Teaching and learning communication with children and young people: developing the qualifying social work curriculum in a changing policy context

Abstract

A B S T R AC TTwenty years after survey evidence showed that UK social work students could complete their training without having learnt about or worked with children, new research suggests little has changed. There is still no guarantee that any student on qualification will have been taught about or assessed in communication skills with children and young people. This is despite the claim that the pre-registration award provides teaching and assessment in core generic skills as a foundation for the development of specialist practice roles in agencies. In fact, as this paper shows, a common understanding of what counts as effective communication with children has yet to be consolidated in social work practice and research. This has impeded the process of curriculum development. Divergent expectations about what counts as social work communication with children in a changing policy context may be exacerbating long-standing uncertainties about how genericism and specialism should be linked in professional education and training. In exploring these issues, this paper seeks to clear the way for the renewed effort that is now required if this aspect of curriculum development is to be effective.

Collaborating to Focus on Children in Australian Social Work Education

“…Without the advocacy of diverse stakeholders and the leadership of the Australian professional social work body, the course/module discussed in this paper may not have been developed. The Child-Centred Practice course was designed to increase social work students' knowledge and skills in collaborating, to communicate with children in diverse practice settings, which is a national and international area of concern in social Social Work Education 41 work education (Clare & Mevik, 2008;Healy & Meagher, 2007;Lefevre, 2013;Lefevre et al, 2008;Luckock et al, 2006Luckock et al, , 2007Mullin & Canning, 2006;Smith, 2006). This paper provided an Australian example of the opportunities and tensions involved when embarking on collaborative strategies and research aimed at influencing the child wellbeing content of the social work curriculum.…”

“…Keywords: Social Work Education; Collaboration; Children; Communication Skills; Social Work Research; Child-Centred Practice; Child Protection Background International social work researchers and educators have been advocating for social work graduates to be consistently taught effective ways of communicating with children (Lefevre, 2013;Lefevre, Tanner, & Luckock, 2008;Luckock et al, 2006;Luckock, Lefevre, & Tanner, 2007;Mullin & Canning, 2006;Smith, 2006). Concerns have also been raised by Australian researchers about social work graduates feeling unprepared for practice with children (Clare & Mevik, 2008;Healy & Meagher, 2007).…”

Developing key capabilities in child care and protection

“…The information from this audit would establish whether the earlier findings of Triseliotis and Marsh (1996) and Luckock et al . (2007) still held true.…”

“…Over ten years later, Luckock et al . 's (2007) research in England indicated that there was no guarantee that social work students ‘will have been taught about or assessed in communication skills with children and young people’ (p. 192) or that they will ‘undertake direct practice with children during training’ (p. 195).…”

The Voice of the Child in Child Protection: Whose Voice?

“…In 2007, Luckock, Lefevre and Tanner researched teaching and assessment of social work students with regard to their communication skills with children and young people, noting that there is no guarantee that social work students will have been taught about or assessed in communication skills with children and young people [17]. In Scotland similar findings of an audit of qualifying social work programmes led to the development of a set of Key Capabilities in Child Care and Protection, which have effective communication as one of the four overarching areas of the framework [18].…”