The Side Effects of Intervention?

Summary Are families worrying too much about ordinary, everyday difficultiesor are we trying too hard to help, resulting in a kind of systemsoverdose? Through the use of two case examples, the authorsexplore these questions, concluding that social work and otheragencies might be in danger of over-reacting, thereby addingto a family's difficulties. Strategies for change at the familylevel and within the welfare network are discussed.     

Adult Learning: Implications for Teaching in Social Work Education

Summary The new Diploma in Social Work (DipSW) requires practice teachersand academic tutors to foster student empowerment while at thesame time ensuring practice competence. A model for achievingthese aims is that of adult learning. This paper traces thedevelopment of adult learning research and offers suggestionsfor effective teaching methods. It argues that the principlesof adult learning could provide a unified framework for professionaltraining and that, moreover, this educational approach couldbe used to benefit social work practice itself.     

Curriculum Designs for Social Work Education: Some Problems and Possibilities

Correspondence to Ms V. Coulshed, Head of School, School of Social Work, Tasmanian Institute of Technology, Tasmania 7250, Australia Summary Internationally, social work programmes continue to seek curriculumdesigns which are coherent, integrated and encourage the transferof learning from one knowledge area to another. In the UK, theCentral Council for Education and Training in Social Work (CCETSW),has proposed a new form of training: by lengthening the periodof training, collaborating more closely with agencies and ensuringspecial competence in at least one sphere, the CCETSW plansto provide the l99( with a highly competent work-force. Thispaper explores the feasibility of so doing within a three-yearfoundation course. It examines some of the existing problemsin course content and structure which the new programmes, farfrom remedying, may actually worsen. Some beginning thoughtson models of curriculum design, which offer possibilities forcoherence, integration and knowledge transfer are suggested.