Memorandum submitted by the Institute
of Education, University of London
The Institute of Education does not at present
offer training for Children and Families Social Workers, although
an MA in Social Pedagogy is planned for 2009-10. The Institute
has been a provider of teacher training for many years and our
submission offers information on models of teacher training and
how we see these being of relevance for the Committee's deliberations
on the issues and challenges facing social work training.
TRAINING OF
SOCIAL WORKERS
AND TEACHERS
Social work training is in a position similar
to that of teacher training about 20 years ago. At this time the
initial training of teachers was not sufficiently based upon the
competencies required by teachers in the classroom and there was
insufficient articulation of the theoretical bases of practice,
which in recent years has been developed through practice-based
learning.
Teaching is a graduate profession with a variety
of entry routes, including BEd, BA or BSc with Qualified Teacher
Status (QTS), and the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE).
PGCE courses cater for graduates who wish to teach in primary
or secondary schools or in post-compulsory education.
Other routes into teaching include Employment-Based
teacher training, the Graduate Teacher Programme and Teach First.
These schemes allow graduates to work towards QTS while employed
in schools as unqualified teachers.
CURRICULUM ISSUES
There have been criticisms that social work
training is thin on analytic skills; on helping develop reflective
practice; on the ability to apply research; and on decision-making
skills. There are also criticisms that there is insufficient attention
given to understanding the potential of effective interventions,
and that many social workers are poor at communicating effectively
with children and at working with practitioners from other professional
backgrounds. The social work curriculum should include knowledge
of the psychological, physical and social issues that underpin
challenging behaviour and the skills to build relationships and
hear the voices of children and families in difficult circumstances.
Professional training requires a combination of complex
skills, knowledge and understanding, together with the tools for
continued learning and professional development. The curriculum
for Initial Teacher Education (ITE) addresses the core professional
standards relating to attributes, knowledge and understanding,
and teaching skills, as set out by the Training and Development
Agency for Schools (TDA). By developing a set of standards, the
TDA has been able to identify those that are required for QTS
and those that are expected at more advanced levels. Excellent
teachers are expected to research and evaluate innovative curriculum
practice and draw on research and other external sources of evidence
to inform their own practice and that of their colleagues. The
standards focus strongly on the curriculum and its delivery, which
tends to leave limited time, especially in a one-year PGCE, for
other aspects of teachers' development.
RECRUITMENT AND
CAREER PROGRESSION
The TDA has run a very successful recruitment
campaign over several years and Higher Education Institutions
(HEIs) have synchronised their efforts with this campaign. In
addition, salaries have been improved for teachers, including
starting salaries. As a result, teaching has become a more attractive
profession. New routes into teaching such as Teach First, which
is open to graduates with the highest degrees, are also attracting
high level applicants.
Newly qualified social workers are, on the whole,
poorly supported and supervision is often inadequate. There is
limited opportunity for Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
and for post-graduate qualifications for experienced social workers.
This stands in contrast to the induction and CPD offered to teachers.
In contrast, Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs), after their initial
training, have a one-year period of induction. This is designed
to provide a personalised programme of guidance and support, so
that NQTs are supplied with the tools they need to be successful
teachers. Each NQT has an induction tutor who is responsible for
assessing their work against the core professional standards and
determining whether they have met the requirements for successfully
completing the induction period. During this period NQTs receive
a 10% reduction in their teaching timetable to allow time to develop
teaching skills away from the classroom.
Beyond the induction year teachers have a wealth
of opportunities for CPD or Postgraduate Professional Development
(PPD). Programmes of study range from Masters and Doctoral degrees,
offered on a full-time or part-time basis, to specialist diplomas,
modular degrees and outreach courses. Recently, PGCE programmes
have been remodelled so that some of the constituent modules are
now offered at Masters level, which means that graduates of these
courses have credits that can be counted towards a full Masters
degree. A new Masters in Teaching and Learning (MTL) is a government-funded,
classroom-based qualification developed to help teachers extend
their teaching skills and abilities, which will be offered to
NQTs in 2009-10.
Flexibility is a key ingredient of the offer
as it allows teachers to further develop their curriculum subject
expertise, or to develop knowledge in a foundation subject such
as psychology of education or special and inclusive education.
Delivery of these programmes is through traditional format in
Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), teachers' centres or schools,
and through distance, on-line and mixed mode courses. This flexibility
enables teachers to select those that are most relevant and convenient
for them. There is limited government funding or local authority
funding for these programmes.
QUALITY
There is much criticism of the quality of practice
placements for trainee social workers, and a reluctance on the
part of both voluntary and statutory agencies to give the support
that is required—often because of high caseload and work
levels amongst host agencies.
Practice placements form an important part of the
initial training of teachers and trainees value high quality placements.
For the past 15 years HEIs have worked in partnership with schools
to deliver ITE, and it is through the partnership schools that
students are provided with placements during their training. Schools
are reimbursed for their contribution which ensures that students
on teaching practice have a school mentor to provide support and
advice in addition to that provided by a course tutor from the
HEI. It has proved challenging to strengthen the quality assurance
of placements and there is still work to be done to ensure that
all students have high quality support while on their placements.
Although the partnership model has vastly improved the quality
of provision at the lower end, this may have produced a model
that is somewhat homogenised and risk-averse.
There is a view that the General Social Care
Council is not tight enough on regulation and the inspection of
HEIs. This stands in contrast to the tight quality control in
the teaching profession, where nationalisation of the curriculum
and standard expectations are accompanied by rigorous inspection
by Ofsted of ITE and TDA-funded PPD programmes in HEIs. The Quality
Assurance Agency is responsible for assuring the quality of other
relevant Masters and Diploma programmes in HEIs.
SOCIAL PEDAGOGIC
APPROACHES
Social work training in Denmark and other European
countries is based on a different model of the role of the social
worker. The social-pedagogic approach to working with children
and young people in social care could usefully inform the strategic
direction of this area of work in the future. Pat Petrie and colleagues
from the Thomas Coram Research Unit, Institute of Education, have
produced a useful document on social pedagogy Pedagogy—a
holistic, personal approach to work with children and young people,
across services, in response to an earlier children's workforce
consultation. This discusses social pedagogy and makes practical
proposals for how this approach could begin to be developed in
an English context. Please follow the link to http://eprints.ioe.ac.uk/58/1/Pedagogy_briefing_paper.pdf
to obtain a copy of the document.
This document highlights that in England we tend
to use the term "pedagogy" in the context of the classroom
and formal education. Our European neighbours often apply it to
a much broader set of services, covering, for example, childcare
and early years, youth work, family support services, secure units
for young offenders, residential care and play work. The European
meaning of pedagogy thus encompasses both care and education.
The Institute of Education has established a
Centre for Social Pedagogy, lead by Pat Petrie, which coordinates
and evaluates social pedagogic approaches in England. Members
of the Centre are collaborating with colleagues in Denmark over
the development of an MA in Social Pedagogy which will take its
first cohort of students in 2010.
May 2009
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