What is reflection?

There are many definitions of reflection, but essentially it is about thinking things through carefully, considering things from different perspectives and possibly restructuring the way that we see things.

In many ways, it is about the way we think. Reflection also helps us to learn from experiences. When the learning from reflection is put into practice, this becomes reflective action/reflective practice.

Why is reflection so important for students?

It is generally agreed that reflective practice is important in social work. However, it is worth asking a student why they think there is an emphasis on critical reflection. When we understand why we need to do something, it generally motivates us to develop our skills in that area.

Reflection is vitally important for social work in general, but it is perhaps even more important for students, because it is so closely linked to the process of learning. A deeper approach to learning involves critically reflecting on new ideas and linking them with existing knowledge.

Taking a reflective approach means the learner will understand the knowledge they acquire and apply their learning to new situations. Deep learning assists with problem solving and making wider connections, resulting in a new and different understanding.

Sometimes students are not always aware of the importance of reflection and see it as simply something that is required as part of their portfolio evidence.

Supporting students to recognise the vital importance of reflective practice and asking them to read around the subject will be important if they lack commitment.

Reflective questioning

It can be very tempting for practice educators to ask information-based questions in supervision to find out what is happening for the people who are receiving support and to ensure the student is meeting agency requirements. They may also be tempted into providing solutions, advice and guidance to students.

This often cuts across students developing as truly reflective practitioners. Learning is much more likely to occur where a practice educator asks reflective questions to assist the student to consider the situation and find their own solutions. This also role models good practice in social work.

People sometimes look to practitioners to provide the solution, which can lead to them developing ‘learned helplessness’. Social workers who are able to use their skills to support people to develop their own ‘solutions’ are generally better, more effective practitioners.

McClure (2002) suggested that reflective practice is about a process of dynamic questioning and developed a range of “reflective questions” that can be used to assist in reflective practice – either in writing or in reflective discussions. The following questions are adapted from those suggested by McClure for use in supervision with a student:

• Tell me about what you did…
• What were you aiming for when you did that?
• What exactly did you do?
• Why did you choose that particular action?
• What theories/models/research informed your actions?
• What were you trying to achieve?
• What did you do next?
• What were the reasons for doing that?
• How successful was it?
• How do you know? What criteria are you using to judge success?
• What alternatives did you have?
• Could you have dealt with the situation any better?
• How would you do it differently next time?
• How do you feel about the whole experience?
• How did the person/carer/other worker feel about it?
• How do you know they felt like that?
• What sense can you make of this considering your past experiences/what we have discussed/your university studies (and so on)?
• Has this changed the way in which you will do things in the future? How?

Skilled, dynamic reflective questioning very often leads to more questions rather than ‘answers’. This can be very challenging for students who feel a pressure to ‘know’ something.

I find it useful to explain that even after over 30 years in social work I don’t know things. Sharing this with students can be helpful because the creation of uncertainty through reflective questioning and reflective practice more generally may create a crisis of confidence.

A willingness to live with uncertainty is important to social workers. In his report into the death of Victoria Climbié, Lord Laming introduced the phrase “respectful uncertainty” to describe the attitude social workers need to maintain in their work (Lord Laming, 2003).

References

Lord Laming (2003)
The Victoria Climbié Inquiry
Command Paper 5730

McClure, P (2002)
Reflection in Practice: Making Practice Based Learning Work
University of Ulster

If you have a Community Care Inform Adults licence, log in to access the full guide. You can access more supervision guidance on the practice education knowledge and practice hub.

Our My Brilliant Colleague series invites you to celebrate anyone who has inspired you in your career.

In this entry, social worker Yvonne Perkins celebrates the life of her former practice educator, Stewart Russell, whose ongoing guidance throughout the years built her career to where it is now.

To Stewart Russell,

Today we said farewell to you. Probably a hundred people were there to celebrate your life and share their stories of knowing you.

Around 15 years ago, you became my practice educator, when a senior social worker in a care leaver team.

You were bubby and passionate, but had a devious twinkle in your eyes. During our pre-placement meeting, you set out the objectives of the team and provided me with my first challenge – ‘find all your young people and bring them back to the city’.

Challenge accepted; and within six months, every young person on my caseload was found, back in the city and working with us.

That was because you taught me how to adapt my approach so I could engage young people better. You showed me the fine line between pleasant banter and educating young people, and how to be creative with it.

You often spoke of building futures and laying foundations, but what I didn’t know then is that applied to me just as much as to our young people.

You set the foundation blocks of my career. You showed patience during my frustrations and humour during my anxiety, and provided comfort when I experienced personal loss.

Your nurturing chats during my placement and ongoing guidance helped me hone and cement my skills, while your wisdom guided me as I built my career to where it is now.

My parting gift from my placement was a crystal light shade; this was to remind me to always look up and see the sparkles and possibilities the light holds.

I will never underestimate the value of an amazing practice educator or the impact one can have on a someone’s career.

As a team manager with students of my own, I hope to do just that for others.

How to nominate a colleague

You can nominate anyone who has inspired you in your career – whether current or former colleagues, managers, students, lecturers, mentors or prominent past or present sector figures whom you have admired from afar.

Nominate your colleague or social work inspiration by filling in our nominations form with a letter or a few paragraphs (100-250 words) explaining how and why the person has inspired you.

Despite the need to provide your name and role, you or the nominee can be anonymous in the published entry.

If you have any questions, email our community journalist, Anastasia Koutsounia, at anastasia.koutsounia@markallengroup.com.

For Community Care’s 50th anniversary, our My Brilliant Colleague series invites you to celebrate anyone who has inspired you in your career.

In this entry, a newly qualified social worker writes about the practice educator who reignited her passion for social work, taught her to approach cases with thoughtfulness and gave her the confidence to successfully complete her placement.

Dear Community Care team,

I would like to nominate my exceptional practice educator, Sandra, who played an instrumental role in helping me complete my placement despite the many struggles I faced.

Sandra’s constant encouragement and unwavering support helped me build resilience during challenging times, and her passion for social work, particularly her dedication to working directly with mothers and fathers, deeply inspired me.

I had the privilege of working alongside her as she developed her innovative direct work cards on neglect – an incredibly powerful tool that has enriched my practice and understanding of this critical issue.

Sandra’s mentorship extended beyond technical knowledge. She also helped me cultivate essential skills such as professional curiosity, encouraging me to look deeper and approach each case with a thoughtful and inquisitive mindset.

Throughout my placement, she was always there to reignite my passion for social work, reminding me of the importance and impact of what we do.

Her belief in my potential gave me the confidence to push through and complete my placement successfully.

Sandra is not only a brilliant social worker but also a compassionate and empowering mentor, who has left an indelible mark on my journey in this field. I am incredibly grateful for her guidance and dedication.

Warm regards,

Natasha

How to nominate a colleague

For our 50th anniversary, we’re expanding our series My Brilliant Colleague to include anyone who has inspired you in your career – whether current or former colleagues, managers, students, lecturers, mentors or prominent past or present sector figures whom you have admired from afar.

Nominate your colleague or social work inspiration by either:

• Filling in our nominations form with a letter or a few paragraphs (100-250 words) explaining how and why the person has inspired you.
• Or sending a voice note of up to 90 seconds to +447887865218, including your and the nominee’s names and roles.

Despite the need to provide your name and role, you or the nominee can be anonymous in the published entry.

If you have any questions, email our community journalist, Anastasia Koutsounia, at anastasia.koutsounia@markallengroup.com.

By Leeanne Olivant, NOPT

In the dynamic landscape of social work, practice educators (PEs) stand as vital pillars.

The role’s critical importance in nurturing the next generation of social workers and retaining experienced practitioners was highlighted in a Social Work England-commissioned review, which reported last month.

The National Organisation for Practice Teaching (NOPT), which represents PEs across the country, warmly welcomes the report as a long-overdue acknowledgement of the pivotal contributions they make. NOPT also agrees with the research findings, which validate discussions that have occurred throughout the profession for many years.

By drawing on a literature review and focus groups, interviews, and surveys of PEs, course providers and local authorities, the review provided a comprehensive exploration of the challenges faced by PEs.

Longstanding concerns amid passion for role

These ranged from navigating the emotional labour of supporting struggling students to grappling with institutional racism and advocating for fellow disabled and neurodivergent colleagues because of a lack of support and reasonable adjustments within organisations.

The research also echoed longstanding concerns among PEs regarding inconsistent and inadequate remuneration, as well as the need for workload relief, factors that significantly affect retention within the profession.

At the same time, it  highlighted the passion many PEs have for the role and pointed to areas of good practice.

With Social Work England now considering how to take forward the findings, an evidence-based review of such practice could be a strong first step in further enhancing the PE role.

Caution over new training standards

One potential consequence of the research is the development of new education and training standards for PE courses. While NOPT acknowledges the importance of oversight to ensure consistency, members are cautious regarding the implementation of additional standards, as many social workers already feel the profession is at saturation point.

They also believe that the practice educator professional standards (PEPS), overseen by the British Association of Social Workers (BASW), are fit for purpose, as they have been developed through consultation with PEs and training providers.

However, members are open to exploring new standards that focus on the support employers and education providers should give to PEs and standardisation of how the existing PEPS are enacted.

Oversight of  PE courses by Social Work England and the potential for annotation of the register with practice educator status could lead to increased recognition for this important role, placing it on an equal footing with approved mental health professionals and best interests assessors.

Recognising challenges facing independent sector

When looking at support and training standards, NOPT urges Social Work England to recognise the significant differences between local authorities and the private, voluntary and independent (PVI) sector and the latter’s need for tailored support and resources.

PVI organisations and independent PEs play a crucial role in providing placements for students, yet they often have limited resources and do not have the backing of large agencies in advocating for their needs.

We also strongly support increased opportunities for continuous professional development (CPD) for PEs, through specialised training that should serve as evidence for registration renewal.

‘Pressing issue’ of remuneration

Whilst Social Work England has acknowledged it does not govern remuneration, NOPT urges the regulator to leverage its influence to address this pressing issue. Consistent and appropriate remuneration is vital for retaining current PEs and attracting future talent, particularly independent PEs who often face funding challenges.

Looking to the future, one of the weaknesses the report identified was the lack of national oversight of the workforce, including career trajectories and demographics, and NOPT would support further research in this area.

We would welcome a cohesive approach with other agencies, with representation from diverse PEs to address the unique challenges faced by different groups. We would recommend future research addresses the training and support needs of PE mentors, recognising the additional layer of skill and specialism required for this role.

‘We must capitalise on momentum’

In conclusion, while the research findings may not be surprising, they offer validation and a structured framework for addressing longstanding issues and provides a solid foundation for progress in practice education.

Moving forward, we believe it is crucial to capitalise on this momentum, ensuring timely action and continued dialogue to enhance practice education in social work. Collaboration between stakeholders, including Social Work England, BASW, NOPT and teaching partnerships, will be pivotal in driving meaningful change and supporting the invaluable work of PEs nationwide.

NOPT will be welcoming Lara Timms and Rebecca Mulvaney from Social Work England to our PE conference on 25 June where they will be sharing further insights from the research. Find out more about the NOPT conference here.

Leeanne Olivant is treasurer of the National Organisation for Practice Teaching 

Practice educators are passionate about supporting students, but a lack of recognition and support risks pushing some out of the role, Social Work England-commissioned research has found.

The study found that practitioners were sustained in the role by the motivation to develop the next generation of social workers, further their own skills and knowledge and, in some cases, redress their own negative experiences as a student.

But it also highlighted the hidden “emotional labour” practice educators experienced, particularly in working with struggling students, along with a lack of workload relief and insufficient pay as posing a risk to their retention.

Call for greater recognition and better pay

Practice educators involved in the research called for greater recognition of the role, including through some form of regulation by Social Work England, fair and consistent remuneration, clear, defined career progression opportunities and workload relief.

The regulator commissioned the study to improve its understanding of practice educators as part its wider objectives of strengthening the transition from education to employment and ensuring newly qualified social workers are equipped to meet its professional standards.

Social Work England’s education and training standards require course providers to ensure that “practice educators are on the register and that they have the relevant and current knowledge, skills and experience to support safe and effective learning”.

However, the regulator does not have a direct link with practice educators, unlike with approved mental health professionals (AMHPs) or best interests assessors (BIAs), who can voluntarily ‘annotate’ their entries on the register to acknowledge their specialist role. Also, unlike with AMHPs and BIAs, Social Work England is not responsible for regulating practice educator training.

Lack of existing evidence base

Researchers found the existing evidence base around practice education was limited, with existing studies often dated and local, rather than national, and some lacking methodological and analytical rigour.

While the research base primarily focused on the views of practice educators, there was a “notable lack of research on the views of practice educators from minoritised groups”, the study found.

Key messages from the literature included the complex web of relationships – with students, employers, course providers and, sometimes, on-site practice supervisors – that practice educators had to manage, and the “emotional labour” involved in the role.

This is defined as the process of suppressing or modifying your behaviour to manage workplace expectations and was particularly present when working with students at risk of failing their placement.

‘Emotional labour’ when working with struggling students

This theme was raised frequently in the study’s focus groups with practice educators, with practitioners saying they had to strike a “delicate balance” between addressing concerns and keeping the student’s confidence up, to enable them to make required changes to their practice.

“One practice educator vividly recalled a supervision where the student told her that failing ‘is going to ruin my life’ and spoke of the ‘weight of the damage, the emotional weight…’ that this placed upon her,” the report said.

In line with previous studies, practice educators described the experience as undermining their own confidence and wellbeing or making them feel shame, and the report warned that this created risks that they would “step away from the role”.

What mitigated against this was having support and the opportunity to debrief, whether with their team, their supervisor or the student’s course provider, as well as the provider offering personal, practice and academic support to the student.

Practice educators also said they were increasingly working with students with additional needs, such as mental health conditions, autism, dyslexia or ADHD, and needed more training to do so.

While they felt passionate about supporting these students, some practice educators felt underequipped and under-supported in doing so, meaning they had to do hours of research outside of working hours to identify helpful strategies.

The critical role of managers and teams

Practitioners said the support of their team, manager and organisation was critical to their success as a practice educator and the chances of them continuing in the role, however, this support was variable, the study found.

Practice educators said that having different members of their team provide support to a student, for example, by giving them shadowing opportunities or reflecting with them, contributed to the success of a placement. In some cases, these extended to a fellow social worker sharing aspects of the practice educator role.

Where this support network was not available within their team, practitioners looked outside, to workforce development colleagues, the local teaching partnership or fellow practice educators within the organisation.

Focus group attendees said they would welcome more opportunities to network with fellow practice educators.

Lack of workload relief

A significant issue identified in the literature review and also reported by practice educators interviewed for the study was managing a full caseload alongside a placement, because of the lack of workload relief they received when they took on a student.

This resulted in them often doing placement paperwork outside of working hours, and the conflicting demands on them were particularly acute when they were working with a struggling student.

Practitioners said that the lack of relief reflected a lack of recognition for the role, when compared to AMHPs and BIAs, and some said it was leading them to contemplate abandoning practice education.

Course providers, meanwhile, reported that practice educators’ lack of workload relief meant that students were commonly used as “an extra pair of hands”, resulting in some feeling “broken” before they even registered as social workers.

Insufficient remuneration

Some practice educators said they did not receive any additional pay for taking on a student, while more broadly, remuneration was found to be poor or inconsistent, again reflecting findings from the literature review.

Practitioners also saw this as indicative of a lack of recognition for the role. This issue was felt most acutely by independent practice educators – those not employed by the organisation hosting the student. They reported that this meant organisations were reliant on their goodwill, with some saying they were taking on fewer and fewer students because of the lack of pay.

“Several observed that when travel costs to placements and other expenses were factored in, their wage generally amounted to ‘a pittance’ and there was a sense of incredulity that this was tolerated,” the report said.

Institutional racism 

Researchers also interviewed 13 practice educators from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds (described as global majority in the report) and 16 who had a disability or identified as neurodivergent, for example, because they had ADHD.

Both groups expressed a determination to provide global majority or disabled or neurodivergent students, respectively, with a better experience on placement than they had experienced themselves while studying.

However, the report said that the “overriding theme” of the interviews with global majority practice educators was the “experience of institutional racism”, including a lack of training and development compared with white British colleagues and being exclusively matched with students from a similar background to them.

Some also experienced discriminatory attitudes from students, to which they strove to respond in a way that helped the student unpick their biases. While this was beneficial to the student, “confronting students’ discriminatory views was a painful, additional burden to global majority practice educators”.

Inconsistent support for disabled and neurodivergent practice educators

Some disabled and neurodivergent practice educators said they felt well supported in their role, for example through the provision of reasonable adjustments, which they generally attributed to having a good manager, rather than to the wider organisation.

However, others reported ineffective support due to unsupportive managers or high management turnover. As a result, some ended up championing not only their own needs, but those of neurodivergent and disabled colleagues and students.

Practice educators’ recommendations for change

Based on their interviews with practice educators, the research team identified six changes practitioners wanted to see happen:

1. Social Work England enabling practice educators to annotate the register with their role.
2. Fair and consistent remuneration for practice educators.
3. Consistency of placement paperwork and student assessment frameworks across course providers (though this was not supported by course providers interviewed by the research team).
4. Greater representation of diverse voices in practice educator training and a wider range of training and career development opportunities for practice educators.
5. Clear, defined routes for career progression within the role including opportunities for ‘experienced’ status, and more equitable routes into practice education, especially for global majority social workers.
6. Workload relief and protected time.

What Social Work England will do with study

On the back of the report, Social Work England said it wanted to “build a clearer picture of the practice education workforce” to inform future options for regulating them as a distinct group. It said these options included:

• Annotation of the register for practice educators.
• Setting additional professional standards for practice educators.
• Developing new education and training standards for practice educator courses; the current standards – the practice educator professional standards (PEPS) – are overseen by the British Association of Social Workers.
• Setting continuing professional development requirements for practice educators.
• Amending Social Work England’s education and training standards for qualifying courses.
• Setting new guidance for course providers.

Non-statutory placements make up over half of practice learning provision for social work students in Scotland, leaving some graduates underprepared for practice, research has revealed.

The lack of placements in local authorities is driven by underfunding and practice educator shortages, said a report commissioned by regulator the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) and the Social Work Education Partnership (SWEP), an alliance of sector leaders that oversees the education system.

Meanwhile, a Scottish Association of Social Work survey on students’ PLO experience has found that the lack of statutory practice learning opportunities (PLOs) is undermining students’ mental health and confidence.

Decline in provision of statutory placements

The SSSC/SWEP-commissioned report – based on written evidence from stakeholders, data analysis and research with councils, universities third sector bodies, practice educators and students – found the relative provision of statutory placements had declined in recent years.

While councils provided about 54% of PLO days in 2018-19, this had fallen to about 48% by 2022-23, with the proportion offered by third sector agencies rising from 46% to 52% over the same period.

The study said there were reported cases of students qualifying without any statutory experience, a point that was reflected in SASW’s survey of 344 students and newly qualified social workers, 17% of whom had not undertaken social work tasks during their placements.

More NQSWs not prepared for practice

As a result, councils were reporting more cases of newly qualified social workers (NQSWs) not being suitably qualified for practice in statutory settings, meaning they needed greater levels of support on taking up their post, said the SSSC/SWEP-commissioned report.

One in five NQSWs who responded to the SASW survey said they felt “completely unprepared” to start their career in social work, while it also revealed that the lack of statutory PLOs was undermining students’ mental health.

Overall, 59% of students reported that their placement experience had adversely affected their mental health, with students who commented further citing the fact that their PLO offered little or no opportunity to take on social work tasks as the main factor.

“Students stated their voluntary sector placements left them uninspired, bored or frustrated which had a bearing on their confidence and mental health,” said the SASW report.

The SSSC/SWEP-commissioned study, produced by regional PLO support and development body Learning Network West, said that, though third sector placements could be “extremely rich learning experiences”, graduates needed to be “comfortable with the exercise of statutory authority”.

Practice educator shortages

A key driver of the shortages of statutory placements was a lack, or unavailability, of practice educators to supervise students, said the report, entitled Social Work Practice Learning Funding: Research and Evaluation.

Practice educators interviewed for the research reported barriers to them taking on students, including limited management support, employers not reducing their workload in their core role, vacancies in their team and the need to provide additional supervision to NQSWs.

The 12-month length of the practice learning qualification (PLQ) course and limited provision was another factor limiting supply of practice educators.

Also, some social workers were promoted to team managers after completing the PLQ, leaving them with no time for practice educator work.

While practice educators said they would welcome financial remuneration for this work, some local authorities said they did not support this, seeing it as part of a social worker’s role to support students. Though some did provide a financial incentive, the level varied considerably, from £100 to £1,500.

Some councils were turning to independent practice educators to fill the gap, though this was at greater cost. The SSSC/SWEP-commissioned study also identified an “increasingly problematic” trend of practice educators not supporting students in their own workplace while carrying out independent work for other employers.

Independent practice educators ‘unregulated and underpaid’

The report said that supervision by independent practice educators was now “the most prevalent practice for PLOs”, with self-employed practitioners generally used by voluntary organisations, who did not employ their own.

While council-employed practice educators are registered with SSSC, by virtue of their social work roles, the report raised concerns about there being no requirement for self-employed independent practice educators to be so.

“Thus, there are no CPD requirements or other regulatory processes in place,” said the study.

By the same token, independent practice educators who contributed to the research criticised the lack of support, feedback and quality assurance they received for their work, while also saying they were significantly underpaid for the work that they did.

Third sector agencies are paid £28 per day for PLOs, with £18 of this generally given to the independent practice educator.

Self-employed practitioners told researchers that this did not account for costs including preparatory work, travel expenses and the need to provide additional support to struggling students, while they also pointed to the fact that they did not receive sick pay, holiday pay or pension contributions.

Funding shortages

Funding for PLO providers – which is paid by course providers – had been static from 2008-22, at £28 per day for third sector and private agencies and £18 for local authorities, though in 2022, councils’ rate for assessed placements was increased to £28.

However, participants in the research said funding was inadequate to cover the costs of PLOs. These include pre-placement planning and administration, supervision and management of the student, practice observation, assessment and post-placement administration and quality assurance, as well as training of practice educators and link workers.

The SSSC/SWEP-commissioned report also found there was a lack of financial planning in, and accountability for, the use of PLO funding, meaning it was not used strategically.

Course providers, meanwhile, said the administrative fee they receive for placements – which is £2 per student per day, capped at a maximum of £40,000 per year per institution – was insufficient for planning, developing and co-ordinating placements.

Calls to increase funding and boost practice educator payments

The report’s recommendations included:

• An immediate increase in PLO funding. The report estimated that a 38% uplift would be needed to account for ground lost to inflation.
• Replacing the daily PLO fee with two flat-rate fees – one for each of students’ placements – paid directly to providers, not via universities. It said this would remove the administrative costs of monitoring how many days a student had done on placement, and shift the focus on to desired outcomes and results.
• Replacing the administrative fee for universities with a flat-rate fee for sourcing, matching, co-ordinating and quality assuring PLOs and for supporting link workers and practice educators.
• Creating a central system for administering funding to remove inconsistencies and improve data collection.
• Requiring PLO providers to plan for, and report on, their use of funding, to ensure more strategic use of resource.
• Councils and other employers providing financial remuneration for, and reducing caseloads, for practice educators and link workers.
• Practice educators having contractual expectations in relation to supporting students.
• Increasing payment levels for independent practice educators.
• Independent practice educators being regulated by SSSC and placed on a national register to ensure they meet professional standards.

Recommendations under consideration

SWEP’s national strategic partnership group, which includes representation from councils, universities, the third sector, SSSC, government and service users and carers, is currently considering the report’s recommendations.

In a statement, SWEP said there was general consensus that:

• There was significant complexity around the funding of PLOs, partly due to the fact that individual agencies had differing responsibilities and accountabilities.
• This could be seen as an opportunity to provide quality assurance of placements.
• Consistency of approach would be advantageous.
• The report provides the opportunity for investment in practice learning.
• The system should be reviewed to make it “simple, centralised, standard, consistent and accountable”.

Employers to face stronger practice learning responsibilities 

For SSSC, acting director of workforce, education and standards, Laura Lamb, said ‘We are committed to supporting improvement in the provision of practice placements and student experience of these and will continue to work with other key stakeholders as a member of SWEP to progress the development of the action plan to address recommendations highlighted within the Social Work Practice Learning Funding: Research and Evaluation report.

She said revisions to the regulator’s code of practice for employers, due to come into force in May 2024, “strengthens the responsibility of employers in providing learning and development opportunities to enable workers to strengthen and maintain their skills, knowledge and practice”.

Practice learning requirements under review

Lamb added that SSSC was also “currently reviewing the practice teaching and learning requirements which the university programmes we approve must follow”.

“These specify the requirements for the number of days, the type of setting, who can assess the students practice etc,” she added. “This will be an opportunity to ensure greater consistency in the provision of practice placements and experience for students. We plan to have the revised requirements in place for the start of the new academic year.2

Lamb’s colleague, Cheryl Campbell, SSSC’s acting head of education and standards, said this review would also address the role of practice educators, in the light of the report’s recommendations for the group.

By Sally Scott

Some years ago, when I was working in a social work team in the Republic of Ireland, we were approached by a university in Germany looking for six-month practice placements.

The team were up for a challenge and Gabi arrived from Eichstatt, Bavaria, a few weeks later. It was the first time I had been a practice educator (PE) with a foreign student and it proved to be a steep learning curve.

Communication was initially stilted. We had staff from all over Ireland. I was from Yorkshire and the manager was Liverpudlian. It was clear no one spoke English the way Gabi had learned it.

The information sent from Eichstatt University was equally mystifying. I struggled to make sense of the assessment framework and the higher education institution’s (HEI) requirements. Telephone discussions with Gabi’s tutor were amusing but uninformative.

Time went on and things improved. Gabi was hardworking and had a great sense of humour. She forged good relationships with the team. We co-worked with the family support team downstairs to ensure she got a wide range of face-to-face work experience.

I got a colleague to translate the information from the university. By learning and working together, we overcame many challenges and learned a great deal. It turned out that our approach to social work education had many similarities with the model of social pedagogy used in Germany.

Since returning to the UK, I have continued to work in practice education as a placement co-ordinator at an HEI and, later, as a freelance PE and assessed and supported year in employment (ASYE) assessor and Gabi and I continued to stay in touch.

A challenging and rewarding role

Practice educators are effectively the gatekeepers to the social work profession and it can be a challenging as well as a rewarding role. Over the years I have gained a lot of support from the National Organisation for Practice Teaching (NOPT).

NOPT is a voluntary organisation and free to join. Its aim is to promote high-quality practice education and represents the views of over 600 employed and independent PEs working in voluntary and statutory settings across the UK.

For this article, I asked fellow committee members of NOPT to share some of the challenges they are currently facing as PEs.

Meeting needs of diverse learners

Credit: syahrir/Adobe Stock

The various qualifying routes into social work have attracted a wider range of students and apprentices, which means that those offering and managing placements have had to overcome different challenges.

International students may need support to overcome language and cultural barriers, while mature students may have to juggle their caring responsibilities alongside completing their placement.

Reasonable adjustments need to be made for learners who are neurodivergent and those who have specific physical, medical and emotional needs

Colleagues with experience of managing failing students point to the increasing commercialisation of HEIs and the resulting pressure on practice educators to “get students through placements”.

The increasing costs of education and living mean that many students work as well as study. Practice educators need time and the support of their own organisations to ensure these diverse learning needs are identified and met.

Remote working post-Covid

Credit: Anton/Adobe Stock

Practice educators across the country commented upon the continuing impact of Covid on working practices. In many areas, physical office space has been reduced with teams adopting a hybrid approach. More meetings (including some placement meetings and supervisions) are now held remotely.

Online working may save travel time and costs but a reduction in face-to-face working has its drawbacks. Practice education, like social work is a visceral experience.

Communicating online makes it is harder to pick up on the subtleties of interactions. Students have less opportunity to pick up the “soft skills” learned by shadowing and observing colleagues’ different ways of working.

As a PE working in the Isle of Wight pointed out, students’ ability to learn “by osmosis” is limited. It can also be more difficult for learners to access support quickly.

A PE working in London noted that students and ASYE social workers working at home find it harder to get an immediate response to a question, instead, having to wait for someone online to see the email and respond.

For many, interaction with colleagues in the office provides the opportunity to offload, share concerns and good practice. Team dynamics, disagreements and humour are best experienced face to face.

As colleague from an HEI says: “You don’t get a feel of the placement, a sense of what is going on, the dynamics between student and supervisor… you don’t see the nuances that give issues or problems away. It can mean that difficulties in placement can be missed early on.”

Shortage of practice educators

Photo: Zerbor/Adobe Stock

Colleagues across the UK identify a national shortage of PEs. This can be attributed to a number of factors, notably a lack of workload relief, poor financial reward and problems retaining experienced SWs.

There is no established standard in practice education. Although we have the practice educator professional standards (PEPS), there is no consistency in PE training and the accreditation of PE courses and portfolio requirements vary considerably.

Since its inception over 30 years ago, NOPT has been involved in various consultations with the major bodies involved in social work education. This has included participation in the reviews of the PEPS and the refresh of the professional capabilities framework.

We are currently working with British Association of Social Workers on a joint project entitled, “Look after your Practice Educator”. Members of the NOPT committee have met with colleagues in Social Work England to develop national strategies to support and retain PEs.

As Jill Yates, the co-chair of NOPT, notes, all these issues impact on the student’s experience of placement and learning. This has a further impact on the PE and their role and on the social work profession as a whole.

Role of the NOPT

Our members understand the day-to-day challenges facing practice educators and the aim of NOPT is to promote high-quality practice education and represent the views of employed and independent PEs working in voluntary and statutory settings across the UK.

We are very excited to finally be able to link you to our new website and also inform you of our forthcoming conference, in Sheffield on 11 July 2023.

The NOPT conference is in Sheffield on 11 July 2023. This is a great way for PEs and others involved in social work training to network, find out about the latest developments and enjoy a shared learning experience with like-minded others.

It might even lead to a trip to Germany…

Sally Scott is a committee member of the National Organisation for Practice Teaching and a practice educator

Social Work England has found broad support from the profession for its proposed expectations of students’ knowledge and skills on graduation.

Following a consultation, the regulator will now move ahead with plans to assess social work course providers against a set of statements of their students’ readiness for professional practice, from 2024.

The statements of expected knowledge, skills and behaviours are designed to tackle inconsistencies in the way course providers translate Social Work England’s professional standards – which all registered practitioners must meet – into course content.

In response to the consultation, the regulator pledged to address specific concerns about the content and structure of the proposed 78 statements, as well as the “crowded landscape” of social work education standards to which the statements would be added.

Broad backing for statements

Social Work England received 63 responses to its consultation, 28 of which were from organisations, with respondents asked to rate the content, structure and categorisation of the statements on a scale of 1 (strong disagreement) to 5 (strong agreement).

The content received an average score of 3.75, with positive comments including that they were clear, applicable across most areas of practice and outcomes focused. However, others described the statements as too vague or lacking in detail, compared with existing standards frameworks.

Respondents suggested they could be improved by adding content on mental health, international social work, domestic abuse, child sexual abuse and exploitation, and resilience, as well as greater emphasis on peer learning, reflective practice, critical thinking, legal literacy, anti-racist practice and multi-agency working.

The structure of the statements had an average rating of 3.53, with respondents who were positive describing them as clearly worded and accessible. Others felt there were too many statements or that there was unhelpful overlap between them, and that they could benefit from being streamlined, for example, through the use of sub-headings.

The categorisation of the statements was rated as 3.78, with respondents generally backing the inclusion of ‘knowledge’ and ‘skills’, but some questioning the inclusion of ‘behaviours’ on the grounds that it sounded punitive, with support for the inclusion of ‘values’ instead.

‘Crowded landscape’

The regulator also received concerns about the ‘crowded landscape’ of frameworks and standards that informed the content of social work courses, a point it had itself raised when launching the consultation.

“We found that the most respondents generally agreed with the statements, but were concerned about duplication and confusion with existing frameworks which pre-date the professional standards,” it said.

It said this was raised by the British Association of Social Workers and Association of Directors of Children’s Services, including in relation to overlaps with the professional capabilities framework (PCF) and government’s post-qualifying standards (PQS).

In line with feedback from the majority of respondents, it said it would seek to streamline the requirements concerning social work training in line with its professional standards.

It said the readiness for professional practice statements would be mapped to the professional standards, while it would “work with key stakeholders to map the final version of the statements against parallel regulatory frameworks”, such as the apprenticeship standard for social work. However, it also stressed that there was a distinction between the requirements of a regulator and those of optional standards frameworks.

Regulator to redraft statements

Social Work England said it would redraft and restructure the statements on the back of the feedback and wider sector developments, such as the government’s response to the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, due imminently.

This would include adding sub-headings, while balancing the desire of respondents to include additional content against the need to keep the statements digestible for students and educators.

It plans to produce finalised guidance on the statements this autumn, in order to implement them next year, at the end of its current cycle of assessments of social work course providers.

Research into practice educator role

Meanwhile, Social Work England has issued a tender for research into the role of practice educators and the wider supervision and assessment of practice learning. This is designed to explore:

• the experiences, including attitudes, perceptions and barriers, of social workers supervising and assessing practice learning;
• what motivates social workers to qualify, or continue, as practice educators (PEs), and the barriers to recruiting and retaining PEs;
• perceptions of existing PE standards and training requirements;
• lessons from existing models of, and research into, supervision and assessment of practice learning;
• how it can develop its approach to regulating social workers who assess and supervise practice learning.

When launching the consultation last July, Social Work England said it intended to improve its relationship with, and oversight of, practice educators, including assuring their training, supporting their practice and ensuring their ongoing suitability – as recommended by the care review.

A few years ago, while studying for my social work degree, I started a placement with a third sector agency supporting adults with additional support needs to participate in community activities.

I only managed to complete three weeks before having to terminate the placement. This short article cannot adequately analyse the issues that resulted in my placement being terminated, but I hope to help students understand that feeling unwelcome, unsupported and powerless is frankly unacceptable.

My first week went well. I managed to meet the staff and build the foundations of what I considered would be positive relationships. How wrong I was.

The first indication that something was wrong at this placement was when I opened a door for a staff member who was carrying outdoor equipment. The staff member abruptly said “move” and brushed past me. I considered this to be extremely rude but dismissed it as I thought it may have simply been a one-off incident. However, similar such instances persisted.

During a conversation with a service user, a staff member interrupted and said: “Why are you both sitting here? You are supposed to be working. Go and help the other service users finish digging the garden.”

To me, this staff member completely disregarded the importance of relationship-based practice, which lies at the heart of all social work interaction. Their ethos was clearly not in the best interests of the service users.

Hostility and disrespect

As the days and weeks progressed, I begun to observe a negative pattern emerging that I was unwelcome at this agency. This pattern was woven together with threads of microaggression, passive aggression, hostility and disrespect.

They criticised me for not cleaning the bathroom correctly. They criticised me for not folding dish towels correctly. They criticised me for not knowing how to do tasks that I had not been previously shown. Furthermore, they did not adequately support me with the mental health issues that I had disclosed before attending the agency.

I also observed worrying undercurrents of anti-intellectualism taking place within the organisation. The staff member who criticised me for speaking with a service user almost fell off her chair in dismay when I asked her a question relating to social work theory.

She replied: “You don’t need to know any of that when you are here. Why are you asking about theories?” My response to that is simple – I wouldn’t be able to do my job without ample knowledge of social work theory.

Towards the end of my third week, I decided to report the agency to my practice educator and university. The reason why I had not reported them until this point was because I felt powerless and was faced with an extremely difficult decision.

A defensive resposne

Reporting the agency to the university made no difference whatsoever. The agency was extremely defensive in their stance, blaming the issues on my mental health. They were essentially implying that I was overreacting to the problems and completely downplayed how I felt.

The placement was formally terminated, and I had to wait several months before being offered another one. This was only thanks to the support of an advocacy worker at the student union. The university did nothing whatsoever to help me.

In summary, it was completely unacceptable to feel unsupported or unwelcome on placement. As a student, you are in a relatively powerless position, at the mercy of the agency and the university. You are continually being assessed, which naturally creates anxiety and stress.

The importance of raising your concerns

However, when these feelings become unnatural and are the direct result of a placement, it is important to raise your concerns.

I have since qualified as a social worker and am now working for a local authority in the UK. This was a very negative period in my life, but I am now more aware and attuned to recognising bad practice and negative attitudes and encourage all students who are on placement to ensure their mental health and wellbeing is the priority.

There will always be another opportunity to study when the time is right, and if in doubt, ensure you speak to a representative from the student union. I cannot stress this enough.