Changing learning and learning change: making a difference in education, policy and practice¹

Abstract

Themes of dehumanisation, demoralisation, insecurity and powerlessness are identified from research evidence of the experiences of social work staff and clients. Similar themes are uncovered in a review of policy-making across different social work client groups. The picture that emerges is contrasted with official pronouncements about the goals of policy-making and about social work's aims and purposes, whilst their impact is revealed through the operation of various defensive responses. The paper moves on to survey several misunderstandings about practice and policy change before concluding by identifying spaces where teaching and learning social work can effect a shift of mind, where practitioners and managers can begin to make a difference to their own and their clients' experiences of social work. Catalyst'There is nothing we can do', concluded one student. Asked about what they had observed when working in welfare organisations, including on placement, students reported manipulation of workers, distortion of actual practice in official reports, and lack of staff commitment. The mismatch between their lived experience, the public world of standards and modernising policies, and social work's values and competencies, permeated the discussion. A sense of hopelessness and an atmosphere of disillusionment were punctuated only occasionally by those who offered strategies-knowledge and skills that suggested a more optimistic reframe: 'we can make a difference'. Nevertheless, half-way through their qualifying training, students had apparently already concluded that there was a disjunction between what they were learning in academic and practice curricula and what was happening in work settings.Practitioners have expressed similar unease during workshops and conferences on social work's future. They have voiced appreciation and relief when their experiences are acknowledged and verbalised. These voices have found official confirmation from the Audit Commission (2002), which has reported that staff are exiting the public sector, overwhelmed by bureaucracy and government targets, demotivated by unmanageable workloads and imposed changes, and feeling undervalued. It has rebuked government for the tone of its pronouncements about the public sector and its failure to consider the effect of policy changes on staff. Yet these voices also speak when there has been a concerted attempt by central government to raise social work's status and standing, to tackle a serious staff recruitment and retention crisis, and to provide quality in social (care) work and education.

Learning from safeguarding adult reviews about Transitional Safeguarding: building an evidence base

“…Seen in this light, SARs are human stories, rooted in an understanding of what matters deeply for service users and those working with them (Preston-Shoot, 2003), that aim for a system turn, the development of understanding that takes practitioners, managers and policymakers beyond incremental tinkering with present practice and its context, to an envisioned future. This is Transitional Safeguarding embodying what the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [2] refers to as "futures literacy".…”

On (not) learning from self-neglect safeguarding adult reviews

“…When problems persist, change is more likely when assumptions are challenged, to effect a systemic turn (Watzlawick et al, 1974). To be transformative involves capturing what matters deeply in human and professional life, within a social justice and human rights framework (Preston-Shoot, 2003). This involves questioning and challenging, facilitating thoughtfulness, stimulating a capacity to imagine and envision.…”

Engaging Feelings in the Body in Systemic Family Therapy

“…Nowadays the need to remove myself from the conversational frame is not created by my lack of experience of using my therapeutic tools but by oppressive working conditions as noted by Munro () and Preston‐Shoot () and succulently illustrated in the example below, of a colleague's description of stress in the work place.

What triggers my emotions?It's the volume; the complexity; the need to make decisions; the expectation to comply with the process; everyone vying for my attention as though I am an octopus with many arms, brains and feet…All of these and a myriad other things flitting through my mind bordering on resentment that this expectation is actually humanly impossible…It feels like …I imagine… a comet crashing into earth unexpectantly…sparks flying off the earth's crust and bringing along concomitant destruction in its wake…That's what's going on in my mind…my brain…Then there's my body talking too…I feel my pulse and heart rate increasing. I hear my irregular heart beat racing and sounding like waves crashing on rocks in a tumultuous sea storm…doef, doef, doef, doef.I hear my blood rushing in my ears as my anxiety levels gradually increases, like the sound of thunder on a horribly stormy day.

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“…Nowadays the need to remove myself from the conversational frame is not created by my lack of experience of using my therapeutic tools but by oppressive working conditions as noted by Munro (2011) and Preston-Shoot (2003) and succulently illustrated in the example below, of a colleague's description of stress in the work place.…”