Thinking from experience in psychosocial practice: reclaiming and teaching ‘use of self’

A course based on psychosocial theory and students' experiences in practice has been taught in the UK, Norway and Quebec. It departs from the classical social work concept ‘use of self’ and aims to help novices in health and social work to understand how the social world is internalised and re-produced and the value of thinking from experience. International developments such as, competency-based education, New Public Management and evidence-based practice reduce opportunities for experiential learning. This trend has been exacerbated by a focus on anti-oppressive practice without a corresponding understanding of how oppressive relations are internalized and enacted by defended and conflicted subjects. Attempts to rectify a relational deficit through traditions of reflective practice and critical reflection are important developments, but could be further strengthened by psychosocial and psychodynamic perspectives. The course combines critical, contextual and relational thinking for students in caring professions.     

Stumbling towards oblivion or discovering new horizons? Observations on the relationship between social work education and practice

What should social work education be training students for? What should the relationship be between social work education and practice? The first half of this article cautions that social work education, as currently constituted, may 'unfit' people. Principally, this is because social work practice, as envisaged by employer interests, has not been subject to the same critical scrutiny as social work education and has come to dominate perceptions of the training task. The dangers that follow from this position are outlined. The second half of the article proceeds to explore the contribution that practice teachers and tutors can make to enable practitioners to remain confident, credible, critical and creative in this practice environment. The article concludes with some observations on the future as envisaged in the proposals to modernise social services and to create a General Social Care Council.     

Disability theorising and real-world educational practice: a framework for understanding

This paper is concerned with the contradictions and tensions in disability theory that have generated an uncertain professional knowledge base in relation to the education of students with disabilities. This tension has produced concern regarding the enculturation of teachers into reductionist understandings of disability that limit the development of inclusive educational environments. A critical realist lens is employed to better understand the boundaries and contributions of three disability models and their connections to education practice. This perspective asserts that the models are social constructions of a real phenomenon requiring critical reflection on their adequacy for explaining and informing real-world practices. It draws upon the work of Bhaskar and Danermark to present a framework for positioning disability theory in a manner that may prove a useful theoretical guide for practitioners.     

Absent in theory,invisible in practice: Queering HBSE for a more inclusive social work profession

A sound theoretical foundation is a necessary element of social work education that prepares students to confront the challenges of practice with critical knowledge of the human experience. Queer theory is a strength-based framework for understanding sexual and gender identities that fall outside of the current social norms, and offers a highly relevant and useful pathway for the education of social work practitioners. Despite its utility for enhancing understanding and acceptance of gender and sexual minority (SGM) people, it is underutilized in social work compared with other disciplines. Additionally, this study reports on the gender and sexual identities of social work students and their endorsement of help-seeking behaviors related to issues of gender and sexual nonconformity. These empirical-based perspectives undergird the tenets of queer theory and support its application in research endeavors aimed at better understanding the human experience. A theoretical and empirical-based argument is made for the queering of HBSE to strengthen both explicit and implicit curricula in social work education. This study expands on the limited usage of queer theory within social work and directly challenges the normative and binary nature of sexual and gender identity evident within the professional literature and implications for education and research are offered.     

Preparing MSW Students for Integrative Mind–Body-Spirit Practice

Knowledge of new developments in social work education supports clinical practitioners’ professional development and their supervision of students and early career social workers. Integrative mind–body-spirit (IMBS) practice is a holistic paradigm that is emerging in social work education and the profession. IMBS modalities have a growing evidence base and are congruent with the healing practices of many cultures, thereby supporting culturally competent practice. This article explores the development, implementation, and outcomes of an elective MSW course designed to critically examine the IMBS and biomedical paradigms and introduce students to IMBS practice. Two sections of this course were piloted (n = 35) and pre- and post-assessments administered. Findings suggest that experienced clinicians can support the professional development of novice practitioners by encouraging ongoing exploration and critical assessment of the IMBS and biomedical paradigms and incorporation of evidence-based mind–body-spirit practices in their clinical work and self-care.     

Self-care: There’s a badge for that

ABSTRACT

Social work education has embraced a major shift towards competency based education. A core component of competency based education is that students must actually demonstrate competence. The ability to define terms or even to explain principles of effective social work practice is no longer sufficient. In this vein, social work educators are tasked with providing students a means of demonstrating an ability to practice necessary social work skills. Digital badges are a recent trend in higher education that can facilitate the shift towards competency based education. With this shift in mind, this paper outlines the requirements and benefits of a self-care badge. Students who completed the self-care badge completed readings on self-care, completed self-assessments and worksheets, developed written self-care plans, enacted the plans, monitored progress and completed a final report on the self-care practices. Overall, students described the benefits of the badge and the focus on actually practicing self-care rather than simply increasing their knowledge about self-care.     

Threshold Theory and Social Work Education

Critical reflection is a concept in social work education that holds a significant place—it provides both foundational theoretical ideas about the practice of social work, and is also a process used in career-long learning. Understanding critical reflection as a threshold theory concept—a higher education learning and teaching concept—providing a framework which assists educators in teaching critical reflection. Threshold theory identifies certain concepts as foundational within a discipline—these are transformative in profoundly altering the way students understand the subject. As with critical reflection, they are also integrative, conceptually difficult or ‘troublesome’ and difficult to forget.

The intrinsic nature of critical reflection makes its use as a conceptual model in practice a complex task: it requires the integration of theoretical knowledge, in a multiple-step methodology. Students must fully engage with the process, in identifying the impact of their lived experience, values and beliefs on their practice, as well as power, social structures and influential discourses. This article argues that threshold theory assists educators in understanding the nature of learning that is required for students to master critical reflection in social work education     

Linking research,theory and practice in personal and professional development: Gender and sexuality issues in social work education

It is important for social work students to learn how to articulate and develop their own personal theories for practice. It is also important for them to learn how to handle their own personal issues (which they often find difficult and prefer to avoid); and to incorporate them into their theories. In this paper we will explore some of the links between research, practice and theory by considering gender and sexuality issues in social work education. We offer some suggestions on introducing these issues to social work students in such a way that the development of personal social work theories is encouraged. Using examples from our current teaching practice about child abuse, bullying and domestic violence, it will be argued that the importance of theory for understanding and applying research, as well as for addressing difficult personal issues, has been seriously undervalued in social work education.     

Promoting sexual well-being in social work education and practice

This paper explores the importance of including sexual well-being within social work practice and education. Social workers often work with individuals for whom opportunities for sexual expression are limited and who face discriminatory attitudes. Sexual well-being is a global concern, and is particularly relevant considering international interest in the influence of notions of well-being on mental and physical health. Implementation of new social care policy in England, underpinned by the well-being principle, provides practitioners with the opportunity to explore what is meaningful to individual’s well-being through person-centred approaches to practice. There is currently little coverage of sexual well-being within social work education, this means students and practitioners lack the knowledge and skills to challenge barriers. Promotion of the concept of sexual citizenship, with its associated rights and responsibilities, enables social workers to engage in rights focused practice. Sexual well-being is a sensitive subject and the social and personal barriers practitioners may experience in addressing this topic are explored.     

From Mastery to Accountability: Cultural Humility as an Alternative to Cultural Competence

Cultural competency has been a long held ideal for social work educators and practitioners. However, definitions and approaches to cultural competency vary widely depending on worldview, discipline, and practice context. Within social work and beyond, cultural competency has been challenged for its failure to account for the structural forces that shape individuals' experiences and opportunities. In contrast, the concept ofcultural humility takes into account the fluidity of culture and challenges both individuals and institutions to address inequalities. This article takes a critical look at cultural competence as a concept, examining its explicit and implicit assumptions, and the impact these assumptions have on practitioners. It suggests that cultural humility may offer social work an alternative framework as it acknowledges power differentials between provider and client and challenges institutional-level barriers. The authors advocate a move from a focus on mastery in understanding ‘others’ to a framework that requires personal accountability in challenging institutional barriers that impact marginalized communities. Cultural humility, while a promising concept, has not been fully explored in social work. Therefore, the authors present a conceptual model of cultural competency along with strategic questions for providers and organizations to integrate into social work practice and education.     

Teaching Critical Practice: Resisting Structural Domination through Critical Reflection

This paper explores some of the responsibilities and challenges that face social work educators who teach critical practice to social work students. It is suggested that using critical reflection may enhance social work educators' capacity to prepare practitioners to work towards progressive social change and social justice, despite current social trends, such as globalisation, which potentially marginalise critical practice. This paper provides a reflective account of my experiences of teaching critical reflection to undergraduate social work students, drawing on critical postmodern theoretical underpinnings. Related pedagogies will be discussed which outline experiential reflective learning. It is ultimately contended that critical reflection is an important part of social work education and practice that is committed to enhancing citizenship, human rights, social justice and social change ideals.     

Editorial

Social work students' responses to research tend to reflect their anxiety about the acquisition of competency in statistics and research methods. Their desires to attain social work education and subsequently become practitioners are viewed by them as at odds with research as taught. Yet, within the current quantocentric culture—which the authors define as one in which quantitative research methods are privileged over other lines of inquiry—social work education is increasingly emphasizing research as a central component of practice. Using a ‘culture as disability’ framework to understand quantocentric culture and its impact on the educational environment, we suggest an educational approach designed to interest students in a broad view of research allowing for the wholehearted inclusion of non‐quantitative and practice‐related facets of research. The approach encourages students to: (a) fully articulate their perceptions of research, both positive and negative; (b) link these views and experiences to the anti‐oppressive social work literature and to examine research methods from the perspective of quantocentrism; and (c) develop an inclusive typology of research that integrates qualitative approaches encompassing historical, philosophical, narrative and other avenues that are relevant to their future social work practice careers.     

The Impact of Emotions on Practicum Learning

Nine mature aged, experienced practitioners enrolled to gain a BSW qualification in social work were interviewed regarding a course requirement to complete the first placement. At the time of interview no recognition of prior learning for previous experience in the field was made possible for these students. As educators we had experienced considerable hostility from students who believed they should be exempt from completing this course requirement. This paper reports on interviews with the nine students, where we consider how student sentiment about completing the practice learning component might impact upon their learning experience. As anticipated, some students expressed strong negative views about being on placement. However, others were much more positive about the experience. These mixed views prompted us to explore further the relationship between emotion and practice learning. The article begins with a review of the literature concerning mature student engagement with tertiary education, followed by an overview of theory and research related to the ways feelings and emotion influence learning. Using passages from the interviews, expressions of participant anxiety, anger and excitement about the practicum are discussed with the view to extending discourse about practicum learning to include consideration of emotional intelligence and investment.     

Group Work in Graduate Social Work Education: The Price of Neglect

Abstract

Although social work practice with groups is on the rise, social work education has neglected to prepare students for group work practice. The results of a 1991 survey show that graduate education has practically eliminated group work as a specialized area of study. Most schools offer group work only as an elective, and few students graduate with a course in this subject. Additionally, students in foundation courses learn little about group work theory and have limited or no group field work experience in which to develop practice skills. The authors discuss the consequences of this lack on student learning, faculty development, field education, and the social work curriculum. They make recommendations for schools and CSWE to revitalize group work in the curriculum.     

Weaving Sociology into New Zealand Social Work Education

Social work students and practitioners often struggle to apply sociological theories to practice situations. This is made difficult because the application of sociological theory for social work is still a contested area. To assist students and practitioners articulate and explain sociological theory in their social work practice, this paper introduces a practical teaching model—one that is theoretically rich and simple to use. The authors have used this model to teach sociology for first year New Zealand social work students, with pleasing results. Taught in the foundation year of degree study, we show that there is utility for this model throughout social work education, most notably in policy, research and practicum courses. Teaching sociology is not without its challenges, and these are discussed. We argue that this model offers students and practitioners a straightforward ‘nuts and bolts’ method that can easily be drawn on in class and in practice to guide sociological theorising. Further, societal and personal value tensions can be reflectively teased out. Importantly, the model allows for sets of sociological analyses to be rendered explicit for the practitioner, their colleagues and their clients.     

It’s not just about where someone lives: educating student social workers about housing-related matters to promote an understanding of social justice

The links between housing and wellbeing are well established, and yet failings of current UK policy and practice can result in severely limited and inappropriate accommodation options for those in greatest need. Access to appropriate and affordable housing should therefore be a key area of concern for social work professionals: such access is closely linked to social justice and the promotion of human rights. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of detailed research on the links between housing and social work practice, and practitioners have reported feeling ill-equipped to support service-users with housing related needs. This paper draws on the illustrative example of a teaching session developed by the authors to argue that educating social work students about housing-related matters not only reduces this reported practice knowledge gap, but may also develop their understanding of social justice. In addition to supporting calls for further research, the authors therefore encourage those involved in social work education to ensure that practice in the context of housing related needs is covered clearly within the curriculum.     

Cross-Cultural Perspectives in Social Work Practice and Education,Edited by Marta Sotomayor. Graduate School of Social Work,University of Houston,Houston, Texas, 1976. Price Unavailable. 177 Pp.

There is a growing imperative to prepare MSW social work students for trauma-informed evidence-based practice. Given strong recommendations and promising developments within social work education and practice in this regard, a clinical elective for the advanced-year MSW student that combines the guiding principles of trauma theory and problem-based learning was created. This article describes the course objectives, structure, and format and reports on an evaluation based on 7 (total) offerings of the course by 4 different schools of social work. The course methodology was found to be effective in all schools in significantly increasing students’ self-confidence in working with traumatized children, adolescents, and their families. Implications for social work education are discussed.     

Designing,Implementing and Evaluating a Social Work Practice Skills Course: A Case Example

Practice skills, such as communication and interviewing skills, are an integral part of every undergraduate course that aims to provide professional qualification for social workers. While there is substantial literature about the skills required to be a proficient social work practitioner, there is a dearth of literature about how to teach such skills and particularly how students experience such a course. By critically reflecting on the design, implementation and evaluation of a social work practice skills course, this article is offered as a contribution toward filling an identified gap in social work education literature. The course evaluation particularly highlights the importance of face to face interaction between students and teachers to the process of learning.     

Teaching without being taught how: social work practice faculty voices

ABSTRACT

Social work practice faculty have an important role in socializing MSW students to the field and practice of social work. This study, based on interviews with 15 faculty teaching an advanced clinical practice course in the United States, examines how faculty conceptualize teaching and learning. Faculty were asked about the theories or frameworks that guided their teaching, their own journeys to teaching and the resources that support their teaching. The study found that participants drew largely on their own experiences as student learners and social work practitioners and did not have much formal training in teaching and student learning. Furthermore, while half of the participants were able to identify a learning theory that guided their teaching, the other half were not. Finally, while participants articulated the need for support regarding their own teaching, many of the schools did not have formal faculty development opportunities. The paper ends with recommendations for supporting current and new faculty regarding teaching and student learning.     

Being the University: Liaison Persons' Reflections on Placements with Off-Site Supervision

Social work as a profession, social work practitioners and organisations, as well as social work educators are under strain due to global, economic, social and political changes and workplace pressures. Field education is recognised as pivotal in preparing social work students for professional practice. As social work practitioners, organisations and social work educators are exposed to external and internal pressures, social work practice learning with off-site supervision is becoming more prevalent. This paper reports on research that explored the experiences of key stakeholders in social work practice learning with external or, in other words, off-site supervision. This paper explores the experiences of university liaison persons who provided supported field education arrangements with off-site supervision. A range of themes have emerged, including reflections about bringing the university to the placement experience, creating student centred placement opportunities, the complexity of connecting the various players and the extra support and resources needed to support placements with off-site supervision. Findings suggest that quality learning experiences are about more than modes of supervision, that placements with off-site supervision increase the workload of liaison persons and that clear models and structures need to be developed to support emerging field education models.