Abstracts

This paper describes a design for a course which aims to develop advanced practice skills in supervision and consultation for qualified social workers. The course model is based on an understanding of reflective learning developed chiefly by Donald Schon and recently discussed in this journal by Nick Gould. Some of the processes, risks and dilemmas for course members, course tutors and seconding agencies that are inherent in the course are explored through examples of reflection-in-action drawn from recent courses. Implications for the use of this approach with social workers' managers operating within a hierarchical organisational structure are explored.

The experiential element of the course, based on course members' work as consultant and consultee with another course member, will be developed more fully in a subsequent paper.

The potential usefulness of the course is discussed in relation to developing advanced practice in professional supervision, accrediting experienced practice teachers and, in an adapted form, enabling social work practitioners to develop a range of advanced practice skills.     

Placement visits by tutors from college based programmes

In recent years some social work tutors have been subject to considerable criticism regarding their inability to keep pace with new developments, including anti discriminatory approaches. In the current harsh climate evident in higher education and following the development of the Dip SW, agency approval for practice teaching and accreditation of individual practice teachers, the tutor's role in visiting placements has been challenged and questioned. The purpose of this article is to argue for a continuation of regular contact by the tutor with practice teacher and student during the planning, monitoring, assessment and review stages of a placement. The tutor's responsibilities are highlighted, acknowledging the power base from which they and practice teachers operate. The importance of empowering both practice teachers and students is considered, while also stressing the need for tutors to maintain standards on placements and to ensure the permeation of anti-discriminatory approaches in both placement learning opportunities and in tripartite meetings.     

Simulated and live practice teaching: The practice teacher's craft

The paper considers the assertion that students can learn how to practise exclusively through simulations, without working with real clients. The authors look at the benefits and difficulties of both live and simulated practice for the student's learning, and discuss two fallacies which, if left unchallenged, could threaten the existing arrangements for practice learning in social work. Finally, the paper describes practice teaching in terms of a craft.

This paper was first presented to a Conference of practice teachers and it preserves some of its original informality.     

Teacher Careers and Inhabited Institutions: Sense‐Making and Arsenals of Teaching Practice in Educational Institutions

This article advances emerging scholarship that emphasizes the benefits to new institutional theories of organizational functioning offered by empirical research rooted in the tradition of symbolic interactionism. I present evidence from in‐depth interviews with teachers from three high schools to show how individuals' perspectives about pursuing institutional goals are filtered through their accumulated experience working within those institutions. Findings show teachers develop what I call “arsenals of teaching practice” as they accumulate work experience, and this process creates a key source of difference by career stage among teachers that shapes their instructional decisions. I discuss implications for understanding the relationship between policy and practice, and extend existing theory of inhabited institutions by identifying a key way that people's sense‐making through experience drives institutional functioning.     

Perceptions of power: An exploration of the dynamics in the student-tutor-practice teacher relationship within child protection placements

Challenging the abuse of power is seen as a fundamental issue within child protection work which makes unique demands upon the practitioner. Within this context, the authors explore the dynamics of power that exist within the triangular relationship between student, tutor and practice teacher when practice placements take place within child protection settings.

The authors reflect upon three years of experience of co-ordinating student placements in the NSPCC in the North West, using their own first-hand experiences as well as retrospective evaluations of placements completed by students, practice teachers and tutors. They analyse information from a questionnaire designed by the authors to focus students', practice teachers' and tutors' thoughts on issues of power. The authors reflect on how these issues of power have both positively and negatively affected the quality of the placement and hypothesise that issues of power existing in the triangular relationship can mirror and replicate those present within families and systems where abuse occurs. The implications of the above for the development of anti-oppressive practice learning are discussed and various models presented as practice tools to be used by students and practice teachers.     

From Resistance to Involvement: Examining Agency and Control in a Playworld Activity

In the recent sociocultural literature, it is possible to identify at least three ways of understanding the development of individual agency in social practices: (a) through transforming the object of activity and through self-change, (b) through responsible and intentional membership, and (c) through resistance and transformation of the dominant power relations. This article puts these different perspectives in a dialogical relation to each other and examines the development of individual agency in the context of schooling. The problem of promoting student agency is that, although personal sense and motivation are crucial for learning and development, the need for control and order in classrooms often makes it hard for teachers to give space to them. To develop more meaningful educational practices, there is a need for a thorough understanding of the ways through which teachers and students deal with and momentarily overcome this contradiction in their classrooms and are able to enact or promote agency. The article introduces an empirical case study of Anton, a 7-year-old boy's participation in a joint narrative classroom practice. Anton's orientation and interest toward the narrative activity alters drastically during the spring, as does the teachers' understanding and attitude toward him. Moreover, in Anton's participation, all the three different formulations of agency just presented are visible and concurrently “in action.” The article creates conceptual and analytical tools for examining the potential that narrative learning settings provide for supporting children's engagement and development in classrooms.     

Abstracts

Reference is made to CCETSW's Paper 20:8, 1987, with its stated aim of ‘promoting high standards and good practice in social work through an improvement in the quality of social work education' and with its concern for the training taking place within practice itself. There follows a presentation of the view, that a course in which practice is the central subject, is crucially different from a theoretical one, requiring a different structure and the use of the material of practice as a main teaching resource; and that such a course could be at a high level, but needs lecturers from the universities and colleges to come out into practice to join with accredited teachers in teaching from it. Some illustrations are given of the use of practice material and of the kinds of frameworks available. It is suggested that the areas of emphasis described by CCETSW would facilitate and make more necessary such changes. It is important that there is an ethos common to CCETSW, the agencies and education.     

Shifts of students' learning styles on a social work course

Social work education involves knowledge, skills, attitude and feelings, and its multidimensionality should be recognised. Kolb's Model of Experiential Learning which conceptualises learning as a four-mode cyclic process is proposed as a compatible model in the study of social work education. Using Kolb's Learning Style Inventory, the shifts of the learning styles of 64 students on a social work course were measured. The expectations of subject teachers and practice teachers concerning students' learning styles were also measured. They are discussed in relation to one another and also compared with another set of US findings. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Children's rights in schools: what do teachers know?

The human rights of children are fundamental international human rights that protect all children against abuse by adults and caregivers as enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This study examines teachers' and teacher trainees' knowledge of children's rights as enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations General Assembly, 1989), the Public Service (Disciplinary) Regulations (Statutory Instrument 65 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, 1992) and the Secretary of Education and Culture Circular P35 of 3 May 1993 on the administration of corporal punishment by teachers in Zimbabwean primary schools. Data were collected using the Teacher and the Teacher Trainees Questionnaires on 300 primary school teachers and 150 teacher trainees, respectively, in Masvingo Province. Teacher trainees used in this study were attached to experienced primary school teachers during their teaching practice. The study found that the majority of teachers (76.3%) were exposed to the Public Service (Disciplinary) Regulations during their teacher education training. On the other hand, the majority of teacher trainees (60.0%) were not exposed to these Regulations during their training. The Public Service (Disciplinary) Regulations are used to charge teachers who violate children's rights within the school. The majority of teachers (59.3%) feel they are useful, while the majority of teacher trainees (60.0%) feel they are outdated and need to be changed. On the other hand, the majority of teacher trainees (55.3%) indicated that they were exposed to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child or the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (OAU Doc. CAB/LEG/24.9/49, 1990), while the majority of teachers (56.7%) were not exposed to either of these during their teacher education training. The study also found that the majority of teacher trainees (63.3%) were not exposed to the Secretary of Education and Culture Circular P35 on corporal punishment by teachers within schools during their teaching practice. It is clear from the ?ndings that the teacher education curriculum needs to be revised to take account of current trends and contemporary issues in education in the new millennium. Therefore, there is a need for the Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture to conduct in‐service programmes for teachers who are not familiar with local and international laws concerning the protection of children against child abuse within the school. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Travelling hopefully: Anti-racist practice and practice learning opportunities

This article has been written in response to the current developments in social work education which seek to make anti-racist practice a central requirement of social work training and to make it into a central component of good social work practice. In the present context in which social work is undertaken this will not be an easy goal to achieve without considerable commitment and attention to the detailed content and process of social work and the learning opportunities it offers.

The article focuses on how the teaching of anti-racism on social work courses is then followed through in placement experience and highlights the difficulties that can occur. It describes part of an on-going development and monitoring process initiated with college and practice based teachers at Bath University which is seeking to improve practice at a local level.

It includes a questionnaire sent to practice teachers and students, a practice teaching workshop and the development of a monitoring system for use in future placements. The research attempts to understand better what level of anti-racist practice can be expected of students in short placements and how this might be assessed. It also looks at the issues which arise for practice teachers in their agencies, the importance of management commitment in developing new forms of practice, and the support that is needed for individuals. It concludes with a tentative attempt to put forward a model for developing and assessing anti-racist practice in a placement.     

Thinking about a new social work curriculum

This article reports the findings of a research study into the responses of practice teachers to their recently enhanced responsibilities in providing learning opportunities to, and assessing the competence of, students to practise social work law. The article examines their familiarity with social work law, including their training, knowledge base, resources and employer support. A critical analysis is offered of the extent to which CCETSW's requirements on teaching social work law in placements are being realised.     

Visual and Other Aids

One way that people learn, remember and communicate is visually. We combine past experiences with new visual information to construct meaning. In this study, elementary teachers introduced their students to the peoples and places of the ancient silk routes using illustrations from two children's picture books, Marco Polo, written by Gian Paolo Cesaerani and illustrated by Piero Ventura (1977), and We're Riding on a Caravan: An Adventure on the Silk Road (2005), written by Laurie Krebs and illustrated by Helen Cann. Students in the lower elementary grades were more literal than students in the higher grades in their observations of the books' illustrations. The older students had more knowledge of China and were able to construct more meaning from the illustrations than younger students. They were also able to recognize the illustrators' intent and manner of representation. Additionally the elementary teachers suggested contextualizing the activity within a study of China.     

Becoming a Race-Conscious Social Studies Teacher: The Influence of Personal and Professional Experiences

In this interpretive case study the researchers examined the beliefs of 13 self-identifying race-conscious secondary social studies teachers from diverse racial or ethnic, gender, and school-context backgrounds. The researchers found that the teachers' beliefs and views of practice were generally aligned with the main assertions of critical race theory. The teachers described their personal and professional experiences as a major influence on their race-conscious beliefs and views of practice. Moreover, teachers in diverse contexts described having to learn how to navigate the different racial experiences of the students in their classrooms, while teachers in racially segregated contexts (predominately White, Black, or Latino) emphasized the importance of teaching their students about others. Finally, despite the teachers' regular integration of race-related issues into their required and elective courses, they expressed a desire to have more opportunities to teach about race.     

Developing Discussion Leaders Through Scaffolded Lesson-Study

In this study we report the findings of a two-year professional development study using scaffolded lesson-study to encourage and support four teachers' desire to use discussion with increased frequency and quality. We joined a collaborative community of practice made up of one university researcher, two classroom teachers, and a political science professor in the first year. In the second year, each initial teacher recruited one mentee from his or her school. The four teachers collaboratively designed discussion materials, observed each other lead the discussions, and then reflected and critiqued the materials. Our article reports evidence that lesson-study positively influenced the quality of the teachers' discussion facilitation, their appreciation for lesson-study as a professional development model, and their adoption of broader cultural principles necessary for independent inquiry-oriented teaching practice.     

Europe and the European Dimension in a Multicultural Context

This article is based on research into the European Dimension in the primary curriculum undertaken through interviews with primary teachers in a range of different European countries (Denmark, England, Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain) during 1995 and 1996 (Ritchie, 1996). Key questions for the research included the relationship between the treatment of the European dimension in the curricula of the countries concerned, and the teachers’ own ideas about Europe and the European dimension which underpin their practice. The article concludes with a discussion of the multicultural dimension in the curricula, and the relationship between this and teachers’ understanding of Europe and the European dimension. Recommendations for curriculum planners, teacher trainers and teachers as a result of the research findings are included.     

Open Adoptions of Children From Foster Care in New South Wales Australia: Adoption Process and Post-Adoption Contact

In Australia, adoptions from care are infrequent and mostly conducted in New South Wales (NSW) despite being legislated in other states. This qualitative study explored the experiences of the adoption process and post-adoption contact of eight foster parents adopting children in their care through the public welfare agency in NSW. The interviews were analyzed following a structured approach, by means of thematic networks. The study revealed that adoption processes and maintenance of birth family relationships depend on a number of factors (e.g., the behavior of the professionals, adoptive and birth parents, children's reactions, policy and practice contexts). However, the adoptive parents' experience of the adoption process was largely determined by the system, and in most cases this appeared to subsequently influence post-adoption connection in the families. The findings and the adoptive parents' recommendations are likely to apply beyond specific geographical jurisdictions. In addition, the reported complexities regarding connections through open adoptions at times resemble those tensions faced by children living in other family types such as those referred to in the foster care literature. Further research on some of these commonalities may expand in some countries the debate regarding adoption as an inherently contestable practice.     

Parental Support in Adolescents' Career Development: Parents' and Children's Perceptions

Using social cognitive career theory (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 2000 ), this study examined the role of parents' and children's perceptions of parental support in adolescents' career choices. A total of 94 Italian adolescents (30 boys, 64 girls) and both of their parents (N = 188) participated in the study. The authors tested a fully mediated model between mothers' and fathers' perceptions of support and career choice through the indirect effect of adolescents' perceptions of parental support and career self‐efficacy. Results provided support for the model. Specifically, both mothers' and fathers' perceptions of support predicted their adolescents' career choice through the mediating effect of the youths' perceptions of parental support and career self‐efficacy. These results have important implications for practice and underscore that parents need to be involved very early on in their children's vocational development.     

‘Building the boat while sailing’: The first year of an employment based diploma in social work

The Stockport Diploma in Social Work (DSW) has developed an employment-based route, which derives from the experience of operating the Greater Manchester Certificate in Social Service since 1975. The article describes some of the key issues which have been faced by the programme partnership in its first year of operation. These include organising the direct observation of students' practice, recognising the role change and demands made of practice teachers, and promoting the involvement of job supervisors in the assessment process, within the framework of CCETSW Paper 30. Difficulties in devising an effective means of assessing students' competency are explored, together with the underlying resourcing constraints which now face DSW partnerships. Some of the unresolved issues still facing the programme are acknowledged as requiring further discussion and a collaborative approach by all DSW programmes.     

Reading,Writing, and Revolution: Facilitating Social Activism in First Grade

This article examines how teachers can develop a sense of social activism in students through critical multiculturalism. Drawing upon data from a nine-month participant observation study of a first-grade public charter school classroom in central California, this article highlights how teachers can integrate critical multiculturalism within an elementary classroom by connecting artists' lives to social issues to raise awareness of social injustices, promote critical reflection and consciousness, and develop a sense of social activism. Particular attention is paid to how teachers can incorporate this curriculum into their own classrooms.