Writing as a critical moment in professional discourse

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Theresa Lillis
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Expert Systems ◽  
Professional Practice ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Dominant Ideology ◽  
Professional Discourse ◽  
Critical Moment ◽  
Usable Knowledge ◽  
Specific Technology ◽  
Oriented Research

Written texts mediate action and serve as accounts of action in most contemporary professional domains. Echoing Candlin’s call for applied and social linguists to explore ‘critical moments’ in discourse, I argue that ‘writing’ constitutes just such a critical moment, because of its contested position in professional domains and the dominant ideology underpinning writing evident both in ‘intellectual’ (academic) and ‘expert’ (professional) orientations. A key challenge is to find ways of understanding writing which are not constrained by existing ‘intellectual’ and ‘expert’ orientations and which can contribute to useable knowledge for professional practice. I draw on specific examples from ethnographically oriented research projects with professionals in two domains (academia and social work) to illustrate how a dominant ideology of writing is enacted. This enactment is explored further by focusing on ICT-mediated ‘expert systems’ in social work, illustrating how an increasingly used, specific technology of writing is impacting professional practice. I conclude by considering the difficulties and possibilities of collaboratively building usable knowledge about writing for professional practice.

scholarly journals Professional written voice “in flux”: the case of social work

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Theresa Lillis
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Professional Practice ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Professional Discourse ◽  
University Of Texas ◽  
Speech Genres ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
Written Voice ◽  
Professional Voice ◽  
Critical Moments

Abstract Contemporary professional social work can be characterised by increased textualisation (after Iedema, Rick & Hermine Scheeres. 2003. From doing work to talking work: Renegotiating knowing, doing and identity. Applied Linguistics 24(3). 316–337) with written texts mediating most action. At the same time, writing, as a key dimension to social workers’ practice and labour, is often institutionally unacknowledged, becoming visible primarily when identified as a “problem.” This paper draws on a three year nationally funded UK-based research project to offer a situated account of contemporary professional social work writing, challenging dominant institutional orientations to writing in professional practice. The paper outlines the specific ways in which social work practices, including writing, can be characterised as being ‘in flux’. Drawing on ethnographic data and adopting a  Bakhtinian (Bakhtin, Mikhail. 1981. Discourse in the novel. In Michael Holquist (ed.), The dialogic imagination. Four essays by M. Bakhtin, trans. C. Emerson and M. Holquist, 259–422. Austin: University of Texas Press; and Bakhtin, Mikhail. 1986. The problem of speech genres. In Caryl Emerson & Michael Holquist (eds.), Speech genres and other late essays, trans. V. W. McGee, 60–102. Austin: University of Texas Press) oriented approach to voice, the paper explores the entextualisation of three specific social work texts, focusing in particular on critical moments (after Candlin, Christopher N. 1987. Explaining moments of conflict in discourse. In Ross Steele & Terry Treadgold (eds.), Language topics: Essays in honour of Michael Halliday, 413–429. Amsterdam: John Benjamins; Candlin, Christopher N. 1997. General editor’s preface. In Britt Louise Gunnarsson, Per Linell & Bengt Nordberg (eds.), The construction of professional discourse, viii–xiv. London: Longman). These critical moments offer insights into key problematics of social work writing, in particular the tensions around professional voice and discourse. The paper concludes by arguing for an articulation of professional social work writing which takes account of the dialogic nature of language and the discoursal challenges experienced in everyday practice.

Paradox in professional practice—womens' views of social work A tri-national study in England, Germany and Italy

1998 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-70
Author(s):  
Suzanne Hume ◽  
Pierangela Benvenuti ◽  
Domenica Gristina ◽  
Mario Riege
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Professional Practice ◽  
National Study

Reconfiguring professional autonomy? The case of social work in the UK

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Chandler ◽  
Elisabeth Berg ◽  
Marion Ellison ◽  
Jim Barry
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Professional Practice ◽  
Professional Autonomy ◽  
The Third ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Uk

This chapter discusses the contemporary position of social work in the United Kingdom, and in particular the challenges to what is seen as a managerial-technicist version of social work. The chapter begins with focus on the situation from the 1990s to the present day in which this version of social work takes root and flourishes. The discussion then concentrates on three different routes away from a managerial-technicist social work: the first, reconfiguring professional practice in the direction of evaluation in practice, the second ‘reclaiming social work’ on the Hackney relationship-based model and the third ‘reclaiming social work’ in a more radical, highly politicised way. Special attention is devoted to a discussion about how much autonomy the social workers have in different models, but also what kind of autonomy and for what purpose.

scholarly journals El discurso sobre el poder en la intervención profesional: otro caso de la colonización del trabajo social por el régimen de verdad de las ciencias sociales

2011 ◽  
pp. 111
Author(s):  
Rubens Ramón Méndez
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Professional Practice ◽  
Research Program ◽  
Social Practices ◽  
The Real ◽  
The Social ◽  
Necessary Truths ◽  
Trabajo Social ◽  
Use Of Knowledge

Cuando el Trabajo Social comenzó a sistematizarse y a organizarse a partir de Mary Richmond, se proponía como un programa de investigación distinto dentro de las Ciencias Sociales (Lakatos, 1999). Distinto porque toma los planteos teóricos dados en las Ciencias Sociales desde �las circunstancias históricamente determinadas y existencialmente posicionadas; creando nuevas perspectivas sobre esos planteos teóricos� (Méndez, 2006) y porque con su práctica profesional, evalúa y muestra el problema de las consecuencias efectivas y potenciales de la utilización de los conocimientos (Dewey, 1967) en la construcción de las prácticas sociales (discursivas o no discursivas).Presentar la emergencia de un discurso propio de las personas y documentar lo real de las prácticas sociales, mostrar cómo es que a algunos enunciados que no son en sí mismos ni verdaderos ni falsos, se les otorgan el �estatuto de verdad�; es lo que hace que el Trabajo Social deba ser vigilado y desarmado en sus efectos.Si el discurso no es el medio por lo que se establecen las luchas en esta sociedad de discursos; sino que es por el discurso, por lo que se lucha. Si el discurso es �aquel poder del que quiere uno adueñarse� (Foucault, 1983), las Ciencias Sociales no podían dejar al azar el discurso del Trabajo Social.When Social Work became systematized and organized after Mary Richmond, it was described as a different research program within the social sciences (Lakatos, 1999). It was different because it considered the theoretical propositions in the social sciences from �historically determined and existentially positioned circumstances, thereby creating new perspectives on those theoretical propositions� (Méndez, 2006) and because through professional practice Social Work assesses and highlights the problem of the real and potential consequences of the use of knowledge in the construction of social practices (Dewey, 1967), whether discursive or non-discursive.As Social Work presents the emergence of people�s own discourse and documents the reality of social practices while it also presents statements which are neither true nor false as necessary truths, Social Work should be watched and disarmed in its consequences.Discourse is not the means through which fights are established in our discourse society; it is discourse that is fought about. If discourse is �that power we wish to get hold of� (Foucault, 1983), then the social sciences should not ignore the discourse of Social Work.

The more you know, the less you fear: Reflexive social work practices in times of COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (6) ◽  
pp. 746-752
Author(s):  
Antonio López Peláez ◽  
Chaime Marcuello-Servós ◽  
Joaquín Castillo de Mesa ◽  
Patricia Almaguer Kalixto
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Professional Practice ◽  
Quality Information ◽  
Work Practices ◽  
Digital Environment ◽  
Fake News ◽  
The World ◽  
The Subject

In this article, we present the results of a strategy to disseminate best social work practices during periods of social lockdown in Spain, in a climate characterised by post-truth, misinformation and fake news. Social work is challenged with the task of delivering reliable and quality information aimed at building a better society. At the time of writing, Spain was one of the countries most affected by COVID-19, with one of the highest numbers of deaths per million inhabitants in the world. With the population in lockdown, our strategy was to design a series of innovative web seminars on both the subject and the procedures involved in social work, with the aim of sharing information and best practices to counter disinformation campaigns on social media. The results show the growing demand – both by citizens in general and students and professionals in particular – for reliable information in the field of professional practice. One of the priorities of digital social work must be to disseminate its results in the digital environment.

Teaching for Transformation: Master of Social Work Students Identify Teaching Approaches That Made a Difference

2019 ◽  
pp. 154134461986594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thecla Damianakis ◽  
Betty Barrett ◽  
Beth Archer-Kuhn ◽  
Patricia Samson ◽  
Sumaiya Matin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Student Engagement ◽  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Professional Practice ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Master Of Social Work ◽  
Engagement Strategies

Transformative learning captures the process by which students engage in their learning, experience a change in perspective, of themselves or society, and then enact their new understanding. The purpose of this 4-year, four-cohort study was to identify the transformative learning experiences of Master of Social Work students and specific student engagement strategies they felt made a difference in preparing them for professional practice. Six focus groups ( n = 40) were conducted using established focus group methodology. All focus groups were audio recorded, professionally transcribed verbatim, and subject to qualitative content analysis. Students identified six themes in student engagement strategies that facilitated their transformative learning, including transformative aspects of the curriculum, experiences with peers, qualities in their relationships with faculty that fostered critical reflection, a sense of identity, and mentoring. This study will help educators better identify teaching strategies to engage students in their personal and professional transformative learning.

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