Skills development and theorising practice in social work education

Description/Abstract

This project analysed, for the first time, rich data recently collected relating to one course module in a social work degree programme: skills development and theorising practice. It evaluated the module within a principled theoretical framework, that of criticality development (critical action, critical self-reflection, critical thinking). It focused on the micro-analysis of developmental processes in classroom interactions, as well as the linkages between course outcomes and proposed key skill development as specified in the course documentation. The study illuminated the contributions and limitations of such a module to student critical development within the context of current social work education concerns, and will have implications for the debate on skills training in the new degree, by examining the detailed processes by which social work students develop interpersonal skills. The project's findings are directly applicable across social work education, and they should also be generalisable to other contexts, such as education for the health professions, because of the theoretical framing.