Descent or Dissent? A future of social work education in the UK post-Brexit

This conceptual paper explores the potential crises arising for social work and social work education following the 2016 ‘Brexit’ referendum in the UK. After exploring the complex political terrain of Brexit voting, the political and moral complications arising, this paper attempts to dispel some of the myths associated with the voter types. Subsequently, the uncertain and possibly dangerous futures of social care and welfare are examined before moving to consider the implications for social work education in the UK, as part of the European Union, and beyond. The need for the UK to continue to pursue its relationships and links with other EU colleagues if social work is not to become parochial and somewhat removed from the international stage is highlighted

Integrating the teaching, learning and assessment of communication with children within the qualifying social work curriculum

Qualifying social work education must provide students with a variety of experiential, personalized, participatory, didactic and critically reflective learning opportunities across both the taught curriculum and in practice placements if deep learning of the capabilities needed for effective communication with children and young people is to be ensured. At present, programmes in England are not consistent in the curriculum structures, content and pedagogical approaches they are employing to teach and assess this topic. This paper discusses first how current proposals for the reform of qualifying education in England do not address the ambiguities and discretion in regulatory guidance, which have meant that the place and relevance of this topic within the curriculum remain uncertain and contested. It then draws on a model of the sequencing of students' learning and development in qualifying training, developed through the author's recent empirical research, to present an integrated and coherent approach to the teaching, learning and assessment of this topic. It is proposed that this strategy will enable students to develop the generic, ‘child-focused’ and ‘applied child-specialist’ capabilities they need for the ‘knowing’, ‘being’ and ‘doing’ of effective communication with children

Mind the gap!: Students' Understanding and Application of Social Work Values

This paper discusses a research project that explored the development of student social workers' values during the first year of professional education at one Scottish university. Questionnaires, based on a vignette, and focus groups established baseline information at the outset of the study. These methods were reapplied a year later to identify the extent to which students' values framework had developed, and the factors that had supported this. The study revealed that, by the end of that year, students could both identify and apply values to support them in their work with individuals to a greater extent than they could those to help them challenge structural discrimination. The study also highlighted the need for university-based teaching, and practice learning experiences, to provide more opportunities for reflection and discussion to support the development of values in student social workers

Mind the gap!: Students' Understanding and Application of Social Work Values

This paper discusses a research project that explored the development of student social workers' values during the first year of professional education at one Scottish university. Questionnaires, based on a vignette, and focus groups established baseline information at the outset of the study. These methods were reapplied a year later to identify the extent to which students' values framework had developed, and the factors that had supported this. The study revealed that, by the end of that year, students could both identify and apply values to support them in their work with individuals to a greater extent than they could those to help them challenge structural discrimination. The study also highlighted the need for university-based teaching, and practice learning experiences, to provide more opportunities for reflection and discussion to support the development of values in student social workers

Helping others or a rewarding career? Investigating student motivations to train as social workers in England

Understanding why people want to be social workers is important both for developing social work education and for the profession as a whole. This article presents evidence about the motivations of students enrolled on social work degree programmes in England and draws on data from 3000 responses of three successive intakes of students responding to six online surveys and 26 focus group interviews involving 168 students from nine different social work programmes in six case study sites. The article locates these data in the context of earlier studies of social workers’ motivations, the changing policy context and the changes introduced by the new degree. Similar to previous studies, the current analysis shows that altruistic motivations dominated, but students were also influenced by career issues and the day-to-day aspects of social work. The data highlight continuities with the former qualification in social work in the UK (the DipSW) and provide evidence that the introduction of the social work degree has not dramatically changed the underlying motivations of social work students. Understanding student motivations is important in terms of recruitment to social work qualifying programmes and subsequent retention within the profession. Social work educators and employers need to pay attention to the consequences of mismatches between motivations and expectations about what professional practice involves

Black social work students’ experiences of practice learning: Understanding differential progression rates

Summary: As a group, Black and ethnic minority students progress more slowly on their social work programmes in England than their white counterparts. The article reports on a qualitative study with social work students and key informants in a purposive sample of eight social work programmes. Findings: Factors relating to the characteristics of individual students, the social work programme, the HEI and practice learning environments appeared to be affecting student experience and progression. The article focuses on practice learning. Many student participants reported experiences of disadvantaged educational backgrounds, economic pressures and caring responsibilities. Key informants in some sites described particular challenges faced by these students. Students reported experiences of racism in placements where the majority of staff or service users were white. Application: Concepts drawn from work by Pierre Bourdieu such as ‘habitus’, ‘field’ and ‘social and cultural capital’ are used to make sense of these findings. Some practical ways in which social work programmes might seek to counter educational disparities and racism faced by black and ethnic minority students are suggested: these include monitoring systems, training for practice educators and tutors, support for black and ethnic minority students and agreements between HEIs and placement providers

International social workers in England: Factors influencing supply and demand

Recent years have seen considerable increases in the number of internationally-qualified social workers in England. This article presents trends in the international labour mobility of social workers migrating to work in England alongside information on the supply of UK-trained social workers. It concludes that demographic changes and policy imperatives have accentuated structural issues making it difficult to ensure an adequate supply in the number of domestically-trained social workers. We suggest that more cross-national research is needed to achieve a better understanding of the factors influencing social workers' decisions to work in international settings and the extent to which this reflects permanent or temporary migration between countries