Joan Fletcher

Black social work students’ experiences of practice learning: Understanding differential progression rates

Summary As a group, Black and ethnic minority students progress more slowly on their social work programmes in England than their white counterparts. The article reports on a qualitative study with social work students and key informants in a purposive sample of eight social work programmes. Findings Factors relating to the characteristics of individual students, the social work programme, the HEI and practice learning environments appeared to be affecting student experience and progression. The article focuses on practice learning. Many student participants reported experiences of disadvantaged educational backgrounds, economic pressures and caring responsibilities. Key informants in some sites described particular challenges faced by these students. Students reported experiences of racism in placements where the majority of staff or service users were white. Application Concepts drawn from work by Pierre Bourdieu such as ‘habitus’, ‘field’ and ‘social and cultural capital’ are used to make sense of these findings. Some practical ways in which social work programmes might seek to counter educational disparities and racism faced by black and ethnic minority students are suggested: these include monitoring systems, training for practice educators and tutors, support for black and ethnic minority students and agreements between HEIs and placement providers.

Engaging Young Parents and Their Families in a Multi-family Group Work Intervention: Lessons from a Pilot in England

This article offers a practice account of the pilot of an inclusive, community based, multi-family group intervention for young mothers and fathers, their children and extended family. Adapting this North American social work intervention, which is delivered by service user staff members, social work and health professionals, in a UK city demonstrated that young parents and their extended families could be engaged onto a programme designed to enhance family functioning and improve parent-child relationships. Retention rates were good, with 70% of the families who started the programme completing to graduation. The article reflects on key learning and potential benefits the programme could bring to social work practice with young and vulnerable parents in the UK, particularly those considered ‘hard to reach’, such as teenage parents from black and minority ethnic communities. Lessons for wider implementation and suggestions for future systematic evaluations of the effectiveness of the intervention with social work service users are outlined.