Creative practice and research synergies: changing lives through mentoring and listening to the voices of potentially excluded learners

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Creative practice and research synergies
changing lives through mentoring and listening to
the voices of potentially excluded learners

• Nasra Bibi, Linda Douglas,
• Mo McPhail

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Identified need.

• BMEG - Black and Minority Ethnic
• Action plan Sub-Group (SSSC 2006)
• recommends
• Employers and education providers.. should
  promote the diversification of the social
  services workforce by
• Considering what action they should take to
  encourage and support people from BME communities
  into the workforce , eg. Targeted trainee
  schemes, support for students applying to courses
  and while on courses..

3
Research based practice

• 1. Educating Sita Black and
• Minority Ethnic entrants into
• social work training in
• Scotland ( Singh, 1999)
• 2. Listening to the Silence Black and Minority
  Ethnic People in Scotland talking about social
  work ( Singh, 2005)

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Educating Sita Black and Minority Ethnic
entrants into social work training in Scotland

• An overview of social work
• education for BME students in Scotland
• in 1999 indicated
• the importance with which the issue of equal
  opportunities is taken by those involved in
  social work education and training in Scotland
• And that policy and practices are of a
  piecemeal fashion, fragmented in approach and
  uncoordinated in strategy (Singh, 1999 p. 20)

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As a direct result of this research

• A consultancy service was set up for BME social
  work students
• Characterised by
• Partnership with a community based Multi-Cultural
  family support and practice learning resource, a
  BME consultant and social work education
  providers
• Partnership between 4 universities
• A rolling programme of support and consultancy,
  based on a strengths based approach
• See Seminar report Have we got it Right?( 2006)

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Listening to the Silence Black and Minority
Ethnic People in Scotland talking about social
work (Singh, 2005)

• An action research based approach, employing BME
  researchers to research within own community
  networks
• Looked at historical context of social welfare
  and the context of racism in Scotland
• Findings difficult to get a clear perception,
  very vague notion of social work and some
  inaccurate ideas
• Identified paradox that BME communities are the
  most disadvantaged communities across a range of
  domains but have little understanding or contact
  with social services

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Signposts from this research

• An understanding of the need for accurate
• information of social work relevant to the needs
  of BME communities
• Universities should develop links with local BME
  communities, developing networks and
  relationships, open day events, seminars in
  partnership with BME organisations
• Social work programmes should consider how BME
  students are supported from access through to
  employment
• Importance of a strengths based approach as
  opposed to a deficit model

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The resultant model

• Partnership between social work providers and
  local BME organisations
• Shared networking, community based Information
  Events
• BME mentoring and language support services for
  BME learners
• Theoretical basis Black Community development
  model and a strengths based approach, in
  recognition of institutional barriers in
  predominately white education providers
• Understanding of complexity of potentially
  excluded learners across race and ethnicity,
  gender, disability and socio-economic class
• Importance of influencing a social services
  curriculum that connects to Scotlands diverse
  communities

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Ideas into Practice the Project Workers story

• The experience of co-ordinating ideas into
  practice
• Achievements and challenges
• Focus on the voices of potentially excluded
  learners

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The experience of co-ordinating
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Ideas into practice

• Taking a community development approach -Where
  in black people are the experts and catalyst for
  bringing about change, learning is a tool used to
  strengthen communities by improving people's
  knowledge, skills and confidence. organisational
  ability and resources.
• Developing partnerships with mainstream providers
  was crucial in our overall goal regarding
  institutional responsibility and change
• MCFB role in accessing community networks and
  history of working with local families,
  relationships built on trust.
• Continuous evaluation with mentors and learners
  helped develop appropriate curriculum which does
  not place black people in the place of other
  different or deficient
• Role of BME mentors and language support tutor
  evolved through experience, traditional concept
  of mentor didnt transfer neatly to learners
  needs mentors useful at different points
• Language support tutor influenced curriculum
  content as a direct result of listening to the
  voices of learners
• Importance of having BME mentors as positive role
  models.

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Challenges

• Community Development with people who have been
  excluded is a long term process, doesnt fit in
  neatly with a target driven economy
• Encouraging an intersectional analysis of
  inequality and securing commitment to embedding
  learning within mainstream providers
• Resources, adequate funding and time

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The voices of learners

• I enjoyed Understanding Society because it made
  me think, read and write in English, but I could
  not do this course without the language support.
• Black learner
• The Understanding Children reader was really
  good. Its been useful for my own children and
  for my job as a crèche worker
• Black learner
• For the first time a student used the telephone
  to communicate in English.
• A very shy woman now comes regularly into MCFB
  and communicates with Project staff.
• Feedback from mentors
• I couldnt have done it without all the support
  but I did do it

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Participation

• November 2005-March 2006
• 9 participants in the first short course
• September 2006-January 2007
• 11 participants in the second series of courses
• June 2007-October 2007
• 6 participants in the third services of courses
• Service users include 26 individuals from North
  African, Asian, and Polish backgrounds

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BME mentoring and support

• The experience of mentoring/
• consultancy
• The experience of being a mentor
• Focus on the voices of potentially
• excluded learners

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Identifying individual and institutional
challenges

• Consider the following
• case studies
• What action could be taken to support the BME
  students in these situations?
• What action does the course provider need to
  consider?
• What learning from this workshop can you take
  back and apply in your own organisation?