Continuing professional development in social work: the Scottish context

Abstract

In this article, the authors argue that the need for continuing professional development in social work has never been greater than at the present time. However, when they survey the state of social work in Scotland—highlighting financial crises, threats of redundancies, organisational upheaval and ever-increasing service demands—they recognise that this is a ‘harsh environment’ in which to promote continuing professional development. If the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work's framework is to have a fundamental impact on social work organisations, as it should do, then operational managers need to be convinced of its relevance to service delivery. One means of tackling the scepticism of managers is to make more explicit and strengthen the connection between the Post-Qualifying framework and the assessment of competence-in-practice. Other professional groups are struggling with similar issues and are seeking to develop innovative and cost-effective means of assessing competence-in-practice. Social work can learn from these initiatives as well as re-emphasising traditional strengths such as the ‘coaching’ model of supervision and the importance of the team in enabling and supporting professional development.