Tavistock and Portman E-Prints Online
Not a member yet
2774 research outputs found
Sort by
Recruiting and retaining children and families' social workers. The potential of work discussion groups
No full textCurrent difficulties with the recruitment and retention of children and families' social workers have been formally acknowledged. However, although initiatives which focus on remuneration and career progression are clearly welcome, research and evidence from practice highlights how social workers themselves place high value on the availability of good quality supervision. Yet, questions remain about whether first-line managers have the time or are even in the best position to offer this support.
This article draws on the experience and evaluation of one particular model of supervision — 'work discussion groups' —and explores its impact with residential social work staff and teachers as well as the potential for further developments of this kind
The positioning compass: A tool to facilitate reflexive positioning
No full textThis paper describes the development of an idea called a Positioning Compass, constructed to help the therapist or consultant to "go on" in a session by facilitating reflexivity and reflexive positioning; that is,, the ability to reflect on action and use those reflections to inform future action. By listening to semantically rich words used by the client/s and/or participants in the session, "pointers" can be constructed with a "rich word" at one pole and its opposite at the other. A number of pointers constructed during the session can be put together to create a Positioning Compass, which illustrates the discourses that may be positioning participants in the conversation. Constructing a Positioning Compass can help clients and systemic practitioners to shift to "talk about talk" (second order positioning) or created new direction in a session, (third order positioning). The use of Positioning Compass is illustrated with examples from therapy, teaching, supervision and consultation
Practices of freedom: Playing with the position of the other
No full textAn exercise for introducing tutors to a group of trainee systemic therapists is described. This is based on a principle of subverting hierarchy between tutors and students in a playful way and invites transparency and self-disclosure on the part of the tutors. It is an example of ongoing experimentation with positioning theory in systemic training as a way of exploring power differentials and attempting to give voice to subjugated discourses. Tutors and trainees reflect on the excitement and learning arising from the exercise