Opportunities to ‘reinvent the idea of social work’: using student SWOT analyses of school-based placements

Jennifer Rafter; Cathryn Jani; Barry Fearnley

doi:10.1921/jpts20242269

Authors

Jennifer Rafter Anglia Ruskin University, Deputy Head of School of Social Work https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6187-9990
Cathryn Jani Social Work England & University of Warwick https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5077-858X
Barry Fearnley University of Keele, Lecturer https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0840-8081

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1921/jpts20242269

Keywords:

social work, social work students, placements, schools, SWOT analysis, social work in schools

Abstract

Social work students undertaking their placements in non-traditional settings, such as schools, is not new. However, with the pandemic (Covid-19), and subsequent impact on placements, an innovative and creative approach was called for. This approach was the Social Workers in Schools (SWIS) project. This also correlated with the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care and the Family Safeguarding Model of social work practice. Following three successive, and successful years, an evaluation of the project was needed to capture the students’ experiences in addition to identifying what worked and what areas needed to be developed further. This paper draws on one element of the evaluation where students were invited into the university and participated in a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis. The paper presents how the potential benefits outweigh the challenges and how the weaknesses and threats could, potentially, be reframed to strengths and opportunities. The paper provides an outline of the areas for further development and emphasises the importance of interprofessional and collaborative working for social workers and social work students.

Author Biographies

Jennifer Rafter, Anglia Ruskin University, Deputy Head of School of Social Work

Jenny Rafter is a qualified social worker, who started her career in adult mental health in East London. She then worked for a children's charity as a social based social worker across schools in the East of England. She then joined Anglia Ruskin university, where she has always championed the role of social workers in schools. In response to the pandemic, she launched the SWIS (social workers in schools) project - the project now entered its 4th year and works with over 130 schools who host social work student placements. She was then commissioned to roll out a project in the region by a neighbouring teaching partnership and has been invited to present the success of SWIS at national and international events. She is now in her final year of doctoral study in relation to school practice. She has formed an international network of academics who share her passion and interest in school social work and she has begun to collaborate and share her early insight of the potential benefits of the project.

Cathryn Jani, Social Work England & University of Warwick

Cathryn Jani (Social Work England & University of Warwick) qualified as a social worker in 1989. In her early career Cathryn worked with children and families, both as a local authority social worker and as a Family Court Advisor, for Cafcass. Cathryn is a keen practice educator and has supported social work students in a variety of placement settings. Cathryn developed an interest in developing social work student placements in schools whilst employed as Placement Coordinator by the University of Lincoln, she went on to start a social enterprise Support Circle, developing and supporting social work student placements in schools across the East Midlands. Cathryn is currently employed as a Professional Case Examiner for Social Work England and as a Practice Educator for the University of Warwick.

Barry Fearnley, University of Keele, Lecturer

Barry Fearnley (University of Keele, Lecturer) is a social worker with over 20 years experience working with children and families. He is currently a lecturer at the University of Keele. Previous experience includes children and families social work. He has been a practice educator for social work students in children and families, adults including mental health, and voluntary settings. This also includes the role of placement co-ordination and practice educator for social work students in schools. As placement Lead for a university he initiated and led on two significant pieces of work; supporting students with additional needs when undertaking their placements and quality assurance of placements. His PhD explored the everyday experiences of young women who are also mothers.

References

Allen-Meares, P. and Montgomery, K.L. (2014), Global Trends and School-Based Social Work, Children and Schools, 36(2): 105–112. https://doi.org/10.1093/cs/cdu007

Baginsky, M., Teague, C., Emsley, L., Price, C., Sames, K., and Truong, Y. (2011), A Summative Report on the Qualitative Evaluation on the Eleven Remodelling Social Work Pilots 2008-11. Children’s Workforce Development Council..

Bagley, C. and Pritchard, C. (1998), The Reduction of Problem Behaviours and School Exclusion in At-Risk Youth: An Experimental Study of School Social Work with Cost-Benefit Analyses, Child and Family Social Work, 3: 219-226.

Beddoe, L., de Haan, I. and Joy., E. (2018), “If you could change two things”: Social workers in schools talk about what could improve schools’ responses to child abuse and neglect, AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND SOCIAL WORK, 30(1): 45–57.

Bellinger, A. (2010), Studying the Landscape: Practice Learning for Social Work Reconsidered, Social Work Education, 29(6): 599-615. DOI: 10.1080/02615470903508743

BERA (2018), Ethics and guidance | BERA

Berry-Lound, D., Tate, S., and Greatbatch, D. (2016), Social Work Teaching Partnership Programme Pilots: Evaluation Final Research Report May 2016, London: Department for Education.

Bogo, M. (2015), Field Education for Clinical Social Work Practice: Best Practices and Contemporary Challenges, Clinical Social Work Journal, 43: 317-324.

Biestek, F. P. (1957). The Casework Relationship. London: George Allen & Unwin.

Bodi, D. and Gotea, M. (2016), ‘The evaluation of professional development program in social work. Using SWOT analysis as an evaluation method’, Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov, 9(58): 123-128.

Braun, V., and Clarke, V. (2022), Thematic analysis: a practical guide, London: Sage.

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). Contexts of child rearing: Problems and prospects. American Psychologist, 34(10): 844–850. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.34.10.844

Cleak, H. and Wilson, J. (2018), Making the most of field placement (Fourth Edition), Australia: Cengage Learning.

Coghlan, D. (2019), Doing action research in your own organisation, London: Sage.

Connolly, M. (2000) Practice Frameworks: Conceptual Maps to Guide Interventions in Child Welfare, British Journal of Social Work, 37(5): 825-837

Collins, D., Blewett, D., Manthorpe, J., and Tarr, S. (2010) Social Work Practice Learning in Schools: lessons for Practice, Practice: Social Work in Action, 22(2): 89-101.

Corliss, C., Grey, J., Doherty, E., and Westlake, D. (2019) Lambeth Change Project: Social Workers in Schools Interim Report, London: What Works for Children’s Social Care (WWCSC).

Craddock, M., Dunn, M., and Pratt, J. (2007) Student Social Workers in Schools (SSWIS) Project - Reducing the Barriers to Partnership Working. Paper presented at the European Conference on Educational Research, University of Ghent, 19-21 September 2007.

Cummings, C., Todd, L., and Dyson, A. (2007) Towards Extended Schools? How Education and Other Professionals Understand Community-Oriented Schooling, Children and Society, 21: 189-200.

De Haan., I, Joy., E., Beddoe, L. and Sark, I., (2019) “The tip of the iceberg”: multiple thresholds in schools' detecting and reporting of child abuse and neglect, Children and Youth Services Review, 96: 278–285.

Department of Health and Department for Education (2017) Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision: A Green Paper, London: Crown.

Dunk-West, P. (2018) How to be a social worker. A critical guide for students, London: Palgrave

Fook, J., Ryan, M. and Hawkins, L. (1997) Professional Expertise: Practice, Theory and Education for

Working in Uncertainty, London: Whiting & Birch.

Gregson, L. and Fielding, J. (2008) Student social workers in school settings: A practice assessor’s perspective, Journal of Practice Teaching and Learning, 8(2): 91-101.

Gov.uk (2022), Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Gov.uk (2022), Home - The Independent Review of Children's Social Care (childrenssocialcare.independent-review.uk)

Hafford‐Letchfield, T. and Spatcher, P. (2007) Getting to Know You: Social Work Students' Experiences of Direct Work with Children in Education Settings, Social Work Education, 26 (3): 311-317.

Harrikari T., Romakkaniemi, M., Tiitinen, L., Ovaskainen, S. (2021) Pandemic and Social Work: Exploring Finnish Social Workers’ Experiences through a SWOT Analysis, The British Journal of Social Work, 51 (5): 1644–1662, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcab052

Hek, R. (2012) Is it Possible to Develop and Sustain Non-Traditional Placements? An Evaluation of the Development of Practice Learning Opportunities in Partnership with the Police and Probation Services in the West Midlands, Social Work Education 31(4): 512-529.

Hollis-English, A. and Selby, R. (2014) Social Work in Schools in New Zealand: Indigenous Social Work Practice, Journal of Indigenous Social Development. 3(2).

Howell, A. M. (2003). A minority experience. A source in: Cree, V, (2003) Becoming and being a social worker (First Edition), Routledge.

Ingram, R., Fenton, J., and Hodson, J. (2014) Reflective social work practice. Bloomsbury, London.

Interface Associates UK (2019) Social Work Teaching Partnerships: An Evaluation Interim Research Report – Early Findings June 2019. London: Department for Education.

Isaksson, C. and Larsson, A. (2017) Jurisdiction in school social workers’ and teachers’ work for pupils’ well-being, Education Inquiry, 8:(3) 246-261.

Kelly, M.S., Cosner-Berzin, S., Frey, A., Alvarez, M., Shaffer, G. and O’Brien, K. (2010) The State of School Social Work: Findings from the National School Social Work Survey. School Mental Health, 2: 132–141

Labra, O., Castro, C., Wright., R. (2020) Thematic Analysis in Social Work: A Case Study. Global Social Work - Cutting Edge Issues and Critical Reflections, IntechOpen. DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.89464.

Liston-Lloyd, M. and Gray, D. (2020) Literature review: examples of key strengths and challenges in the delivery of school-based social work support. Oranga Tamariki Evidence Centre, April 2020.

Marsh, P. and Triseliotis, J. (1996) Ready to practice? Social workers and probation officers: Their training and first year in work, Aldershot: Ashgate.

McIntosh, P. (2010) Action research and reflective practice. Creative and visual methods to facilitative reflection and learning, Oxon: Routledge.

McLaughlin, H., Scholar, H.F., McCaughan, S. and Coleman, A., (2015) Are non-traditional social work placements second best learning opportunities for qualifying social work students? British Journal of Social Work, 45: (5) 1469-1489.

Mclaughlin, H., Scholar, H. and Teater, B. (2020) Social work education in a global pandemic: strategies, reflections, and challenges, Social Work Education, 39: (8) 975-982. DOI: 10.1080/02615479.2020.1834545

Morris, Z. A., Dragone, E., Peabody, C., and Carr, K. (2020) Isolation in the midst of a pandemic: social work students rapidly respond to community and field work needs, Social Work Education, 39: (8), 1127-1136. DOI: 10.1080/02615479.2020.1809649

McNiff, J. (2017). Action Research – all you need to know, London: Sage.

Maguire, M., and Delahunt, B. (2017) Doing a Thematic Analysis: A Practical, Step-by-Step Guide for Learning and Teaching Scholars. All Ireland Journal of teaching and learning in Higher Education, 3.

Parker, J. (2006) Developing perceptions of competence during practice learning, British Journal of Social Work, 36: 1017 –1036.

Parker, J. (2007) ‘Developing effective practice learning for tomorrow’s social workers’, Social Work Education, 26(8): 263–279.

Parker, J., Hillison, K. and Wilson, L. (2003) SWiSP: the social work students in schools project, Practice, 15(4):, 69-87.

Phillippo, K.L and Blosser, A. (2013) Specialty Practice or Interstitial Practice? A Reconsideration of School Social Work's Past and Present. Children and Schools, 35(1): 19–31, https://doi.org/10.1093/cs/cds039

Pine, G. J. (2009) Teacher Action research. Building Knowledge democracies, london: Sage.

Raines, J. (2006), SWOT! A Strategic Plan for School Social Work. School social work journal. SWOT-libre.pdf (d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net)

Roulston, A., Cleak, H., Hayes, D., McFadden, P., OConnor, E. and Shore, C. (2021) To fail or not to fail: enhancing our understanding of reasons why social work students failed practice placements (2015–2019), Social Work Education, DOI: 10.1080/02615479.2021.1973991

Sanis, N. (2010) Championing the Extended Schools Social Workers. Children’s Workforce Development Council.

Scholar, H., McCaughan, S., McLaughlin, H. and Coleman, A. (2012) ‘Why is This Not Social Work?’ The Contribution of ‘Non-Traditional’ Placements in Preparing Social Work Students for Practice, Social Work Education, 31 (7): 932-950.

Scholar, H., McLaughlin, H., McCaughan, S., and Coleman, A. (2014) Learning to Be a Social Worker in a Non-traditional Placement: Critical Reflections on Social Work, Professional Identity and Social Work Education in England, Social Work Education, 33(8): 998-1016, DOI: 10.1080/02615479.2014.926320

Sharley, V. (2020) Identifying and responding to child neglect within schools: Different perspectives and the implications for Interagency Practice, Child Indicators Research, 13: 551-571.

Sherman, M. (2016) The School Social Worker: A Marginalised Commodity Within the School Eco-System. Children and Schools 38(3): 147-151.

Wayne, J., Bogo, M., & Raskin, M. (2010) Field education as the signature pedagogy of social work education, Journal of Social Work Education, 46: 327–339.

Westlake, D., Corliss, C., El-Banna, A., Thompson, S., Meindl, M., Talwar, R., Folkes, L., Schoenwald, E., Addis, S., and Cook, L. (2020)

Social workers in schools: an evaluation of pilots in three Local Authorities in England. What Works for Children’s Social Care. May 2020.

What Works for Children Social Care, FAMILY SAFEGUARDING MODEL – TRIAL EVALUATION: https://whatworks-csc.org.uk/research-project/family-safeguarding-model-trial-evaluation/

Wilkin, A., Murfield, J., Lamont, E., Kinder, K. and Dyson, P. (2008) The Value of Social Care Professionals Working in Extended Schools. NFER, Slough.

Wilson, M., Hyslop, D., Belgrave, M., Vette, M. and McMillen, P. (2018) Estimating the impact of Social Workers in Schools using linked administrative data. Working Paper, February 2018. Ministry for Children and Ministry of Social Development.

Wilson, L. and Hillison, K. (2005) Back to School for social work students: developing quality practice learning opportunities in schools. Journal of Practice Teaching, 6 (2): 43-60.

Working Together: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/942454/Working_together_to_safeguard_children_inter_agency_guidance.pdf