Hilary Burgess

Enquiry and action learning: A new approach to social work education

Abstract The article describes a new approach to social work education, using problem-based learning in place of traditional didactic methods. The curriculum is built on ‘study units’, scenarios and problems encountered in practice, rather than on subject-based courses. The approach aims to integrate more effectively college work and practice learning, to build on the knowledge and skills students bring to the course, and to help them become self-directed lifelong learners, able to adapt to the changing demands that will be placed on them as professionals.

'Bringing out the best in people': teacher training and the 'real' teacher

This paper explores the ways in which student teachers position themselves as teachers in primary classrooms. It focuses upon one discourse in primary teaching, which we have called the ‘real teacher’ discourse, and argues that it is mainly in terms of this that students come to understand ‘being a teacher’.

Redesigning the curriculum for Social Work Education: complexity, conformity, chaos, creativity, collaboration?

Across the UK social work programmes in universities have been re‐designed for the introduction of the new degree. Despite its importance, the nature and process of curriculum design for social work is not well understood, and the research‐base is thin. With more detailed content requirements there is a potential danger of increasing conformity. The wider literature on curriculum design in higher education identifies different paradigms to conceptualise curriculum design, and has recently focussed on the extent to which creativity can be engendered within a highly complex context. Starting with these concepts, this paper analyses the issues for curriculum design in social work. Given the new academic and professional requirements, the interplay of practice and university‐based learning, and the engagement with multiple stakeholders, it is argued that this entails a level of complexity greater than that for many other disciplines. The value of complexity theory as a framework to understand the processes involved is discussed. The constraints arising from the short time frame available to re‐design the curriculum are discussed, with the danger of chaotic transition. It is argued that curriculum design for social work should be better understood, through research and debate, so that all participants may be better able to contribute through collaboration.

Orientation to self-directed learning: Paradox or paradigm?

ABSTRACT Self-directed learning is assuming a more central place in higher education. However, there is little in the literature about the preparation of students for this approach, perhaps because such preparation may appear paradoxical. A social work course in which self-directed learning plays a major role provides the focus of this paper. A study indicated that more attention could usefully be paid in the course to the process of preparing students for self-directed learning. A subsequent orientation programme to prepare students for self-directed learning is described and evaluated. It is concluded that by raising questions about the role of orientation, we raise questions about the nature of self-directed learning itself.

Developing self-assessment in social work education

Abstract This article is based on the experiences of social work staff and students involved in the Self-Assessment in Professional and Higher Education Project (SAPHE), funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England through the Fund for the Development of Teaching and Learning. The rationale for self-assessment is explored, together with its links to reflective learning and the core competence in the requirements for the Diploma in Social Work ‘Develop Professional Competence’. Work in progress on the project is described and analysed across three sites (the DipSW programmes at the Universities of Bristol, Bath and the West of England). The focus here is on the use of self-assessment in university work; self-assessment in relation to practice learning is considered in a parallel article. The centrality of self-assessment to social work education is confirmed, and some preliminary themes emerging from the project are identified.

What future for initial teacher education? New curriculum and new directions

This article analyses aspects of the implementation of the National Curriculum for initial teacher training (ITT). It focuses on the impact of the standards upon course design and structure and particularly the emphasis on the development of subject knowledge. The assessment of students in terms of subject knowledge and the standards for qualified teacher status (QTS) are explored alongside the development of partnership schools and mentoring programmes. The impact of external agencies such as OFSTED and the TTA is included in the discussion. Future implications for primary and secondary ITT programmes are considered.

Building Capacity and Capability for Evaluating the Outcomes of Social Work Education (the OSWE Project): Creating a Culture Change

This paper describes and analyses the first year of a three‐year project in the UK to build capacity and capability in evaluating the outcomes of social work education. A facilitated action learning set was established for six university social work programmes, involving in different ways academic, practice, service user and carer educators, who met to develop research projects focussed on measuring the outcomes of social work education. We outline the genesis of the project, and discuss the context in terms of both pedagogic research and social work education. We describe the activities undertaken in its first year, including the evaluation strategy. Some emerging findings are presented concerning the levels of learning outcomes being assessed; the role of the evaluator; the importance of engaging colleagues and students; service user and carer participation; and the positive features of the learning set. Plans for the remaining two years are outlined, including the piloting of outcome measures. Finally we reframe the model as it emerged in practice, extracting key elements for capacity building.

To challenge or not to challenge: the mentor's dilemma

This paper focuses upon open and distance learning initial teacher education in both primary and secondary sectors and explores the ways in which mentors challenge PGCE students in their professional thinking and classroom practice. It draws upon ethnographic research on mentors and student teachers during one presentation of the course. The data are based on observations of mentors working with students on final student placement, conversations with specialist subject mentor trainers as well as questionnaire and other source material. An analysis of how mentors articulate their knowledge base; the dialogue between mentor and student and the challenge of moving from novice to expert for the student teacher are all considered. Our conclusions have implications for all ITT and will also be a source of valuable practical help for student teachers and mentors.

Testing, regulation and control: shifting education narratives

Abstract This paper explores the impact of the 1988 Education Reform Act in England Wales on education ideologies. In particular it considers the changing narratives of the pupil being brought about through profiling, testing and streaming. Using Foucaults notion of ‘moral technologies’, the paper examines the regulation of pupil behaviour and the construction of pupil identity through systems of classification and grading. This argument is supported by school‐based research into the use of testing and profiling by teachers. The paper concludes that the pedagogic aspirations of child centredness and the National Curriculum converge in the everyday practices of primary school teachers.

Supporting the Professional Development of Teaching Assistants: Classroom Teachers' Perspectives on Their Mentoring Role.

The training of teaching assistants in the UK is undergoing considerable change linked to workforce reform in primary schools. This article examines the role that class teachers play as mentors in the training of teaching assistants on two types of programmes operating in England leading to Higher Level Teaching Assistant Professional Status. It considers the qualities required for mentoring teaching assistants compared to mentoring trainee teachers. The views and perspectives of a group of thirty-four school teachers who have carried out a mentor role for both a trainee primary teacher and a primary teaching assistant are analysed. The research aims to identify the common skills, strategies and approaches used by the school-based mentors and identify the perceived tensions and challenges facing these mentors.