Engaging Employers: Models of Good Practice in Professional Education

1
Engaging Employers Models of Good Practice in
Professional Education

• Hugh McLaughlin and Steven Shardlow
• University of Salford
• h.mclaughlin_at_salford.ac.uk and S.M.Shardlow_at_salfor
  d.ac.uk

2
Presentation

• Social Work Partnership - Skills for Care and
  CWDC supported by GSCC
• Background
• Research elements and process
• Early thoughts
• Why involvement
• What do you think?

3
Background

• An issue that arose time and again through a
  range of responses and that was probably the
  source of the most dissatisfaction on the part of
  agency managers, was the extent to which the
  courses really sought to, or indeed succeeded in,
  forging a genuine partnership with agencies. The
  absence of a partnership approach was evident
  right through from perceptions of the recruitment
  stage, across the design and delivery of
  teaching, and through to the issue of whose view
  would be paramount in the assessment stage.
• Blewett and Tunstill, 2008 40 Fit for Practice
  The Social Work Degree Joint Priority Review
  and GSCC

4
Research Process

• Published and unpublished literature
• Survey of employers and HEI representatives
• 3 nations study
• International survey
• Other professions

5
Literature

• 759 references 97 relevant 31 and 10
• No empirical research student on student
  lifecycle of employer/HEI effectiveness
• Small scale projects often surrounding often one
  aspect - practice learning or admissions
• No evidence backing up employer effectiveness in
  social work education

6
Context of Three Nations

• Wales- more prescriptive and greater steer by the
  Welsh Care Council e.g practice learning patterns
• Scotland- fragmented
• Northern Ireland more shared approach

7
International

• USA
• Canada
• South Africa
• Australia
• New Zealand
• Scandinavia

8
Other Professions

• Nursing commissioned 4 year cycle guaranteed
  placements
• Teaching TDA but individual schools
• Occupational Therapy

9
Questionnaire

• HEI https//www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?smz7pKnav
  L_2b6QvjqP6GaxIog_3d_3d
• Employers https//www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm6
  bAdvX_2for0A9Vnnnmdg_2fnw_3d_3d
• Qualifying and Post-qualifying
• Development of questionnaire

10
Questionnaire 2

• Arrangements re admission numbers
• Degree and levels of employer involvement in
  programme(s) design and delivery
• Management of programme(s)
• Formal agreements for practice learning
• Performance targets, annual monitoring of courses
• Approval of social work courses
• Stakeholder arrangements

11
Why partnership?

• Its a good thing isnt it?
• Implies a measure of equality or balance and
  reciprocity
• For what purpose?
• Which partners?
• Preparation for today or tomorrow?
• Who decides?

12
Question time

• What do you see as the purpose for employer
  engagement in social work education?
• What model best fits this purpose?
• How could this model be facilitated or
  encouraged?

13
Endings

• Report to research commissioners start of June
  2009
• Presented to Partnership Board and Social Work
  Taskforce
• Recommendations yet to be written