11
Abstract
There has been an international drive to ensure social work students are
research-minded. However, little is known about their experiences of undertaking
independent research and even less is known about whether and how they go on to
apply research skills in practice.
This paper presents the findings of a qualitative study which investigated the
experiences of 22 postgraduate students who were studying at a university in the
North East of England. Students' written critical reflections and data from
semi-structured interviews which were undertaken with four of the 22 students six to
twelve months after graduation were analysed thematically.
Participants experienced positive and negative emotions during their research
journeys. They recounted powerful learning experiences and reported that they had
been able to transfer some of their learning into practice. However, they also
identified that newly qualified social workers face significant constraints to
research-mindedness within the practice environment.
The findings confirm the importance of providing students with experiential learning
opportunities to allow them to produce as well as consume research. However, in
order to fully bridge the research-practice gap there may be a need to facilitate new
partnerships between higher education providers and local employers with a view
to strengthening
research capacity.
August 2021 Edition includes a special edition relation to supervision - some
interesting articles are included below;
Haworth, S. (2019) 'Consideration of
Practice Education within a Regional
Teaching Partnership Employing a
Communities of Practice Lens', Practice
(09503153), 31(3), pp. 163-186.
O'Donoghue, K. and O'Donoghue, R.
(2019) 'The Application of Ethics within
Social Work Supervision: A Selected
Literature and Research Review', Ethics
& Social Welfare, 13(4), pp. 340-360.
Wilkins, D. (2019) 'Social work
supervision in child and family services:
Developing a working theory of how and
why it works', Aotearoa New Zealand
Social Work Review, 31(3), pp. 7-19.
Bostock, L. et al. (2019) 'How do we
assess the quality of group supervision?
Developing a coding framework',
Children and Youth Services Review,
100, pp. 515-524.
Martin, E. M., Myers, K. and Brickman,
K. (2020) 'Self-Preservation in the
Workplace: The Importance of
Well-Being for Social Work Practitioners
and Field Supervisors', Social Work, 65
(1), pp. 74-81.
Hill, N. et al. (2019) 'Factors That
Impact a Social Worker's Capacity to
Supervise a Student', Australian Social
Work, 72(2), pp. 152-165.
PUBLICATIONS & ABSTRACTS