‘Baptism of Fire’: The First Year in the Life of a Newly Qualified Social Worker (original) (raw)
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Newly-qualified social workers readiness for practice in Scotland
British Journal of Social Work, 2015
Little is known about newly qualified social worker (NQSW) experiences of education, employment and training in Scotland. This article reports on findings from a national online survey (n=205) and focus groups conducted with newly qualified social workers during their first year of employment. The study presented here was commissioned by the Scottish Social Service Council (SSSC) as part of a wider strategic review of social work education. Following a mixed-method design, the results of this study were analysed using quantitative and qualitative software. Findings indicate that the majority of NQSWs feel well-prepared by social work education, but less supported by employers in terms of opportunities for continuous professional development. Experiences of good quality induction, supervision and opportunities for professional development demonstrate mixed results across Scotland. This study has important implications for the forthcoming review of social work education in Scotland and builds on research from England and Wales. It provides empirical clarity on what newly qualified social workers know, value and understand about their professional role and tasks. These Scottish findings run contrary to wider UK concerns such as those raised by recent commentators suggesting that newly qualified social workers are inadequately prepared for the challenge of childcare social work.
Newly Qualified Social Worker programme : Final evaluation report (2008 to 2011)
2012
The Newly Qualified Social Worker (NQSW) programme was originally established in 2008 as a three year project involving the Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) working with employers to deliver a comprehensive programme of support to newly qualified social workers (NQSWs). At the time of writing, the programme is in its fourth year. The programme was designed to ensure that NQSWs receive consistent, high quality support and that those supervising them are confident in their skills to provide support. It aimed to contribute to increasing the number of people who continue their long-term career within social work with children and families. It had the specific objectives of: * Helping NQSWs improve their skills, competence and confidence as child and family social workers in a systematic manner during their first year of practice. * Enabling employers to provide focused supervision, support and guidance. * Contributing towards NQSWs’ post-registration training and learning...
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This report presents the findings from the Evaluation of the Social Work Degree Qualification in England which was funded by the Department of Health between 2004-2007 to look at the impact of the new degree level professional qualification in social work. The change was widely welcomed by social work educators, employers, and service users and carers as a way of improving the status of social work and of increasing the numbers of people attracted to the profession. It was accompanied by substantial financial investment in student recruitment, practice placements, involvement of service users and carers, and other measures aimed at improving the quality of learning in higher education. The first new degree level social work qualifying programmes began in the 2003- 2004 academic year.
2005
This research examines the extent to which graduates of competency-based social work education (the National Diploma in Social Work) are ready to practice in their first six months of post-course employment. The study is exploratory and outlines the experiences of seven graduates. In particular it focuses on perceptions of their education and its role in preparing them for social work practice. Analysis was undertaken using a grounded theory approach, which highlighted a number of themes from their experiences. These themes illustrated that the graduates generally enjoyed their training and perceived themselves to be adequately prepared for practice. Graduates also considered that their courses needed greater focus on the social work field of practice related to their chosen employment. Further analysis utilised Seeker's (1993) three-stage typology of the integration of theory. Application of this model showed that graduates' level of theoretical integration was lower than t...
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Mary Baginsky & ClaireTeague Contents Table of figures We are extremely grateful to the many people whose collaboration, support and involvement have made this report possible. In the early days our then colleagues in the Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC) Sue Brooke, Deborah Cordingley, Catherine Williams, and Debbie Oakland commented on the early drafts of questionnaires, while Derek Smale patiently responded to numerous requests about contact details and individuals' locations. Two other colleagues, Tom Anthony and Pete Grady, helped us to keep in touch with developments across the partnerships. Keith Brumfitt, the Director for Children's Trusts at CWDC, valued the opportunity to obtain an insight not only into the Step Up to Social Work programme but also to social work education and training in general. He gave us his unwavering support and encouragement as he did to so much of our other work. We are very grateful to Lucy Emsley and Kelly Sames who were very involved in the preparatory work for the analysis of the second and third questionnaire (T2 and T3) and Umar Hayat who gave similar support for the fourth questionnaire. And finally we should like to thank William Baginsky who checked and corrected the text with his usual skill, care and attention. The journey from beginning to end was overseen by an Advisory Group from which Ian Butler and Jill Manthorpe provided extremely helpful comments on an earlier draft of this report. When the work moved into the Department for Education oversight of the work passed to Graham Archer who valued the work and was always interested in its progress. However our biggest thanks go to those who were in the first cohort of Step Up to Social Work. Despite the demands that the training imposed so many replied to the calls to complete questionnaire after questionnaire, and a few acted as a core group for piloting each version. None can be named for reasons of confidentiality but we hope they feel that the time they devoted to this work is reflected in the way their experiences are reported. Preparation for working as a social worker By the end of the training the percentages of respondents feeling prepared in relation to various aspects of social work were : 90 per cent relation to social work values, issues of power and discrimination, antioppressive practice, social work with children and families, context of social work, social work theory and methods, application of social knowledge, Interpersonal communication and the legal system. 80 per cent in relation to social work roles and responsibilities, human growth and development and research methods / evaluation. just under 60 per cent for work with adults. some of the parties involved in Step Up and a lack of clarity over arrangements and processes were highlighted as areas that needed further attention. When trainees were invited to contribute final comments the majority said how much they had enjoyed the experience. Many said how privileged they felt to have been accepted and often apologised for any negative comments they made. It remains to be seen how many of Cohort 1 will be in practice in two, three or five years and it is to be hoped that future contacts with this cohort will reveal that information.
Evaluating the Impact of Post‐Qualifying Social Work Education
Social Work Education, 2008
175 words) Post-qualifying awards in social work are well established within the continuing professional development agenda for qualified social workers in the UK. The evaluation of education and training should be an integral part of this agenda because it is important to ensure that programmes continue to meet standards of delivery, are successful in meeting their aims and objectives and are making an impact on practice. However, there is a limited amount of published work on the evaluation of post-qualifying social work education, with studies often focusing on programme delivery rather than on their impact on practice. This paper explores evaluative work within the current post-qualifying social work framework and discusses the results of an evaluation of the Vulnerable Adults and Community Care Practice programme, a specialist post-qualifying social work education programme run by a UK university, as an example of an evaluation of the impact on practice. The results indicate positive evidence of impact on practice and demonstrate examples of how the programme has had a direct effect on individuals, teams, organisations and on people who use services.