Memorandum submitted by Nottingham Trent
University
SUMMARY
Initially we would like to make the general
point that we strongly disagree with much of the evidence submitted
to the Social Work Task Force by the Children's Workforce Development
Council, which we feel is inaccurate and makes spurious unsubstantiated
claims about the current nature of social work education.
While there are undoubtedly some criticisms which
can be made of social work education (as of anything) we feel
that the overall attack launched on the quality of social work
in general and of social work education in particular, is misplaced.
We consider that the framework is in place to improve
and enhance social work education at both qualifying and post
qualifying level, though some changes need to be made, especially
around flexibility.
Employers need funding to allow social work
practitioners time off and workload relief for the workforce to
really benefit from enhanced level of qualification. More attention
needs to be paid to the emotional side of social work, rather
than procedural and technical aspects.
ENTRY ROUTES
TO THE
PROFESSION
1. Are entry routes to social work sufficiently
flexible to encourage mature entrants, re-entrants and people
considering a career change?
On the whole we would say yes, but there is
some discrepancy between the academic standards of some applicants
who come via non traditional routes—in a nutshell, the younger,
post A level applicants tend to have higher academic qualifications
but less life experience; older applicants tend to be alternatively
qualified but are likely to have more relevant life and professional
experience. For people envisaging a career change there is always
the issue of finance, and it may be worth considering modelling
some of the schemes currently in place to encourage mature entrants
into teaching. There is also an issue as to whether many 18 year
olds really have the maturity to embark on a career as a social
worker; although a few do, these are the exception.
STRUCTURE OF
TRAINING
2. Is a three-year bachelor's degree/two-year
master's degree the right format and level for initial social
work training?
Yes, there doesn't seem any point in changing
this but there may need to be alternative training routes for
experienced professionals changing careers. We also consider part
time, sponsored qualifying training ("grow your own")
has potential to be further developed.
3. Following initial training, how should
newly-qualified social workers be equipped with the further skills
and experience they need?
The NQSW pilot is a good initiative which we fully
support and which should be rolled out to all local authorities.
However, we are concerned about the attitude of some local authorities
in terms of: as long as a case is allocated, it doesn't matter
who to. This attitude pervades some teams and is extremely unhelpful
in introducing social workers to the complexities of the role
of a professionally qualified social worker. It also devalues
the profession in not allowing for personal growth and skill development.
CONTENT OF
INITIAL TRAINING
4. Is the generic social work degree fit for
the purpose of training children and families social workers?
Is there sufficient scope for specialisation?
Social work is a holistic discipline: to ensure
safety and maximise life chances for the most vulnerable children,
social workers are working with the most disadvantaged and damaged
adults. They need to have knowledge and understanding of mental
health, drug and alcohol misuse and domestic violence; prospective
social workers interested in these issues from an adult perspective
also need to understand how these difficulties affect children.
There is a serious danger that in the laudable drive for integrated
services around children, we will lose sight of the need for close
working relationships between adult and children's services. This
danger is likely to be increased if the degree is made a specialist
qualification. The call for a specialist degree is a knee jerk
reaction to current issues, and one which in the long run will
not serve the interests of vulnerable children. We therefore support
the idea that the third year of the degree should be linked to
more specialist training, but would resist the idea of the whole
degree being made specialist.
5. Does the content of training reflect the
tasks social workers will be asked to undertake when in employment?
Some agencies feel that this is not the case. Universities
need to (and do) work with agency partners to ensure that the
curriculum meets the needs of employers, but sometimes employers
have unreasonable expectations. Some students on level 3 placements
(3rd year) are expected to take on almost full responsibility
for working with very complex cases—this is before they
are even qualified. The rationale is, this is the real world,
get used to it. However, we wouldn't expect a trainee surgeon
to be shown the operating theatre, given a knife and told to get
on with it. That's what it feels like for some of these students.
It may be the case that younger students find this attitude more
difficult to cope with.
6. Is the balance of knowledge, skills, values
and experience correct?
This is always under review, and is a difficult balance
to strike. One of the challenges in teaching of any sort, but
particularly in social work, is accommodating different learning
styles and needs. By implication, some of the candidates who have
the interpersonal skills needed to be a good social worker may
not have the academic or scholarly background to achieve a "good"
degree, but may still become a good social worker. On the other
hand, social workers need skills of critical analysis and assessment,
and must be able to express themselves adequately in writing.
The danger is that increased prescription around how the degree
should be taught may not play to the strengths of either the student
or the lecturer. "The balance between project work, group
work, individual supervision and lectures appropriate for the
realities of the job that social workers will undertake"
is an area that is under continual scrutiny by the teaching staff
at this university, and we are surprised that anyone (I refer
here to the CWDC submission to the Social Work Task Force) thinks
this is not so. This is our job. We would be very happy to provide
information to contribute to an "analysis of current activities"
which the CWDC suggests.
QUALITY
7. How effectively does the General Social
Care Council regulate the quality of training?
Satisfactory but there is increasing confusion
between the role of the GSCC and the CWDC in the training of social
workers.
8. How can the quality, suitability and supply
of practice placements be assured?
This is a continuing issue but one way we are trying
to address this is by working with our agency partners to link
practice assessor training ("Enabling Learning" in the
PQ framework) directly with placement provision. However, as already
stated, agencies must be aware that placements are an integral
part of training, not just another pair of hands.
9. Has the switch to degree-level qualification
improved the calibre of recruits and the effectiveness of newly-qualified
social workers?
Approaching this from the perspective of one who
is concerned mainly with teaching at PQ level, I would say definitely
yes.
SUPPLY OF
INITIAL TRAINING
10. What factors influence whether higher
education institutions offer social work qualifying courses?
Partly level of local demand for social workers
and whether the course is financially viable.
11. How effectively do the DCSF, DIUS, and
the Children's Workforce Development Council ensure adequate training
capacity and workforce planning?
It isn't possible to answer this question from our
perspective.
POST-QUALIFYING
TRAINING AND
CAREER PATH
12. How can the quality, suitability and take-up
of post-qualifying training be assured?
See below.
13. What factors influence the continuing
development of newly-qualified social workers and their future
career decisions?
See below.
14. How well do employers support the development
of social workers?
See below.
— CWDC has stated that the current PQ framework
is not fit for purpose for training social workers in child protection.
The current PQ framework is designed as a professional development
programme for all child care social workers, and as such it offers
a CPD follow up to the degree course for social workers in all
aspects of children's social work.— We consider our PQ Specialist
Award in Child Care Practice to be very successful, particularly
in that part of it is delivered in the social work agencies, and
designed jointly with them. HEIs have a responsibility to reach
out to their social work agency partners to meet their needs for
training social workers and join together as full partners. This
is what we aspire to do and we feel it is a model which could
be followed by other regional partnerships.
Development of the PQ programme in the current context
— While the Specialist Award isn't in itself
child protection training, we completely disagree that it is not
fit for purpose.— Lord Laming recommends that the Department
"should introduce a fully funded, practice focused children's
social work post graduate qualification"—we argue that
the basis of this already exists in the current PQ programmes
which have been developed relatively recently (within the last
three years). However, we acknowledge that there is a lack of
flexibility in the present regulatory framework which makes it
difficult to fit different modules within the Specialist Award.
— We are working with our agency partners
to develop two new modules as stand alone CPD training and which
would also be part of progression to a Master's degree. These
courses are "Leadership in the Context of Safeguarding Children"
and "Promoting Good Outcomes for Looked After Children".
This will also fit within the structure of the Specialist/Higher
Specialist and Advanced Award. A more flexible PQ framework allowing
a choice of different modules could meet the need for safeguarding/child
protection training within the existing framework, and meet the
need to develop a Masters level training progression.
— The ability of practitioners to undertake
(and complete advanced) level training is greatly affected by
the ability of their employers to support them with time off for
study and workload relief. One of our current PQ candidates had
her caseload increased to 40 children during the middle of the
course, because of a management decision that all cases should
be allocated. Many agencies are very good about supporting their
practitioners but this commitment needs to come from all, and
until the staffing situation improves in social work teams, this
is unlikely to happen.
15. How well are social workers trained to
deliver front-line supervision?
— The provision for this in existing social
work training at any level is very weak, and our "Leadership"
module will try to address this. There needs to be much more emphasis
on the complex emotional elements of social work, and much less
on the process and procedural aspects.
May 2009
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