‘A who doing a what?’: Identity, practice and social work education

Abstract

This article explores the discourses employed by social work educators in their constructions of social work identity, practice and education. The research data for this qualitative study was collected from in-depth interviews with social work educators from two South Australian universities, who were eligible for membership with the Australian Association of Social Workers.Findings: Using Gee's discourse analysis framework, the key discourses used by social work educators to construct social work, social workers, clients and social work educational institutions are identified. Social work educators drew on professional, helping/ caring, emancipatory and social control discourses to highlight the 'typical' story of 'social work' and construct social workers and social work educators as 'a who doing a what', to distinguish social work from other professions.Application: Despite being constructed as having the power to act as 'gate keepers' to the profession, very little research examines how social work educators reflect on their practice as social workers and social work educators. Further national and international research is required to examine how social work students, service users, employers and other disciplines interpret these social work discourses.

Professional identity research in the health professions—a scoping review

“…Supporting professional identity development and maintenance was the background to research involving professional identity in 37 studies (23%). Sub-themes included supporting the development and maintenance of professional identity generally (5) (Bartlett, 2008 ; Branch & Frankel, 2016 ; Fleit, 2008 ; Forenza & Eckert, 2018 ; Harris & Guillemin, 2015 ), supporting the development and maintenance of professional identity of the profession or speciality (15), (Healey, 2010 ; Hurley & Lakeman, 2011 ; Iwasaki et al, 2018 ; Karpetis, 2014 ; Lafleur, 2007 ; Mackay & Zufferey, 2015 ; Mellin et al, 2011 ; Moorhead et al, 2016 ; Mousazadeh et al, 2019 ; Salim & Elgizoli, 2016 ; Swickert, 1997 ; Tahim, 2015 ; Thompson et al, 2018 ; Zhang et al, 2015 ) with four specifically in respect to professions regarded as having a poor reputation or low recognition (Leigh, 2014 ; Mallon, 2018 ; Morriss, 2014 ; Sercu et al, 2015 ). Supporting professional identity development and maintenance in relation to boundary crossing was also a reason for research involving professional identity.…”

Shaping E-professional identities: Towards an understanding of the impact of social media experiences on the professional development of social work students

“…Unsurprisingly, a number of queries are posed about the nature and identity of social work as a profession per se (Mackay and Zufferey, 2015), due to its hierarchical structures and restricted autonomy (Etzioni, 1969 in Bowles, Collingridge, Curry, andValentine, 2006;Higham, 2006;Thompson, 2007).…”

Educating Resilient Social Work Professionals

“…Though social work can broadly be understood as a profession 1 , professionalism is a contested concept in social work, and neither social work literature nor social work education literature delivers an agreed-upon definition (Cornish, 2017;Gibelman, 1999;Hansen, 2010;Haynes & White, 1999;Mackey & Zufferey 2015;May and Buck, 2000;Walter, 2003;Weiss-Gal & Welbourne, 2008;Wiles 2013). Social work as a profession is relatively new and borrows language and understandings from more veteran professions and subjects such as law, medicine, psychology, and sociology (Doron, Rosner & Karpel 2008;O'Leary, Tsui & Ruch, 2012;Walter, 2003) 23 .…”