Developing expertise in social work - Family Group Conference

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Developing expertise in social work - Family
Group Conference Approach as innovative
knowledge production

• Synnöve Karvinen-Niinikoski 27.8.2004

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DEVELOPING EXPERTISE IN SOCIAL WORK - FAMILY
GROUP CONFERENCE AS INNOVATIVE KNOWLEDGE
PRODUCTION

• Role of family case conferencing in
  reconstructing social work expertise
• New understanding of expertise
• New paradigms for knowledge production
• Experimental field and forum for innovative
  knowledge production

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Two trends in (re-)constructing social work
expertise (see Lymbery 2003)

• Evidence-based movement for knowledge-based
  welfare services Excellence in best practices.
  Systematic research and knowledge reviews for
  evidence.

• Reflective critical practice Contextual
  practices, contextual flexibility. Shared
  expertise, parnership in knowing.

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Family group conference challenging the existing
expertise

• flexible and reflective
• outside hierarchical expert positions
• context for contextual negotiations
• life-political expertise
• every-day social knowledge and innovations

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Social work and its challenges

• profession for social change and for improving
  opportunities for dignified and socially
  sustainable living
• complicated, differentiated and particular
  issues, problems and situations
• combatting changing social problems and
  marginalisation processes
• cultural, ethnic and gender identities

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Changing expertise 1(4)(see Eräsaari 2003)

• changing understanding of knowledge and knowledge
  production
• changing position of experts and professionals
• new relation to experiential knowledge of both
  users, practitioners and even of reseachers
• new kinds of negotiations, co-operational and
  networking environments for knowledge

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Changing expertise 2(4)

• dialogical, open and even conditional for
  negotiations
• context-dependency and new kind of interaction
  between practical knowledge and explicit
  knowledge
• street-level, lay and user involvement
• need for mechanisms, forums and dialogue for
  knowledge creation and epistemic pluralism

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CHANGING EXPERTISE 3(4)

• involvemet in social and every-day life
  traditional in social work but new in expert
  knowledge
• crises of traditional expertise leaning on
  scientific knowledge, professional jurisdiction
  and institutional hierarchies
• questioning of knowledge, scientific truth and
  ways for knowledge production

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CHANGING EXPERTISE 4(4)

• from acquisition of knowledge towards knowledge
  creation
• cycles for learning and innovations
• open and closed expertise (1st and 2nd
  expertise)
• reflexive expertise

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expertise open closed

• severe and unconditional
• from core knowledge to advice
• administrative and managerial traditions

• recognises uncertainty
• ready for questioning, communication
• willingness to negotiate and reconstruct
  according to different contexts

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CHANGING PARADIGMS FOR KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION AND
PROFESSIONAL EXPERTISE
institutionalized closed expertise
academic traditions formal monopol knowledge
emerging new structures and forms closed
expertise
established/ traditional knowledge production
emerging knowledge production
professional traditons practical and
experiential knowledge
partnership in knowing contextual
experiential orientative knowledge
reflexive, open expertise
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Family group conference as mixed expertise

• creating new understanding through mixing and
  transferring the boarder systems
• producing every-day social innovations
• windows and forums for social knowledge
  production for social innovations for better
  practices

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The process of knowledge generation and
integrative processes of expertise (Hakkarainen
ym. 2003)
Expertice as participatory culture
(cultural)
Expertise as knowledge acquisition (individual )
Expertise as knowledge creation (innovative)
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Criticisms on family group conference?

• Remoting practice from expertice by dwelling into
  practice
• Managerialist knowledge production
• Lack of systematic knowledge production and
  service development
• Misinterpretation and risky experiments with
  people

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References

• Eräsaari,R ( 2003) Open context expertise. In
  Bamme,A al. (eds.)Yearbook 2003 of the
  institute of advanced studies of Science,
  Technology and Society. Technic und
  Wissenschaftsforscghung Vol 41. Munchen-Wien
  Profil, 31 -65.
• Hakkarainen, K.,Palonen, T. Murtonen, M.,
  Paavola, S. and Lehtinen, E. (2003), Assessing
  networked expertise A multi-level inventory,
  University of Helsinki and University of Turku.
  Forthcoming (An article submitted for
  publication). www.helsinki.fi/networkedlearning.
• Karvinen,S (2004) Social Work Supervision
  Contributing to innovative knowledge production
  and open expertise. In Gould,N Baldwin, M
  (eds.) Social Work, Critical Reflection and
  learning organisation. Aldershot Ashgate, 23 -
  39.
• Lymbery, M (2003) Lymbery, Mark (2003)
  Negotiating Contradictions between Competence and
  Creativity in Social Work Education. Journal of
  Social Work. Vol 3, No 1, April 2003, pp. 99
  117.