David McNabb

Qualities and practices of professional social work leadership in an interdisciplinary mental health service: An action learning approach

Since the mid-1980s, health service restructuring in New Zealand has strengthened managerialism, arguably detracting from professional considerations. Professional leaders without line-management responsibilities have replaced social work departments headed by a professional social worker. An emerging social work contribution to interdisciplinary leadership in mental health settings aims to advance quality of service and fill social work leadership gaps resulting from structural changes created by health policy initiatives. In the context of limited research into these changes, this paper presents an action learning organic approach examining how social work professional leaders implemented Kouzes and Posners ‘exemplary leadership’ in a District Health Board. This examination integrates indigenous Māori approaches to leadership with Western models. Findings suggest both caution and optimism about the professional leader role. The paper suggests further research to explore the relationship of professional leadership and clinical governance in public health services.

The relevance of Global Standards to social work education in Australasia

Underpinned by the Global Standards published for the promotion of quality social work education, and as a benchmark for social work education at national levels, a qualitative content analysis is conducted to explore the alignment of national standards of the Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia regulatory bodies with the Global Standards. A number of equity issues are identified: service users and student participation, student representativeness, indigenous rights and political action, gender and cultural equity, and equitable access. The implications for social work education internationally are considered, including a possibility of the role of the Global Standards in democratizing social work education.