12th UK Joint Social Work Education Conference with the 4th UK Social Work Research Conference
Programme for Wednesday 30th June
View Wednesday programme View Thursday programme View Friday programme Outline version PDF versionJoint Social Work Education Conference Social Work Research Conference
07:30 - 09:00
Restaurant
Breakfast for Tuesday arrivals
10:00 - 10:45
Exhibition area
Arrival, registration and coffee (served in exhibition area)
11:00 - 12:15
Auditorium
Welcome and opening keynote
12:15 - 13:15
Restaurant
Lunch
13:15 - 14:30
Breakout rooms
Parallel session 1
The Social Work Task Force Final Report made four recommendations relating to career development and continuing professional development, including creation of a an assessed and supported year in employment as the final stage in becoming a social worker; a more coherent and effective national framework for the continuing professional development of social workers, including introduction of a Master’s in Social Work Practice; dedicated programmes of training and support for front line social work managers; and a single, nationally recognised career structure for social work.
As the Task Force Reform Board takes the programme of reform forward through its Implementation Plan, it is timely to explore issues, share experiences, and debate progress in achieving these recommendations. An over arching question to consider is whether the career framework, linked to a continuing professional development framework, will provide a key to successful reform. Other questions include:
What changes will result for current post qualifying awards?
How will the proposed career structure align with a continuing professional development framework?
How will the Assessed Year in Employment fit with current NQSW programmes, PQ and CPD?
What is the timing for introducing changes?
What are the potential contributions of front line managers to supporting continuing professional development?
How will universities contribute to the assessed year in employment and to continuing professional development?
What contributions will practice educators make?
What are the likely demands on resources?
The workshop will explore these issues first by providing information on progress towards reform, and then inviting active sharing and critical debate. Participants will be encouraged to identify contributions that can be carried forward into the ongoing work of the Task Force Reform Board.
This paper contrasts the virtues and vices of the positivist and constructivist paradigms in social work education research and highlights the dearth of studies rooted in a critical paradigm. Questions will be raised in respect of the compatibility of different paradigms with social work values and the possibility of combining approaches in future research into social work education.
The main example of research rooted in a positivist paradigm is the study published by the evaluation of the social work degree in England team in 2008. This generated standardised data from students' responses to survey questionnaires and hypothetical vignettes along with statistical profiles of students and their progression rates and statistical correlations between the variables deemed to be influential in teaching and learning. Such robust objective data may nevertheless have a limited use-value for educators and students at the grassroots.
The presenter has recently completed a study of social work education which is due to be published as a textbook for students. It was an ethnographic study drawing upon a participatory approach to encourage students to share their experiences in interviews or focus groups and to submit their practice portfolios for a research reading, and it was rooted in a constructivist paradigm. This generated a wealth of real-life case studies of students' experiences of teaching and learning in university and community settings including their use of critical reflection, theory and research and the dilemmas thrown up by working with service users and other professionals. Nevertheless, I was confronted with a number of ethical and political predicaments during the conduct of the research, and the use of real-life case studies may itself prove to be controversial in due course.
Evaluation of the Social Work Degree in England Team (2008) Evaluation of the New Social Work Degree Qualification in England Volume 1 Findings and Volume 2 Technical Appenix, available at the SCIE website www.scie-socialcareonline.org.uk
Humphrey, C. Becoming a Social Worker. A Guide for Students. London: Sage (forthcoming, October 2010).
Paper:
Are we part of the team? Carers experiences of interprofessional working
Carmel Byers, Roz Duignan
Theme 3: Shaping current and future social work practice
R110
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
Both inter-professional working and the involvement of service users and carers in the design, delivery and provision of the services they use have been in the forefront of recent Government policy and legislation. The issue of professionals working together in the interests of service uses and carers has gained considerable significance particularly as a result of failures highlighted in recent high profile investigations and ensuing reports.
While there has been a considerable amount of recent literature and research concerned with inter -professional working, there has been less attention given to the perspectives of people using services and their carers on this issue.
This presentation draws on recent interviews undertaken with informal carers, the aim of which was to gain their perspectives of what works (and what does not) in inter-professional practice, by listening to their views directly drawn from their own experiences. The intention was to come to some conclusions about how successful interprofessional working is proving to be from the carers' perspectives and draw out indications for good practice. Carers involved in this project included those caring for of older people, disabled people, foster carers and parent carers of children with disabilities.
The presentation identifies common themes drawn from the carers' contributions which suggest that successful interprofessional working still has some way to go. Despite the current policy focus on working in partnership with carers, recognising them as experts in their own needs with knowledge of the people they care for, the question still remains as to whether informal carers are valued and treated as part of the care team by the professionals who work with them.
The presentation concludes with some indications which may contribute to good practice in interprofessional work with informal carers and their families, and which it is hoped will raise awareness of carers perspectives on this issue.
While there has been a considerable amount of recent literature and research concerned with inter -professional working, there has been less attention given to the perspectives of people using services and their carers on this issue.
This presentation draws on recent interviews undertaken with informal carers, the aim of which was to gain their perspectives of what works (and what does not) in inter-professional practice, by listening to their views directly drawn from their own experiences. The intention was to come to some conclusions about how successful interprofessional working is proving to be from the carers' perspectives and draw out indications for good practice. Carers involved in this project included those caring for of older people, disabled people, foster carers and parent carers of children with disabilities.
The presentation identifies common themes drawn from the carers' contributions which suggest that successful interprofessional working still has some way to go. Despite the current policy focus on working in partnership with carers, recognising them as experts in their own needs with knowledge of the people they care for, the question still remains as to whether informal carers are valued and treated as part of the care team by the professionals who work with them.
The presentation concludes with some indications which may contribute to good practice in interprofessional work with informal carers and their families, and which it is hoped will raise awareness of carers perspectives on this issue.
Paper:
The Mildmay Model of Social Work in a specialist Hospital setting
Meic Phillips
Theme 1: Shaping the learning and teaching experience
R110
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
The presentation will explore the learning of Mildmay UK, a neuro cognitive impairment unit, where the social worker is the co-ordinator of an interdisciplinary team who has oversight of the care pathways and management of the discharge process and thereafter the principal sign-poster to community services.
It presents a picture of the use of the social work function to coordinate a multidisciplinary team and applies the skills, values and ethics of social work to achieve functional empowerment and liaison role with brokers /commissioners and self payers for services
It looks at the use of students to audit the social work role, to challenge and review processes and to reality check the functionality of the activity while also learning key skills and bringing transferable knowledge and experience to enhance the understanding of the team.
This presentation also outlines the impact upon a specialist hospital of preparing for and facilitating a social work student by exploring the learning about the placement of students in a specialist health organisation looking specifically at the following impacts;
1. Preparation: is the org ready to take a student?
2. Openness: is there an attitude of welcome?
3. Scrutiny: is there a willingness to be questioned?
4. Interventions: realistic activity for the student?
5. Trust: expectation of success balanced with effective supervision?
The presenter is a practice assessor, placement educator and director of service.
It presents a picture of the use of the social work function to coordinate a multidisciplinary team and applies the skills, values and ethics of social work to achieve functional empowerment and liaison role with brokers /commissioners and self payers for services
It looks at the use of students to audit the social work role, to challenge and review processes and to reality check the functionality of the activity while also learning key skills and bringing transferable knowledge and experience to enhance the understanding of the team.
This presentation also outlines the impact upon a specialist hospital of preparing for and facilitating a social work student by exploring the learning about the placement of students in a specialist health organisation looking specifically at the following impacts;
1. Preparation: is the org ready to take a student?
2. Openness: is there an attitude of welcome?
3. Scrutiny: is there a willingness to be questioned?
4. Interventions: realistic activity for the student?
5. Trust: expectation of success balanced with effective supervision?
The presenter is a practice assessor, placement educator and director of service.
Paper:
"I don't gripe to you" Reiben, I'm a captain. There's a chain of command. Gripes go up, not down." (Saving Private Ryan, 1998)
Trish Hafford-Letchfield, Diana Bourn
Theme 4: Shaping organisations
R110
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
The social work literature is relatively scant in relation to empirical knowledge on how managers acutally facilitate and promote effective engagement with staff. The report of the social work taskforce (DCSF, 2009) noted instances of poor communication and anatagonistic relations between managers and staff within front line social work. Managers cited unmanageable workloads and expresed unmet needs for adequate support and continuing professional development. As a core activity within social work practices, management supervision is pivotal to achieving quality outcomes for service users but recent focus within serious case reviews has raised its profile largely from a defensive perspective (Morrison, 2002). Professional supervision provides a bridge between practioners, line managers and senior staff. Generally four key functions are identified within the supervision literature: managerial, supportive or restorative; mediation and development or educative.
The Supervision, Mentoring and Workforce Development Module on a Leadership and Management Post Qualifying Award encouraged managers to hone and reflect their supervisory skills. Participating managers made a visual recording of a supervision session to assess their own skills using structured critical reflection. This paper will discuss the findings from an analysis of the content of these recordings which examined the different roles that managers perform within the supervision contexts. An analysis of management actions and behaviours at this level is thought to help generate some insights into how managers trade between the needs of the supervisee and the organisational context and what strategies might be developed to enhance frontline relationships.
The Supervision, Mentoring and Workforce Development Module on a Leadership and Management Post Qualifying Award encouraged managers to hone and reflect their supervisory skills. Participating managers made a visual recording of a supervision session to assess their own skills using structured critical reflection. This paper will discuss the findings from an analysis of the content of these recordings which examined the different roles that managers perform within the supervision contexts. An analysis of management actions and behaviours at this level is thought to help generate some insights into how managers trade between the needs of the supervisee and the organisational context and what strategies might be developed to enhance frontline relationships.
Paper:
Minding the gaps: facilitating transfer of learning from first to second placement for social work students
Anne Kelly
Theme 1: Shaping the learning and teaching experience
R118
Click here to show/hide the abstract
Practice educators for social work students’ final placements sometimes express concern that the students on arrival are not ready for statutory work and have not had the relevant experience to prepare them for this, leaving them with gaps in their learning.
Students often undertake their final placement in a statutory agency, with a service user group they have no prior experience of working with. A contributing factor in this is the emphasis on generic education within the social work degree, reinforced by the Department of Health’s ‘requirement J’, that social work students must undertake practice learning in at least two different settings, undertake statutory tasks involving legal interventions and provide services to at least two service user groups. Earlier placements may take place in non-social services agencies offering rich opportunities for students to work with service users and develop knowledge, skills and values relevant to social work. However, students then enter unfamiliar fast-paced statutory environments marked by ever heightening threshold criteria of risk and complexity. Once qualified they will continue to require the skills to analyse, interpret and transfer knowledge to new, complex and unpredictable situations.
Based on work undertaken with practice educators, this paper will explore the notion of transfer of learning.
The following questions will be discussed:
• What knowledge and skills do students need to have already acquired, in the view of practice educators, on entry to the final placement?
• What social work learning is available for students within private and voluntary or non-social work settings?
• How may important knowledge, skills and values be integrated and fostered more effectively within the first placements and university based learning?
• How may the transfer of learning be facilitated from one setting to another?
Students often undertake their final placement in a statutory agency, with a service user group they have no prior experience of working with. A contributing factor in this is the emphasis on generic education within the social work degree, reinforced by the Department of Health’s ‘requirement J’, that social work students must undertake practice learning in at least two different settings, undertake statutory tasks involving legal interventions and provide services to at least two service user groups. Earlier placements may take place in non-social services agencies offering rich opportunities for students to work with service users and develop knowledge, skills and values relevant to social work. However, students then enter unfamiliar fast-paced statutory environments marked by ever heightening threshold criteria of risk and complexity. Once qualified they will continue to require the skills to analyse, interpret and transfer knowledge to new, complex and unpredictable situations.
Based on work undertaken with practice educators, this paper will explore the notion of transfer of learning.
The following questions will be discussed:
• What knowledge and skills do students need to have already acquired, in the view of practice educators, on entry to the final placement?
• What social work learning is available for students within private and voluntary or non-social work settings?
• How may important knowledge, skills and values be integrated and fostered more effectively within the first placements and university based learning?
• How may the transfer of learning be facilitated from one setting to another?
Paper:
Molten magma or set in stone: What form does power take in the student practice educator relationship in a final year placement?
Andrea Colquhoun
Theme 1: Shaping the learning and teaching experience
R118
Click here to show/hide the abstract
This paper examines the experiences of a third year BA social work cohort in a London University and their understanding of the different forms of power within the placement setting. Informal feedback from students reported a hierarchical use of power that mirrored some of the tensions in the agency setting. The student experience reflected a use of power that felt ‘set’ and did not allow for negotiation or compromise. Teaching sessions on conflict highlighted tensions within supervisory relationships whereupon ways of dealing with conflict took the form of avoidance and accommodation on the part of the student.
In order to further explore this area a focus group was formed. The focus group revealed a general sense of disempowerment that impacted upon all areas of their practice. Some students reported feeling physically unwell before supervision. Supervision was experienced as a place where power was not shared or negotiated. This use of power imbued practice tasks and issues with an additional intensity that students reported they found difficult to manage.
Some examples from the ‘lived experiences’ of students will be presented and discussed. These experiences will be explored in relation to teaching approaches which will encourage students to understand relate and create a space for themselves to challenge power dynamics. Some suggestions will be made describing how future teaching could provide students with the necessary tools to reshape the mould from one that appears 'set' to one that is flowing.
In order to further explore this area a focus group was formed. The focus group revealed a general sense of disempowerment that impacted upon all areas of their practice. Some students reported feeling physically unwell before supervision. Supervision was experienced as a place where power was not shared or negotiated. This use of power imbued practice tasks and issues with an additional intensity that students reported they found difficult to manage.
Some examples from the ‘lived experiences’ of students will be presented and discussed. These experiences will be explored in relation to teaching approaches which will encourage students to understand relate and create a space for themselves to challenge power dynamics. Some suggestions will be made describing how future teaching could provide students with the necessary tools to reshape the mould from one that appears 'set' to one that is flowing.
Paper:
Using a 'doing philosophy' approach to enhance student preparation for their social-work placements.
Damian Spiteri
Theme 1: Shaping the learning and teaching experience
R118
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
Adequate preparation for social work placements is a necessary and essential aspect of social work students' training. This presentation will offer insights into how a pilot group of students from the University of Malta were prepared for their placements using an adapted version of a method of teaching based on raising philosophical questions. This approach has come to be called 'Philosophy for Children' but is also sometimes referred to as a 'Doing Philosophy' approach to teaching and learning.
The students were attending Practice Workshops. I facilitated these workshops from October to December, 2009. (Practice Workshops are experientially based groups centered on teaching students practice-oriented social work skills. They are a compulsory element of their training leading on to the award of an undergraduate degree). Immediately after, they commenced their 'assessment placement'. They had completed their 'engagement placement' prior to this time.
The paper will offer an overview of the pilot project where the findings of a study based on what the students thought of the particular teaching method adopted during their Practice Workshop sessions will be presented. The study indicated that the students believed that they had greater self-confidence both when preparing for their placements and during the placements as a result of the dialogical inquiry they had engaged in during the Practice Workshop sessions. It will use this study as a springboard from which to explore how social work lecturers can foster curricular developments that equip students to be both more 'questioning' and more self-reflective during placements and whilst preparing for them. The presentation will address questions such as:
Is it possible to incorporate a Philosophy for Children methodology in such a way as to 'blend it in' with existing approaches to preparing students for their social work placements?
How can the raising of philosophical questions help students bring about greater self-reflexivity and empathy and how can these be applied optimally by students in preparing for and carrying out their social-work placements?
How can students apply philosophical questions to their evaluation of their placements and to thereby assess their strengths and weaknesses in a more reflective manner?
The students were attending Practice Workshops. I facilitated these workshops from October to December, 2009. (Practice Workshops are experientially based groups centered on teaching students practice-oriented social work skills. They are a compulsory element of their training leading on to the award of an undergraduate degree). Immediately after, they commenced their 'assessment placement'. They had completed their 'engagement placement' prior to this time.
The paper will offer an overview of the pilot project where the findings of a study based on what the students thought of the particular teaching method adopted during their Practice Workshop sessions will be presented. The study indicated that the students believed that they had greater self-confidence both when preparing for their placements and during the placements as a result of the dialogical inquiry they had engaged in during the Practice Workshop sessions. It will use this study as a springboard from which to explore how social work lecturers can foster curricular developments that equip students to be both more 'questioning' and more self-reflective during placements and whilst preparing for them. The presentation will address questions such as:
Is it possible to incorporate a Philosophy for Children methodology in such a way as to 'blend it in' with existing approaches to preparing students for their social work placements?
How can the raising of philosophical questions help students bring about greater self-reflexivity and empathy and how can these be applied optimally by students in preparing for and carrying out their social-work placements?
How can students apply philosophical questions to their evaluation of their placements and to thereby assess their strengths and weaknesses in a more reflective manner?
Paper:
Mix and match, or mix and mismatch? The Newly Qualified Social Worker programme and the Post Qualifying Framework.
Alix Walton
Theme 3: Shaping current and future social work practice
R115
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
The Newly Qualified Social Worker (NQSW) programme for social workers in children and families services was launched in September 2008 by the Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC). The programme is a ’12 month support package for NQSW’s designed to ensure that they have access to the best possible opportunities, enabling them to broaden the skills and knowledge that they have gained through their initial training’ (CWDC, 2009, p.4). Key elements of the programme include a comprehensive induction, high quality supervision and training, and protected time for professional development.
In order to successfully complete the programme NQSW’s must demonstrate that they have achieved 11 outcome statements. The CWDC has not linked these outcome statements with Post Qualifying Award requirements, although they indicate that awards or modules from the Post Qualifying Framework may be used to enable NQSW’s to demonstrate achievement of the outcome statements.
The Department of Health and Social Care at Royal Holloway has developed a Consolidation module specifically for social workers completing the NQSW programme. This is adapted from a Consolidation module which runs successfully as part of the Specialist Award in Social Work. The adapted programme will be delivered for the first time in Spring 2010 to social workers from over 10 local authorities. As a pilot, the module will be subject to an evaluation, involving the delivery team, candidates and employers.
The presenter will present key lessons and reflections from the evaluation of the programme and will also explore implications for the development of links between PQ and Early Professional Development programmes.
CWDC (2009) NQSW Handbook for Employers: Newly Qualified Social Worker Pilot Programme 2009-2010. Leeds: CWDC
In order to successfully complete the programme NQSW’s must demonstrate that they have achieved 11 outcome statements. The CWDC has not linked these outcome statements with Post Qualifying Award requirements, although they indicate that awards or modules from the Post Qualifying Framework may be used to enable NQSW’s to demonstrate achievement of the outcome statements.
The Department of Health and Social Care at Royal Holloway has developed a Consolidation module specifically for social workers completing the NQSW programme. This is adapted from a Consolidation module which runs successfully as part of the Specialist Award in Social Work. The adapted programme will be delivered for the first time in Spring 2010 to social workers from over 10 local authorities. As a pilot, the module will be subject to an evaluation, involving the delivery team, candidates and employers.
The presenter will present key lessons and reflections from the evaluation of the programme and will also explore implications for the development of links between PQ and Early Professional Development programmes.
CWDC (2009) NQSW Handbook for Employers: Newly Qualified Social Worker Pilot Programme 2009-2010. Leeds: CWDC
Paper:
PQ and beyond: Collaborative working in the development of the Post Qualifying Award in Social Work
Suzanne Sheldon, Anne Carpenter, Guy Bowden
Theme 2: Shaping partnerships
R115
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
The aim of this paper is to discuss and share to the wider audience how effective partnerships have been formed between the University of Glamorgan and the Local Authority to develop and implement the Post Qualifying Award in Social Work.
The new Post Qualifying Framework in Wales was approved in 2005, the aim of which was to increase social workers expertise and to allow social care organisations to develop as learning organisations (CCW 2007).
Working with the local authority and other stakeholders and service users, a programme was devised that was modular in its approach and the combination of the modules would lead to a recognised academic award.
It was recognised at the beginning of the process that practice and learning cannot be separated, and that one informs the other as practitioners develop their skills and knowledge within the work place (Rolfe et al 2001 cited in Brown & Rutter 2008). By taking an inductive ‘bottom up’ approach to learning and acknowledging the importance of the practice environment within the context of PQ, we have formed constructive partnerships with the local authorities where the expertise and knowledge has been shared. The programme continues to meet the three principals of the post qualifying learning i.e. reflective practice, observational practice and collaborative practice (CCW 2007, Ruch 2009). The modules developed are relevant to service needs and adaptable to changes, devised and delivered by practitioners and lecturers on an equal basis.
References
Care Council for Wales (2007) The Approval and Visiting of Post Qualifying Courses for Social Workers (Wales) Rules 2007
Brown K, Rutter L. (2008) Critical Thinking for Social Work (2nd Edition) Exeter: Learning Matters.
Ruch G (2009) Post Qualifying Child Care Social Work. London: Sage
The new Post Qualifying Framework in Wales was approved in 2005, the aim of which was to increase social workers expertise and to allow social care organisations to develop as learning organisations (CCW 2007).
Working with the local authority and other stakeholders and service users, a programme was devised that was modular in its approach and the combination of the modules would lead to a recognised academic award.
It was recognised at the beginning of the process that practice and learning cannot be separated, and that one informs the other as practitioners develop their skills and knowledge within the work place (Rolfe et al 2001 cited in Brown & Rutter 2008). By taking an inductive ‘bottom up’ approach to learning and acknowledging the importance of the practice environment within the context of PQ, we have formed constructive partnerships with the local authorities where the expertise and knowledge has been shared. The programme continues to meet the three principals of the post qualifying learning i.e. reflective practice, observational practice and collaborative practice (CCW 2007, Ruch 2009). The modules developed are relevant to service needs and adaptable to changes, devised and delivered by practitioners and lecturers on an equal basis.
References
Care Council for Wales (2007) The Approval and Visiting of Post Qualifying Courses for Social Workers (Wales) Rules 2007
Brown K, Rutter L. (2008) Critical Thinking for Social Work (2nd Edition) Exeter: Learning Matters.
Ruch G (2009) Post Qualifying Child Care Social Work. London: Sage
Paper:
Shaping the future for newly qualified social workers:early messages from the NQSW Pilot Project in England
John Carpenter, Hugh McLaughlin, Dendy Platt
Theme 3: Shaping current and future social work practice
R115
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
Social work with children and families is undoubtedly challenging. Lord Laming, in his 2009 report on the State of Child Protection in England, recommended that "social workers must have guaranteed support and supervision during their first year of practice to enable them to develop their skills and their confidence as a professional in a relatively safe learning environment". The government agreed. In fact, the Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) had already introduced a one year structured professional development programme in September 2008, the Newly Qualified Social Worker (NQSW) Pilot Programme. The programme aims to provide high quality supervision, access to training and a protected workload (see www.cwdcouncil.org.uk/nqsw.). It is being independently evaluated by a team from Salford and Bristol universities and King’s College London, over three years.
This presentation will report first year findings from baseline and T2 surveys of NQSWs’ job satisfaction, self-efficacy, role clarity and stress, and from surveys of their supervisors in 87 local authorities. We will also draw on interviews and focus groups with NQSWs, their managers, programme co-ordinators and senior managers in 14 localities. We will examine the evidence in relation to differing implementation strategies, workload issues, supervision arrangements, training and portfolio completion, including both intended and unintended outcomes. Overall, this study provides a unique insight into the experiences of NQSWs across England. We aim also to identify the ingredients for the successful implementation of the NQSW Pilot Project and the development of the social workers of tomorrow.
This presentation will report first year findings from baseline and T2 surveys of NQSWs’ job satisfaction, self-efficacy, role clarity and stress, and from surveys of their supervisors in 87 local authorities. We will also draw on interviews and focus groups with NQSWs, their managers, programme co-ordinators and senior managers in 14 localities. We will examine the evidence in relation to differing implementation strategies, workload issues, supervision arrangements, training and portfolio completion, including both intended and unintended outcomes. Overall, this study provides a unique insight into the experiences of NQSWs across England. We aim also to identify the ingredients for the successful implementation of the NQSW Pilot Project and the development of the social workers of tomorrow.
Workshop:
Levels in practice
Alison Harold, Mary Coles
Theme 1: Shaping the learning and teaching experience
N101
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
One of the specific work areas for the SSSC is to drive and support the implementation of the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) as a key element of the skills strategy and to increase potential benefits to the learning and development of the social services workforce.
At degree level in terms of shaping the learning and teaching experience the drivers have been:
- The report prepared for the SSSC by Bellevue Consultancy and Critical thinking which suggested that each course should be able to show, and should take steps to explain as appropriate, its levels of practice within the SCQF
- The IRISS report, 'New Degree New Standards' which explores methodologies to be more explicit about what and when students learn in their degree programmes.
The SSSC has commissioned materials and pilot work to benchmark the Standards in Social Work Education against the SCQF level descriptors.
Project Definition:
- To write illustrations of practice for selected outcomes (Learning Foci) of the social work degree; to write these descriptors at SCQF Levels 9 and 10; to do this within the context of case studies
- To consult with stakeholders about how this work can potentially be used
- To undertake a pilot use of the illustrations
- To review the practice illustrations in light of the pilot.
Outcomes of the work will be
- The development of a language through which to assess applied knowledge in practice at different SCQF levels
- Materials to make this possible
- The testing of language and materials in practice
- Feedback from stakeholders about the usefulness of the approach.
The workshop will outline the process,content and outcome of this work and offer considerations about how to take it forward with stakeholders. It will include small group consideration of the materials, particularly the case studies and feedback about their usefulness.
References
SSSC/Bellevue Consultancy and Critical thinking www.sssc.uk.com/nr/rdonlyres/245afd96-2bbd-437c-af02-dac55423ab44/0/qacommissionfinalreport.pdf
IRISS 'New Degree New Standards' www.iriss.org.uk/publications
At degree level in terms of shaping the learning and teaching experience the drivers have been:
- The report prepared for the SSSC by Bellevue Consultancy and Critical thinking which suggested that each course should be able to show, and should take steps to explain as appropriate, its levels of practice within the SCQF
- The IRISS report, 'New Degree New Standards' which explores methodologies to be more explicit about what and when students learn in their degree programmes.
The SSSC has commissioned materials and pilot work to benchmark the Standards in Social Work Education against the SCQF level descriptors.
Project Definition:
- To write illustrations of practice for selected outcomes (Learning Foci) of the social work degree; to write these descriptors at SCQF Levels 9 and 10; to do this within the context of case studies
- To consult with stakeholders about how this work can potentially be used
- To undertake a pilot use of the illustrations
- To review the practice illustrations in light of the pilot.
Outcomes of the work will be
- The development of a language through which to assess applied knowledge in practice at different SCQF levels
- Materials to make this possible
- The testing of language and materials in practice
- Feedback from stakeholders about the usefulness of the approach.
The workshop will outline the process,content and outcome of this work and offer considerations about how to take it forward with stakeholders. It will include small group consideration of the materials, particularly the case studies and feedback about their usefulness.
References
SSSC/Bellevue Consultancy and Critical thinking www.sssc.uk.com/nr/rdonlyres/245afd96-2bbd-437c-af02-dac55423ab44/0/qacommissionfinalreport.pdf
IRISS 'New Degree New Standards' www.iriss.org.uk/publications
Workshop:
Reforming social work: will introducing a career structure and a new continuing professional development framework lead to successful reform?
Patricia Higham
Theme 3: Shaping current and future social work practice
N105
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
The Social Work Task Force Final Report made four recommendations relating to career development and continuing professional development, including creation of a an assessed and supported year in employment as the final stage in becoming a social worker; a more coherent and effective national framework for the continuing professional development of social workers, including introduction of a Master’s in Social Work Practice; dedicated programmes of training and support for front line social work managers; and a single, nationally recognised career structure for social work.
As the Task Force Reform Board takes the programme of reform forward through its Implementation Plan, it is timely to explore issues, share experiences, and debate progress in achieving these recommendations. An over arching question to consider is whether the career framework, linked to a continuing professional development framework, will provide a key to successful reform. Other questions include:
What changes will result for current post qualifying awards?
How will the proposed career structure align with a continuing professional development framework?
How will the Assessed Year in Employment fit with current NQSW programmes, PQ and CPD?
What is the timing for introducing changes?
What are the potential contributions of front line managers to supporting continuing professional development?
How will universities contribute to the assessed year in employment and to continuing professional development?
What contributions will practice educators make?
What are the likely demands on resources?
The workshop will explore these issues first by providing information on progress towards reform, and then inviting active sharing and critical debate. Participants will be encouraged to identify contributions that can be carried forward into the ongoing work of the Task Force Reform Board.
Symposium:
The changing face of PQ - an integrated ecological development model.
Helen Burrows, Fiona Boyd
Theme 1: Shaping the learning and teaching experience
N106
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
Continuing social work education from the point of qualifying aims to develop practice to improve outcomes for service users. However, the relationship between employers, PQ candidates and HEIs constantly changes. In this symposium the authors propose a model demonstrating how these complex relationships can work together in practice development for the 21st century. The model draws on Bronfenbrenner’s (1994) chronosystems theory to demonstrate the 3-dimensional complexity of the systems relationships.
Taking examples from their University’s PQ Specialist Child Care programme, and integrating recommendations of the Social Work Task Force, the authors consider three contributing dimensions: national drivers, employer priorities, and current HE developments. They explore the importance of supportive learning cultures within agencies, and teaching and learning methods that acknowledge student needs within part-time work-based study.
Study does not have to be in a campus setting; a mixture of university and agency-based teaching, and imaginative use of virtual learning space informed the model. Whilst the geographical challenges of the authors’ region may not apply to all HEIs, the principles are transferable.
Participants in the symposium will discuss presentations of how drivers for practice and PQ education are translated into organisational workforce development, considering which approaches work best. Findings from the discussions will feed into the authors’ development of an integrated ecological systems model, exemplifying the impact of related systems on service users and staff across the field of social work practice and development.
In the use of positive care for students the model provides a solid platform for developing learning theory and transferring it into workplace practice. When a rising tide of managerialism and caseloads is pressuring workers beyond their capacity for compassion and care at the human interface, the model allows a point of reference for anti-oppressive and compassionate practice, with a significant role for nurturing emotional intelligence.
The model integrates the experiences and expectations of employers, students and universities, which is not a constant given but a complexity of shifting relationships, needing constant reflective evaluation to make real the aim of improving outcomes for service users.
Taking examples from their University’s PQ Specialist Child Care programme, and integrating recommendations of the Social Work Task Force, the authors consider three contributing dimensions: national drivers, employer priorities, and current HE developments. They explore the importance of supportive learning cultures within agencies, and teaching and learning methods that acknowledge student needs within part-time work-based study.
Study does not have to be in a campus setting; a mixture of university and agency-based teaching, and imaginative use of virtual learning space informed the model. Whilst the geographical challenges of the authors’ region may not apply to all HEIs, the principles are transferable.
Participants in the symposium will discuss presentations of how drivers for practice and PQ education are translated into organisational workforce development, considering which approaches work best. Findings from the discussions will feed into the authors’ development of an integrated ecological systems model, exemplifying the impact of related systems on service users and staff across the field of social work practice and development.
In the use of positive care for students the model provides a solid platform for developing learning theory and transferring it into workplace practice. When a rising tide of managerialism and caseloads is pressuring workers beyond their capacity for compassion and care at the human interface, the model allows a point of reference for anti-oppressive and compassionate practice, with a significant role for nurturing emotional intelligence.
The model integrates the experiences and expectations of employers, students and universities, which is not a constant given but a complexity of shifting relationships, needing constant reflective evaluation to make real the aim of improving outcomes for service users.
Workshop:
Developing technology-enhanced social work practice - how are we doing?
Jackie Rafferty, Ingrid Nix, Ian Watson
Theme 3: Shaping current and future social work practice
N108
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
The requirement for social work graduates to demonstrate competencies in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills has presented opportunities as well as challenges. In some cases the 'ECDL or equivalent' framework may have induced students and educators to take a narrow and disengaged view of the role of ICT in social work practice.
With the recent changes to the General Social Care Council requirements, it is perhaps a timely opportunity to realign approaches and shift focus onto how technologies can enhance learning and social work practice, especially the experiences of carers and users of services. Perhaps if we focus on the beneficial outcomes, we can motivate engagement in the skills required to achieve them. However, where practitioners have engaged proactively with new technologies including social media, such as Facebook, it is becoming increasingly important to be sensitive to the impact on ethical, personal and professional boundaries.
This workshop will explore how some of these issues may be addressed. It will engage participants by exploring: Where and how ICT is being used to support rather than manage practice? What do we think about the use of social media in social work practice? Share experiences of what skills are required and how they can be developed in different contexts, and identify and reflect on approaches to meet the challenges identified .
We will present an approach taken where ICT and information literacy skills development were integrated as part of technology-enhanced learning, along with snapshots of graduate reflections on their experiences and examples they gave of subsequent technology-enhanced practice. It will also provide examples of a variety of social media used in practice settings and highlight emergent issues and dilemmas facing practitioners.
The aim is to grow a community of practice in the topic area.
With the recent changes to the General Social Care Council requirements, it is perhaps a timely opportunity to realign approaches and shift focus onto how technologies can enhance learning and social work practice, especially the experiences of carers and users of services. Perhaps if we focus on the beneficial outcomes, we can motivate engagement in the skills required to achieve them. However, where practitioners have engaged proactively with new technologies including social media, such as Facebook, it is becoming increasingly important to be sensitive to the impact on ethical, personal and professional boundaries.
This workshop will explore how some of these issues may be addressed. It will engage participants by exploring: Where and how ICT is being used to support rather than manage practice? What do we think about the use of social media in social work practice? Share experiences of what skills are required and how they can be developed in different contexts, and identify and reflect on approaches to meet the challenges identified .
We will present an approach taken where ICT and information literacy skills development were integrated as part of technology-enhanced learning, along with snapshots of graduate reflections on their experiences and examples they gave of subsequent technology-enhanced practice. It will also provide examples of a variety of social media used in practice settings and highlight emergent issues and dilemmas facing practitioners.
The aim is to grow a community of practice in the topic area.
Paper:
Implementing the PLO: judicial imagination meets social practice. A qualitative study of social work practice under the public law outline.
Kim Holt, Karen Broadhurst
Theme 8: Sharing research findings to develop effective practice
R020
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
This article reports on a qualitative study in the tradition of interpretative sociology. We examine the impact of the Public Law Outline on social work practice with children and families. The article contrasts linear assumptions within the written text of the Public Law Outline, with the ‘real world’ descriptions of practices on the ground. Practitioners describe the complex shifting practices of case management in Public Law Children Act cases that defy the step-by-step procedures suggested by the judicial imagination.
Informed by insights from Actor-Network-Theory, this paper draws attention to the complexities of social work practice and the unexpected or unintended practices that emerge, as practitioners attempt to meet the challenges of the new protocol. In attempting to meet timescales, whilst completing a volume of both agency specific and court documents, a range of ‘trade-offs’ are observed that may or may not improve the lives of children and families. We conceptualise practice as 'heterogeneous engineering' in which bits and pieces from the social, the technical, the conceptual and textual are fitted together in case management. In this context, centred managerialism although well intentioned, is almost certainly both too simple and too hierarchical for work with Public Law Children Act cases. The Public Law Outline is what governance theorists describe as a ‘minor instrumentality’ a series of largely remedial procedural steps that falls short in its attempt to re-order the social world. Trying to make sure that practices work better will probably have less to do with command or hierarchical accountability than with quite specific local actions and strategies.
From close analysis of practitioner talk, and direct observation of practices including legal gateway meetings, we discuss the gap between the aspirations of the legislators, and the social implementation of the Public Law Outline.
Informed by insights from Actor-Network-Theory, this paper draws attention to the complexities of social work practice and the unexpected or unintended practices that emerge, as practitioners attempt to meet the challenges of the new protocol. In attempting to meet timescales, whilst completing a volume of both agency specific and court documents, a range of ‘trade-offs’ are observed that may or may not improve the lives of children and families. We conceptualise practice as 'heterogeneous engineering' in which bits and pieces from the social, the technical, the conceptual and textual are fitted together in case management. In this context, centred managerialism although well intentioned, is almost certainly both too simple and too hierarchical for work with Public Law Children Act cases. The Public Law Outline is what governance theorists describe as a ‘minor instrumentality’ a series of largely remedial procedural steps that falls short in its attempt to re-order the social world. Trying to make sure that practices work better will probably have less to do with command or hierarchical accountability than with quite specific local actions and strategies.
From close analysis of practitioner talk, and direct observation of practices including legal gateway meetings, we discuss the gap between the aspirations of the legislators, and the social implementation of the Public Law Outline.
Paper:
Why are they staying? Retaining social workers in child protection and welfare in the Republic of Ireland
Kenneth Burns
Theme 8: Sharing research findings to develop effective practice
R020
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
There is a perception, both domestically (Ombudsman for Children, 2006; Andrews, 2008) and internationally (Tham, 2006, Stalker et al., 2007), that retaining child protection and welfare social workers is problematic. This paper presents the findings of a recently completed qualitative study that examined this issue in one Health Service Executive (HSE) area in the Republic of Ireland.
Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with child protection and welfare social workers to explore their understandings of the factors that influence their decisions to want to stay in or leave their current employment. Contrary to expectations, the study found that the turnover rate for these social workers was quite low and that two thirds expressed their intention to stay in this work.
This paper examines the professional, organisational and individual factors which contribute to these social workers’ retention. Particular emphasis will be placed on one aspect of this study that examined social workers’ understanding of career pathways in social work and explores how these understandings influenced their employment decisions and retention. This analysis looked at social workers use of metaphors to describe their motivations for ‘doing’ this work. This led to the development of a typology of social workers’ entry motivations which contributes to our understanding of how social workers make decisions to stay or leave decisions which are often made before they even start working in child protection and welfare.
The research found that the situation might not be as pessimistic as an initial reading of the literature might suggest. The presentation will conclude with an examination of the implications of these findings for the users of child protection and welfare services, social work education and child protection and welfare service managers.
Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with child protection and welfare social workers to explore their understandings of the factors that influence their decisions to want to stay in or leave their current employment. Contrary to expectations, the study found that the turnover rate for these social workers was quite low and that two thirds expressed their intention to stay in this work.
This paper examines the professional, organisational and individual factors which contribute to these social workers’ retention. Particular emphasis will be placed on one aspect of this study that examined social workers’ understanding of career pathways in social work and explores how these understandings influenced their employment decisions and retention. This analysis looked at social workers use of metaphors to describe their motivations for ‘doing’ this work. This led to the development of a typology of social workers’ entry motivations which contributes to our understanding of how social workers make decisions to stay or leave decisions which are often made before they even start working in child protection and welfare.
The research found that the situation might not be as pessimistic as an initial reading of the literature might suggest. The presentation will conclude with an examination of the implications of these findings for the users of child protection and welfare services, social work education and child protection and welfare service managers.
Paper:
Sharing findings from a children's views study to develop effective practice in fostering
Annabel Goodyer
Theme 8: Sharing research findings to develop effective practice
R020
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
This presentation draws on a doctoral study that examined foster children’s experiences. It used three main methods for collecting data from children and young people who were fostered: qualitative, semi-structured interviews, an e-survey and a discussion group. The interviewed children were selected from two metropolitan local authorities in one city.
The main findings from the study were as follows. Firstly, that children experienced a lack of consultation when they were taken into care and moved to foster homes, they were not listened to and for many even straightforward information about proposed moves was missing. Secondly, although most said that they were well cared for, many respondents had a poor sense of ‘belonging’ to their foster family. Thirdly, children reported varying experiences of social work interventions and many were aware of the conditionality of being properly looked after in foster homes. Fourthly, many of the children, and all of those interviewed, reported feeling scared about moving to a new foster family or into care.
Three related areas for improved policy and practice have been indicated by the findings of this study. Firstly, consultation and information sharing with children and young people, prior to their removal from their birth family. Secondly, improved modes of participation in those aspects of the looked after children’s system where there are existing participation models. Thirdly, extending those participation rights to enable children and young people to be consulted and informed about the wider decision-making that affect their lives as looked after recipients of corporate parenting, such as contact with people who are important to them. To achieve this goal might require not just a shift in priorities for social work practice and social work education, but also the establishment of best practice guidelines.
There are both theoretical and empirical implications for social work education. The author believes we cannot continue to rely on attachment theory as the main analytical devise to understand fostering. Looked after childhoods and corporate parenting can be located in the overlap between the public and private sectors, with a clear commitment to considering looked after children also as citizens with rights. Understanding children’s views of being fostered is key to developing best practice in fostering. The empirical data has already been used in teaching, for example through the use of case studies students have devised plans for moving children to a new placement.
The main findings from the study were as follows. Firstly, that children experienced a lack of consultation when they were taken into care and moved to foster homes, they were not listened to and for many even straightforward information about proposed moves was missing. Secondly, although most said that they were well cared for, many respondents had a poor sense of ‘belonging’ to their foster family. Thirdly, children reported varying experiences of social work interventions and many were aware of the conditionality of being properly looked after in foster homes. Fourthly, many of the children, and all of those interviewed, reported feeling scared about moving to a new foster family or into care.
Three related areas for improved policy and practice have been indicated by the findings of this study. Firstly, consultation and information sharing with children and young people, prior to their removal from their birth family. Secondly, improved modes of participation in those aspects of the looked after children’s system where there are existing participation models. Thirdly, extending those participation rights to enable children and young people to be consulted and informed about the wider decision-making that affect their lives as looked after recipients of corporate parenting, such as contact with people who are important to them. To achieve this goal might require not just a shift in priorities for social work practice and social work education, but also the establishment of best practice guidelines.
There are both theoretical and empirical implications for social work education. The author believes we cannot continue to rely on attachment theory as the main analytical devise to understand fostering. Looked after childhoods and corporate parenting can be located in the overlap between the public and private sectors, with a clear commitment to considering looked after children also as citizens with rights. Understanding children’s views of being fostered is key to developing best practice in fostering. The empirical data has already been used in teaching, for example through the use of case studies students have devised plans for moving children to a new placement.
Paper:
Hearing voices through seeing: visual representations of ‘the marginalised’
Annabel Tremlett
Theme 7: Shaping research methods
R014
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
This paper is concerned with how marginalised groups are researched and how their voices are represented in academic texts. Using notions from visual sociology and methods of photo elicitation the paper shows how we can carry out research through visual methods that can be turned into resources for teaching social work students. Drawing on 15 months of ethnographic research in Hungary, the paper argues that moving away from entrenched views of stigmatised and often marginalised groups such as Roma (Gypsy) minorities requires a commitment to reinvestigating connotations around ‘being marginalised’. The paper focuses on the visual representations that formed part of an ethnographic research project amongst Roma and non-Roma primary school pupils in Hungary. Fourth grade children (aged 10/11 years) were given disposable cameras with which to take pictures of their everyday lives. The resulting 451 photographs are compared to visual and anthropological accounts of Roma identity. The results powerfully reveal how the ‘everyday’ can be an ‘ordinary’ hybrid of poverty, identity, family connections and survival that is just not expressed in academic writing. Visual representations taken by research participants are thus shown to provide a useful tool for teaching to re-invigorate debates on the status given to ‘difference’ in discourses on the marginalised.
Paper:
Lost in cyberspace: technical considerations and ethical tensions of qualitative research online with lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer-identifying youth.
Paul Willis
Theme 7: Shaping research methods
R014
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) permeate how social researchers collect and interpret qualitative data generated through cyberspace (Hookway, 2009; Markham, 2005; Mann & Stewart, 2002). The expansive use of the internet is a critical trend in an already technologically-saturated society, making it ideal for reaching out to socially marginalised groups, in particular people who identify with sexual minority groups (Ayling & Mewse, 2009; Bolding et al, 2004; Hillier & Harrison, 2007). Equally, Internet-based methods are gaining ground within social work approaches to teaching and research (McAuliffe, 2003; McCoyd & Kerson, 2006; Ouellette, 2006; Parrott & Madoc-Jones, 2008; Stumpp, 2004). This paper considers the technical, ethical and methodological challenges of pursuing data collection online with young people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer (LGBQ). Reflections are drawn from a social work research project conducted in 2006 that explored how young workers (18-26 years) discuss and disclose LGBQ sexual identities in Australian workplaces. Online methods were adopted in recognition that the internet is a prominent technology in the sociosexual lives of young queer people. Issues and solutions are identified across processes of online recruitment, web-based surveying and the use of instant messaging programmes for online interviewing. Implications for interpreting computer-mediated data and engaging socially marginalised groups online will be discussed.
Paper:
Questioning methodology in social work education research
Caroline Humphrey
Theme 7: Shaping research methods
R014
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
This paper contrasts the virtues and vices of the positivist and constructivist paradigms in social work education research and highlights the dearth of studies rooted in a critical paradigm. Questions will be raised in respect of the compatibility of different paradigms with social work values and the possibility of combining approaches in future research into social work education.
The main example of research rooted in a positivist paradigm is the study published by the evaluation of the social work degree in England team in 2008. This generated standardised data from students' responses to survey questionnaires and hypothetical vignettes along with statistical profiles of students and their progression rates and statistical correlations between the variables deemed to be influential in teaching and learning. Such robust objective data may nevertheless have a limited use-value for educators and students at the grassroots.
The presenter has recently completed a study of social work education which is due to be published as a textbook for students. It was an ethnographic study drawing upon a participatory approach to encourage students to share their experiences in interviews or focus groups and to submit their practice portfolios for a research reading, and it was rooted in a constructivist paradigm. This generated a wealth of real-life case studies of students' experiences of teaching and learning in university and community settings including their use of critical reflection, theory and research and the dilemmas thrown up by working with service users and other professionals. Nevertheless, I was confronted with a number of ethical and political predicaments during the conduct of the research, and the use of real-life case studies may itself prove to be controversial in due course.
Evaluation of the Social Work Degree in England Team (2008) Evaluation of the New Social Work Degree Qualification in England Volume 1 Findings and Volume 2 Technical Appenix, available at the SCIE website www.scie-socialcareonline.org.uk
Humphrey, C. Becoming a Social Worker. A Guide for Students. London: Sage (forthcoming, October 2010).
14:30 - 15:00
Exhibition area
Refreshments and exhibition
15:00 - 16:15
Breakout rooms
Parallel session 2
Paper:
Bringing migration into social work education to improve practice
Helen Carr
Theme 3: Shaping current and future social work practice
R110
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
Asylum seekers and refugees are a peripheral service user group on the edges of society. This is frequently mirrored by their position on the edges of social work education. Social work practitioners will work with migrants; migration is the reality of modern society. This paper explores the wealth of learning that comes from teaching issues of migration to students. It provides the opportunity for students to work with multiple vulnerabilities: lack of secure status, loss of culture, trauma and recovery, plus in some circumstances, mental health needs, domestic violence, economic exploitation, family breakdown, social exclusion and hate crime. The ability to accurately prioritise these vulnerabilities and engage positively is excellent training for successful social workers. The skills developed transfer across all their social work practice.
This paper is a reflection on teaching issues of migration across a degree programme and includes feedback from students. Teaching migration issues raises awareness of the varying, and sometimes conflicting, values (societal, political, professional and personal) that need to be addressed in working with asylum seekers. It looks at the ethical dilemmas that occur when social workers are required to maintain and police borders through accessibility criteria and the monitoring of service users. This provides an interesting resonance with the origins of social work in the UK through the Poor Laws and the concept of the 'deserving poor'. Working interprofessionally, students need to be aware of the highly experienced non-governmental organisations that have a wealth of knowledge to be shared.
The teaching across the degree programme continues to develop at Canterbury Christ Church University, incrementally building blocks to learning. The overall aim of this paper is to encourage discussion of the important role of migration in social work education and outline key points of learning for students, linking theory to practice.
This paper is a reflection on teaching issues of migration across a degree programme and includes feedback from students. Teaching migration issues raises awareness of the varying, and sometimes conflicting, values (societal, political, professional and personal) that need to be addressed in working with asylum seekers. It looks at the ethical dilemmas that occur when social workers are required to maintain and police borders through accessibility criteria and the monitoring of service users. This provides an interesting resonance with the origins of social work in the UK through the Poor Laws and the concept of the 'deserving poor'. Working interprofessionally, students need to be aware of the highly experienced non-governmental organisations that have a wealth of knowledge to be shared.
The teaching across the degree programme continues to develop at Canterbury Christ Church University, incrementally building blocks to learning. The overall aim of this paper is to encourage discussion of the important role of migration in social work education and outline key points of learning for students, linking theory to practice.
Paper:
Design concepts, methodologies and contexts and their use within service delivery systems.
Niall Daly
Theme 4: Shaping organisations
R110
Click here to show/hide the abstract
The purpose of this paper is to share some ideas in progress and to invite debate concerning their application.
Design concepts are more frequently associated with the innovation, construction, evaluation and distribution of "poducts". Within the social care sector "product" can be seen as the construction and delivery of a service. The organisational context, the process of constructing, delivering and evaluating these services can be seen as an opportunity for innovative design.
To what extent is, or could "design" be used in the development and management of social care? Are epistemological paradigms evident in the assessment, construction and delivery of services? If so do these paradigms restrict or enhance innovation and effect service development?
The concepts and ideas arising from several schools of design; Modernism, Constructivism, Ergonomics, and User Centred Design will be examined in relation to the social care context. Methodologies arising from these various design disciplines will be explored.
One of the key components of any design discipline is the management of the relationship with the beneficiaries of the design product and much can be learned from developments in this area.
Competencies concerned with innovation and constructing solutions within a changing environment are essential to effective management and leadership. The application of a single formula for service development and innovation will not generate enough efficient services and is likely to stagnate creativity to the extent that service users have to adapt and mould their requirements to the service offered.
The new challenges associated with personalisation will require innovation at both ends of the social care spectrum. How do we facilitate, collaborate and ensure efficient and effective design of services, with the service user as a key component of the design process? Borrowing from the discipline and methodologies of "design" could help construct relevant solutions.
Design concepts are more frequently associated with the innovation, construction, evaluation and distribution of "poducts". Within the social care sector "product" can be seen as the construction and delivery of a service. The organisational context, the process of constructing, delivering and evaluating these services can be seen as an opportunity for innovative design.
To what extent is, or could "design" be used in the development and management of social care? Are epistemological paradigms evident in the assessment, construction and delivery of services? If so do these paradigms restrict or enhance innovation and effect service development?
The concepts and ideas arising from several schools of design; Modernism, Constructivism, Ergonomics, and User Centred Design will be examined in relation to the social care context. Methodologies arising from these various design disciplines will be explored.
One of the key components of any design discipline is the management of the relationship with the beneficiaries of the design product and much can be learned from developments in this area.
Competencies concerned with innovation and constructing solutions within a changing environment are essential to effective management and leadership. The application of a single formula for service development and innovation will not generate enough efficient services and is likely to stagnate creativity to the extent that service users have to adapt and mould their requirements to the service offered.
The new challenges associated with personalisation will require innovation at both ends of the social care spectrum. How do we facilitate, collaborate and ensure efficient and effective design of services, with the service user as a key component of the design process? Borrowing from the discipline and methodologies of "design" could help construct relevant solutions.
Paper:
E’ stato un inferno!’- Italian and British Practice Assessors talk. Assessing failing social work students in practice learning settings
Alberto Poletti, Jo Finch
Theme 1: Shaping the learning and teaching experience
R110
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
Since the introduction of the degree in social work in the UK, students are currently required to complete 200 days of assessed practice (DH, 2002). In Italy students are required to complete 600 hours of assessed practice in a system that is comparable to the UK. The practice learning opportunity or "tirocinio di servizio sociale" (Legge 84/1993) as it is known in Italy, are major sites of gatekeeping, in terms of preventing unsuitable people from becoming social workers.
A number of initiatives in England, for example the setting up of the Practice Learning Taskforce - later the National Learning Resource Network, Quality Assurance Frameworks in respect of practice learning coupled with changes to the post qualifying frameworks all aimed at strengthening practice assessing.
Against this backdrop of policy initiatives the assessment of social work students in practice settings has received relatively less academic attention and in particular, the issues raised by working with and assessing failing social work students is both under-researched and under-theorised (Sharp & Danbury, 1999; Evans, 1999; Ranieri, 2003 Shapton, 2006;) both in the UK and internationally. What limited literature there is, suggests the experience of working with failing students is painful for all concerned (Sharp & Danbury, 1999; Samac, 1995; Vacha-Haase et al, 2004; Duffy, 2004; Johnson, 2007).
Our paper draws on both doctoral and on-going qualitative research being undertaken in Italy. We explore Practice Assessors’ narratives of the experience of working with marginal and failing students. We consider the reasons why assessors find the process of failing a student so painful and argue that this emotional pain often obscures the assessment process with the result that students, who should be failed, are being passed. We consider possible ways forward, not least the urgent need for practice assessors to embrace more readily, their gatekeeping role.
References
DH (2002) Requirements for Social Work Training, Stationary Office, London
Duffy, K. (2004) Failing Students, Nursing and Midwifery Council, London
Evans, D. (1999) Practice Learning in the Caring Professions, Aldershot, Ashgate Arena
Johnson, B.W. (2007) Transformational Supervision: When Supervisors Mentor. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 38 (3) pp259-267
Legge n. 84 del 23.03.1993 (Ordinamento della professione di Assistente Sociale e istituzione dell'Albo professionale)
Ranieri, M., L., (2003) Il tirocinio di servizio sociale, Franco Angeli, Milano
Samac, J.R. (1995) Shame, Guilt and Trauma: Failing the Psychotherapy Candidates Clinical Work. The Clinical Supervisor, 13 (2) pp1-17
Sharp M. & Danbury, H. (1999) The Management of Failing DipSW Students – Activities and Exercises to Prepare Practice teachers for Work with Failing Students, Aldershot, Ashgate
Vacha -Haase, T., Davenport, D.S & Kerewsky, S.D. (2004) Problematic Students: Gatekeeping Practices of Academic Professional Psychology Programs, Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 35 (2) pp.115-122
A number of initiatives in England, for example the setting up of the Practice Learning Taskforce - later the National Learning Resource Network, Quality Assurance Frameworks in respect of practice learning coupled with changes to the post qualifying frameworks all aimed at strengthening practice assessing.
Against this backdrop of policy initiatives the assessment of social work students in practice settings has received relatively less academic attention and in particular, the issues raised by working with and assessing failing social work students is both under-researched and under-theorised (Sharp & Danbury, 1999; Evans, 1999; Ranieri, 2003 Shapton, 2006;) both in the UK and internationally. What limited literature there is, suggests the experience of working with failing students is painful for all concerned (Sharp & Danbury, 1999; Samac, 1995; Vacha-Haase et al, 2004; Duffy, 2004; Johnson, 2007).
Our paper draws on both doctoral and on-going qualitative research being undertaken in Italy. We explore Practice Assessors’ narratives of the experience of working with marginal and failing students. We consider the reasons why assessors find the process of failing a student so painful and argue that this emotional pain often obscures the assessment process with the result that students, who should be failed, are being passed. We consider possible ways forward, not least the urgent need for practice assessors to embrace more readily, their gatekeeping role.
References
DH (2002) Requirements for Social Work Training, Stationary Office, London
Duffy, K. (2004) Failing Students, Nursing and Midwifery Council, London
Evans, D. (1999) Practice Learning in the Caring Professions, Aldershot, Ashgate Arena
Johnson, B.W. (2007) Transformational Supervision: When Supervisors Mentor. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 38 (3) pp259-267
Legge n. 84 del 23.03.1993 (Ordinamento della professione di Assistente Sociale e istituzione dell'Albo professionale)
Ranieri, M., L., (2003) Il tirocinio di servizio sociale, Franco Angeli, Milano
Samac, J.R. (1995) Shame, Guilt and Trauma: Failing the Psychotherapy Candidates Clinical Work. The Clinical Supervisor, 13 (2) pp1-17
Sharp M. & Danbury, H. (1999) The Management of Failing DipSW Students – Activities and Exercises to Prepare Practice teachers for Work with Failing Students, Aldershot, Ashgate
Vacha -Haase, T., Davenport, D.S & Kerewsky, S.D. (2004) Problematic Students: Gatekeeping Practices of Academic Professional Psychology Programs, Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 35 (2) pp.115-122
Paper:
Employability and employment - strategies for curriculum development to prepare graduates for social work roles
Jane Foggin, Ruth Pearson
Theme 1: Shaping the learning and teaching experience
R118
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
Employability across all graduate groups has been a high profile theme for higher education institutions for some years (Hind & Moss 2005). For some time social work programmes have been required to assess students' readiness to undertake practice learning during the programme and this has been a focus of evaluation for some providers (e.g. O'Connor, Cecil and Boudioni 2009).
The work of the Social Work Task force has focused attention on the social work curriculum as a whole, and questions how far it prepares graduates for the realities of practice. For example, the interim report of the Social Work Task Force (DCSF May 2009:4) states
“We have been told that new social workers are often not properly
prepared for the demands of the job”
This paper reports on a research project which explored student and staff perceptions regarding how course activities prepare graduates for the world of employment. The research took the form of a student survey (N=78), and a student focus group, alongside a consultative group of recent graduates acting as a reference point. Themes emerging from this data were then fed into a staff focus group. The paper reports key findings in respect of how well students felt prepared for social work and the activities most valued as part of that preparation. Staff insights into curriculum development and employability are reported.
The paper discusses these findings and suggests the need for a visible employability strategy that is embedded across the curriculum, made explicit to both staff and students and with key roles defined with regard to ensuring this process is a reflexive and responsive one. In the context of Social Work Task Force recommendations, this paper will stimulate debate about reviewing and designing learning and teaching experiences on social work programmes with the aim of producing the competent, confident workforce of the future.
Hind, D. & Moss, S. (2005) Employability Skills. Sunderland, Business Education Publishers Ltd.
O'Connor, L., Cecil, B. & Boudioni, M. (2009) Preparing for Practice: An Evaluation of an Undergraduate Social Work 'Preparation for Practice' Module, Social Work Education Volume 28, Number 4, pp.436-454
The work of the Social Work Task force has focused attention on the social work curriculum as a whole, and questions how far it prepares graduates for the realities of practice. For example, the interim report of the Social Work Task Force (DCSF May 2009:4) states
“We have been told that new social workers are often not properly
prepared for the demands of the job”
This paper reports on a research project which explored student and staff perceptions regarding how course activities prepare graduates for the world of employment. The research took the form of a student survey (N=78), and a student focus group, alongside a consultative group of recent graduates acting as a reference point. Themes emerging from this data were then fed into a staff focus group. The paper reports key findings in respect of how well students felt prepared for social work and the activities most valued as part of that preparation. Staff insights into curriculum development and employability are reported.
The paper discusses these findings and suggests the need for a visible employability strategy that is embedded across the curriculum, made explicit to both staff and students and with key roles defined with regard to ensuring this process is a reflexive and responsive one. In the context of Social Work Task Force recommendations, this paper will stimulate debate about reviewing and designing learning and teaching experiences on social work programmes with the aim of producing the competent, confident workforce of the future.
Hind, D. & Moss, S. (2005) Employability Skills. Sunderland, Business Education Publishers Ltd.
O'Connor, L., Cecil, B. & Boudioni, M. (2009) Preparing for Practice: An Evaluation of an Undergraduate Social Work 'Preparation for Practice' Module, Social Work Education Volume 28, Number 4, pp.436-454
Paper:
A national curriculum? reviewing the evidence for enhanced prescription
Imogen Taylor, Suzy Braye
Theme 1: Shaping the learning and teaching experience
R118
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
Debates about the the quality of social work education at initial qualifying level have intensified with publication of the Social Work Taskforce Report. Criticism that newly qualified social workers emerge ill-prepared for the realities of practice has been accompanied by calls for enhanced prescription in the curriculum. Yet alongside government commitments to reform social work education, there is evidence to suggest that the social work degree, introduced only in 2003, is delivering on the requirements set by government (DH 2002), and requires a period of stability in order to realize its impact on the workforce (DH 2008).
Since 2003, the Social Care Institute for Excellence has funded knowledge reviews focusing on key aspects of the social work initial qualification curriculum. Each review has reported its findings, but to date there has been no synthesis of themes emerging from these and other studies such as those initiated by the Care Council for Wales.This proposed paper, presented by researchers who have conducted a number of the reviews, will draw upon and synthesise the evidence emerging about the content, delivery and outcomes of social work education, and will consider key questions that are pertinent to current calls for reform:
a) how are government requirements on curriculum being interpreted and applied?
b) what levels of consistency and diversity exist within these core elements of the curriculum?
c) what are the outcomes for students?
d) is there evidence to support the need for a more extensively prescribed national curriculum?
The paper will thus contribute an evidence-informed perspective to the debate on the future of social work education.
DH (2002) Requirements for Social Work Training. London: Department of Health.
DH (2008) Evaluation of the New Social Work Degree Qualification in England. London: Department of Health.
Since 2003, the Social Care Institute for Excellence has funded knowledge reviews focusing on key aspects of the social work initial qualification curriculum. Each review has reported its findings, but to date there has been no synthesis of themes emerging from these and other studies such as those initiated by the Care Council for Wales.This proposed paper, presented by researchers who have conducted a number of the reviews, will draw upon and synthesise the evidence emerging about the content, delivery and outcomes of social work education, and will consider key questions that are pertinent to current calls for reform:
a) how are government requirements on curriculum being interpreted and applied?
b) what levels of consistency and diversity exist within these core elements of the curriculum?
c) what are the outcomes for students?
d) is there evidence to support the need for a more extensively prescribed national curriculum?
The paper will thus contribute an evidence-informed perspective to the debate on the future of social work education.
DH (2002) Requirements for Social Work Training. London: Department of Health.
DH (2008) Evaluation of the New Social Work Degree Qualification in England. London: Department of Health.
Paper:
An approach to meeting the ICT requirements of the social work degree
Jim Rogers, Sue Watling
Theme 1: Shaping the learning and teaching experience
R118
Click here to show/hide the abstract
This presentation shows how the social work team at the University of Lincoln have worked together to ensure a model of good ICT practice in meeting the requirements of the Social Work degree.
When the GSCC introduced ICT competencies, the management and assessment was left to individual institutions. Many initially chose the ECDL route or incorporated ICT criteria into assessed modules. At Lincoln neither the ECDL nor incorporation into assessed units proved sustainable in practice so an alternative approach was developed. Taking advantage of the institution’s VLE (Blackboard), an automated student-centred resource has been designed. This consists of a self-paced set of learning objects giving students control over their own learning experience. The area provides learning materials, formative interactive assessment opportunities and final summative assessments undertaken in exam conditions. Links to the Blackboard Gradebook ensure staff can see at a glance which students have certified competencies and which need to undertake further assessment. Staff can also view final ICT assessment results.
In February 2009 QAA subject benchmarks for social work changed (QAA 2009) and the GSCC decided the ECDL is no longer appropriate for assessing competency. Students are now required to demonstrate a more critical understanding of the role of ICT, including an awareness of the impact of the "digital divide". Reference to the role of technology within social work in the recent Task Force Report (DCSF 2009) shows how good quality ICT supports effective professional social work practice. As the government pushed towards achieving a ‘Digital Britain’ and making explicit the links between social and digital exclusion, (DCMS 2009) then the newly qualified social worker needs to demonstrate competence with the technology and the implications of digital exclusion. The model used at Lincoln not only encourages engagement with technology and assessment of software skills but also provides an adaptable automated system for developing the prerequisite confidence and competencies required in an increasingly digital society.
D.C.M.S. 2009. Digital Britain. Communities and Local Government Publications. Retrieved 1 May 2010 (http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/broadcasting/5631.aspx/)
D.C.S.F. 2009. Building a safe confident future; social work task force final report. Retrieved 1 May 2010 (http://publications.dcsf.gov.uk/default.aspx?PageFunction=productdetails&PageMode=publications&ProductId=DCSF-01114-2009
Q.A.A. 2009. Code of Practice Benchmark statements for Social Work. Retrieved 1 May 2010 (http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/benchmark/statements/socialwork08.pdf)
When the GSCC introduced ICT competencies, the management and assessment was left to individual institutions. Many initially chose the ECDL route or incorporated ICT criteria into assessed modules. At Lincoln neither the ECDL nor incorporation into assessed units proved sustainable in practice so an alternative approach was developed. Taking advantage of the institution’s VLE (Blackboard), an automated student-centred resource has been designed. This consists of a self-paced set of learning objects giving students control over their own learning experience. The area provides learning materials, formative interactive assessment opportunities and final summative assessments undertaken in exam conditions. Links to the Blackboard Gradebook ensure staff can see at a glance which students have certified competencies and which need to undertake further assessment. Staff can also view final ICT assessment results.
In February 2009 QAA subject benchmarks for social work changed (QAA 2009) and the GSCC decided the ECDL is no longer appropriate for assessing competency. Students are now required to demonstrate a more critical understanding of the role of ICT, including an awareness of the impact of the "digital divide". Reference to the role of technology within social work in the recent Task Force Report (DCSF 2009) shows how good quality ICT supports effective professional social work practice. As the government pushed towards achieving a ‘Digital Britain’ and making explicit the links between social and digital exclusion, (DCMS 2009) then the newly qualified social worker needs to demonstrate competence with the technology and the implications of digital exclusion. The model used at Lincoln not only encourages engagement with technology and assessment of software skills but also provides an adaptable automated system for developing the prerequisite confidence and competencies required in an increasingly digital society.
D.C.M.S. 2009. Digital Britain. Communities and Local Government Publications. Retrieved 1 May 2010 (http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/broadcasting/5631.aspx/)
D.C.S.F. 2009. Building a safe confident future; social work task force final report. Retrieved 1 May 2010 (http://publications.dcsf.gov.uk/default.aspx?PageFunction=productdetails&PageMode=publications&ProductId=DCSF-01114-2009
Q.A.A. 2009. Code of Practice Benchmark statements for Social Work. Retrieved 1 May 2010 (http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/benchmark/statements/socialwork08.pdf)
Paper:
Interrogating the impact of policy and procedure on social work practice and the assessment of risk.
Nancy Kelly, Kim Holt, Karen Broadhurst
Theme 3: Shaping current and future social work practice
R034
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
There appears to be a changing landscape in child welfare practices; with new and complex information systems taking social workers away from front line practice, at a time when the Public Law Outline, cuts in the legal services budget, and recent events in Haringey, places a greater expectation on front line social workers. "Bring back the orange book" is the response of a number of experienced social workers, to a perceived ‘data-surveillance’ culture, with increasingly less time in face to face work with families who are increasingly hard to reach.
Specifically, the paper considers the intended and unintended outcomes of policy and legislative change, calling into question the tenets of instrumental rationalism that underpin procedural ‘innovation’. Social workers and the designers of policy and legislation occupy different ‘spatialities’.
Centred managerialism, although well intentioned, is almost certainly both too simple and too hierarchical to influence the quality of social work assessments. The frameworks are what governance theorists describe as a ‘minor instrumentality’, a series of largely remedial procedural steps that falls short in its attempt to re-order the social world. The Public Law Outline combined with increased bureaucracy, place greater demands on local authorities with respect to the assessment, family support and preparation of families.
The researchers have reviewed the relevant legislation, policy guidance and literature in this area, to consider the reasons for disengagement on behalf of social workers and parents, and to consider whether this landscape is changing, and the implications for both social workers and families.
Specifically, the paper considers the intended and unintended outcomes of policy and legislative change, calling into question the tenets of instrumental rationalism that underpin procedural ‘innovation’. Social workers and the designers of policy and legislation occupy different ‘spatialities’.
Centred managerialism, although well intentioned, is almost certainly both too simple and too hierarchical to influence the quality of social work assessments. The frameworks are what governance theorists describe as a ‘minor instrumentality’, a series of largely remedial procedural steps that falls short in its attempt to re-order the social world. The Public Law Outline combined with increased bureaucracy, place greater demands on local authorities with respect to the assessment, family support and preparation of families.
The researchers have reviewed the relevant legislation, policy guidance and literature in this area, to consider the reasons for disengagement on behalf of social workers and parents, and to consider whether this landscape is changing, and the implications for both social workers and families.
Paper:
Communication with children and young people: learning pathways to competent practice, through qualification and beyond
Michelle Lefevre
Theme 1: Shaping the learning and teaching experience
R034
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
Effective communication, engagement and direct work by social workers are central to ensuring that children and young people’s welfare is promoted, that they are protected, and that they have a voice in assessment, decision-making and service planning. However, serious case reviews, workforce inspections and research studies continue to indicate shortcomings in social workers’ capabilities in this respect. Whilst the pressures of a complex role undertaken in often under-resourced, poorly supervised and unsupported contexts are likely to be significant contributors to this state of affairs, it seems also that practitioners do not necessarily feel confident in their capacity to communicate with children nor always appreciate the purpose and relevance of this role.
The quality and nature of qualifying training is likely to play a part in this. Earlier research conducted by this presenter and colleagues has uncovered serious shortcomings in the qualifying degree's capacity to adequately prepare social workers for this aspect of their professional role. It also uncovered the limited nature of the evidence-base for pedagogical approaches to this topic. To contribute to knowledge in this field, the presenter has undertaken a prospective study exploring the learning experiences over time of a cohort of students following a qualifying programme in one particular university. Data from earlier stages of this research has already indicated which aspects of the programme seem to have contributed to an increase in students’ confidence in communication and knowledge of how to communicate in context. This paper will report findings from the final stage of the study, where participants, one year post-qualification, provide thick descriptions of their idiosyncratic learning pathways towards competent communicative practice with children. These have been mapped against data they provided at earlier stages of the research to enable insights to be formed about what learning opportunities might be most productive.
The quality and nature of qualifying training is likely to play a part in this. Earlier research conducted by this presenter and colleagues has uncovered serious shortcomings in the qualifying degree's capacity to adequately prepare social workers for this aspect of their professional role. It also uncovered the limited nature of the evidence-base for pedagogical approaches to this topic. To contribute to knowledge in this field, the presenter has undertaken a prospective study exploring the learning experiences over time of a cohort of students following a qualifying programme in one particular university. Data from earlier stages of this research has already indicated which aspects of the programme seem to have contributed to an increase in students’ confidence in communication and knowledge of how to communicate in context. This paper will report findings from the final stage of the study, where participants, one year post-qualification, provide thick descriptions of their idiosyncratic learning pathways towards competent communicative practice with children. These have been mapped against data they provided at earlier stages of the research to enable insights to be formed about what learning opportunities might be most productive.
Paper:
Teaching and learning analysis in assessment
Dendy Platt
Theme 1: Shaping the learning and teaching experience
R034
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
Analysis and critical thinking are ‘bread and butter’ to social work education. Yet there are well-documented problems in enabling practitioners to write good analyses of child and family assessments (Turney, 2009).
This paper will present the evaluation of a model of learning and teaching analysis in assessment, linked to the conference theme ‘Shaping the learning and teaching experience’. It builds on materials developed by Dalzell and Sawyer (2007), and uses three particular principles: introducing conceptual clarity; developing and practising skills such as hypothesising and writing conclusions; and encouraging transfer of learning through reflection.
The model was applied through a local authority training programme, and then adapted for a post-qualifying specialist award course (children and young people). The paper will cover the key components of the model, and an analysis of the likely conditions for successful application. Evaluation was undertaken using three data sources. A ‘self-efficacy’ questionnaire was completed by participants, before, after and at 3 months follow-up; examinations of assessment reports were carried out before and after the training; and student assignment results were examined using previous year groups for comparison.
Results were encouraging. Mean self-efficacy scores improved from 47 to 56 (total possible 75) between t1 and t2 (p<.001) (n=42). A smaller effect persisted at 3 month follow-up (mean score 53), although the response rate fell (p<.05). Evidence of sustained application to practice over time was mixed. Most notably the PQ students’ assignment grades improved from a mean of 55% (comparison group, n=47) to 62% (intervention group, n=23) (p<.05).
The paper will appeal to JSWEC participants interested in exploring the challenges of teaching and learning analysis in assessment.
References
Dalzell R. & Sawyer E. (2007), Putting Analysis into Assessment: Undertaking assessment of need. National Children’s Bureau, London.
Turney D. (2009), Analysis and Critical Thinking in Assessment. Research in Practice.
This paper will present the evaluation of a model of learning and teaching analysis in assessment, linked to the conference theme ‘Shaping the learning and teaching experience’. It builds on materials developed by Dalzell and Sawyer (2007), and uses three particular principles: introducing conceptual clarity; developing and practising skills such as hypothesising and writing conclusions; and encouraging transfer of learning through reflection.
The model was applied through a local authority training programme, and then adapted for a post-qualifying specialist award course (children and young people). The paper will cover the key components of the model, and an analysis of the likely conditions for successful application. Evaluation was undertaken using three data sources. A ‘self-efficacy’ questionnaire was completed by participants, before, after and at 3 months follow-up; examinations of assessment reports were carried out before and after the training; and student assignment results were examined using previous year groups for comparison.
Results were encouraging. Mean self-efficacy scores improved from 47 to 56 (total possible 75) between t1 and t2 (p<.001) (n=42). A smaller effect persisted at 3 month follow-up (mean score 53), although the response rate fell (p<.05). Evidence of sustained application to practice over time was mixed. Most notably the PQ students’ assignment grades improved from a mean of 55% (comparison group, n=47) to 62% (intervention group, n=23) (p<.05).
The paper will appeal to JSWEC participants interested in exploring the challenges of teaching and learning analysis in assessment.
References
Dalzell R. & Sawyer E. (2007), Putting Analysis into Assessment: Undertaking assessment of need. National Children’s Bureau, London.
Turney D. (2009), Analysis and Critical Thinking in Assessment. Research in Practice.
Paper:
Are We There Yet? Heteronormativity, anti oppressive practice and sexual orientation in social work education
Nicki Ward
Theme 3: Shaping current and future social work practice
R115
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
Anti discriminatory and anti oppressive practices continue to be significant themes shaping social work education though how this is defined and managed is becoming increasingly complex in the age of superdiversity. This paper focuses on issues of sexuality considering how they are positioned as part of the diversity agenda for social work.
In the past decade there have been significant developments in anti discriminatory legislation as it relates to sexual orientation. From a position in 1997 where sexual orientation was still criminalised and penalised within legislation and policy, the UK now has legislation which makes it illegal to discriminate in employment and the provision of goods and services and has seen the legal recognition of same sex relationships. Nevertheless, debates continue about whether lesbians and gay men should be accorded such rights and to what extent others should or should not be permitted to discriminate based on their own beliefs.
Previous research has demonstrated the impact of heteronormativity on the lives of lesbians and its role in the exclusionary processes faced by members of the LGBT population. This paper analyses the core documents which guide the education and registration of social workers considering the extent to which they reflect the dominant heteronormativity of society or embed notions of anti oppressive practice in relation to LGBT populations.
Drawing on the findings of the analysis, and previous experience of teaching and mentoring social work students in issues of diversity and sexuality, the paper will identify challenges to anti discriminatory practice with LGBT populations and make recommendations for curriculum development and social work practice.
In the past decade there have been significant developments in anti discriminatory legislation as it relates to sexual orientation. From a position in 1997 where sexual orientation was still criminalised and penalised within legislation and policy, the UK now has legislation which makes it illegal to discriminate in employment and the provision of goods and services and has seen the legal recognition of same sex relationships. Nevertheless, debates continue about whether lesbians and gay men should be accorded such rights and to what extent others should or should not be permitted to discriminate based on their own beliefs.
Previous research has demonstrated the impact of heteronormativity on the lives of lesbians and its role in the exclusionary processes faced by members of the LGBT population. This paper analyses the core documents which guide the education and registration of social workers considering the extent to which they reflect the dominant heteronormativity of society or embed notions of anti oppressive practice in relation to LGBT populations.
Drawing on the findings of the analysis, and previous experience of teaching and mentoring social work students in issues of diversity and sexuality, the paper will identify challenges to anti discriminatory practice with LGBT populations and make recommendations for curriculum development and social work practice.
Paper:
Adult and mental health social work practice with lesbians and gay men
Helen Cosis Brown, Christine Cocker, Michael Shamash
Theme 3: Shaping current and future social work practice
R115
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
The quality of adult and mental health social work practice with lesbians and gay men is currently of concern to the Department of Health. There are now new duties placed on the NHS and Local Authority social services departments resulting from recent equalities legislation (Sexual Orientation Regulations, 2007) to provide an equitable service.
King et al’s (2007) systematic review, commissioned by the National Institute for Mental Health in England, contributed to the Department of Health’s inclusion of lesbians and gay men in its National Suicide Prevention Strategy for England. King et al, concluded:
LGB people are at significantly higher risk of mental disorder, suicidal ideation, substance misuse, and DSH (deliberate self harm) than heterosexual people. An awareness of the mental health needs of LGB people should become part of the training for health and social work professionals (2007: 3).
The addition of lesbians and gay men as a specific group, "will send out a clear message to organisations working with LGB groups, including health and social care agencies, that actions need to be taken if we are to reduce the risk of suicide in this group"(King et al, 2007: 1).
Research identifies specific barriers to health and social care for lesbians and gay men including: relationship barriers including homophobia; heterosexist assumptions; lack of a professional approach; lack of knowledge and misunderstandings (Meads et al, 2009). This paper will explore this area of practice and look at these barriers both in mental health and adult care more generally. Research findings will be considered as will their application to social work practice in mental health and adult social care.
King et al’s (2007) systematic review, commissioned by the National Institute for Mental Health in England, contributed to the Department of Health’s inclusion of lesbians and gay men in its National Suicide Prevention Strategy for England. King et al, concluded:
LGB people are at significantly higher risk of mental disorder, suicidal ideation, substance misuse, and DSH (deliberate self harm) than heterosexual people. An awareness of the mental health needs of LGB people should become part of the training for health and social work professionals (2007: 3).
The addition of lesbians and gay men as a specific group, "will send out a clear message to organisations working with LGB groups, including health and social care agencies, that actions need to be taken if we are to reduce the risk of suicide in this group"(King et al, 2007: 1).
Research identifies specific barriers to health and social care for lesbians and gay men including: relationship barriers including homophobia; heterosexist assumptions; lack of a professional approach; lack of knowledge and misunderstandings (Meads et al, 2009). This paper will explore this area of practice and look at these barriers both in mental health and adult care more generally. Research findings will be considered as will their application to social work practice in mental health and adult social care.
Workshop:
Entry into social work: negotiating the balancing act in recruitment and selection
Jean Dillon, Trish Hafford-Letchfield, Anthea Anthony
Theme 3: Shaping current and future social work practice
N101
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
The final report of the Social Work Task Force (2009) calls for reforms in social work education and training that should:
...begin with clear, consistent criteria for entry to social work courses with a new regime for testing and interviewing candidates that balances academic and personal skills so that all students are of a high calibre (Social Work Task Force, 2009: 7).
The development of holistic and balanced admissions criteria when selecting students for social work education is not only of current topical concern, it is essential for the future integrity and configuration of the social work profession, as is having a representative and diverse workforce. The workshop focuses upon research studies undertaken by the authors on the experiences of students striving to navigate their way from FE access courses to HE social work programmes, and the admissions procedures of ten social work programmes. It initially explores the tensions of balancing two governmental policy objectives to widen participation to higher education (DES, 2003) and to broaden access to the professions (Cabinet Office, 2009), with the DH entry requirements for social work education introduced in 2003. It then explores the admissions criteria used by different universities. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss key professional tensions and dilemmas experienced when selecting students, and the pros and cons of using different admissions criteria. Finally, participants will be encouraged to contribute to an admissions template facilitating the selection of 'high calibre' students, which embraces both the academic credentials and the social context of candidates’ experiences and suitability for social work. This will be sent to the Social Work Reform Board (the body with responsibility for taking forward the Social Work Taskforce recommendations) as our suggestion for the introduction of national admissions criteria for social work education.
...begin with clear, consistent criteria for entry to social work courses with a new regime for testing and interviewing candidates that balances academic and personal skills so that all students are of a high calibre (Social Work Task Force, 2009: 7).
The development of holistic and balanced admissions criteria when selecting students for social work education is not only of current topical concern, it is essential for the future integrity and configuration of the social work profession, as is having a representative and diverse workforce. The workshop focuses upon research studies undertaken by the authors on the experiences of students striving to navigate their way from FE access courses to HE social work programmes, and the admissions procedures of ten social work programmes. It initially explores the tensions of balancing two governmental policy objectives to widen participation to higher education (DES, 2003) and to broaden access to the professions (Cabinet Office, 2009), with the DH entry requirements for social work education introduced in 2003. It then explores the admissions criteria used by different universities. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss key professional tensions and dilemmas experienced when selecting students, and the pros and cons of using different admissions criteria. Finally, participants will be encouraged to contribute to an admissions template facilitating the selection of 'high calibre' students, which embraces both the academic credentials and the social context of candidates’ experiences and suitability for social work. This will be sent to the Social Work Reform Board (the body with responsibility for taking forward the Social Work Taskforce recommendations) as our suggestion for the introduction of national admissions criteria for social work education.
Workshop:
Impact assessng the framework for social work education in Scotland in respect of disabiilty equality
Jess Alexander
Theme 1: Shaping the learning and teaching experience
N105
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
The rights of disabled people in education, employment and practice learning, and the
responsibilities of higher education institutions and qualification bodies such as the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC), have been strengthened by changes in disability legislation.
The implications of this are that disabled students must not be discriminated against in
gaining access to education nor in the delivery and assessment of their education, including when undertaking practice learning opportunities.
The Disability Rights Commission’s (DRC) report of the formal investigation into fitness standards in housing, teaching, and social work recommended that “All regulatory bodies, across England, Scotland and Wales, should review their competence standards to ensure that any negative impact on disabled people is eliminated. They should provide guidance on reasonable adjustments and consider what other guidance to provide to encourage others (such as higher education institutions) to adopt an enabling approach to disabled people”.
In response to this the SSSC recently commissioned a project, on behalf of the Scottish Government, to impact assess the framework for social work education in Scotland 2003 in respect of disability equality. This included establishing genuine competence standards, suggested reasonable adjustments, and providing proposals for the revision of the document.
This workshop will present the findings of the project and will allow participants an
opportunity to discuss their implications. A round table discussion will focus on:
• participants’ experience of applying competence standards in social work education including practice learning
• sharing best practice in relation to the learning and teaching experience of disabled social work students, including examples of reasonable adjustments.
responsibilities of higher education institutions and qualification bodies such as the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC), have been strengthened by changes in disability legislation.
The implications of this are that disabled students must not be discriminated against in
gaining access to education nor in the delivery and assessment of their education, including when undertaking practice learning opportunities.
The Disability Rights Commission’s (DRC) report of the formal investigation into fitness standards in housing, teaching, and social work recommended that “All regulatory bodies, across England, Scotland and Wales, should review their competence standards to ensure that any negative impact on disabled people is eliminated. They should provide guidance on reasonable adjustments and consider what other guidance to provide to encourage others (such as higher education institutions) to adopt an enabling approach to disabled people”.
In response to this the SSSC recently commissioned a project, on behalf of the Scottish Government, to impact assess the framework for social work education in Scotland 2003 in respect of disability equality. This included establishing genuine competence standards, suggested reasonable adjustments, and providing proposals for the revision of the document.
This workshop will present the findings of the project and will allow participants an
opportunity to discuss their implications. A round table discussion will focus on:
• participants’ experience of applying competence standards in social work education including practice learning
• sharing best practice in relation to the learning and teaching experience of disabled social work students, including examples of reasonable adjustments.
Workshop:
Building a new curriculum for the social work degree in England
Hilary Burgess, Jane McLenachan, Helen Lucas
Theme 1: Shaping the learning and teaching experience
N106
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
The Taskforce recommendations to review the social work curriculum, including arrangements for practice learning, provide a challenge and exciting opportunities. Educators (academics, practitioners and service users and carers) need to collaborate to construct programmes to equip tomorrow’s social workers for practice. In this workshop we will commence with a summary of progress to date through the social work reform board and education working group. Key issues in curriculum design will be outlined, drawing on comparative material from social work curricula in other countries (e.g. IASSW standards, Canada, USA, Australia) and from other professions (e.g. tomorrow’s doctors, initial teacher education, new nursing curriculum).
Discussion will focus on selected questions, including:
1. How should learning knowledge, skills and values be balanced? Should we focus on key domains (e.g. critical thinking/analysis of knowledge, reflective and ethical practice, skills development, research mindedness)?
2. How can theory and practice be fully integrated in university-based and practice learning?
3. What other requirements should be taken into account (e.g. ten essential shared capabilities, common core) ?
4. What gaps have there been in existing curricula, or areas not covered in sufficient depth? (e.g. assessment frameworks; risk analysis; communication skills; managing conflict and hostility; personalisation, substance misuse, managing stress, human rights)?
5. How can we ensure the curriculum remains responsive to the ever-changing context of policy and practice?
The final part of the workshop will be devoted to a central debate concerning the key ingredients for the implicit or process curriculum for social work; that is how what students learn is shaped by how it is taught, and that for professional education this brings specific challenges and the place of concepts such as the matching principle (Ward 1999) constructive alignment (Biggs 2003) and Eraut’s professional education (1994).
Discussion will focus on selected questions, including:
1. How should learning knowledge, skills and values be balanced? Should we focus on key domains (e.g. critical thinking/analysis of knowledge, reflective and ethical practice, skills development, research mindedness)?
2. How can theory and practice be fully integrated in university-based and practice learning?
3. What other requirements should be taken into account (e.g. ten essential shared capabilities, common core) ?
4. What gaps have there been in existing curricula, or areas not covered in sufficient depth? (e.g. assessment frameworks; risk analysis; communication skills; managing conflict and hostility; personalisation, substance misuse, managing stress, human rights)?
5. How can we ensure the curriculum remains responsive to the ever-changing context of policy and practice?
The final part of the workshop will be devoted to a central debate concerning the key ingredients for the implicit or process curriculum for social work; that is how what students learn is shaped by how it is taught, and that for professional education this brings specific challenges and the place of concepts such as the matching principle (Ward 1999) constructive alignment (Biggs 2003) and Eraut’s professional education (1994).
Symposium:
Time to re-‘Think Family’? Shaping future policy, practice and research
Nathan Hughes, Kate Morris, Harriet Clarke
Theme 5: Shaping the future through research
N108
Click here to show/hide the abstract
Understanding and supporting families with multiple and complex needs is an area of policy and practice that continues to gain importance and emphasis internationally. Within the UK, the Social Exclusion Task Force policy stream ‘Think Family’ outlined a commitment to ‘improve the life chances of families at risk and help to break the cycle of disadvantage’. Within this context, the identification of a small number of families as being ‘at risk’ of social exclusion on the one hand provides opportunities to consider how to deliver support, but on the other is demarcating particular groups of families as having complex needs best met through identification as a public concern. This reflects evident tensions in discourses emerging within the resurgence of child protection as a moral and public panic, particularly since the death of Baby Peter.
Despite this interest, an international research review of approaches to supporting families with complex needs, carried out by Morris, Hughes, Clarke and colleagues (2008), illustrates a stark paucity of academic analyses of policy and practice concerned specifically with ‘family’. That which exists appears fragmented with little coherency to the knowledge base regarding effective practice or appropriate research methodologies.
It is within this context that this symposium seeks to explore the future agenda for policy, practice and research that purports to ‘Think Family’, through three strands of discussion:
• ‘Shaping future policy through a critical reflection on recent policy debates and inherent political discourses
• ‘Shaping future practice’ by considering the challenges for social work in engaging with and implementing this agenda
• ‘Shaping future research’ that is able to critically evaluate practice and address challenges in understanding the lived experiences of ‘families at risk’.
Each presenter will draw directly on relevant research and practice awareness.
The symposium seeks to be highly interactive, with concise five minute presentations for each strand stimulating debates inclusive of a broad spectrum of policy and practice interests.
Despite this interest, an international research review of approaches to supporting families with complex needs, carried out by Morris, Hughes, Clarke and colleagues (2008), illustrates a stark paucity of academic analyses of policy and practice concerned specifically with ‘family’. That which exists appears fragmented with little coherency to the knowledge base regarding effective practice or appropriate research methodologies.
It is within this context that this symposium seeks to explore the future agenda for policy, practice and research that purports to ‘Think Family’, through three strands of discussion:
• ‘Shaping future policy through a critical reflection on recent policy debates and inherent political discourses
• ‘Shaping future practice’ by considering the challenges for social work in engaging with and implementing this agenda
• ‘Shaping future research’ that is able to critically evaluate practice and address challenges in understanding the lived experiences of ‘families at risk’.
Each presenter will draw directly on relevant research and practice awareness.
The symposium seeks to be highly interactive, with concise five minute presentations for each strand stimulating debates inclusive of a broad spectrum of policy and practice interests.
Paper:
An exploratory study of the needs and experiences of lesbian, gay and bisexual people with mental health issues living in Wales
Tracey Maegusuku-Hewett, Michele Raithby
Theme 8: Sharing research findings to develop effective practice
R020
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
In recent years within the UK, there have been a handful of studies that have focused on lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people and mental health and wellbeing (e.g. King and McKeown 2003; Browne and Lim 2008). The findings from such studies are generally consistent with the larger international pool of empirical work wherein it is suggested that there is a greater prevalence of mental health issues amongst LGB people.
Whilst some of the UK based work has included a sample of the population from Wales, specific research on people who identify themselves as LGB and likewise on people with mental health issues living in Wales is limited to date. Hence, Stonewall Cymru in partnership with three mental health organisations (Mind Cymru, Hafal and Journeys) identified a need for a Wales-specific study to explore the needs and experiences of lesbian, gay and bisexual people who have experienced or have mental health issues.
146 people took part in our cross-sectional mixed method study, which incorporated an online survey and five focus groups across Wales, in both rural and urban areas. Several themes aimed to capture: respondents’ experiences of mental health issues and access to services, the perceived contributing factors to distress and mental health issues, details of individuals’ level of inclusion and quality of life and their views on ways, if any, that services can be improved and the welfare of LGB people with mental health issues promoted and addressed.
Within this presentation the researchers will provide a brief policy context of mental health provision in Wales before going onto outline the research objectives, methodology and discussing our key findings and recommendations for policy and practice across all disciplines. The research holds particular relevance, benefit and implications for social workers engaged in mental health practice with LGB people.
Whilst some of the UK based work has included a sample of the population from Wales, specific research on people who identify themselves as LGB and likewise on people with mental health issues living in Wales is limited to date. Hence, Stonewall Cymru in partnership with three mental health organisations (Mind Cymru, Hafal and Journeys) identified a need for a Wales-specific study to explore the needs and experiences of lesbian, gay and bisexual people who have experienced or have mental health issues.
146 people took part in our cross-sectional mixed method study, which incorporated an online survey and five focus groups across Wales, in both rural and urban areas. Several themes aimed to capture: respondents’ experiences of mental health issues and access to services, the perceived contributing factors to distress and mental health issues, details of individuals’ level of inclusion and quality of life and their views on ways, if any, that services can be improved and the welfare of LGB people with mental health issues promoted and addressed.
Within this presentation the researchers will provide a brief policy context of mental health provision in Wales before going onto outline the research objectives, methodology and discussing our key findings and recommendations for policy and practice across all disciplines. The research holds particular relevance, benefit and implications for social workers engaged in mental health practice with LGB people.
Paper:
The social location of personality disorder
Lee Quinney
Theme 6: Sharing research
R020
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
Personality disorder is a contested diagnosis attracting significant public and legislative interest in part due to concerns relating to how the potential risk, posed by violent and sexual offenders, can be managed in the community. The community needs of adults with this condition have largely been ignored.
Using evidenced obtained from a doctoral study employing primarily qualitative methods to examine the social needs and problems of male probation hostel residents I present how this offender population offers an insight into the importance of maintaining a focus on reflexive practice that understands the qualitative needs of service users from more of a systemic and critical position.
Themes emerging from data analysis include an appreciation of how men use methods, including power associated with their own masculinities, to respond to their subordinated and marginalised social location and identity. They attempted to capitalise from opportunities to gain dominance amongst men, and between men and women in order to retain or gain a normative identity in the absence of specialist support services in the community that are able to meet their needs and outlook on life.
In light of these findings it seems important to consider personality disorder as less of a disorder of difference or abnormality, and more as a different social location informed by diagnosis. It supports the idea that social workers have a lot to offer personality disordered adults within their day to day practice. It also reminds us that service users are experts in their own needs, but sometimes qualitative research i able to generate themes and theory is required to unveil the wider needs of a small population united by a shared cluster of factors relating to their personality, social exclusion and identities as men.
Using evidenced obtained from a doctoral study employing primarily qualitative methods to examine the social needs and problems of male probation hostel residents I present how this offender population offers an insight into the importance of maintaining a focus on reflexive practice that understands the qualitative needs of service users from more of a systemic and critical position.
Themes emerging from data analysis include an appreciation of how men use methods, including power associated with their own masculinities, to respond to their subordinated and marginalised social location and identity. They attempted to capitalise from opportunities to gain dominance amongst men, and between men and women in order to retain or gain a normative identity in the absence of specialist support services in the community that are able to meet their needs and outlook on life.
In light of these findings it seems important to consider personality disorder as less of a disorder of difference or abnormality, and more as a different social location informed by diagnosis. It supports the idea that social workers have a lot to offer personality disordered adults within their day to day practice. It also reminds us that service users are experts in their own needs, but sometimes qualitative research i able to generate themes and theory is required to unveil the wider needs of a small population united by a shared cluster of factors relating to their personality, social exclusion and identities as men.
Paper:
Supporting hard to reach carers: training programmes for black and minority ethnic and rural carers
Tim Kelly
Theme 6: Sharing research
R020
Click to view the PowerPoint file
Click here to show/hide the abstract
Carers have increasingly become a governmental priority and it is clear that attending to the needs of carers will be an important part of shaping the future of social work. This priority can be seen in the development of information and carer training strategies. This paper will present the results from a study evaluating carer training programmes for unpaid carers from Black and Minority Ethnics (BME) communities and from the Highlands.
This multi-methods evaluation consisted of a pre-test/post-test outcome evaluation, focus groups with carers, interviews with trainers, outreach workers, interpreter's course and project leads. 103 carers participated in the questionnaire component of the evaluation and 75 were involved in focus groups. An additional 32 carers completed a training evaluation for some of the BME courses. Results from the quantitative element of the study indicated that the training programmes positively impacted on outcomes valued by carers including improving feelings of support, well-being, finances, knowledge and skills. In addition, carers felt less isolated. Qualitative data support the quantitative outcomes and also suggest that despite cultural and geographic differences there are interesting similarities between rural and BME carers. The similarities included:
1. Carers were hungry for more training and support regardless of group
2. Outreach, capacity building and community development were essential components of serving hard to reach carers
3. Paying attention to cultural needs of carers is important
4. Working with established network relationships was vital
5. Lack of information was a key barrier to carer welbeing and could be overcome by training programmes.
6. Mutual aid was a key element of programmes for these isolated carers
7. Learning how to learn and participate was required in order to engage in life long learning.
These findings will be explored and implications for education, policy and practice will be offered.
This multi-methods evaluation consisted of a pre-test/post-test outcome evaluation, focus groups with carers, interviews with trainers, outreach workers, interpreter's course and project leads. 103 carers participated in the questionnaire component of the evaluation and 75 were involved in focus groups. An additional 32 carers completed a training evaluation for some of the BME courses. Results from the quantitative element of the study indicated that the training programmes positively impacted on outcomes valued by carers including improving feelings of support, well-being, finances, knowledge and skills. In addition, carers felt less isolated. Qualitative data support the quantitative outcomes and also suggest that despite cultural and geographic differences there are interesting similarities between rural and BME carers. The similarities included:
1. Carers were hungry for more training and support regardless of group
2. Outreach, capacity building and community development were essential components of serving hard to reach carers
3. Paying attention to cultural needs of carers is important
4. Working with established network relationships was vital
5. Lack of information was a key barrier to carer welbeing and could be overcome by training programmes.
6. Mutual aid was a key element of programmes for these isolated carers
7. Learning how to learn and participate was required in order to engage in life long learning.
These findings will be explored and implications for education, policy and practice will be offered.
16:15 - 16:45
Exhibition area
Refreshments, exhibitors and poster viewing
16:45 - 18:00
Breakout rooms
Special Interest Groups 1
18:30 - 19:30
Comet room
SCIE drinks reception
19:00 - 21:00
Restaurant
Dinner
Programme for Wednesday 30th June
View Wednesday programme View Thursday programme View Friday programme Outline versionJoint Social Work Education Conference Social Work Research Conference