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@salford.ac.uk and S.M.Shardlow@salford.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 Research Process • Published and unpublished literature • Survey of employers and HEI representatives • 3 nations study • International survey • Other professions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?sm=z7pKnavL_2b6QvjqP6GaxIog_3d_3d • Employers https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=6bAdvX_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? • It’s a good thing isn’t 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