The transfer of reflective engagement from social work education into the workplace: a study of the value of scaffolded reflection

Abstract

The focal concern of this article is the investigation of the transfer and sustainability of the reflective process into the work environment. Specifically, the identification of the variables which support or challenge practitioners to continue the ongoing process of reflection in practice contexts is addressed. The article describes a study carried out over a seven-year period with students/graduates from a master's in social work (MSW) professional qualification programme in Ireland. The research involved gathering data on participants’ experiences of reflective teaching and learning while on the course and in the initial years of their work as practitioners. In the early phases of the data collection, participants referred to developing epistemological awareness through the reflective process while on the course. This was in the context of a scaffold for reflection through journal writing and mentored portfolio inquiry. The outcomes of the study offer considerable insight into the challenges and value of developing a reflective teaching and learning environment in professional education. In particular, the work highlights how it impacts positively on professional practice.

Keywords:

• reflective engagement
• social work education
• social work practice

Notes

1. The authors have described elsewhere (Dempsey, Halton, and Murphy 2001) their work in developing a scaffold for reflective teaching and learning on a professional social work course, which encourages students to develop their own sense of agency as practitioners in order to address these pressures.

2. Social workers are engaged in a diverse range of agencies. These include statutory agencies, such as the Probation Service and the Health Service Executive, and voluntary agencies, such as disability, family support and hospital-based services. Services undertaken by social workers can include risk assessment, child protection intervention, rehabilitative programmes and bereavement counselling.

3. Previous findings are reported in Halton, Dempsey, and Murphy (2007, in press).

4. Services users include children, adolescents, adults, families and communities who are dealing with difficulties such as poverty, disability, social disadvantage, imprisonment and hospitalisation.

5. Supervision in social work ideally incorporates administrative, supportive and educational elements. In reality, case management may often be the primary focus.