Professional Development in the Contemporary Educational Context: Encouraging Practice Wisdom

Preparing social work students to be effective practitioners is a complex and challenging task undertaken in a dynamic environment both in terms of the field of social work and the higher education sector. There have been recommendations that self knowledge, empirical knowledge, theoretical knowledge and procedural knowledge are the keys to high standards of social work practice. This paper suggests that the concept of practice wisdom is a useful focus for integrating these different aspects of informed practice and for focusing educational programmes for social work. As practice wisdom is more about process than possessed characteristics then there are important motivational and value-based considerations in developing wise practitioners. This discussion considers motivational and personal narrative aspects of practice wisdom so that it can be integrated into social work teaching.     

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.     

Readiness for practice: social work students' perspectives in England,Italy, and Sweden

The aim of this article is to present the views of social work students from three different welfare regimes—Italy, Sweden, and England—and to analyze in what way at the end of their training they feel ready to practice. Primarily, it considers the findings of a comparative pilot study conducted in the three countries. Specifically, the paper initially offers general comments on the European context of standards of social work competence and how these impact on the countries involved here. It then briefly discusses the three different welfare regimes that these countries reflect. Social work education is then given some consideration, including reflection on similarities and differences in each curriculum. We then review examples of previous research on students' readiness to practice, also referencing models of competence previously developed. After this we look in detail at the research study itself, with a short discussion of its methodological—primarily phenomenological—approach and modest scope, before we consider tentative findings in relation to the themes of theory, practice, and personal growth. The paper concludes with reflections on levels of competence attained and how the research might best be extended.     

Social work and digitalisation: bridging the knowledge gaps

The aim of this paper is to spark a discussion about how social work in England has responded to digitalisation thus far. It pays attention to relationality, the interaction between people and things and includes reference to the practice landscape, the places and spaces within which social work occurs. It calls for social work to revisit the idea of professionalism in the connected age, through outlining circumstances where practitioners have been called to account for online practices that have compromised public trust. These practice failings indicate that knowledge gaps, pertaining to digital literacies and technological competence in social work education and practice, exist. Therefore, the current requirements for learning and development, pre- and post-qualification, are appraised alongside the preliminary findings of a research project designed to examine the contribution of social work education to the digital socialisation of students in readiness for practice. The suggestion is made that social work should pause to consider ‘digital knowledge gaps’ before rushing to drive technology enhanced practice methods forward.     

Exploring Professional Stereotypes and Learning for Inter-professional Practice: An Example from UK Qualifying Level Social Work Education

This paper explores the concept of stereotyping from UK social work students' and educators' perspectives. It discusses findings from an exploration of inter-professional practice with two cohorts of final year social work students in a UK university. The authors adapted a questionnaire to initiate discussion about inter-professional working with BA and MA students participating in a specialist child and family social work module. This paper analyses students' responses to the questionnaire and explores wider issues relating to professional stereotyping and identity, discussing the usefulness of these concepts for social work education and collaborative practice. Results suggest that student social workers held both positive and negative assumptions about specific occupations/professions (such as medicine), and that these acted as a mirror or tool for reflecting back their own views of social work identity/ies. We argue that this pedagogic exercise in identifying stereotypical assumptions about ‘others’ may encourage the building of a positive sense of ‘own’ professional identity. We further suggest that students should be encouraged to construct a core social work identity that is dynamic and responsive to changing contexts.     

Social work students with personal experience of sexual abuse: Implications for diploma in social work programme providers

Social work training attracts a significant proportion of students with personal experience of psychosocial trauma and oppression, including various forms of abuse. This article considers some of the implications for social work educators. Sexual abuse is the oppression selected to illustrate this discussion because it is central to contemporary social work training and practice and it is the author's experience that student disclosures of sexual abuse are common. Emotive but unavoidable for both students and educators, sexual abuse issues demonstrate the need for programme providers to address their responsibilities to applicants, students, partner agencies and service users. Continued failure to do so ignores the risks of legal liability and raises questions of whether their practices are consistent with the DipSW's value base. DipSW programme providers are advised to take practical steps both to protect themselves and to provide appropriate support for students. They are asked to review application and selection procedures and urged to define the roles and expectations of course tutors and practice teachers.     

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.     

Social work values,anti-discriminatory practice and working with older lesbian service users

It has been suggested that social workers are not adequately meeting the needs of lesbians and gay men. This paper explores some of these concerns with reference to social work's theoretical underpinnings and value-base in relation to working with older, non-heterosexual women. The paper considers some of the particular issues that affect the lives and needs of older women whose primary relationships are or have been with other women. It concludes with a discussion of ways in which such issues may be addressed in social work education, training and practice.     

Translating knowledge into practice: using simulation to enhance mental health competence through social work education

ABSTRACT

Simulation-based learning (SBL) is an innovative experiential teaching method where students and instructors interact with a simulated client to foster students’ holistic competence in practice. Considering the context of North America where social workers are the largest service provider in the field of mental health, it is critical for educators to enhance competencies in students during the social work program. Guided by competency- and simulation-based, adult learning frameworks, this paper illustrates the development and integration of a range of educational activities into a treatment-focused advanced mental health course in the social work curriculum. We conclude by discussing how SBL enhances students’ mental health competence and provide recommendations when developing SBL in the mental health curriculum in social work education.     

Private placements in social work education: Opportunity or oppression?

This article examines the issues arising from student placements in the private or commercial sector. It focuses on private residential care for adults, as the most developed area of private provision in the UK, and explores the background to this form of provision. The article then considers the private sector placement from the viewpoints of the student, the private sector agency and the educational institution. A checklist for social work educators considering placements in the private sector draws together some of the key issues. The article ends with a discussion of the pragmatic, moral, logistic and educational perspectives which influence attitudes towards the private sector.     

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.     

Enhancing Competence in Health Social Work Education Through Simulation-Based Learning: Strategies From a Case Study of a Family Session

ABSTRACT

Simulation-based learning (SBL) is a powerful tool for social work education, preparing students to practice in integrated health care settings. In an educational environment addressing patient health using an integrated care model, there is growing emphasis on students developing clinical competencies prior to entering clinical placements or clinical practice settings. This article highlights the importance of SBL in the development of the clinical competencies of graduate social work students enrolled in a Social Work Practice in Health course. The development and implementation of an educational initiative using a family-based simulation scenario to enhance classroom learning for health social work practice is described, and recommendations for future educational initiatives using SBL are provided.     

Values and rights: Content and form in social work education and practice

Social Work values have been the subject of extensive discussion relating to interpretation and their application in practice. A new discourse of rights now demands attention. It is argued that social work educators have not caught up with the central importance of rights. They have, as a consequence, failed to examine the difference between values and rights, and the importance of maintaining a balance between beliefs and compliance. This article argues that an analysis of the relationship between values and rights, and an awareness of the ways in which they crucially influence practice are vital to shaping the activity of social work in a world where, some have suggested, social work has become post-modern.     

Resisting Neoliberalism from within the Academy: Subversion through an Activist Pedagogy

Teaching and learning in the neoliberal academy means that educators in non-market-oriented departments, such as social work, face several constraints and challenges when trying to implement an anti-oppressive, social justice focused curriculum. This article considers challenges that can arise with an introductory social work course in the current context of neoliberalism, especially when open to both social work and non-social work students. With a particular focus on larger class sizes, the use of precarious labour and the depoliticization of the classroom, the authors use an inductive, reflective approach to analyse observations made about shifts in the behaviour and engagement of students in the course. The authors surmise possible explanations for these shifts, considering changes made to the substantive content and pedagogical practices of the course. Through this process the authors propose that these changes represent an ‘activist pedagogy’ which may offer potential for anti-oppressive education with students both inside and outside social work. As such, the authors propose ‘activist pedagogy’ as a possible way to resist and subvert the neoliberal educational paradigm and to better integrate the principles and practices of social justice and anti-oppressive social work into the classroom.     

Rationalists, Fatalists, and the Modern Superstitious: Test-Taking in Introductory Sociology

As sociologists we are guided by a rational approach to understanding the social world. This rational approach is also evident in the way we test students. But do students approach tests from the same orientation that we take in creating them, or are they influenced by such nonrational orientations as superstitions? To explore this question the authors created and administered the Luck and Superstition Questionnaire to 426 students taking Introduction to Sociology. We found that nearly 70 percent of students indicate some level of test‐related superstitious practice. However, we also found that superstitious practice was largely unrelated to religious belief and practice, gender and race, educational performance and grade expectations, and end‐of‐semester pressures. These results are entirely consistent with Colin Campbell's theory of modern superstition. Superstitious practice in modern society is self‐sustaining–not integrated into social institutions or systems of belief–and only “half‐believed” by the very practitioners of modern superstition.     

Unlocking Doors: Providing MSW Programs and Students with Educational “Keys” to Social Justice

ABSTRACT

How can social work educators identify what constitutes social justice as a practice, as a social work stance? How can we teach our students to recognize this stance, to work toward it, to practice it, and to live it? Symbolic interactionist Erving Goffman's concepts of keys and keying, as underscored in his work Frame Analysis, provide useful tools for helping students to recognize the value of social justice within social work educational encounters and to apply this value when they enter the field. The concepts of keys and keying can also help programs to assess and amplify their commitments to social justice.     

The Conundrum of Balancing Widening Participation with the Selection of Suitable Students for Social Work Education

This paper examines how increased diversity through widening participation to higher education in England can be aligned to the selection of suitable students for social work education. It considers the implications of an educational policy directive to widen access and new professional entry requirements for social work training introduced in 2003. The assessment of students for social work is explored by drawing upon findings from a small scale survey of social work admissions tutors and examples of admissions practice. Written from the perspective of a social work admissions tutor at an outer London post‐1992 university, the paper discusses the opportunities and challenges that social work programmes may face when endeavouring to balance widening participation with professional requirements for entry into social work training.     

Social Work Education and the Neo-Liberal Challenge: The US Response to Increasing Global Inequality

During the past several decades, a ‘perfect storm’, resulting from the political–economic changes accompanying globalization, dramatic demographic and cultural transformations in US society and rapid technological advances, has created unprecedented challenges for the social work profession and social work education. These challenges include the widening gap in income and wealth both within the US and between the Global North and South; growing racial and class disparities in health and mental health care, education, employment and housing; a shift within policymaking circles towards fiscal austerity and policies that emphasize market-oriented and individually-focused solutions; and the changing nature of universities, student populations and the educational process itself. Although the formal documents of major social work organizations continue to emphasize social justice themes, the actual practice of social work and the preparation of students for practice, teaching and research have diverged considerably from this rhetorical mission. This is reflected in a variety of ways including, but not limited to, the uncritical adoption of ‘evidence-based practice’ as a cornerstone of social work education and research; the growing stratification of social work faculty; the increased reliance on untested online methods of education; and the emphasis on quantitative ‘outcomes’ as indicators of educational success. At the same time, social work education in the US has been unable to respond effectively to the implications of demographic and cultural diversity, despite the demands of its accrediting body, the Council on Social Work Education. This article will provide an overview of the changing environment of social work and social work education during the past several decades. This will be followed by a discussion of the impact of these changes on social work education and a critique of the response—to date—of social work educators. Finally, it will suggest some potential educational responses to these challenges.     

Outcomes focused user involvement in social work education: applying knowledge to practice

Abstract

This paper discusses an innovative approach connecting service user and carer involvement (SUCI) in social work education to social work practice. The research team, comprised service users, carers, social work students and module leader, worked collaboratively democratising the research process. At the University of Dundee, a core social work module facilitates students to spend 15 h with a service user and/or carer (host) gaining a unique insight into their everyday lives. During this time, hosts and students discuss two policy practice questions, responses to these questions are generating annual qualitative data, with study findings being disseminated at local and national level. The experiential learning students acquire from spending time with their host becomes the site of knowledge creation through involvement that is applied to practice. This paper reports on the narratives emerging from the longitudinal data (2012–2015, n = 90) on the changing landscape of social care in Scotland and the dissemination of project findings. We explore the intersection where the voices of service users and carers, student learning and social work practice coalesce. A model of outcomes focused SUCI is introduced as a template for meaningful, sustainable and outcomes-focused SUCI in social work education.     

What is clinical social work? looking back to move ahead

This paper traces the evolution of the concept of clinical social work and looks at where we are and where we are headed as clinical social workers. It reaffirms the view that clinical social workers intervene with clients presenting the full range of problems in a variety of facilities and in private practice and must draw on a broad knowledge base within a person-situation perspective and address the special needs of culturally diverse and oppressed populations. The paper also considers the move toward legal regulation, the role of private practice, the need for clinical doctoral education, the importance of new models for clinical research, and the significance of advocacy for a broad range of services to clients.