A small scale project that involved citizens in the education of social work students during their placement in Northern Ireland

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-138
Author(s):  
Paul McCafferty
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Small Scale

scholarly journals Even When No One Is Looking: Students’ Perceptions of Social Work Professions. A Case Study in a Northern Ireland University

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 233
Author(s):  
Denise MacDermott
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Word Clouds ◽  
Professional Social Worker

Public perceptions, increased scrutiny and successive governments’ reshaping and attempting to define what is and what is not social work has eroded the progressive and radical force of the profession. This article explores how students’ perceive the profession and presents evidence from a small-scale study conducted in a Northern Ireland University with 37 undergraduate social work students and 25 postgraduate student social workers (training-as-practice educators) on their perceptions of the characteristics of a professional social worker. A quantitative research design was used, consisting of a face-to-face survey distributed to respondents following an input on the Place Model, (Clarke, 2016). Respondents also shared their perceptions in relation to Freidson’s (2001) three logics: professionalism, bureaucracy and the free market, with Ternary graphs and word clouds used as a novel way to present this data. Several themes emerged as important characteristics of social work professionals including reliability, accountability, ethics and appearance. At the other end of the scale, respondents identified unprofessional, de-personalised and cynical as the least aspirational qualities of the profession.

scholarly journals Citizens as social work educators in a post-conflict society: reflections from Northern Ireland

2009 ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
Joe Duffy
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Professional Competence ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Core Knowledge ◽  
Social Work Educators ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
The Impact

This paper examines how service users and carers can contribute to social work education in a post conflict society. A small-scale study undertaken in Northern Ireland is used as a case study to show how such citizens can potentially critically contribute to social work students’ understanding of the impact of conflict on individuals, groups and communities. The need to appreciate the effects of such community division is now a core knowledge requirement of the social work curriculum in Northern Ireland. The article reports on research findings with service users, carers and agency representatives which points to ways in which social work students can achieve a critical understanding of the impact of conflict. Northern Ireland, in this way, is presented as a divided society, still in a state of adjustment and evolution, following a period of protracted community strife and violence. The author suggests that individuals who have been directly affected by conflict can contribute in an informed and critical way to social work students’ developing knowledge and experience in an important area of their professional competence and understanding of anti-oppressive practice more broadly.

scholarly journals A small scale project that involved citizens in the education of social work students during their placement in Northern Ireland

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-138
Author(s):  
Paul McCafferty
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Educational Impact ◽  
Teaching Process ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The University ◽  
Education Process

This article outlines my attempt to create a small scale project, with the aim of involving citizens in the education of student social workers whilst on their placement in Northern Ireland. The article outlines the literature on the subject, describes how the project evolved and discusses how citizens were involved in the direct teaching process. The article continues by describing how the teaching input of the citizens was then transferred into educating five students. The article evaluates the educational impact on the students and discusses the value of involving citizens in the education process during placement. This project was part of my dissertation for my Joint Advanced MSc in Social Work, presented to The University of Ulster and Queens University Belfast.

scholarly journals First practice placement

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 10-32
Author(s):  
Wing Hong Chui
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Professional Training ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
First Year ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Social Work Values ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Shed Light

This paper presents the findings of a small-scale study examining the expectations and anxieties of social work students regarding supervision for fieldwork instruction. A cohort of students in their first year of a postgraduate programme for professional training was questioned about their aspirations and anxieties as they approached their first period of practice placement assessment. Their responses were wide-ranging and varied, and shed light on what they wanted from their supervisors and supervision. Students” concerns related to supervision as a vehicle for compliance and performance issues rather than as a purveyor of culture and values for social work. It is viewed by the respondents as an important site of learning and development whose opportunities for promoting self-awareness and the skills of critical reflection must be safeguarded. This paper argues for the importance of listening to students in order to shape the delivery and mode of fieldwork supervision, and posits supervision as a means of fostering notions of social work values that are prerequisite for practice.

scholarly journals Before and After: Digital story telling with social work students in Northern Ireland

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 51-67
Author(s):  
Denise MacDermott ◽  
Caoimhe Harkin-MacDermott ◽  
Siobhan Wylie
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Digital Storytelling ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Team Work ◽  
First Semester ◽  
Self Evaluation ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Practice Teaching ◽  
Digital Stories

Abstract: This article is developed from a presentation given at the 12th International practice teaching conference in Oxford (2018). The authors share their experiences as academics and practice educators of using digital storytelling with social work students in Northern Ireland. Storytelling took place at two distinct points of the students’ learning journey before and after placement. Undergraduate social work students (n=40) in their first semester of year one teaching participated in classroom based digital storytelling with the first author. Placement students created digital stories at two key points during their placements, at the beginning (first to third week of placement) and at the end (16th to 18th week of placement). Several themes emerged including; self-evaluation and reflection, producing and receiving feedback and team work. This collaborative article offers a basis for practice development and professional discussions across disciplines on the use of digital storytelling with students studying for a professional qualification.

Before and After: Digital story telling with social work students in Northern Ireland

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1-2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Denise MacDermott ◽  
Caoimhe Harkin-MacDermott ◽  
Siobhan Wylie
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Digital Storytelling ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Team Work ◽  
First Semester ◽  
Self Evaluation ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Practice Teaching ◽  
Digital Stories

This article is developed from a presentation given at the 12th International practice teaching conference in Oxford (2018). The authors share their experiences as academics and practice educators of using digital storytelling with social work students in Northern Ireland. Storytelling took place at two distinct points of the students’ learning journey before and after placement. Undergraduate social work students (n=40) in their first semester of year one teaching participated in classroom based digital storytelling with the first author. Placement students created digital stories at two key points during their placements, at the beginning (1st – 3rd week of placement) and at the end (16th – 18th week of placement).  Several themes emerged including; self-evaluation and reflection, producing and receiving feedback and team work. This collaborative article offers a basis for practice development and professional discussions across disciplines on the use of digital storytelling with students studying for a professional qualification.

scholarly journals Group supervision for social work students on placement

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 55-72
Author(s):  
Paul McCafferty
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Social Care ◽  
International Comparisons ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Group Supervision ◽  
Care Work ◽  
School Of Social Work ◽  
The University ◽  
And Training

Partnership Care West is a voluntary organisation that contracts with the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC) to provide ten placements for social work students. NISCC is a statutory organisation, with responsibility for registering and regulating social care/work, improving standards in education and training and standardising practice in Northern Ireland NISCC (2003).The students attend the practice learning centre and are then given placements in voluntary sector sites established by the centre. Traditionally, the students were supervised on a one to one basis using the long arm approach. In recent years however, the centre has developed a model for supervising these students in groups.Building on my positive experience of conducting group supervision and to further my knowledge, skills and values in this area, I recently undertook an international comparison with the School of Social Work in Haifa Israel. This School has an already well established model for supervising students in groups and I hoped that I could learn something to help me develop my model further. I would like to thank Nava Arkin at the University of Haifa for her willingness to take part in this comparison and for her encouragement throughout. This article aims to outline my findings of the comparison and outline the theoretical constructs that make international comparisons in social work possible.

scholarly journals ‘I hope to find myself’ Social work students’ initial encounter with practice explored in the context of professional identity

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-38
Author(s):  
Ian Mathews ◽  
Austin Griffiths ◽  
Rachel Hunt ◽  
Kellye McIntyre ◽  
Diane Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Master's Level ◽  
Professional Career ◽  
Education Professional Development ◽  
Professional Social Worker

Abstract: This paper is based on a small scale research study which explores the perceptions and understandings of Master’s level students on the same professional career path but from different national backgrounds; England and the United States. In particular, this study identifies and discusses issues raised by students prior to their first experience of practice education, and explores their evolving understanding of what it means to be, or to become, a professional social worker. In order to provide a theoretical framework for our discussion we adapt and use the work of Eliot Freidson, widely regarded as one of the first theorists to consider the evolution of professions and the acquisition of professionalism.Keywords: social work; practice placements; fieldwork education; professional development; professionalism

scholarly journals Finding the perfect match

2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 44-61
Author(s):  
Diane Simpson ◽  
Ian Mathews ◽  
Karin Crawford
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Perfect Match ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Work Setting ◽  
Significant Research ◽  
Aid Decision ◽  
Work Student

Prior to the commencement of a practice placement, a social work student will usually be invited to meet formally with their practice educator, and sometimes other members of the team, in their work setting to discuss a range of issues about the forthcoming placement. In the absence of significant research about these pre-placement meetings, this small-scale study examined the understandings and experiences of social work students and practice educators regarding the role played by this meeting. Qualitative methods were employed to answer a range of questions related to how the pre-placement meeting was used to aid decision-making about the viability of the placement, participants’ perceptions of the meeting, and concerns about the process that needed to be addressed. Findings indicate that there are a variety of ways in which the meeting is configured and organised, understood and used. The implications for the organisation of social work practice placements are discussed.

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