Michelle Newcomb

Pretending to be authentic: challenges for students when reflective writing about their childhood for assessment

Abstract Critical reflection potentially allows social work and human service (SWHS) students to understand how past experiences can shape their future practice. This study of 20 Australian undergraduate SWHS students with a history of childhood adversity found reflective writing for this purpose was not a useful pedagogical practice. Rather than developing skills in critical reflection students found the task performative, linked to academic requirements, where they needed to display emotional containment. Consequently, SWHS academics need to examine reflective writing about childhood adversity for assessment as this process may not enable students to build skills in critical reflection that drive professional development.

Service user or service provider? How social work and human services students integrate dual identities

Abstract Students studying undergraduate social work and human services (SWHS) degrees may have used health and human service agencies, before and during their university education. Using services provides them with insights that are useful for professional practice. However, this article identifies that they experience a fear of shame and stigma revealing this during their studies. In examining interview data from 15 undergraduate SWHS students they recounted how they integrated their experience of being a service user into their professional development. It is argued that insider knowledge of services can provide them with valuable insights for practice. Students spoke about how positive experiences motivated them to study and provided models of effective practice, exemplifying its potential power to assist those in need. Negative experiences of service use can also be beneficial for learning what ‘not to do’. Although students found the experience of service use invaluable, they felt it was never acknowledged within the curriculum. Consequently, students interviewed in this study identified service users as ‘others’. They feared disclosing their own use of services due to perceived shame and stigma. Failing to provide opportunity for students to integrate their service user experience into their professional development creates a false dichotomy which does not acknowledge the intersection of these dual identities.

Childhood Adversity and Self-Care Education for Undergraduate Social Work and Human Services Students.

ABSTRACT Many students pursuing social work and human services courses have experienced adverse childhoods. This article focuses on their learning about self-care, an important skill for future practice. Interviews with 20 undergraduate students with a history of childhood adversity found unmet needs both for conceptualizing self-care and developing strategies to implement self-care in their day-to-day lives. Many cited limited role modeling and little importance placed on self-care during childhood. Teaching self-care is conceptualized as not only a core skill for practice but also an equity issue for students with a history of childhood adversity.