Diversity, intersectionality and anti-ageism: active methodologies in the training of social workers in Spain

Changes to the education and training for social workers in England, UK since 2003 have increased the number and widened the pool of students encouraged to enter the profession via higher education. Social work education is very much linked to increasing diversity in work‐force development where an agenda to build a well‐motivated and skilled work‐force can in turn provide good quality services and interventions reflecting the diverse needs of service users and carers. This paper reports on a small‐scale study which explored factors affecting the potential success of students following a vocational education programme leading to the degree in social work. Using in‐depth face‐to‐face interviews with a sample of seven students and a focus group with eight social work tutors, within a qualitative framework, the experiences of learning and teaching were explored from the participants’ subjective viewpoints. The study highlighted several factors found to potentially impact on student success in social work education and compared these with the published literature relating to both widening participation and diversity in learning. Factors impacting were student organization and time‐management skills; access to study skill support; their relationships with tutors and peers; and the impact of affective factors on the learning process. This study forms a useful basis for determining areas for intervention to improve the potential of success on the degree and the challenges anticipated in implementing these for students from diverse and non‐traditional backgrounds. Although this study related specifically to social work education, the findings may be transferable to other vocational education professions in the health and social care sector.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a continuing public health crisis, although it has lessened in its intensity since the start of worldwide vaccination programs. In aged care facilities, gerontological social workers have become frontline professionals facing multiple challenges and demands. One year after the first COVID-19 case in Portugal, during the second major lockdown in the country, and with vaccination starting in these facilities, a photovoice program to identify the experiences of these professionals was developed. This study aimed to understand how gerontological social workers foresee the future of practice and intervention with older adults. A thematic analysis was conducted based on the photographs and associated narratives from 10 participants, all female, aged between 22 and 35 years, who attended a program's session. Three themes were identified with the thematic analysis: (1) personal and professional growth (with renewed life perspectives and increased resilience), (2) reinvention of intervention (with improved management of emotions, teamwork, and alternative ways of intervening), and (3) hope to use the lessons learned (hope that vaccination will bring conditions to recover the older adults' well-being and opportunities to use the good lessons learned). These findings are relevant to inform policymakers and governments about practices in aged care facilities and to improve the training of gerontological social workers in acute action management and intervention. We stress alternative ways of intervening that came up in the response to the pandemic such as emotional management, digital technology, communication strategies, self-care, or the families' involvement.

Este artigo tem como objetivo refletir sobre a materialização teórico-prática do estágio supervisionado em Serviço Social, no curso de graduação, da Universidade Federal do Triangulo Mineiro. Refere-se ao estágio supervisionado em Serviço Social considerando suas particularidades, o debate ético-político da categoria profissional, bem como as estratégias de materialização desta atividade curricular obrigatória. Expressa no campo da práxis profissional o sentido do estágio supervisionado e a indissociabilidade com o processo de supervisão de estágio. O Núcleo de Estágio em Serviço Social representa a dinâmica do curso no que se referem à inserção dos alunos nos campos de estágio, à relação com os assistentes sociais de Uberaba e Região, e a responsabilidade com a formação. Descritores: Serviço Social; Estágios; Capacitação profissional.

Evaluations of social work training in the UK by Marsh & Triselliotis (1996, Social Workers and Probation Officers, Their Training and First Year in Work, Ashgate, Aldershot) and Lyons & Manion (2004, Social Work Education, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 133–148) found a poor fit in terms of preparedness for agency context. This study of employment‐based social work training in one UK agency suggests that it has led to improved knowledge, better social work skills and the development of more reflective practice both by the individual worker and in the wider team and workplace. Underlying these developments is an emphasis on social work values as a key feature in the development of practice. Although a proportion of staff moved posts after qualification, 84% of this was within the agency and managers were happy that staff carried their new learning culture with them to the benefit of the agency as a whole. Readiness to practise was assessed through views of fitness for the key social work roles and there was a high level of agreement that the training contributed to this fitness. Links are made to the new social work training requirements in the UK which mean more expensive training for many agencies but the effectiveness of the training evaluated here offers signposts for the management of employment‐based training in the context of the new social work degree in the UK.

In recent years the imperative to involve service users and carers at every level of care, service and policy development has been extended to include involving users and carers in the training of health and social care professionals. Guidance on how this is to be achieved in practice is, however, limited. This paper describes work undertaken to explore how an Approved Social Work Programme in the north of England could involve service users and carers more fully and develop an integrated approach to service user and carer involvement in this and other social work programmes. Following a review of the literature in this area, the results of a series of meetings with individual and groups of service users and carers are presented, together with a survey of ASW programmes. It then goes on to consider the implications for service user and carer involvement in the new social work degree.

In 1990 the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work (CCETSW) first set out its framework for Post Qualifying (PQ) professional development as part of a continuum of training in social care and social work. It devolved the establishment and maintenance of awarding bodies to regional PQ consortia. In 1995 government concern at the apparent lack of progress in candidates achieving PQ awards prompted CCETSW to intervene to establish two fast-track projects, one for Approved Social Workers and the other for holders of the Practice Teachers Award to gain the Post Qualifying Award in Social Work. This article focuses on the latter project, run in conjunction with the National Organisation for Practice Teaching, and disseminates some of its findings, primarily about the experiences of candidates. Many enjoyed the opportunity to reflect on their practice and to achieve formal recognition of their practice skills through the award. Others found the experience extremely difficult, particularly because of working under severe time constraints. It is argued that these experiences can be a valuable source of learning for the future with regard to planning a PQ framework within agencies.

The article presents the results of a study on the formation of professional competencies of future social workers and psychologists to work with students with functional health limitations. The aim of the study was to analyze the theoretical and methodological approaches in the training of social workers, psychologists and development, justification of organizational and content of training, determining the criteria and indicators of readiness of future social workers and psychologists to work with students with functional health limitations in higher education. The main research methods were to determine a group of theoretical methods (retrospective-comparative, systematization, synthesis, generalization, abstraction, theoretical modeling) and empirical (pedagogical experiment, expert questioning and evaluation, psychological and pedagogical observation, conversation, testing, questionnaires, interviews), as well as methods of mathematical statistics. The essence of the main criteria of readiness of future social workers and psychologists to work with students with functional limitations are following: information-cognitive, technological-procedural, organizational-integration, psychological-personal and readiness indicators. Thus, the indicators of information and cognitive criteria we have identified: the possession of basic knowledge of adaptation, socialization, integration of students with functional health limitations. Indicators of technological and procedural criteria determine: the use of computer information, Internet technology, social pedagogical interactive technologies, and also technologies of creation of barrier-free space of higher educational institutios. Organizational and integration criteria - readiness for professional social activity in the higher educational institutios; volunteer activity; scientific, academic socio-pedagogical mobility of future social workers. Psychological and personal criteria – the formation of emotional stability, positive life orientation and leadership qualities of the future social worker. The obtained data of the formative experiment confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed system of professional and pedagogical training of future social workers and psychologists to work with students with functional health limitations in higher education. Keywords: socialization, integration, adaptation, professional training, functional limitations.

Theoretical and applied issues of training future social workers on the basis of the competence approach during the study of the discipline are studied. Analysis and systematization of scientific research in the process of training future social workers allowed determining the main potential of the competence approach to training future social workers during their professionalization. The aim of the article is to describe and substantiate the competency approach during the study of the discipline «Fundamentals of research in social work». It is substantiated that training of social workers on the basis of competence approach during studying of discipline «Fundamentals of scientific researches in social work» allows to apply theoretical knowledge for the decision of practical problems, forms professionally necessary complex of competences, helps to develop students’ independent thinking, combining theory with practice. The benefit of article is that the paper analyzes each lesson (lecture and practical) and proposes a system of work on the formation of future social workers’ professional competencies within the components of readiness for professional activity. In author’s opinion, expanding the content of academic disciplines with theoretical knowledge and practical tasks for the organization and implementation of research in social work and professional development will enrich and modernize the content of future social workers’ training in the competence approach. In addition, the disclosure of ways to implement the training of future social workers in the competence approach will improve the quality of their training in modern conditions. The author of the article has made a conclusion that, on the basis of the analysis of the study of the discipline «Fundamentals of research in social work», the competence of the future social worker is seen as the ability to solve a wide range of tasks in the social field, the ability to quickly and quickly master new special skills, willingness to cope with new professional functions that determine the features of professional assistance to different types of clients. The prospects for further exploration in this area are seen by the author as systematization of innovative technologies of the organization of educational process of HEI, development of the system of forming the future social workers’ competence paradigm.

This paper describes the evaluation of an educational project, delivered in a Bachelor in Social Work degree (BSW) program in Northern Ireland. The project aimed to equip social work students to be more culturally competent in this divided society, with a central focus on including victim/survivor service users in social work training. A number of pedagogical approaches are noted, with particular consideration of Boler's ‘pedagogy of discomfort’ as a model that includes the multidimensional nature of the learning process when topics carry a high emotional tariff. The evaluation of the students' experience indicated that: there was strong support among students for the project; the unique contribution of service users was affirmed; and the project appeared to increase students' awareness and capacity to practice in a divided society. The evaluation of the trainers' experience highlighted key processes in the delivery of collaborative training. The authors argue that the lessons learned are broadly applicable to other forms of service user and carer involvement in social work training and in other societies in which health and social care professionals have to deal with the legacies of political conflict.

The relationship between socioeconomic level and health outcomes in older people has been widely studied, but less information about health inequalities associated with gender and place of residence exists. Also, there is scarce evidence of longitudinal inequalities, particularly in countries from the global south. This study aimed to describe the longitudinal patterns of health inequalities associated with wealth, gender, and residence area among older Mexican adults. We used data from two longitudinal studies in Mexico: The Study on Global AGEing and Adult Health (SAGE) and the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS). Three domains to characterize health inequities were used: wealth, gender, and rurality. We conducted an outcome-wide analysis with nine health indicators assessing older adults' physical and cognitive function. The Slope Index of Inequality and the Relative Index of Inequality were used as inequality measurements. Our results indicate that the greatest inequalities are observed in relation to wealth and gender. Older adults with lower socioeconomic status demonstrated higher rates of depression, sarcopenia, falls, and limitations in both basic and instrumental activities of daily living compared to their wealthier counterparts, with increasing trends in physical functionality over time. Furthermore, women experienced higher rates of depression, sarcopenia, frailty, and physical limitations compared to men. The only significant difference related to rurality was a lower rate of frailty among rural older adults. Longitudinal trajectories revealed an increase in the gap of inequality for various health indicators, especially in terms of wealth and gender. Health inequalities in old age are one of the greatest challenges facing health systems globally. Actions like universal coverage of health services for older people and the empowerment of individuals and their communities to have control over their lives and circumstances must be guaranteed.

The article substantiates that the training of prospective social pedagogues and social workers (as specialists who participate in the implementation of state social and educational policy) to purposeful activity with a view to stimulate sustainable development of various social groups (in particular, children, youth, adults, families, representatives of ‘risk groups’) is essential for implementing the strategy of the civilization’s sustainable development. It has been shown that social and pedagogical activity in the context of sustainable development should contribute to the development of the individual (as a key element of the social community of any level) as the subject of life, capable of preventing and solving life problems as well as responsible social subject, representative of family, community, nation, civilization, who is ready to consolidate efforts for sustainable progressive development of society. It has been proved that an important condition for the effectiveness of social and pedagogical activity to stimulate social groups to sustainable development is the creation of a spiritually full stimulating and creative environment in various social spheres, which would contribute to the spiritual-creative, personal-social and subjective development of various social groups’ representatives, stimulate them to self-organization and self-management, encourage to create their own living space. It has been shown in the study that future social pedagogues and workers should gain the skills to create spiritually full stimulating and creative environment with a view to promote sustainable development of social groups during their professional training at the university. There have been revealed the essence and components of spiritually full stimulating and creative environment (namely, socio-psychological, spiritual-value, creative-activity, developing-subjective, resource), which are invariant for creation of such environment, both in the process of professional training of future social pedagogues and workers and during their professional work in various social spheres. Methodological foundations, ways and indices of the creation of spiritually full stimulating and creative environment as well as the conditions for its effective functioning are determined. There also have been shown the elements of the experience of establishing such atmosphere by students future social pedagogues in the process of practice and volunteering in various social spheres. It has been proved that such activities have positive holistic impact on the representatives of various social groups stimulating them to their own self-improvement as well as to individual and joint activity for improving social life.

We are pleased to present this special edition of Research on Social Work Practice based upon a set of recent selected empirical studies on Chinese instrument/scale development and intervention research. Specifically, these selected articles reflected the types of designs submitted for publication to Research on Social Work Practice in 2015–2016 and also their methodological quality. Prior to presenting introductory comments about these articles, we would be remiss not briefly contextualizing the state of the social work research in China and Hong Kong. China the country and Hong Kong a geographically designated special administrative region within it have seen much growth in the past two to three decades. The landmark SinoBritish Joint Declaration transferred the sovereignty of Hong Kong back to China on July 1, 1997, after 100 years of British rule, under the current idealized ‘‘one country, two systems’’ agreement. Hong Kong and Mainland China have undergone considerable growing pains both separately and together. Social work was first introduced to China in the 1920s but was eliminated in the early 1950s by the Communist government. After almost 30 years, it was restored to the university curriculum in 1988 because social service was deemed useful in addressing social problems triggered by the introduction of the ‘‘Open-Door’’ economic policy of China (Yuen Tsang & Wang, 2008). In 2006, the 16th Central Committee meeting of the Chinese Communist Party released a document which stated the necessity to establish ‘‘a grand team of professional social workers’’ to help in building a more harmonious society. This marked a new chapter for the development of social work in China (Yuen Tsang & Wang, 2008). At present, it is estimated that there are at least 310 tertiary education institutes that have a social work undergraduate program and about 104 with a social work masters’ program in China (Sim & Lau, 2016). Nonetheless, to date, intervention research is not well developed in China. Sim and Lau (2016) analyzed the content of n 1⁄4 206 practice research articles in Chinese journals published in the Peoples’ Republic of China since 1915 and found that only a few studies used quasi-experimental designs (3.4%) and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) (1.9%). Compared to Mainland China, Hong Kong has much fewer government-funded/supported universities. Hong Kong has only eight government-funded universities, of which five of them offer bachelor(or above) level social work training programs, including The University of Hong Kong, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, City University of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Hong Kong Baptist University. However, the social work educational system in Hong Kong is more structured with layered progressions and clearly articulated role differentiations between different types of programs: higher diploma in social work, bachelor of social work, bachelor of social work (honors), bachelor of social sciences (honors) in social work, bachelor of arts (honors) in social work, bachelor of social science in social work, master of social work, master of social sciences in social work, master of social science in social work, and doctor of social work. Unlike North America, the titles of these Hong Kong degrees in social work still have a very applied social sciences connotation in their respective programs. Hong Kong formally started its social work education in the early 1950s, and since then, it has developed considerably. At present, graduates with either a recognized diploma/associate degree or a degree entry-level training in social work are eligible for registration with the Social Workers’ Registration Board, with the practice designation ‘‘registered social worker.’’ On the whole, the quality of these programs is high, even when compared to international standards. Hong Kong scholars are also very productive in social work research publications. A simple search via the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) database in June 2016 indicated that there were N 1⁄4 752 articles related to Hong Kong or China categorized under ‘‘social work’’ in the SSCI. Among the top 10 authors constituting 19% of this set of social work articles related to Hong Kong or China, 9 were Hong Kong Chinese

Phil Slater is Principal Lecturer in Health and Social Sciences at Middlesex University. He has researched and published widely on elder abuse and adult protection, attempting in particular to identify appropriate inputs to social work education and training. He was actively supported in this endeavour by colleagues within the Social Work Academic Group, notably, Dr Linda Bell (Principal Lecturer in Research Methods), Dr Helen Cosis Brown (Curriculum Leader) and Ravi Kohli (Chair of Academic Group).

The following article is part of the teaching innovation project entitled ‘The use of life history through ICTs for “conceptual teaching” in Social Sciences’, carried out at the University Pablo de Olavide (Seville, Spain) between September 2021 and March 2022, with a sample of students of Social Work (n = 110) and Double Degree in Sociology and Social Work (n = 52). This article consisted of the analysis of life history, taking as a reference Pierre Bourdieu’s book, ‘The “Misery” of the World’, as well as the development of the biographical or semi-structured interview. The main objective was to examine the potential of the life history and the biographical interview through ICTs for conceptual teaching in Social Sciences in Social Work students. For this purpose, we applied a posttest of satisfaction after the teaching innovation project, with a double quantitative and qualitative approach, ad-hoc with open questions and a Likert scale. The main conclusions were the students’ satisfaction with the use of the life history and interview as a didactic resource, as well as a satisfactory acquisition of sociological skills and knowledge, such as critical thinking, micro/macro connections and the interaction between structure and agency, among others.

Although social work was founded to address issues of marginalisation such poverty and inequality, social work practice with older persons has largely evolved in the sphere of health where standardisation, objectivity, and evidence have shaped practice. As the population ages however, the intersections of aging, poverty, housing and other aspects of marginalisation, have become increasingly difficult to ignore paving the way for scholars in critical gerontology to offer important directions for practice with older adults. This chapter draws on research on late-life homelessness to highlight how manifestations of social issues related to poverty, inequality and housing reflect changing conditions, a need for revised theoretical approaches, and a return to the analysis of the relationship between structures and experiences of aging. Emphasising the renewed importance of a critical agenda as a means to analyse and address the relationships between structures and older people’s lives, this chapter aims to inform theoretical debates and practical training in gerontological social work.