Bernadette Moorhead

Social work students’ reflections on gender, social justice and human rights during a short-term study programme to India

This article explores the impacts of a short-term international study programme on Australian social work students’ understanding of social justice and human rights issues, with particular emphasis on gender oppression. Using qualitative data from a reflective workshop plus written evaluations, students’ reflections on learning experiences during the programme are described and explored. Implications for social work study abroad programmes and the professional knowledge base are considered. Findings indicate that student understanding of gender oppression, social justice and human rights as global issues was enriched by the programme and the need for faculty-led facilitated, reflective learning is reinforced.

Exploring the Development of Professional Identity with Newly Qualified Social Workers

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the experiences of newly qualified social workers as part of a research project exploring professional identity. Drawing on literature in this area and a subset of data from a larger study involving Australian practitioners, it is argued that while several studies explore experiences of identity, the phenomenon remains under-researched, especially in Australia. Seventeen people participated in three in-depth, semistructured interviews across a 12-month period. A subset of the data explores how participants were actively motivated and benefitted from reflecting on their identities through the research process. Findings indicate newly qualified social workers appreciate meaningful opportunities to critically reflect upon their social work identities. It is concluded that further research is needed, to understand the identities and needs of newly qualified social workers in Australia.

An Ethical Practice Dilemma Involving a New Social Work Graduate: Implications for Social Work Practice

This paper aims to highlight the important role of the social work supervision relationship and professional code of ethics for establishing and developing social work values in new graduates as part of practitioner development. In order to achieve this a case study is presented regarding the experience of a first-year, Australian, social work undergraduate faced with attempting to balance professional social work values with those of another discipline and client goals. A discussion takes place regarding the process of resolving the ethical practice dilemma, using the lens of the Solution Focused framework in supervision and the Australian Association of Social Work (AASW) ‘Code of Ethics’ during critical reflection processes. The ethical dilemma presented provides a catalyst to identify how these practices provide core frameworks for developing new social work practitioners. Finally, a brief discussion will take place regarding future research in the area of new social work graduate experiences and the implications this could have for social work education and practice.