Ronnie Egan | RMIT University (original) (raw)
Papers by Ronnie Egan
Australian journal of social issues/The Australian journal of social issues, Apr 21, 2024
Critical reflection is regarded as a necessary skill in social work practice. While there is exte... more Critical reflection is regarded as a necessary skill in social work practice. While there is extensive literature on the need to develop the skills for critical reflection, there is little research into whether discussion boards and guided critical incident questions are useful in helping social work students develop critical reflection. This article reports an exploratory study conducted about the use of discussion boards and written reflections by social work students undertaking field placement. Results indicate that, conducted within a safe learning environment, students do engage with both discussion boards and written reflections to critically reflect on their social work practice.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Jun 30, 2023
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Australian Social Work, Mar 23, 2020
Field liaison is a fundamental component of social work field education programs and is critical ... more Field liaison is a fundamental component of social work field education programs and is critical in monitoring and supporting the field education supervisory relationship. Despite its integral importance, field liaison is a somewhat neglected and underexplored area, particularly from the perspectives of those undertaking the role. To better support the role, in 2015 the Victorian Combined Schools of Social Work initiated a liaison forum, which has become an annual event. The authors have reflected on the congruence of participants' discussions over four forums. This article shares these reflections and reports their preliminary conceptualisations of the role. IMPLICATIONS. The social work liaison role in field education is a multifaceted role, requiring greater attention to operationalising, administering, and implementing the role across higher education providers.. It is critical that further research into the liaison role is undertaken to continue to conceptualise the role from multiple stakeholder perspectives.
Australian Social Work, 1985
Routledge eBooks, Oct 6, 2020
Allen & Unwin eBooks, 2004
"Human service workers need more than just common sense. This book offers a comprehensive in... more "Human service workers need more than just common sense. This book offers a comprehensive introduction to practice skills required across the human service sector. The authors use critical analysis to systematically outline the key stages of interaction with clients."--Libraries Australia "A thorough introduction to the core practice skills needed by social work and welfare professionals. Human service workers need more than just common sense. Practice Skills in Social Work and Welfare offers a comprehensive introduction to practice skills required across the human service sector. The authors use critical analysis to systematically outline the key stages of interaction with clients: engagement, assessment, intervention and evaluation. Drawing on a strengths approach, they examine the skills needed for working with different types of clients: individuals, families and community groups. They also explore the dilemmas faced in daily practice, including the challenges of working with involuntary clients, clients from different cultural backgrounds, and clients in crisis situations. Practice Skills in Social Work and Welfare provides a model of integrated practice which incorporates the key components of ideology, theory, phase, skill and context. Detailed case studies demonstrate how welfare services can be delivered in different contexts. Written by experienced teachers and practitioners from Australia and New Zealand, Practice Skills in Social Work and Welfare is a practical and user friendly text for students and reference for practitioners"--Publisher website
Routledge eBooks, Nov 6, 2019
Routledge eBooks, Dec 7, 2020
Oxford University Press eBooks, Jun 1, 2010
Advances in social work, Jun 1, 2018
This article presents the process for the development of a strategic national statement about fie... more This article presents the process for the development of a strategic national statement about field education in Australia. It tracks the thinking of a group of social work field education academics over a nine-month period to ultimately produce a statement about social work field education as a distinctive pedagogy of social work education, for presentation to the Australian Association of Social Work (AASW) as part of the 2016 Australian Social Work Education and Accreditation Standards (ASWEAS) review. The development of an Australian statement began in response to the current crisis in field education relating to a dearth of quality placements available for students who are ready for placement. The article begins with a review of the literature about the American Council on Social Work Education's (CSWE) 2008 decision to develop a statement of field education as the signature pedagogy, as well as a review of articles critiquing the American response. From this, the group used Shulman's definition and the literature to produce a strategic statement that could be used to highlight the place of field education in Australia. This raised multiple issues confronting field education teams and prompted further research about the pedagogy informing field education.
British Journal of Social Work, Jun 30, 2022
The Covid-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed how social work education is provided, and these ... more The Covid-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed how social work education is provided, and these changes are particularly pronounced in field education. Globally, the introduction of restrictions on mobility and social interaction have contributed to the cancellation, postponement and early termination of social work field placements. Accrediting bodies, social work field education departments and industry partner agencies have needed to rapidly adapt how placements are conceptualised and provided. This article examines the experiences of agencies who have continued to provide student placements throughout the pandemic. Interviews were conducted with placement supervisors employed at twelve human services agencies partnering with a university social work department in Melbourne, Australia. Whilst experiencing challenges, agencies outlined how they adapted to the environment to enable meaningful student placement experiences. This article contributes to an ongoing discussion around the trajectory of social work field education and the significance of agency-based placements in this evolution.
Education, Work and Catholic Life, 2019
Women’s auto/biography provides powerful and culturally diverse narratives. The traditional odyss... more Women’s auto/biography provides powerful and culturally diverse narratives. The traditional odyssey for the inner meaning of the female self often involves a search for the maternal legacy. Through a series of conversations that were enacted in various locations significant to the authors, the telling of partial and subjective stories of maternal histories were narrated. The two authors have known each other for more than 55 years having started school together at the age of four. Through their conversations, they sought to gain a fuller understanding of different representations of connections among, and between, women. Stories were told of mothers and daughters as well as sisters and friends. The focus of the conversations was on how a Catholic upbringing and education seeps into the intergenerational relationships of mothers and daughters and infuses the contradictions and polarities of women’s lives.
Advances in social work, 2017
Social work field education is under pressure across the globe, including in Australia. Current a... more Social work field education is under pressure across the globe, including in Australia. Current application of neoliberal principles to education and human services policy and service delivery impact on social work practice, social work education and the availability and delivery of practice placements. Social work educators are concerned about delivering quality social work education so that students can engage in supervised service delivery in preparation for professional social work practice. Field education staff in universities across the country experience significant challenges in ensuring and organising increasing numbers of quality student placements. The formation of a national leadership group was triggered by a collective realisation that all university field education programs were facing similar challenges. The purpose of a national group was to better respond to the identified challenges and identify directions for research. Collaboration has been effectively used acr...
Australian journal of social issues/The Australian journal of social issues, Apr 21, 2024
Critical reflection is regarded as a necessary skill in social work practice. While there is exte... more Critical reflection is regarded as a necessary skill in social work practice. While there is extensive literature on the need to develop the skills for critical reflection, there is little research into whether discussion boards and guided critical incident questions are useful in helping social work students develop critical reflection. This article reports an exploratory study conducted about the use of discussion boards and written reflections by social work students undertaking field placement. Results indicate that, conducted within a safe learning environment, students do engage with both discussion boards and written reflections to critically reflect on their social work practice.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Jun 30, 2023
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Australian Social Work, Mar 23, 2020
Field liaison is a fundamental component of social work field education programs and is critical ... more Field liaison is a fundamental component of social work field education programs and is critical in monitoring and supporting the field education supervisory relationship. Despite its integral importance, field liaison is a somewhat neglected and underexplored area, particularly from the perspectives of those undertaking the role. To better support the role, in 2015 the Victorian Combined Schools of Social Work initiated a liaison forum, which has become an annual event. The authors have reflected on the congruence of participants' discussions over four forums. This article shares these reflections and reports their preliminary conceptualisations of the role. IMPLICATIONS. The social work liaison role in field education is a multifaceted role, requiring greater attention to operationalising, administering, and implementing the role across higher education providers.. It is critical that further research into the liaison role is undertaken to continue to conceptualise the role from multiple stakeholder perspectives.
Australian Social Work, 1985
Routledge eBooks, Oct 6, 2020
Allen & Unwin eBooks, 2004
"Human service workers need more than just common sense. This book offers a comprehensive in... more "Human service workers need more than just common sense. This book offers a comprehensive introduction to practice skills required across the human service sector. The authors use critical analysis to systematically outline the key stages of interaction with clients."--Libraries Australia "A thorough introduction to the core practice skills needed by social work and welfare professionals. Human service workers need more than just common sense. Practice Skills in Social Work and Welfare offers a comprehensive introduction to practice skills required across the human service sector. The authors use critical analysis to systematically outline the key stages of interaction with clients: engagement, assessment, intervention and evaluation. Drawing on a strengths approach, they examine the skills needed for working with different types of clients: individuals, families and community groups. They also explore the dilemmas faced in daily practice, including the challenges of working with involuntary clients, clients from different cultural backgrounds, and clients in crisis situations. Practice Skills in Social Work and Welfare provides a model of integrated practice which incorporates the key components of ideology, theory, phase, skill and context. Detailed case studies demonstrate how welfare services can be delivered in different contexts. Written by experienced teachers and practitioners from Australia and New Zealand, Practice Skills in Social Work and Welfare is a practical and user friendly text for students and reference for practitioners"--Publisher website
Routledge eBooks, Nov 6, 2019
Routledge eBooks, Dec 7, 2020
Oxford University Press eBooks, Jun 1, 2010
Advances in social work, Jun 1, 2018
This article presents the process for the development of a strategic national statement about fie... more This article presents the process for the development of a strategic national statement about field education in Australia. It tracks the thinking of a group of social work field education academics over a nine-month period to ultimately produce a statement about social work field education as a distinctive pedagogy of social work education, for presentation to the Australian Association of Social Work (AASW) as part of the 2016 Australian Social Work Education and Accreditation Standards (ASWEAS) review. The development of an Australian statement began in response to the current crisis in field education relating to a dearth of quality placements available for students who are ready for placement. The article begins with a review of the literature about the American Council on Social Work Education's (CSWE) 2008 decision to develop a statement of field education as the signature pedagogy, as well as a review of articles critiquing the American response. From this, the group used Shulman's definition and the literature to produce a strategic statement that could be used to highlight the place of field education in Australia. This raised multiple issues confronting field education teams and prompted further research about the pedagogy informing field education.
British Journal of Social Work, Jun 30, 2022
The Covid-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed how social work education is provided, and these ... more The Covid-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed how social work education is provided, and these changes are particularly pronounced in field education. Globally, the introduction of restrictions on mobility and social interaction have contributed to the cancellation, postponement and early termination of social work field placements. Accrediting bodies, social work field education departments and industry partner agencies have needed to rapidly adapt how placements are conceptualised and provided. This article examines the experiences of agencies who have continued to provide student placements throughout the pandemic. Interviews were conducted with placement supervisors employed at twelve human services agencies partnering with a university social work department in Melbourne, Australia. Whilst experiencing challenges, agencies outlined how they adapted to the environment to enable meaningful student placement experiences. This article contributes to an ongoing discussion around the trajectory of social work field education and the significance of agency-based placements in this evolution.
Education, Work and Catholic Life, 2019
Women’s auto/biography provides powerful and culturally diverse narratives. The traditional odyss... more Women’s auto/biography provides powerful and culturally diverse narratives. The traditional odyssey for the inner meaning of the female self often involves a search for the maternal legacy. Through a series of conversations that were enacted in various locations significant to the authors, the telling of partial and subjective stories of maternal histories were narrated. The two authors have known each other for more than 55 years having started school together at the age of four. Through their conversations, they sought to gain a fuller understanding of different representations of connections among, and between, women. Stories were told of mothers and daughters as well as sisters and friends. The focus of the conversations was on how a Catholic upbringing and education seeps into the intergenerational relationships of mothers and daughters and infuses the contradictions and polarities of women’s lives.
Advances in social work, 2017
Social work field education is under pressure across the globe, including in Australia. Current a... more Social work field education is under pressure across the globe, including in Australia. Current application of neoliberal principles to education and human services policy and service delivery impact on social work practice, social work education and the availability and delivery of practice placements. Social work educators are concerned about delivering quality social work education so that students can engage in supervised service delivery in preparation for professional social work practice. Field education staff in universities across the country experience significant challenges in ensuring and organising increasing numbers of quality student placements. The formation of a national leadership group was triggered by a collective realisation that all university field education programs were facing similar challenges. The purpose of a national group was to better respond to the identified challenges and identify directions for research. Collaboration has been effectively used acr...