Going beyond a tale of two sectors: a reflective career planning toolkit for social work students

ABSTRACT

This paper seeks to make the case that social work students would benefit from thinking beyond the binary of statutory sector vs voluntary sector when thinking about their future career. It argues instead that they should think in terms of their own philosophical worldview, their own preferences in terms of the mechanics of day-to-day practice, and the reasons for those preferences. Drawing on reflection literature, Johns’ Model of Reflection (2017) and an element of Motivational Interviewing, and informed by a value pluralist perspective, the paper sets out a reflective process for social work students to use. The process supports students firstly to explore their own core values and worldview, then to consider their feelings about more practical aspects of the social work role, and finally to find the connections and possible dissonances between the two. It is hoped that the article and the reflective process here advanced can contribute to students being able to plan for their professional futures in a way that does not depend principally on having to choose between statutory or voluntary sector practice, but on a much wider array of factors and values.

KEYWORDS:

• Curriculum development (education)
• reflection (education)
• statutory sector organisations
• voluntary sector organisations
• ethics and values

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jack Nicholls

Jack Nicholls is a Graduate Tutor in the Department of Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing at Northumbria University (Newcastle). He is a qualified social worker, having practiced largely in the voluntary sector in substance and alcohol use and criminal justice. Jack’s research and teaching interests include social work and politics, social work ethics, non-statutory social work, and how the profession thinks about contested concepts in practice. His PhD is concerned with looking at how newly-qualified social workers conceptualise and perceive social justice. He lives in Newcastle and splits his time between social work, political geekery and his drum kit.