Responses to the last Social Work Connections poll indicate that a large number of readers considered it 'very important' that their practice assessor is a registered social worker. We received a total of 766 responses to our question of which 695 said it was 'very important', 41 said it was 'quite important' and only 30 felt that it was 'not important'.
The current standards do not require practice educators to be social work qualified. However, with strong sector support the Social Work Reform Board recently confirmed that from October 2013, all final placements should be supervised and assessed by a Stage 2 qualified practice educator, who is also a registered social worker (RSW). Transitional arrangements have been put in place due to concerns about the availability of placements, to enable Stage 1 qualified practice educators who are non-RSWs to supervise and assess first placements, where necessary until the 2015 academic year.
These would be the minimum expectations and employers and HEIs would be free to develop requirements at a higher level individually or collaboratively.
There is also a view in the sector that the skills required to be a good social worker are not necessarily the same skills needed to be a good teacher/assessor. It can be argued that others with a background in teaching, assessment or even those with experience of using social care services can take on and successfully carry out this role.
We felt it was important to put forward the views of practice educators, so two are sharing their experiences via blogs on our website. One is a social worker and the other a non-social worker.
Stefan Liebrecht, a qualified social worker feels that it might be beneficial for practice educators to have a background in social work as it enables the implementation of putting social work theories into practice. He also feels that having a qualified practice educator helps to raise the standards in social work and further develop a professional identity for social workers as part of an academic learning process.
June Sadd, a practice educator who is not a social worker believes that effective practice educators can be both qualified social workers and non-social workers who complement each other in enhancing learning opportunities for the student. She emphasises the importance of the skills that can be brought on board by non-social work practice educators drawing on her own experiences.
To read the full blog posts and let us know what you think, please visit: www.gscc.org.uk/blog.php
Poll result:
How important is it that your practice assessor is a registered social worker?
Very important | 695 |
