Memorandum submitted by Social Work Education
North East (SWENE)
1. This submission is a joint one from SWENE,
which is a regional forum of all the Higher Educational Institutions
(HEIs) programme qualifying and post qualifying social work programmes
in the north east of England. The forum is well established and
is made up of representatives from Durham University, New College,
Northumbria University, the Open University, Sunderland University
and Teesside University. It is therefore in excellent position
to comment on all aspects of the social work training from an
educational perspective. The following comments relate to specific
issues for consideration.
ENTRY ROUTES
INTO THE
PROFESSION
2. Under most academic regulations, there
is sufficient flexibility to encourage mature entrants and people
considering a career change. Traditional qualifying social work
programmes have always attracted more mature candidates and the
widening participation agenda has ensured that this issue remains
a key priority. Work based routes also exist in a number of universities
that offer an effective alternative for employers who wish to
"grow their own" and for students who otherwise might
not consider a more traditional route either because of other
responsibilities or increasingly the desire to remain in work
and study. However, it should be recognised, that the UCAS system
(which is used by the vast majority of social work applicants)
is geared towards school leavers and therefore the bulk of applications
received early on are those from 18 years old. Only through careful
management, are mature candidates (who may apply later on) not
disadvantaged.
STRUCTURE OF
TRAINING
3. It is important that there is some choice
in the level of training so that it includes both undergraduate
and post graduate programmes. We would support the findings of
the three year evaluation of the New Social Work Degree Qualification
(Orme et al, 2007) that the evidence for making major changes
into the new degree is limited. What is important however is how
that initial social work training is followed up once graduates
are in employment. There should be a commitment from employers
to support Newly Qualified Social Workers (NQSWs) to support for
at least a year that involves proper induction, close supervision,
protected caseloads and continued links with HEIs for a probationary
period. It may be that full registration as a qualified social
worker is delayed until that period is over. We would also support
the integration of post qualifying training with NQSW status and
beyond, as well as being linked with career progression.
CONTENT OF
INITIAL TRAINING
4. There is a strong view in the north east
that specialisation in social work should come after initial training,
not during it. This view has been echoed in regional conferences
and was a key finding in the three year evaluation mentioned above.
Students often start with a clear view of which area they want
to specialise in, then change their mind through the various practice
learning opportunities offered through the 200 assessed practice
days required by the GSCC. Practice placements serve a number
of purposes, not least to allow the student to develop a range
of skills and knowledge which can then be transferable to other
settings and contexts. Research has consistently pointed out the
difficulties in "whole family thinking" when workers
are entrenched in specialisms (eg Tunstall et al 2004).
A variety of placement experiences is essential in developing
mature, emotionally intelligent and competent social workers and
should therefore not be constrained to one service user group.
The content of training will also reflect what opportunities students
have had so may or may not have prepared them for the tasks a
particular employer expects. There can be unrealistic expectations
by employers who may want NQSWs to be fully conversant with a
particular set of roles and responsibilities. Given that social
work is a very broad church indeed, this can be impractical. It
is the employer responsibility to prepare students for very specific
tasks but the HEIs should develop generic skills and knowledge
around specific areas such as carrying out assessments or dealing
with conflict.
QUALITY
5. SWENE would welcome more clarity and
direction about the curriculum and expectations as the areas identified
for the degree by the Department of Health in 2002 were minimal.
Recent concerns around the loss of the Practice Teachers award
could easily be addressed in Post Qualifying training if there
were clearer direction and minimum expectations around the content
and requirements. HEIs will often have learning and teaching objectives
around module hours and assessment that will be given priority
unless the professional body specify what must be done. The quality
and supply of practice placements, particularly around statutory
placements, will never be assured as long as employers continue
to marginalise these activities. Placements must become central
to the operational delivery of large social work employers and
the removal of the Performance Indicator relating to placements
has not been helpful. There is a significant amount of research
on practice learning which suggests that, to improve the quality
of placements, national direction is needed for practice learning
to be taken seriously and "owned" by employers rather
than being seen as the responsibility of the HEIs.
SUPPLY OF
INITIAL TRAINING
6. HEIs must be financially viable and therefore
will not support social work programmes if they become too costly
to operate. Recent events at Reading have seen how social work
programmes have become very vulnerable to efforts by HEIs to manage
their budgets. Social Work programmes are expensive to run given
the nature of their core subject and so HEIs should be supported
to maintain their provision rather than seeing them simply in
terms of HEFCE numbers. There is also a great need for more "joined
up" working between the DCSF, DIUS, CWDC and other national
bodies as the tensions between adults and children's services
at workforce level have had a significant impact on social work
training. It has caused duplication of effort for HEIs in liaison,
negotiation of placements and practice education.
POST QUALIFYING
TRAINING AND
CAREER PATHS
7. The comments above about workforce planning
and the need for joined up thinking apply equally to PQ training.
There have been difficulties caused by not linking up NQSW status
and the first module (Consolidation of Social Work practice) at
Specialist level of the GSCC PQ training. There appears to have
been little workforce planning about who should receive PQ training
and what career paths this might facilitate. For example some
local authorities allow any qualified social worker to apply to
HEIs for PQ while others must wait in turn. There has been very
limited attention paid to the GSCC requirements for practice education
to come at the end of a PQ award and many HEIs are unable to plan
ahead because of the uncertainties and lack of coherence about
PQ pathways and workforce issues. From an HEI perspective, support
for students on PQ programmes is very varied with many getting
no support or time allocation for undertaken study. This has led
to significant problems for HEIs in retention and completion.
The recent change to HEFCE funding for students already with PG
degrees has also affected the willingness of HEIs to continue
providing programmes.
Di Bailey
Durham University
Julie Irvine (chair)
Northumbria University
Jane Maffey
New College Durham
Sarah Matthews
Open University in the North
Wade Tovey
Teesside University
Jane Tunmore
Sunderland University
May 2009
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