Reconceptualising professional knowledge: the changing role of knowledge and evidence in social work practice

Abstract

New socio-economic conditions have necessitated different approaches to professional learning and decision making and alternative perspectives are required to properly understand and engage with the complexity of the world of work, learning and doing. This paper considers the international literature in relation to professional learning in the context of evidence based practice and knowledge exchange and considers how we might overcome existing barriers to implement a more knowledge based approach to social work practice. By adopting Actor Network Theory and socio-material theories, this paper begins to consider alternative perspectives on professional learning and knowledge exchange as implementation in social work. The paper argues that the production of knowledge itself is not enough to guarantee that even the best knowledge will have any utility in practice and that we now need to search for more effective ways of generating and implementing new knowledge.Furthermore, more attention needs to be given to how current approaches to research design, dissemination and implantation could become more meaningful for practice. Word count 6296097 including references but excluding abstract and titleCommented [lk1]: The abstract has been amended as per suggestions of both reviewers

Building knowledge for policy and practice based on service user and carer experiences: A case study of Scottish adult safeguarding research

“…In social work there is a long tradition of criticality about knowledge and its uses, with significant bodies of theory addressing the relationship of its different forms to the practical tasks of the social worker (Hothersall, 2019;Kelly, 2017). Nevertheless, there is an ongoing need to challenge neoliberal incursions into the education and governance of the profession, and to support practitioners to gain or re-gain research-mindedness, including participation in research themselves.…”

“…It is worth noting that parallel tensions between instrumental and alternative ways of knowing underpin debates about the nature of social work and related professional practice, which have played out over a number of decades and across a range of international settings (Hothersall, 2019). In particular, debates about 'evidence-based' or 'evidence-informed' practice have examined the extent to which professional interventions ought to be informed by 'evidence' in more or less direct ways, as well as how evidence ought to be appraised and what counts as evidence at all (Kelly, 2017;Munro & Hardie, 2019). In England, recent initiatives to train social workers through shorter, employment-based routes rather than university degrees might be characterised as a re-assessment of the necessary knowledge base for practice based on instrumental thinking.…”

Norwegian PhD students' discourses about practice‐relevant research in the field of health and social work

“…Thus, practice-relevant research in health and social work involves complex contextual processes and does not necessarily correspond to other kinds of research. As professionals derive status from scientific knowledge bases (Brante, 2014(Brante, , 2011Domakin, 2014;Kelly, 2017;McNamara, 2009;Moos & Krejsler, 2006;Risjord, 2010), it is considered necessary to be an insider in research (Costley & Pizzolato, 2018). Accordingly, not being educated as a health or social work professional when doing practice-relevant research was considered incompatible with taking accountability.…”

“…Furthermore, the PhD students emphasized that conducting practice‐relevant research requires a qualified researcher with relevant pre‐understanding to collaborate with partners, that is professional practitioners and service users in all steps of the research process. The promoting partnership discourse supported the dispute about the status of professionals in academia and the status of academicians in professional practice (Domakin, 2014; Kelly, ; McNamara, ; Risjord, ). The discourse recognized researchers' status based on the research skills that met needs in health or social work and produced a cultural context of domination.…”

“…This position emphasizes the need to strengthen professions by establishing a scientific knowledge base and often focuses on the necessity of disciplinary boundaries, that is the epistemic grounds on which professionals anchor their claims of academic legitimacy and their defined, distinctive knowledge bases (Brante, ; McNamara, ; Risjord, ; Trevithick, ). Another dispute addresses the status of professionals in academia and the status of academicians in professional practice (Domakin, ; Kelly, ; McNamara, ; Risjord, ). This position has highlighted that a lack of professional knowledge can be problematic for researchers in academia when building relationships with professional practitioners.…”