How do we prepare social work students for the challenges they will meet at the workplace and what can we learn from each other in different countries? Short presentations from Australia, Northern Ireland, Finland and Sweden

This presentation builds on findings from the EASSW Madrid Conference in June 2019 with presentations from Australia, England, Finland, Northern Ireland and Sweden. We will do a short presentation on comparative work from this project, followed by small group discussions and a concluding summary. The extent social-work education prepares students for the challenges they meet in the workplace has been discussed with concern about turnover and retention in child welfare (Healy, 2009). A common theme in studies where newly qualified social workers are followed from education to work transition, reports early career unpreparedness, especially their knowledge about how to meet with clients in acute crisis and how to handle demanding work situations, has been underlined (Turcotte, 2006). As working conditions for social workers in many countries are described as demanding, with high turnover rates, recruitment difficulties and where many social workers suffer from burnout, this topic requires attention. At the same time, knowledge about how and what social work students are taught about employer responsibilities, coping and resilience strategies, appears to be limited. This workshop allows a cross country and intercontinental comparison about how we currently address this critical pedagogy in the social-work curriculum. We know little about a common social work curriculum around ‘how to handle emotionally demanding situations’ or ‘how to recognize burnout and develop resilience habits’ and in general, ‘how to manage the demands of the job’ which seems to be a pedagogical gap. We invite participants to share their knowledge, experiences and reflections about the situation in their own country making it possible to learn from each other. To improve the preparedness of social workers’ and increase the possibility for them to stay at the workplace should translate to an increased quality of the support for service users. Primarily, if social worker turnover is improved, consistent relationship between workers and service recipients are maintained.

How do we prepare social work students for the challenges they will meet at the workplace and what can we learn from each other in different countries. Short presentations from Australia, England, Finland, Ireland & Sweden

The extent to which social work education prepares students for the challenges they will meet at the workplace has been discussed with particular concern about turnover and retention in child welfare {Healy, 2009). A common theme in studies where newly qualified social workers are followed from education to work transition, reports early career unpreparedness, especially their knowledge about how to meet with clients in acute crisis and how to handle a demanding work situation has been underlined {Tham & Lynch, 2014; 2017). As working conditions for social workers in many countries are described as demanding, with high turnover rates, recruitment difficulties and where many social workers suffer from burnout and psychological illness, the importance to prepare the students forth is seems important. At the same time, knowledge about how and what social work students are taught about the need to develop coping skills, appears to be limited across and between countries. We know little about a common social work curriculum around 'how to handle emotionally demanding situations' or 'how to recognize burnout and develop resilience habits' and in general, 'how to manage the demands of the job' which seems to be a pedagogical gap. We invite participants to share their knowledge, experiences and reflections about the situation in their own country making it possible to learn from each other. To improve the preparedness of social workers' and increase the possibility for them to stay at the workplace means an increased quality of the support and help vulnerable clients will receive and is a way to create inclusive practices, increase the students' awareness of human rights, diversity and gender issues. Initially, short presentations from researchers/teachers from Spain, Northern Ireland, Sweden, UK, Finland and Australia will be given followed by small group discussions and a concluding summary in the whole group

Job-strain and well-being among Finnish social workers: exploring the differences in occupational well-being between child protection social workers and social workers without duties in child protection

Work-related mental distress and its impact on employees’ working life is a mounting issue among Finnish social workers. This article focuses on identifying the factors associated with child welfare social workers’ occupational well-being. The occupational well-being of Finnish child welfare social workers (N = 364) and social workers whose duties do not include child protection work (N = 524) was explored and compared with each other using t-test statistics and logistic regression analysis. The data, collected in 2014/2015, were obtained from an ongoing longitudinal cohort study on work-related well-being among Finnish public sector employees. A multi-dimensional and holistic approach to occupational well-being was used as the outline for the analysis and comparison of the two groups. Child protection social workers reported higher levels of burnout and secondary traumatic stress than social workers without child protection duties. Despite these burdens, both groups showed a similar level of general health, compassion satisfaction and overall occupational well-being. Individual and organizational factors associated with high occupational well-being were identified. Supervision was found to be an important supporting element. This study identified multiple determinants related to social workers’ occupational well-being, comprising positive and negative elements with regard to organizational and individual factors.</p

How do we prepare students for the challenges of social work? Examples from six countries around the world

In this paper we provide a descriptive comparison of the similarities and differences between social work education at six different universities situated in Australia, England, Finland, Northern Ireland, Sweden, and the United States. The aim was to begin an international conversation by examining the similarities and differences in these examples, around admissions and recruitment processes, professional training, and field practicum to prepare social work students for practice and to consider any implications that differing models of recruitment and training might have for the students’ preparedness for the challenges of social work. The findings reflect common characteristics relating to the curriculum, such as skills training, reflective practice and application of theory into practice. Differences include a range of approaches to professional regulation, admissions and selection, duration of courses and practicum during training. The complexities of trying to measure similarities and differences across diverse models of education are recognised, including the difficulties stemming from different factors being relevant in diverse geographic regions across diverse contexts. The authors suggest that starting an international discussion allows us to learn from one another and may serve as a catalyst for future progress in this area