.     

MICRO- OR MACRO-ORIENTATION? ISRAELI STUDENTS' CAREER INTERESTS IN AN ANTISOCIAL ERA

The growing interest in social work education in Israel over the past 5 years, despite its current social and political context, was the impetus for this study, which attempted to identify the practice orientations of 119 incoming BSW students in an antisocial era. Two distinct, equal-size clusters were found. Half of the students were micropractice oriented, indicating greater interest in working with individuals, couples, and families. The other half were macropractice oriented, more interested in working with communities and in policy-practice and social change activities. Conclusions and implications for social work education are discussed.     

‘Providing a Link with the Real World’: Learning from the Student Experience of Service User and Carer Involvement in Social Work Education

Social work has long placed an emphasis on involving users and carers in the education of practitioners, an emphasis driven by service users and carers themselves, the value base of social work, and by policy and legislation from successive governments and regulatory bodies. Recent changes in regulation and professional standards in social work suggest a continuing commitment to service user and carer involvement. This paper argues that in order to ensure a sustainable commitment, there needs to be greater evidence of the value and purpose of such involvement. Whilst there is a considerable body of literature on this issue in social work education, little focus is on any impact on current and future practice of social work students. The paper discusses a research project addressing this issue from the perspective of social work students. Findings suggest that the involvement of service users and carers in their training was perceived by students as overwhelmingly positive, should be enhanced and that they believed that these experiences were taken forward in their practice. The paper also identifies key points that could inform best educational practice.     

Social work in Spain: a new social and economic reality to develop in practical academic training

This work focuses on understanding how the current Spanish economic crisis is generating changes in the social and economic reality in which social work degree students are developing their practical training and on knowing if this new reality has an impact on their training and on the vision, they can create of the profession. Using a mixed qualitative methodological approach, we aim to visualize and analyze the opinions and insights that both social work professionals and students provide. Online and face-to-face interviews were conducted with social workers working as practice tutors. Likewise, two focus groups were set up and social work degree students at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Spain) were also interviewed. The main results show that the new scenario creates a debate not only among professionals, but also among the students themselves. They value this stage as an opportunity to rethink their future professional practice. This article may be applicable to the European context, given that the economic crisis is affecting, to a greater or lesser extent, on the different welfare states in Europe.     

Personal History of Psychosocial Trauma in the Early Life of Social Work and Business Students

The incidence of psychosocial trauma in the families of origin of master’s-level social work students was compared with that of their counterparts in a nonhelping profession (master’s-level business majors). Students at one private college in northeastern Pennsylvania completed a questionnaire that sought to examine the extent of alcohol and drug abuse; physical, sexual, and emotional abuse; physical and mental illness; death; suicide; and other traumatic events, such as separation and divorce of parents, during childhood. Demographic data also were obtained. Social work students reported a high frequency of family trauma in early life that was significantly greater than that of the business students. These findings have implications for effective social work practice, social work education, and professional responsibility.     

Social Work Practice Placements in Aotearoa New Zealand: Agency Managers Perspectives

Agency managers are one of the key stakeholders in social work education, particularly in respect of practice placements. Managers play several roles within the placement context, acting as gatekeepers, supporters, mentors, potential employers and sometimes assessors of students. This study sought the perspectives of the managers of 13 social service organisations in New Zealand on practice placements. The findings of the study show that managers have preferences for specific attributes in social work students, including flexibility, humility, confidence and resilience. Challenges with placements are associated with student personal, interpersonal and cognitive capabilities, organisational factors and the tertiary institution. The findings also illustrate that the main benefits and motivations for supporting students are for the professional development of staff, completion of agency work, recruitment and workforce development. The article concludes that it is time for a new focus on understanding and supporting the development and assessment of student personal and interpersonal capabilities as well as skill and knowledge competencies. Furthermore, since managers are directly engaged with social work practice and are ultimately deciding which graduates to employ, greater consideration should be given to how institutions and employers can work together to determine which personal and interpersonal capabilities are relevant and necessary for the workplace.     

Gate‐keeping for professional social work practice

The profession of social work has difficulty terminating students for non‐academic reasons because of an inability to define suitability for the profession and to formulate concrete criteria. Although discerning who is, or is not, personally suitable to practice social work is bound to be challenging, there is a growing realization that this task must be undertaken. This study was undertaken in response to this challenge, and seeks to increase our knowledge base about the personal and professional dimensions of social work, which result in suitable and unsuitable practices among social work students and practicing professional social workers. This article examines data gathered on the subject of professional suitability from a focus group and a series of individual interviews with social work field instructors. The authors attempt to broaden our understanding of personal suitability for the practice of social work and to achieve greater operational specificity to guide decision making for social work educators, as social work educators ultimately must make the critical decision about who should be admitted to the social work profession. It is hoped that this study can serve as a building block for further research. It seems clear that the choices to be explored must meet our obligation to society in general, to social work employers, and especially to clients.     

Attitudes,Perceptions and Concerns of Student Social Workers: First Two Years of a Longitudinal Study

A longitudinal study was initiated by the authors in September 2001 to monitor the changing attitudes, perceptions, concerns and experiences of 32 social work students during their two‐year MSW training at University College Dublin, subsequently following the students into their first three years of practice. This paper reports on the findings from the first two years of the study, exploring how much the attitudes of the respondents changed towards different areas of social work practice while they were full‐time students. Both quantitative and qualitative data have been collected by means of mixed method questionnaires, taken at four points over a two‐year period, and a focus group. Issues examined included the students' changing perceptions of stress, job satisfaction and levels of expertise in different areas of social work practice. The study also monitored their willingness to work in specific areas of social work after graduation. Statistical analysis revealed that students consistently rated social work in the areas of child protection and welfare as requiring high levels of expertise, but they associated the area with higher levels of perceived stress and lower levels of job satisfaction. These attitudes remain relatively stable throughout their two‐year professional training. However, the study revealed greater changes in the students' willingness to work in different areas. For example, specialist family services such as fostering and child/adolescent became more popular choices for future work settings. This change was noted to have occurred between the start and end of the course. Also noteworthy was that general medical, probation and welfare showed the most negative change.     

Transference,Countertransference, and Mutuality in Relational Social Work with College Students

The college experience represents a major life transition from adolescence to adulthood, which is often fraught with challenges in relationships, identity formation, and communal belonging. Steady generational changes in self and relational identity have led to younger generations that increasingly embody a more interpersonal and less individualistic conception of the human person, with less rigid norms and greater openness to diversity. These characteristics make college students an appropriate target population for interpersonal psychotherapies based on mutuality of process. Relational therapy is a particularly fitting treatment modality for college students, as it focuses on these very qualities. This article reviews the current literature on relational theory in psychological and social work practice, describing its principal tenets and concepts, and applying this theory to clinical work with college students to reveal applications for constructive practice with this population.     

Exploring social work students’ attitudes towards feminism: opening up conversations

This paper reports on findings from a 2013 study of UK social work students’ attitudes towards feminism and the perceived relevance of feminist theory to social work practice. Building on an earlier, single-university exploration of students’ views, the study made use of social media (Twitter) to access opinions of students from seven universities across the UK using an online survey tool. Whilst it is not possible to make generalising claims based on ‘opt in’ research of this nature, the findings are nevertheless suggestive of some important issues for those working with social work students today. Principally, they showed that understandings of feminism in the student cohort were diverse and may be very different to the feminism that an older generation of academic and fieldwork educators may have grown up with. The article argues that it is important, in the light of this, to interrogate what we mean by feminism in our work with students. This will then allow us to open up wider conversations about power, agency and structure, thus bringing greater criticality and reflexivity to our teaching and learning.     

The nature of incoming graduate social work students' attitudes toward sexual minorities

Competent social work practice with sexual minorities requires educators to identify factors that can be addressed in the graduate social work curriculum to foster affirming attitudes among students. This study explored the attitudes incoming master of social work (MSW) students hold toward sexual minorities, utilizing a scale that addresses contemporary subtle biases toward lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people, rather than overt, fear- and morality-based objections measured in previous studies. We explored the role of race/ethnicity, age, sex, sexual orientation, religiosity, political ideology, perceived biological causation of sexual orientation, and LGB social contacts on students' attitudes toward sexual minorities. Multivariable linear regression results suggest that being African American/Black (versus White), older, and heterosexual (versus sexual minority), and greater religiosity (importance of religion and frequency of service attendance) and conservative political ideology, predicted less affirming attitudes, while greater endorsement for genetic causation of sexual orientation and exposure to LGB friends and immediate family members each predicted more affirming attitudes among our sample.     

Teaching and incorporating practice models in a human behavior in the social environment (HBSE) course

ABSTRACT

Human behavior and the social environment (HBSE) instructors do not systematically or routinely teach and incorporate practice models in their course. In this article, social work educators describe an approach to teaching and incorporating practice models in a HBSE course using a five-step adapted, modified version of Mosey’s extrapolation method for teaching master level social work students to evaluate and apply practice models. The authors use the Balanced and Restorative Justice (BARJ) model as an illustration to help social work students develop critically reflective approaches to evaluating and applying practice models. The techniques and guidelines outlined in this article could be applied to other practice models and used by social work educators and students interested in other fields of practice.     

Student Constructions of Resilience: Understanding the Role of Childhood Adversity

Resilience is a desirable attribute for social work and human services (SWHS) graduates. A history of childhood adversity may have led students to develop resilience, which is transferable to SWHS practice. Limited research has been conducted with students as to how resilience is formed and conceptualised. This survey of 265 SWHS students is the first Australian research to survey students about their conceptualisation of resilience and childhood adversity. Within the study, students resoundingly viewed resilience as a process that occurred often due to childhood adversity but also from the protective factors of family. Students' experience of childhood adversity allowed them to develop independence and determination, which led to the development of resilience giving them greater ability to cope with the stresses of SWHS courses. Exploration of students' conceptualisation of resilience and its formation provides an insider voice as to how we can assist emerging practitioners in their development of resilience for future practice.     

Field Note—Integrating Policy and Political Content in BSW and MSW Field Placements

Practice incorporating policy and political social work is a key component of the social work profession and an area in which students would benefit from exposure during social work education. Field education presents a significant opportunity for students to develop policy and political practice skills; however, individual and structural barriers may prevent students from developing practice experience in this area. Based on a survey of bachelor of social work and master of social work field directors in the United States, this field note examines the current state of policy and political practice field opportunities and examines barriers to offering such opportunities more widely. Ideas to facilitate these field opportunities, including curriculum-wide education about policy practice, relationship building, creativity, and identifying diverse placement sites, are presented.     

Applications of a Capability approach to disability and the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) in social work practice

As disability rates increase more social workers will require greater preparation to practice effectively with individuals with disabilities. The Capability approach and the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health provide helpful tools for social worker training. The capability approach emphasizes the need to assess what individuals are able to do in their real-life environments (capabilities) rather than capacity or functional status. The ICF provides helpful disability-related terminology and an actual classification to assist social workers to develop appropriate interventions that facilitate capability development among individuals with disabilities. Using the capability framework with the ICF will contribute to improved understanding of disability among social work students and practitioners.     

Ethical Teaching of Multicultural Students:

Within the last decade there has been an increased interest in teaching students about social work values and ethical issues in the classroom, as well as in field placements. Since students learn not only from what they are taught, but also through what they observe, the social work educator becomes an important role model for the student in learning about how social work values are operationalized. Just as traditional social work values of autonomy, self-determination, and confidentiality face many challenges in agency practice, the current cultural diversity of social work students calls for a reexamination of these values, if the social work educator hopes to effectively model ethical behavior. Above all, in the classroom and in academic program planning, social work educators must practice anti-discrimination behavior and gaurd against paternalistic attitudes toward students in order to educate ethically culturally diverse students.     

Challenges to Bridging Field and Classroom Instruction: Exploring Field Instructors’ Perspectives on Macro Practice

Field education and macro practice have been highlighted as central educational domains in social work education; however, little scholarship has looked at how macro social work practice competencies have been integrated into field-based learning. This exploratory study aimed to gain perspectives from field instructors regarding macro social work and the integration of macro practice into their work with practicum students. Consistent with scholarship that has elucidated the impacts of neoliberalism on social work, including the marginalization of macro practice, emergent themes demonstrated that field instructors face barriers to incorporating macro work into their training of students. Challenges include prevalence of the medical model, time constraints, and funding limitations. Further, field instructors observed gaps among students, their university, and their organizational setting in regard to expectations for integrating macro practice into field education. Recommendations and directions for future research are discussed.     

Social Workers as Boundary Spanners: Reframing our Professional Identity for Interprofessional Practice

One of the more difficult tasks for social work educators is socializing students into a professional identity. Social identity theory provides a lens to consider what is needed for a social work identity that will continue to be salient for students as they move into practice. Framing social workers as boundary spanners might offer students a professional identity that is congruent with core values, reflects what social workers do and places less emphasis on old debates about the profession. It also positions students well for work in the increasingly interprofessional realms of health and social care. I consider how social workers are well equipped to meet the demand created by ‘joined-up working’ for people with boundary-spanning expertise. Seeing ourselves as boundary spanners is one way to reconcile our professional and interprofessional identities, thereby increasing the chances that our students will continue to identify as social workers when they move into interprofessional practice.