Professor Mike Fisher Director of Research & Reviews mike.fisher@scie.org.uk

1. Professor Mike Fisher Director of Research & Reviews mike.fisher@scie.org.uk Professor Peter Marsh Dean of Social Sciences p.marsh@sheffield.ac.uk

2. SCIE: born October 2001, aged 5½ • Quality Strategy in Social Care • SCIE will be dedicated to raising standards of practice across the social care sector, through the better use of knowledge and research. • It will be based on a vision of social care which empowers users and promotes the independence of the individual. • It will review research and practice, and the views, experience and expertise of users and carers; it will use the results of this assessment to create guidelines for social care practitioners; and will disseminate these across the social care field.

3. SCIE and the countries of the UK • Established by central government in England and Wales • Northern Ireland joined in 2005 • A partnership agreement/SLA with the Scottish Institute for Excellence in Social Work Education and Scottish Executive

4. SCIE and the regulatory agencies SCIE knowledge guidance CSCI national standards, inspection, audit CARE COUNCILS codes of conduct, registration of social care workforce regulation of social work training PEOPLE working with users, carers and staff to deliver better outcomes CARE SERVICES IMPROVEMENT PARTNERSHIP implementing policy SKILLS FOR CARE occupational standards EMPLOYERS training and development

5. Publications • Developing the evidence base for social work and social care practice • Social care research capacity consultation • JUC-SWEC Research Strategy • www.swap.ac.uk/research/strategy.asp • paper on practitioner-researchers

6. smoke and mirrors • a direct and simple relationship between research findings and practice • existing knowledge is marginal when introducing evidence-based practice • practitioner’s research expertise consists of the ability to cite research knowledge

7. three standpoints on knowledge • Social constructivism • Mode 2 knowledge production • Problem solving knowledge for practice

8. social constructivism • meaning is socially constructed • ‘human beings act toward things/events on the basis of the meanings that [they] have for them’ • symbolic interactionism, second Chicago school • research design and measurement should reflect meaning • mental health and recovery - self-definition • ‘life more ordinary’ for foster kids

9. social constructivism (2) • a social constructivist perspective affects basic data • older people don’t report falls if they arise from their own mistakes, or if they fear being ‘put in a home’ • a social constructivist perspective affects intervention effectiveness • reading skills for kids and break-time tuition

10. mode 2 and new ways of knowing The New Production of Knowledge: the dynamics of science and research in contemporary societies London: Sage: 1994

11. mode 2 and new ways of knowing (2) • applied from the start • [mode 2] knowledge is intended to be useful to someone, whether in industry, or government, or to society more generally, and this imperative is present from the beginning (p.4) • includes a range of stakeholders • knowledge is always produced under an aspect of continuous negotiation, and it will not be produced unless and until the interests of various actors are included (p.4) • inter- or trans-disciplinary • in mode 2, the shape of the final solution will normally be beyond that of any single contributing discipline. It will be transdisciplinary. (p.5) • alliances between knowledge communities • knowledge production is becoming more widely distributed; that is, it takes place in many more types of social settings; …it is no longer concentrated in relatively few institutions, and involves many different types of individuals and organisation in a vast array of different relationships (p.14)

12. mode 2 and social welfare • stakeholder involvement as a process • research as empowerment • the value of direct experience • the greater the distance between direct experience and its interpretation, then the more likely resulting knowledge is to be inaccurate, unreliable and distorted (Beresford, 2003, p.4)

13. problem-solving knowledge that • respects practice • rationality of practice, knowledge use in practice • addresses practice concerns • is feasible in everyday practice • provides tested practice methods

14. problem-solving knowledge that (2) • provides a body of evidence, not single studies • communication skills in social work education • considers practice implications and methods • contact between foster children and birth parents • applies to the populations served by social care • resilience, parent training/education

15. five functions of practice research • reclaim the rationality of practice • reframe meanings and outcomes • embed involvement in knowledge production • interpret research for practice • generate problem-solving knowledge

16. JUC-SWEC Research Strategy • The aim of the strategy (2006-2020) • To maximise the contribution to service improvement • Develop a strong relevant evidence base • Build a workforce capabe of using evidence critically and effectively • Current position • Strong but limited work, with woeful underfunding and significant challenges for academic workforce. • Four main dimensions • Resources, capacity and capability, visibility and impact, recognition and governance.

17. Practitioner and researchers • Practitioners and researchers are increasingly separate • We need practice-literate researchers and research-literate practitioners • A policy to change this…based on people and posts • Strong inter-connected linkage of practice and research via • people • recognising skill and support needs and the need to influence other research areas as well • Needing new posts …

18. practitioner-researchers • Skill development • on line learning resources to provide self assessment tools, and materials on key issues in social work research • Support • networks of practitioner-researchers on a regional basis, with organisation via a common website • The focus of work • regional consortia with key stakeholders to review priorities for research in the region, and advise on scholarship bids from practitioner-researchers. • Influence on other research • panels to provide a review of research proposals, and generate membership for enquiries etc