Building bridges through research

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Building bridges through research

• Making connections between theory and
  practice, the academy and the field
• JSWEC 9-11 July 2008, Homerton College,
  Cambridge, UK

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Presenter

• Heather DCruz, BSW, MSW, PhD, Visiting
  Leverhulme Fellow at Salford University,
  Institute for Health and Social Care Research
  (November 2007-July 2008), and Senior Lecturer in
  Social Work, Deakin University, Victoria,
  Australia
• I acknowledge my collaborators Philip
  Gillingham, Sebastian Melendez, and participating
  practitioners from Glastonbury Child and Family
  Services, MacKillop Family Services and the
  Department for Human Services, Geelong, Victoria,
  Australia who are unable to be here today.

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Aims of this presentation (1)

• To present unanticipated benefits of a research
  project beyond those directly associated with the
  research aims.

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Aims of this presentation (2)

• To demonstrate the place of research in practice,
  the generation of knowledge for practice through
  relationships between researchers and
  practitioners, and the ways in which new
  knowledge and perspectives can become new
  practices.

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Aims of this presentation (3)

• To discuss how collaborative research processes
  and emphasis on dialogue facilitated building
  bridges between theory and practice, and the
  academy and the field.

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Background (1)

• apparent conceptual and practical boundaries
  between theory and practice.
• implicit distinctions that associate theory
  with the academy, and practice with the
  field.

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Background (2)

• ongoing scholarly work to investigate the ways in
  which these boundaries may be crossed to achieve
  more effective practice and more relevant
  theory, and
• constructive relationships between social workers
  in different spaces constituted as the academy
  and the field (eg Fook 1996, 1999, 2000
  Camilleri 1996, 1999 Gould 2004 Healy, 2005
  Wenger 2008).

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This presentation

• discusses a collaborative research project
  involving practitioners in child and family
  welfare and child protection in Geelong,
  Victoria, Australia, and academics from Deakin
  University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.

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Research Aims

• to explore an alternative child protection
  practice repertoire by investigating with
  practitioners, the appropriateness of engaging
  with concepts from social constructionism within
  risk assessment frameworks.

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Building Bridges Process (1)

• Methodology theory, ethics and method
• Knowledge/power
• Interpretive and situated meaning (DCruz et al.
  2004, 2007, in press)
• Collaborative practice (DCruz and Gillingham
  2005)
• Dialogue as method (DCruz et al. 2005, in press)

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Building Bridges Process (2)

• 5 focus groups in a workshop format first and
  fifth half-day, second, third and fourth,
  full-day.
• The second, third and fourth workshops explored
  the three dimensions of the alternative approach
  (1) theories of knowledge and power, (2)
  professional roles, and (3) practice skills,
  respectively.

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Building Bridges Process (3)

• Materials sent out as reading/preparation The
  definitions, semi-structured questions and
  related readings were mailed to participants
  before each workshop to allow them time to
  consider and critically engage with the materials.

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Building Bridges Process (4)

• Dialogue during the workshops use of electronic
  white board or transparencies which could be
  written on during discussions and displayed, plus
  note-taking.

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Building Bridges Outcomes (1)

• Conference involvement (DCruz, Gillingham,
  Christoe and Cuff 2002) presentation included
  video of participants. DVD of entire presentation
  for all research participants.
• Reports on research process and outcomes at the
  completion of each year (DCruz and
  collaborators, 2002, 2003)

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Building Bridges Outcomes (2)

• Practice development forum (2004 - 2006
  inclusive)
• Reports on the process and outcomes of the
  practice development forum at the end of each
  year (DCruz and collaborators (2005, 2006)

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Building Bridges Outcomes (3)

• Publications and questions of collaboration
  between the academy and the field
• Different imperatives (outcomes and processes)
• Differences in communication writing and
  talking
• Identity, location and knowledge-work

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Reflections

• What does collaboration mean?
• How to maintain relationships between the
  academy and the field with little or no
  resourcing and within different imperatives?
• How to maintain relationships, processes and
  structures when contexts and people change?

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Conclusions

• This presentation has critically engaged with
  unanticipated outcomes of research beyond the
  expected aims including collaborative processes
  and relationships between the academy and the
  field in a small Australian regional town.
• Any questions?

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References (1)

• Camilleri, P. (1996) (Re)constructing Social Work
  Exploring Social Work Through Text and Talk,
  Avebury, Aldershot
• Camilleri, P. (1999) Social work and its search
  for meaning Theories, narratives and practices,
  in Pease, B. and Fook, J. (eds), Transforming
  Social Work Practice Post-modern Critical
  Perspectives, St Leonards, Australia, Allen and
  Unwin, pp. 2539
• DCruz, H., Gillingham, P. and Melendez, S. (in
  press) Exploring the possibilities of an
  expanded practice repertoire in child protection
  an alternative conceptual approach, Journal of
  Social Work (accepted 12 December 2007)
• DCruz, H., Gillingham, P. and Melendez, S.
  (2007) Reflexivity A concept and its meanings
  for practitioners working with children and
  families, Critical Social Work, vol. 8, no. 1,
  http//www.uwindsor.ca/units/socialwork/critical.n
  sf/main/457F1A98E8E26324852573720061C3DB?OpenDocum
  ent
• DCruz, H. (2006) in collaboration with
  representatives from the Department of Human
  Services, Barwon-South Western Region,
  Glastonbury Child and Family Services, and
  Mackillop Family Services and Bethany Community
  Support, Practice Development Forum
  end-of-project report 2005, Deakin University,
  Geelong, Victoria, Australia

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References (2)

• DCruz, H. (2005) in collaboration with
  representatives from the Department of Human
  Services, Barwon-South Western Region,
  Glastonbury Child and Family Services, and
  Mackillop Family Services and Bethany Community
  Support, Practice Development Forum
  end-of-project report, 2004, Deakin University,
  Geelong, Victoria, Australia
• DCruz, H. and Gillingham, P. (2005) Building
  Bridges A Case Study of a Collaborative
  Research Process, Journal of Progressive Human
  Services, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 51-80
• DCruz, H., Gillingham, P. and Melendez, S.
  (2004) Exploring the Possibilities of an
  Expanded Practice Repertoire in Child Protection
  An Overview of Outcomes of a Collaborative
  Study, Global Social Work Reclaiming Civil
  Society, Joint Conference of the International
  Federation of Social Workers and the
  International Association of Schools of Social
  Work, Adelaide, South Australia, 2-5 October,
  2004
• DCruz, H. (2003) in collaboration with
  representatives from the Department of Human
  Services, Barwon-South Western Region,
  Glastonbury Child and Family Services, and
  Mackillop Family Services, Research on Developing
  a Practice-Generated Approach to Policy
  Implementation End of Project Report, Deakin
  University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
• DCruz, H., Gillingham, P., Christoe, D., and
  Cuff, C. (2002) Building Bridges a case study
  of collaborative research between the academy
  and industry, government and non
  government, theory and practice and other
  yet unknown possibilities, Working Across
  Borders, Joint AASWWE/AASW (WA) Conference, 29
  September - 2 October 2002, Perth, Western
  Australia

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References (3)

• DCruz, H. (2002) in collaboration with
  representatives from the Department of Human
  Services, Barwon-South Western Region,
  Glastonbury Child and Family Services, and
  Mackillop Family Services, Research on Developing
  a Practice-Generated Approach to Policy
  Implementation End of Project Report, Deakin
  University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia
• Fook, J. (ed.) (1996) The Reflective Researcher,
  St Leonards, Australia, Allen and Unwin
• Fook, J. (1999) Critical reflectivity in
  education and practice, in Pease, B. and Fook,
  J. (eds), Transforming Social Work Practice
  Postmodern Critical Perspectives, St Leonards,
  Australia, Allen and Unwin, pp. 195208
• Fook, J. (2000) Deconstructing and constructing
  professional expertise, in Fawcett, B.,
  Featherstone, B., Fook, J. and Rossiter, A.
  (eds), Practice and Research in Social Work,
  London, Routledge
• Gould, N. (2004) Qualitative research and social
  work The methodological repertoire in a
  practice-oriented discipline, in Lovelock, R.,
  Lyons, K. and Powell, J. (eds) Reflecting on
  Social Work Discipline and Profession, Ashgate
  Aldershot, UK, pp. 130-144
• Healy, K. (2005) Social Work Theories in Context
  Creating Frameworks for Practice, Palgrave
  MacMillan Basingstoke
• Wenger, E. (2008) Communities of practice a
  social discipline of learning, Keynote Speech 1
  to the 8th International PEPE Conference,
  Practical Learning achieving excellence in the
  human services, Edinburgh International
  Conference Centre, Edinburgh, Scotland, 23 25
  January 2008