scholarly journals Conceptualization of Soft Skills as Part of the Professional Socialization of Social Workers

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
FUZIAH SHAFFIE ◽  
RUZLAN MD. ALI ◽  
FAHAINIS MOHD. YUSOF
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Public Universities ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Professional Socialization ◽  
Soft Skills ◽  
Social Work Educators ◽  
The Social ◽  
Higher Institutions ◽  
Depth Interviews

This article discusses the conceptualization of soft skills which current higher institutions’ educators of professional programmes should contemplate. Social work educators were probed to describe their experiences within their profession, and viewpoints on, soft skills as part of the professional socialization of social workers toward becoming professionally and socially competent when providing their services to their clients. In-depth interviews were used as means of gathering qualitative data. The transcribed data was then thematically analysed. This paper highlights the opinions of two social work educators, from two public universities, on the issue of soft skills among social workers. The social work educators insinuated that it is important to raise awareness of soft skills competencies among social work educators to help them in assessing themselves, and identify where and how they could actively seek to improve themselves as trainers or teachers of social workers to function effectively within the context of their workplaces. Embedding the soft skills competencies into their career as social workers is assumed as one of the effective and effcient method of achieving both professional and social competence. The proposed soft skills provided early ideas and initiatives which can serve as guideline when facilitating and guiding future qualifed social workers.  

scholarly journals Soft Skills At Workplace: An Experienced Public University Educator’s Thoughts on Kemahiran Insaniah Competencies for Professional Development

2018 ◽  
pp. 768-775
Author(s):  
Ruzlan Md-Ali ◽  
Fuziah Shaffie ◽  
Fahainis Mohd Yusof
Keyword(s):  
Human Resources ◽  
Public Universities ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Professional Socialization ◽  
Soft Skills ◽  
Public University ◽  
Reference Framework ◽  
Teaching Context ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Intellectual Creativity

Public universities educators were probed to describe and share their notions, and personal viewpoints, on KemahiranInsaniah (KI) (softs kills) competencies within their profession, as part of the professional socialization of Public Universities (PUs) students towards becoming professionally and sociallycompetent human resources at their workplace. In-depth interviews were used as means of gathering qualitative data, which was fully transcribed and then thematically analyzed.This paper highlights the opinions of one very experienced PU educator on the notions and viewpoints pertaining to KI and PU educators, who insinuated that it is important for PU educators to embrace the notions of KI as also encompassing the aspects of thinking, ethics, personality, spirituality, scientific, intellectual, creativity, religiosity, rationalization, professionalism, humanity, truthfulness, skillfulness, wisdom and truthfulness. Embedding these elements within their teaching context is assumed as one of the possible ways of inculcating and cultivating soft skills among PU students. The results of the study provided significant insights into the notions and views of an experienced educator with regards to KI. The proposed elements that had emerged could contribute to the construction of a KI Reference Framework for educators to refer, adapt and adopt throughout their endeavour to educate and cultivate humane human resources, who possess substantial soft skills, at their upcoming workplace.

scholarly journals Towards Soft Skills Framework for Social Work Educators

2019 ◽  
pp. 1091-1096
Author(s):  
Fuziah Shaffie ◽  
Ruzlan Md-Ali ◽  
Fahainis Mohd Yusof
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Professional Socialization ◽  
Soft Skills ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Soft Skill ◽  
Social Work Educators ◽  
Helping Skills ◽  
To Come

Social workers must be competence with their helping skills and need to be guided to acquire relevant soft skills. Hence, Social Work students need to have significant role models that they can look up to in order to become professionally and socially competent. Within the formal Social Work Education at the higher institutions, they can actually learn much from their lecturers or educators as their role models. This paper discusses conceptualizations of the soft skills which educators, currently as well as in the years to come, would need in order to sustain their competence as educators. In an exploratory study recently carried out, a Social Work expert was asked to describe the experiences of and viewpoints on, soft skills as part of the professional socialization of Social Work educators to become professionally and socially competent. It is important to raise awareness of soft skills competencies among Malaysian Social Work educators to help them in assessing themselves, and identify where and how they could actively improve themselves as educators within the context of their workplace. Embedding the soft skills competencies into their career as social workers is assumed as one of the effective and efficient method of achieving both professional and social competence. The propose soft skills, perhaps, provide early ideas and initiatives towards the construction of a ‘soft skill-framework for Social Work educators’, which can serve as guideline when facilitating and guiding future qualified social workers in Malaysia.

Social work education in action: How studying for the profession facilitates the adaptation of internationally educated social workers in Canada

2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-127
Author(s):  
Annie Pullen Sansfaçon ◽  
Marion Brown
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
Educational Background ◽  
Work Skills ◽  
The Social ◽  
Theory Project ◽  
Work Education ◽  
Adaptation Processes ◽  
Depth Interviews

This article presents the results and theorization of a 4-year Grounded Theory project that sought to understand the processes and dynamics involved in the professional adaptation of internationally educated social workers now practicing in Canada. In-depth interviews with 66 participants, who undertook social work education outside of Canada and have subsequently settled to practice in the country, were conducted. Results highlight that the social work educational background of the professionals not only offers key conceptual, theoretical, and analytical foundations needed to adapt knowledge and skills to practice abroad, but also provides tools to navigate and negotiate professional adaptation processes as a whole. We conclude that ultimately, social workers may adapt well to their new work contexts because of the transferability of social work skills, knowledge, and values to new practice settings, thus facilitating interventions with services users and also their own process of professional adaptation.

scholarly journals Developing a Poverty-Aware Pedagogy: From Paradigm to Reflexive Practice in Post-Academic Social Work Education

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (5) ◽  
pp. 1495-1512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Griet Roets ◽  
Laura Van Beveren ◽  
Yuval Saar-Heiman ◽  
Heidi Degerickx ◽  
Caroline Vandekinderen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Social Injustice ◽  
Social Work Educators ◽  
The Social ◽  
Reflexive Practice ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Work Education

Abstract Social work scholars have argued that poverty reminds us of the necessary commitment to educate professional social workers. Being inspired by a conceptual framework that captures how poverty-awareness can be the subject of teaching in social work programmes, this article offers a qualitative analysis of the reflections being made by a cohort of students about their learning process in a post-academic course. Five common themes are discussed: (i) from recognising micro-aggressions to tackling macro-aggressions; (ii) poverty is an instance of social injustice and requires collective indignation; (iii) notions of commitment and solidarity are ambiguous; (iv) poverty is an instance of social inequality rather than merely social exclusion; and (v) from being heroic agents to social change ‘from within’. Based on these findings, we raise the lessons learned for social work educators. First, they should invite students to reinvigorate the social justice aspirations of social work practices and take a stance in relation to their environment and the wider historical and socio-political circumstances. Secondly, a poverty-aware pedagogy requires collective and long-lasting supervision at the frontline individual, organisational and societal/social policy level. Collective critical reflection and supervision might open up avenues to collectively challenge and change socially unjust rhetoric and practice.

scholarly journals Social Workers’ Management of Child Interpreting: A Qualitative Study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siân E Lucas
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Directions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Future Research Directions ◽  
Depth Interviews

Abstract Spoken language interpreters are commonly used to facilitate communication for emergent bilingual service users in social work. Children often have greater English language proficiency than their parents and may interpret for family members in a variety of contexts, including social work. This article approaches the topic of child interpreting from social workers’ perspectives and presents findings from in-depth interviews about child interpreting. Social constructionist theories are used to examine the way social workers manage child interpreting. The findings indicate that social workers manage child interpreting by monitoring, scaffolding or stopping encounters. Through talking about child interpreting, the social workers conceptualise children as passive, vulnerable or untrustworthy. Social workers recognised the potential contributions that child interpreters offered but remained concerned about their ability to translate technical and emotionally laden messages. Given that child interpreting was found to be unavoidable in social work, there is scope to develop a framework for safe and effective child-interpreting practice. Future research directions include an exploration of children’s perceptions about interpreting in social work contexts.

Layering, social risks and manufactured uncertainties in social work in Poland1

2019 ◽  
pp. 185-200
Author(s):  
Paweł Poławski
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Social Risks ◽  
Activation Policy ◽  
Depth Interviews

This chapter shows the latent functions and perverse effects of activation policy, conditionality, and related governance reforms implemented on a local level in Poland from the perspective of social workers. The chapter focuses on the consequences of layering processes within welfare state institutions, and how these processes shape the structure of social assistance and affect social work. The analysis is based on qualitative data collected from in-depth interviews with social workers that cover their experiences with the implementation of activation measures that have been modified and adjusted to local realities. The research confirms that orientation toward poverty management is strengthened by the pillarization of organizational structures and financial mechanisms, and that the reforms generate dysfunctions and strengthens uncertainties for both beneficiaries and social workers.

Transnational Social Work

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Work ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Work Educators ◽  
The Social ◽  
Global Nature ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Labour Market Mobility

This unique book provides an international comparison of labour markets, migrant professionals and immigration policies, and their interaction in relation to social work. Case studies based on the latest research from the UK, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and Australia allow readers to make critical comparisons and gain understanding of the global nature of the social work profession. Detailed analysis covers the opportunities and challenges presented by labour market mobility, the implications for social justice and discussion of the experiences and perceptions of transnational social workers. Essential reading for social work educators, academics and professionals, this book will also inform the development of relevant policy, professional, and educational responses to the phenomenon of transnational social work mobility.

Social Work's Dialogue with the Arts: Epistemological and Practice Intersections

2007 ◽  
Vol 88 (4) ◽  
pp. 525-533 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thecla Damianakis
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Creative Writing ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Ethic Of Care ◽  
Creative Writers ◽  
The Arts ◽  
The Social ◽  
Arts Infusion ◽  
Human Reality ◽  
Depth Interviews

Despite historical acknowledgements and recent advancements in conceptualizing the arts for social work, the calls for arts inclusion have yet to stimulate a sustained research program. Taking creative writing as exemplary art, this inquiry gathered accounts of key constructs related to the arts. Using M. van Manen's (1997) phenomenological-hermeneutic methodology, 31 creative writers, teachers of creative writing, “arts inclusive” social workers, and social work researchers completed in-depth interviews. The participants’ accounts illustrated that the arts’ intersection with social work facilitated integrated, nondual epistemologies for practice. The social workers also highlighted the limits and benefits of including the arts in practice. The proposed arts infusion approach calls upon an enlarged view of human reality for social work within an ongoing ethic of care.

Drowning In Neoliberal Lies: State Responses Towards People Seeking Asylum

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 908-925
Author(s):  
Belinda A Green
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Cultural Logic ◽  
Social Work Educators ◽  
Critical Social Work ◽  
The Social ◽  
Work Education ◽  
State Responses ◽  
Critical Social

Abstract This article argues that further enhancement of critical social work education and practice is needed to counter politicised and restrictive policies towards people seeking asylum in advanced globalised market economies. This means social workers giving more emphasis and prominence to the role of neoliberalism rather than solely focusing on the adverse moral and mental health impacts of state responses. Drawing on current debates and practices within critical social work and seven years’ experience in the Australian refugee sector, this article will demonstrate the punitive and deterrent configurations adopted by states like Australia to respond to people seeking asylum. The article then highlights the importance of social workers critically analysing historicised discourses which normalise such people as ‘dangerous’, ‘illegitimate’, ‘othered’ and a ‘burden’. Further interrogation of the social and cultural logic(s) of neoliberalism which serve to justify the former discourses will also be included. Finally, reflections on a range of strategies and solutions will be presented for critical social work educators and practitioners to resist and subvert neoliberalism and to secure better outcomes for people seeking asylum in Australia and elsewhere.

scholarly journals Comparing public perceptions of social work and social workers’ expectations of the public view

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Staniforth ◽  
Kelsey L. Deane ◽  
Liz Beddoe
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
Social Work Educators ◽  
The Public ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
The Social

INTRODUCTION: Previous studies have explored public perception of social work and social workers. There is little written about what social workers think about how they, and the profession of social work, are viewed by the public. This article explores the views of a sample of social workers in Aotearoa New Zealand about their beliefs around the public perception of social work and social workers.AIMS: This article aims to explore social worker views on the public perception of social work, and then compares these findings with a previous study which looked at the public perception of social workers.METHODOLOGY: An online survey was conducted with 403 social workers from the Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Work, which asked them about their perceptions on how social work and social workers are viewed by the public. The results are then compared to a previous telephone survey, which asked 386 members of the public their views on social work and social workers.FINDINGS: Results demonstrate that the social workers generally had a poorer impression of what the public believed in most areas, compared to what the public had indicated in the prior study.CONCLUSION: Social workers, social work professional bodies and social work educators need to be proactive in promoting accurate information about social work and what social workers do.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document