During the last 20 years, social work education and the frameworks for practice have been subject to significant shifts in terms of the delivery of post-qualifying education (with the introduction of fast-track routes and apprenticeship schemes), as well as shifts in emphasis in regulation and practice models. However, there are some stable ‘components’ and the articles in this issue examine these different components of social work education and practice. This includes: prequalifying programmes of education; service user involvement; the role of supervision; and the value of specialist services.
In the first article of this issue, Mary Baginsky and colleagues present the findings of a small-scale longitudinal survey of students who completed the 14-month Step Up to Social Work (SUSW) qualifying programme during the pandemic. As a fast-track programme, the intention of SUSW was to produce social workers who were ‘practice ready’ on qualification and the authors explore the response to the pandemic and resultant changes to programme delivery. Students reported that whilst online learning and consultations through lectures and supervision were sufficient, face-to-face interactions and guidance were missed during placements and their initial employment. Respondents felt ‘adequately’ prepared for practice, despite missing considerable direct work with children and families during placements. Baginsky et al. conclude by suggesting the need for a closer look at those elements of remote and virtual training that were introduced during the pandemic and which have, in part, been subsequently retained as ‘normal practice’.
The topic of the second article, authored by Hannah Jobling and Suzanne Sayuri Ii, is the involvement of services users in social work education. They set out by outlining the growth of the service user movement and the convergence of other agendas, including the rise of consumerism in health and social care, and the incorporation of anti-oppressive practice and empowerment into social work theory and practice. Jobling and Sayuri Li ask an important question about service user involvement in social work education and its subsequent impact on practice. Through exploring research literature from health and social care scholarship more generally, the authors highlight valuable messages for ways in which practice can develop (through transformative learning) and benefit from service user involvement through improve outcomes and organisational practice. The review also outlines the barriers to translating learning into practice linked to organisational hierarchies.
In the third article, David Wilkins examines another essential component of practice: effective supervision in child and family social work. First, Wilkins acknowledges the dearth of scholarship on supervision but that existing work mostly highlights the problems when supervision falls short of what is recommended in terms of supervision being a space for reflecting on practice. Instead, he focuses on the positives outlining seven principles which include: (i) collaboration; (ii) thinking aloud; (iii) emotional reflection in relation to casework; (iv) explicit identification of need, risk, harm, and strengths; (v) focusing on parent and child-defined ideas of helping and outcomes; (vi) exploring multiple perspectives; and, (vii) planning for why’s and how’s of practice. Wilkins ends by acknowledging the problems with implementing such principles when supervision is widely used for accountability and surveillance.
Next, Awhangansi and colleagues report on the findings of a consultation with adoptive parents and adoption professionals, over a 13-month period, who had accessed mental health support for adopted children and young people via a child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS). The specialist service had adopted local quality improvement work and sought the initial views from these stakeholders finding that there was a need for mental health support for diverse issues, indicating a high level of need. Overall, findings demonstrated the need for specialist teams having wider implications for policy and practice.
Our resource review for this issue provides Sam Dean’s practitioner’s perspective on Murphy and Patel’s (2023) book, A Family Guide to Living Well with Dementia. Sam takes us through chapters on personalisation and self-directed support, the Mental Capacity Act 2005, person-led versus service-led support and communications skills for working effectively with people with dementia, helpfully highlighting the content’s value in promoting anti-oppressive, strengths-based relational practice with older people and families living with cognitive illness.
Co-editor
University of Sheffield
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Christian Kerr
Resource Reviews Editor
Leeds Beckett University
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