Whiting & Birch (E-Journals)
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Competence units or holistic assessment
Get PDFWhen public attention is focused upon the profession of social work, a typical response has been to change initial training and the learning outcomes by which students are assessed. Although social work education has employed competency frameworks for two decades the incompetence discourse and the concern about graduates’ ability to undertake competent social work practice continues. Empirical research problematized the competence phenomenon to explore practice educators’ experiences of using competency units and their perspectives of competence for social work. This paper draws upon findings from that research to explore the concept of holistic assessment and to suggest that educators need to reconsider the epistemological principles of assessment for social work practice
How far does a whole family approach make a difference
Get PDFThis article reports findings from a study to support the inclusion of a Whole Family Approach (WFA) within policy and provision for children and families conducted in one large northern local authority in England. In recent years mainly from research and good practice elsewhere WFA had been seen to offer opportunities to focus on shared needs, developing strengths and assessing risk factors. The principal aim was to design an evaluation framework to enable partners to assess and measure progress in the delivery of a WF strategy. Methods included individual interviews with professionals and managers (N=22) on knowledge and experience of WFA, for example their understanding of multi-agency work, along with their evidence of adopting a WFA approach. Findings demonstrate the process of how an evaluation framework was constructed based on adapting preexisting outcome-focused 'models' used to evaluate functions of partnership-working along with indigenous sources. The first type of 'model' entailed a number of dimensions including Vision and Strategy, Partnership Dynamics, Impact and Performance Measurement. The second had two key features: it drew upon the idea of realist evaluation, a paradigm used by practitioner researchers where the focus is upon identifying mechanisms that explain how an action affects outcomes in particular contexts; and the 'model' had been applied extensively to an analysis of family intervention projects. What has emerged is an evaluation framework characterised by a number of key 'signifiers' each of which is populated by a series of questions. The framework embraces introducing changes to the culture of planning and delivering services, placing building family strengths at centre-stage
Participants’ self-identified learning outcomes in an online preceptor education program for health professionals and students
Get PDFThis case study analysis reports the reflective learning of students and preceptors involved in field experience who accessed an online, free, self-directed educational program (www.preceptor.ca). Six learning outcomes were identified which include: becoming self-aware, fostering communication, valuing relationships, developing new insights, applying new learning to practice, optimizing practice education and experiencing affirmation. Users of the online program tell a story of transformation and that preparation of both student and preceptor for field experience is enhanced. The Preceptor Education program provides an important e-learning option for academic programs and field educators/preceptors in the organisations who collaborate in the preparation of students as future professionals
Group programs in corrections. Best practice meets real world
Get PDFThe past decade has seen a very significant cultural shift in how group programs are delivered in prisons and in probation and parole settings in New South Wales, Australia. The agency responsible for custodial and community corrections services, Corrective Services New South Wales (CSNSW) is making its way from a culture of considerable autonomy, where staff largely wrote and ran group programs in the way that seemed best to them, to an organisation where systems exist for accreditation, training, supervision and systematic data collection. The transformation to model agency is not complete, but considerable progress has been made and this is borne out by the preparation and publication of a number of significant papers describing the outcomes of program interventions. This paper appraises the progress so far in the introduction of evidence-based group work and offers some reflections on the challenges faced in moving a large organisation concerned with security and offender supervision towards best practice in group rehabilitative programs
The practice educator as museum guide, art therapist or exhibition curator
Get PDFAbstract: The use of arts-based approaches in professional education in health and social care has gathered momentum in the last decade and their effectiveness has been well documented. There are helpful models in the education literature that begin to explain how these creative methods work in learning and practice, and that assert the significance of an emotional or affective level of learning. However, the process remains elusive, almost a ‘given’. A more cross-disciplinary analysis of affective learning is needed to guide arts-based methods and more robust evaluation of their use in health and social care education and practice. This paper identifies different roles that can be taken by the practice educator with a review of those theoretical models of affective learning that underpin them to help understand how and why arts-based approaches are effective
Lessons learned from a dementia training programme for health professionals
Get PDFThis paper presents findings from a dementia awareness training programme delivered to a multidisciplinary group of health professionals in the East Midlands, UK in 2012. The training aimed to develop dementia champions and improve care practices. The focus was on the socio-psychological model of dementia. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with stakeholders (n=5) and training providers (n=2). Post-training questionnaires were completed by those attending the training (n=74). Thematic analysis was undertaken on interview data and open-ended questionnaire data, descriptive statistical analysis was undertaken on quantitative data. Emerging themes focused on the continued need for person-centred care in dementia training and inclusion of the voice of the person with dementia in training material. Attendance of multidisciplinary health professionals at training sessions generated greater understanding of dementia care across professional areas. Issues of health professionals’ workloads and release of staff time were identified as key determinants of staff capacity to attend training. Gaps in training provision were identified
One method, two worlds
Get PDFLooking at practices in different locations is beneficial since it helps challenge assumptions that we may take for granted. Groupwork, as a method of social work, is specifically interesting to explore in the light of different contexts since, like social work, it may or may not translate well across cultures. This paper draws from data collected in the context of a research project that aimed to describe the current state of social work with groups in Quebec and to explore trends within social work with groups elsewhere in the world. Specifically, it focuses on the exploration of practices in Quebec and discusses them in relationship to those found in the USA, as a counterpoint. Our findings highlight some differences and similarities between Quebec and the USA with regard to groupwork, which leads us to discuss a range of factors that may impact on groupwork in the different contexts. Of these, the differences of organisational context and organisation of services have emerged as particularly noteworthy, which echoes findings in general social work literature with regard to the importance of local contexts on the definition of practice itself
