Editorial

This article describes the development of a new degree course (incorporating the DipSW) which has been designed to address the issue of 'relevance' in professional level education for the residential child care sector in Scotland. Funded by the Scottish Executive, a new body--the Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care--has been charged with devising and delivering a continuum of training, education and other resources to the sector in order to improve the quality of the residential experience of young people. One central element in this provision is the development of a BA/DipSW course that meets CCETSW requirements via a 'particular pathway' in residential child care. The article outlines some of the innovatory features of the course, the first of its kind in the UK, and identifies some of the perspectives that will inform the course curriculum. Brief comparisons are made with developments in the field of child and youth care elsewhere and attention is paid to issues around the provision of practice learning opportunities.     

Social Work Students' Pre-placement Anxiety: An International Comparison

This paper compares the degree and nature of anxiety experienced by American and Israeli social work students as they anticipate beginning field placement. Despite having greater prior exposure to social work through relevant coursework and experience, American students were significantly more anxious than Israeli ones. Overall, Americans reported a slightly higher sense of preparedness, but this difference was not statistically significant. While there were some shared worries, notably regarding the quantity and quality of field instruction, and their capacity to meet both field and academic obligations, specific concerns regarding field agencies, clients, and social work education differed between the groups, likely reflecting the distinct social, cultural, historical and educational contexts. Implications for social work education and future research are discussed.     

Social Development and Minimum Standards in Social Work Education in South Africa

This paper evaluates how well South African minimum standards for social work education, known as Exit Level Outcomes, are aligned to a social development paradigm. Developmental social work is a relatively new approach in social work education internationally, and this article can therefore provide lessons for other countries using this paradigm in an education model based on national minimum standards.

The complexities and difficulties of using a minimum standards approach in education are discussed and the policy context for the development of these standards in South Africa is explained. The use of a social development framework for the analysis is motivated in relation to its relevance to the social context. Nine criteria for a social development perspective were drawn from the literature to form an analytical framework. A content analysis using this framework was done on the minimum standards.

The results show that the minimum standards are generally aligned with social development principles that drive national priorities, but a few significant gaps exist, which are outlined and discussed. This article attempts to grapple with the complexities of using these minimum standards to drive both curricula related and extra curricula activities in social work education in South Africa     

Anti-Oppressive Practice and Social Work Students' Portfolios in Scotland

Anti-oppressive practice is seen by social work educators as a key approach to social work in the UK. However, controversies exist about its use in practice. Recent literature has criticised the complexities and problematics of anti-oppressive practice. An examination is made of the content of portfolios completed by social work students undertaking a final practice learning opportunity on a post-graduate programme in Scotland. The findings indicate that students gave considerable attention to power, empowerment and partnership but there was also an apparent general acceptance of agency policies, procedures and wider structural oppression. Also some aspects of social divisions and forms of oppression such as gender, age, disability and language received considerable attention while others such as ‘race’, class, sexuality and religion received less attention. Limitations of the research are noted. Suggestions for improvement in considering anti-oppressive material include a focus on both micro and macro issues, ranging from the structure for the portfolio and the content of supervision discussions through to agency policies and procedures and the national guidelines provided to social work programmes.     

Student Views on Good Practice in Social Work Education

This article focuses on the delivery of a social work degree programme in England, one of the constituent jurisdictions of the United Kingdom, and explores student perceptions of their learning experience and what constitutes effective teaching. The data are drawn from a larger research project which is ongoing and focuses upon the specific ways in which the BSc Hons Social Work degree at a university in the East Midlands prepares students to meet the demands of employers. Linked to the national evaluation of the new social work degree, social work academics at the university worked with final year social work degree students as co-researchers to evaluate student views on the quality of teaching practices across the teaching team.     

Special issue: Training and Education for Residential Child Care

This paper begins by locating the (controversial) removal of the ‘minimum age at qualification’ regulation in 2003 within the context of wider changes occurring within social work education and the social work profession. This is followed by a report of a small scale exploratory study designed to gather data regarding the experiences of younger students within one undergraduate qualifying programme. The data are then discussed in relation to literature from within social work and allied disciplines in order to consider themes such as ‘identity’, ‘othering’ and ‘recognition’. It is suggested from data gathered during this project that although the gates to social work education have now been opened more widely to school leaving students, they have in effect become social work's new ‘non-traditional’ students and in some cases, inclusion is experienced as partial rather than complete. A discussion of the implications for further research as well as teaching, learning and group process issues on professional programmes concludes this paper.

The initial phase of the research for this paper was funded by an HEA SWAP ‘small projects’ grant.     

The Journey Around My PhD: Pitfalls,Insights and Diamonds

Embarking on postgraduate research involves making a transition from practitioner to researcher. While there is a well established body of knowledge to address research methodology, it is presented in a fashion that suggests the research process is straightforward and linear and fails to offer insights into the ways postgraduate students construct their researcher identities. This paper will draw on the authors' experiences as PhD students and highlight what was learned about the research process from involvement in a research project. The paper will highlight some of the challenges of undertaking postgraduate research as well as some of the insights gained.     

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.     

Work-based Supervisors: The Neglected Partners in Practice Learning

The introduction of the Degree in Social Work programme in 2003 prompted considerable diversification in arrangements for practice supervision, teaching and assessment. A small scale exploratory study was undertaken into a model which utilises work-based supervisors, working in tandem with off-site practice teachers who are primarily responsible for the assessment of student social workers. The study focused on exploring the experiences of work-based supervisors and off-site practice teachers working to this model. The findings pointed to increased anxiety and confusion about roles amongst work-based supervisors and off-site practice teachers. Work-based supervisors described themselves as the ‘neglected partners’ in the learning process, taking on most of the work, but with limited recognition, reward or status. Work-based supervisors valued the new range of professional development opportunities to support them in their role but had difficulty in accessing these due to other professional commitments.