Imogen Taylor

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.

Mapping the Terrain of Selection for Social Work: A Critical Analysis of Policy, Theory and Research

This paper explores the implications of the changing UK policy and regulatory contexts for the often competing or contradictory interests and agendas operating within the arena of admission decisions in social work education, highlighted by the introduction of the new social work degrees in 2003–04 and the associated care councils. Other contextual factors that impact on admissions to higher education more generally will also be touched upon, including the widening participation agendas; increased requirements for transparency of decision making in the selection process; questioning of the predictive quality of A‐level scores; and, concern regarding recruitment and retention issues. A critical review of relevant research into social work admissions processes and outcomes is reported on. The validity of current selection tools is examined utilising research findings from within social work and allied disciplines. The authors argue that the increased spotlight upon admissions and the ‘front‐loading’ of gate‐keeping into social work education is both unrealistic and irresponsible as it omits the crucial ongoing role of assessment throughout the process of qualifying education.

Effective Learning and Teaching in Social Policy and Social Work

Written to meet the needs of teachers, lecturers, tutors and trainers, this is the essential guide to understanding the key issues in learning and teaching in social policy and social work - as well as related areas such as early childhood studies, youth and community work and probation studies. The field of social care is constantly changing, and this book acts an accessible introduction to all the core concerns that will be critical to teaching professionals working in the field today. Key areas covered include curriculum planning, design and delivery of teaching, assessment, promoting inclusion, e-learning and interprofessional practice. This book also aims to provide an international perspective, outlining innovative best practice from around the world. Written for undergraduate and postgraduate level teaching, less experienced teachers looking for authoritative, expert guidance will find this title indispensable, as will more experienced professionals seeking material for reflection.

Integrating research and teaching in social work: building a strong partnership

In recent years in social work we have increasingly come to address the issue of how to integrate research into practice. Implicit in the research and practice discourse is an assumption that there is an active and reciprocal relationship between research and teaching. In this paper, we question this assumption and after setting the political context, we review research into the relationship between discipline-based research and teaching. We then explore a proposal to redefine knowledge, research and teaching and examine the concept of scholarship. We go on to review some strategies we will be promoting in the UK Higher Education Funding Councils Learning and Teaching Network Support (ltsn) Social Policy and Social Work Subject Centre (SWAP) to support the development of positive linkages between teaching and discipline-based research, specifically on-line possibilities for supporting research mindedness among academics (and students and practitioners). Finally, we end by briefly discussing the equally important integration of pedagogic research into the practice of teaching.

Pursued by Excellence: Rewards and the Performance Culture in Higher Education

In the UK, government is both concerned with improving the performance of public services, including higher education, and with ensuring that the public is aware of improvements in services, to convince the public of the effectiveness of the current regime. Success is both an effect of and a dynamic in the process of evaluating performance, and increasingly ‘excellence’ is established as a performance outcome. Drawing on a critical review of relevant theory and research, primarily from the UK, Australia and the USA, and illustrated by the authors experience of winning a National Teaching Fellowship, this paper examines teaching excellence in the context of two recent schemes: the National Teaching Fellowship Scheme and the Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. The performance culture in the public sector and the use of excellence as a success criterion are critically analysed. Assumptions about the transfer of excellent practice are explored. Questions about the interaction of competition and equalities issues are raised. The paper ends with arguing that if excellence schemes are to be an established feature of public sector systems, then we must develop strategies to enable them to be implemented equitably, transparently and fit for purpose.

A Practicum Curriculum in a Health Specialization: A Framework for Hospitals.

Abstract In schools of social work, specializations frequently provide an organizing philosophy and structure for program delivery. Health specializations increasingly are being offered. Components for a curriculum in health have been addressed by educators and practitioners, but the focus for discussion has primarily been on course content with little attention to a curriculum for the practicum. This paper addresses the gap in the literature by presenting a framework for such a curriculum relevant to practica in other specializations. This framework is based on the roles associated with three domains of practice in hospitals. Each practice role serves as a broad objective for the students knowledge and skill to be learned. In addition, the paper discusses educational issues that commonly arise in hospital practicum.

Assessment as the Site of Power: A Bourdieusian Interrogation of Service User and Carer Involvement in the Assessments of Social Work Students

Abstract The centrality of service user and carer involvement in social work education in England is now well established, both in policy and practice. However, research evidence suggests their involvement in student assessments is underdeveloped and under researched. This study focused on the positioning of service users and carers in relation to other stakeholders involved in the assessments of social work students in England. Using narrative research methodology, 21 participants, including service users, carers, social work students, social work employers and social work educators, were offered a semi-structured individual interview. Participants’ narratives revealed different power relations among those involved in social work students’ assessments and a lack of confidence among service users and carers in making failed assessment recommendations. The paper concludes by arguing the case for social work educators and service user organisations to provide joint training to support service users and carers in their role as assessors of social work students.

Promoting Excellence in Social Work Education

In this first Issue of 2014, we are very pleased to announce the new Editorial team: Professor Hugh McLaughlin from Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, as Editor-in-Chief and Helen Scholar from the University of Salford, UK, as Deputy Editor. As Editorial Board Member since 2010, Hugh is well placed to understand the opportunities and challenges facing the journal. Hugh and Helen are qualified social workers, Hugh’s experience is in child and family work; Helen’s is in criminal justice and probation. They have sustained experience as social work educators, and between them have worked in four UKuniversities. Their research is on social work education: Hugh has published on social work research, including service user involvement in research, and on fitness to practise and interprofessional practice; Helen has published with Hugh on partnership work with employers and non-traditional placements. They will assume the Editorship at the March, 2014 Editorial Board Meeting. We continue to develop our international profile and change is also in process in the international Advisory Boards. In 2013, Professor Christa Fouché from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, took over as Editor of the Australasia Board. Christa is a qualified social worker originally from South Africa where she has retained strong links. Her research interests are in capacity building in social services. In 2014, there will be changes to the Editorship of the North American and Asian Boards as Professors Marion Bogo and Vimla Nadkarni approach the end of their terms. Imogen has just returned fromattending the 2013AmericanCouncil on SocialWork Education (CSWE) Annual Programme Meeting in Dallas, Texas. It was a privilege to attend the Opening Ceremony with Marion Bogo, ‘our’ North American Editor and the first non-American to be presented with a Significant Lifetime Achievement in Social Work Education award. Marion was recognized for her ‘tireless commitment to improving social work education and her groundbreaking contributions to improving the way we assess competence in social work students. . . . . (and her) leadership positions with numerous professional organizations . . . including the Council on Social Work Education and the Canadian Association of Schools of SocialWork’. Imogen’s collaborationwithMarionbegan in1978when ImogenbecameaUniversity of Toronto Field Instructor andMarionwas Field Practicum Co-ordinator. Most recently they coauthored a paper on competence and capability in social work education in England, informed by an analysis of the American Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) (2013). Imogen participated in a CSWE consultation on the first draft of the 2015 EPAS. In 2008, the EPAS adopted a competencies and outcomes approach. CSWE are to be congratulated on their inclusive consultation process over the next two years. The allocation of resource to this project will be remarkable to educators outside the USA. The EPAS have been criticised for lack of attention to interprofessional education and service user involvement. An eloquent keynote from Dr Stefanus Snyman from Stellenbosch University, South Africa spoke to interprofes-

Social care research: a suitable case for systematic review?

This article examines how systematic reviews might best address social care research. In the context of broader methodological debate, it draws on recent first-hand experience of undertaking systematic reviews in this field, to propose that research inclusion, quality assessment and synthesis should be guided by certain key characteristics of social care knowledge, research and practice. It explores the potential of the TAPUPAS framework, developed by Pawson and colleagues (2003) to address qualities of social care knowledges in general, for informing and moving forward our thinking about systematic reviews of social care research in particular.

Promoting excellence inSocial Work Education

In our most recent Editorial (32.4) we introduced the newly launched ‘Best Article’ award, as a result of reviewing articles for 2012 using the following criteria agreed by the Editorial Board: importance/significance, originality/innovation, rigour in conceptual thinking and/or research methodology, and attention to diversity issues. In presenting these criteria we were highlighting the factors which, in the view of the Editorial Board, underpin excellence in publishing in social work education. In this editorial, also in the interests of addressing excellence, we examine the reasons why some papers are rejected by this journal. In 2012, our acceptance rate was just over 56%, a figure that the publisher advised is a little ‘high’ given the robust levels of submission to the journal. This caused the Editorial Board to consider if we are rigorous enough in what we accept. In March 2013 we had 242 assessors from a range of countries, 82 of whom in 2012 assessed more than 3 articles for us in that year. The high number of potential assessors can be explained by the current editorial practice of adding new authors in to the assessor pool. We aim to control for common standards by ensuring that each contribution is independently assessed by at least two assessors, one of whom is a member of the Editorial Board or one of the Associate Boards. If there is a significant difference of opinion between the two assessors, there is a strong likelihood that a third assessor will be involved alongside, or in addition to, the Editors. In addition, new assessors always operate alongside two other assessors for their first review. We do not set out to reject articles lightly and considerable attention is given by assessors and ourselves to supporting authors to achieve a good enough publication for the journal if strong potential is shown in the first submission. Indeed, this often includes more than one round of assessment to refine the article and maximise its contribution, although the Board will keep under review the related resource required from assessors, editors and board members. The first and most straightforward reason for rejection is simply that an article is not suitable for the journal as it is not about social work education, or it may refer to social work education in a tokenistic way but the substantive focus is on another topic. On occasion we receive submissions about education for another profession without addressing education for social work. We would emphasise that we are keen to include