It can be challenging to incorporate young people's voices into social work pedagogy even though service user involvement is an essential part of social work education. Technological advances present new ways to involve service users and overcome barriers to participation.The purpose of this research was to explore service user involvement amongst young people by developing an audio resource for a qualifying social work programme in Scotland. We used a co-production methodology to create eight audio-bites based on interviews with four careexperienced people, aged 14-19, about their involvement with social work. We share key findings from the interviews, about the young people's involvement with social work and about being 'subjects' of statutory recording practices and processes, such as chronologies and Child's Plans. We discuss how the audio-bites were used in teaching and present feedback from students and lecturers about their use. We argue that the audio-bites promote authentic learning as they depict real life practice situations, and help students to develop listening and reflection skills that will inform their preparation for practice with children and young people.
This article contributes to debates about fathers in social work by examining a group work intervention for fathers in Scotland. We present findings from observations of a ‘dad’s group’ and interviews with seven fathers and staff members. Participating in the dad’s group was found to be an expanded perception and expression of masculinity and fatherhood. The group provided a platform for the men to define and challenge understandings of fatherhood in which they developed a sense of expertise and self-belief as individuals and as fathers. We provide examples of the way that the men manoeuvre against societal barriers, in the context of disadvantage, unemployment and persistent mental health difficulties and prevailing gendered stereotypes and allow the fluid expression of manhood through engaging with non-masculine activities. In consideration of policy and practice implications, we argue that parenting support such as group work for fathers is crucial to improve parenting skills and wellbeing and positive outcomes for children.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many face-to-face group activities for new parents moved online. In this article, we share findings from 14 interviews conducted during the first lockdown in the United Kingdom with parents of babies under 12 months about their experiences of participating in online groups. Attendance at groups was treated as a survival mechanism or even a panacea for some parents, providing well-rounded entertainment and support for parents, their children and the parenting relationship. However, reviews of the online groups were mixed, with some deemed more adequate than others for online delivery. Parents expressed concerns about the lack of informal spaces in online contexts to share private conversations and the unnatural group conversations affected by the custom of taking turns to talk. These experiences highlighted what was important to parents: the need for the embodiment of connection. The peculiarity of the online setting saw the emergence of parenting display work; parental awareness of online impression management and self-presentation strategies. While online technologies are ubiquitous, online groups for parents are nascent, and these technologies require careful analysis and evaluation from users and facilitators.
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