Social Work Practice: Professional Capabilities Briefing

1. Practice Educator’sBriefing Workshop 334SW September 2014

2. Paulo Freire:Praxis • Time eventually arrived to engage, apply, exercise, realize and go forward into practice. • “ Reflection and action upon the world, in order to transform it.” ( Freire, P, 1986 Pedagogy of the Oppressed, New York Continuum, p.36).

3. Practice Placement • 100 day placement- 15th September – 6th February 2015 • Induction- 11th, 12th September- Placement days • Full time placement- 5 days per week inc ½ day study • Expectation to attend placement during working hours of agency- 7- 7 ½ • 3 Recall Days- 10th Oct, 5th Dec, 23rd Jan

4. Practice Placement Handbook • Introduction including calendar and key dates • Module Descriptor- Assessment Guidance • Guidance to completion of Portfolio( in green) • Roles and Responsibilities • Difficulties in Placement • Practice Placement Evaluation • Appendices including Proformas

5. Placement Cycle • Practice Placement Agreement- sets out Induction process, learning objectives, workload, supervision arrangements, assessment, generating evidence, power issues, shared expectations, time scales • Midway Review- review of progress, any issues, is the student on track to pass the placement, strengths, focus and development for remainder of placement • End of placement- collation of evidence, practice educator makes final recommendation.

6. Professional Capabilities Framework • The PCF was developed by the Social Work Reform Board in response to new and changing circumstances. • Introduced as the single way social work should think about and plan their careers and professional development. • Serves as a backdrop to both social work education and continuing professional development. • Developed by social workers for social workers (TCSW).

7. What is its Purpose? • Professional rather than occupational framework • Will replace previous standards not an additional set of expectations • Includes independent social workers • Increasing skills of PE to provide a professional opinion, judgement of assessor considered central to making a holistic decision about performance • Unified structure for lifelong learning

8. What is its purpose? It is a “ living” document and “sets out the professions expectations of what a social worker should be able to do at each stage of their career and professional development” http://www.tcsw.org.uk/pcf.aspx

9. PCF Domains • 9 domains and 9 levels of capabilities • Domains are interdependent • Overlap between the capabilities • Not evidencing every part, understand the relevant domain and refer to in discussion of practice. • Many issues will be relevant to more than one capability • Relevant to social workers in all settings and with all service user groups. • First attempt to provide a professional framework linked to career progression.

10. The 9 Domains • Professionalism • Values and Ethics • Diversity • Rights, Justice and Economic Well being • Knowledge • Critical Reflection and Analysis • Intervention and Skills • Contexts and Organisations • Professional Leadership

11. Professionalism • Upholding the reputation of the profession… honesty, reliability • Effective and active use of supervision • Managing Time • Impact of Self • Recognising and Maintaining Professional Boundaries

12. Values and Ethics • Individual’s Identity…. Culture, economic status • Challenge personal and organisational discrimination • Recognise and manage impact of power invested in social work role

13. Rights, Justice and Economic Well Being • Impact of poverty and social exclusion • Promotion of enhanced economic status • Work within principles of human rights

14. Knowledge • Critical understanding of application of social work theory, knowledge of legal, policy framework • Knowledge of human growth and development • Key concepts of attachment, separation, loss, change • Expertise of service users/carers

15. Critical Reflection and Analysis • Apply imagination, creativity, and curiosity to practice • Evidence informed judgments and justifiable decisions • Inform decision making, rigorous questioning

16. Intervention and Skills • Range of verbal and non verbal and written methods of communication • Ability to engage with people, build and manage compassionate and effective relationships • Holistic approach to identification of need

17. Contexts and Organization • Social work operates and responds to changing economic, social, political and organisational contexts • Legal obligations within organisations and how impacts on policy • Demonstrate effective partnership working…… inter- professional and inter agency dimension

18. Professional Leadership • Recognise importance of professional leadership as a social worker • Recognise value of and contribute to supporting the learning and development of others

19. PCF Progression • Entry Level • Assessed Readiness for Practice • End of first placement • End of last placement/qualification • ASYE • Social Worker • Experienced Social Worker • Advanced Practitioners Pathways

21. PCF Progression • Progression between levels is characteristically, “ development of people’s ability to manage risk, ambiguity and increasingly autonomous decision making across a range of situations” • http://www.tcsw.org.uk/uploadedFiles/PCFNOVprogression-between-levels.pdf

22. First Placement • By the end of the first placement students should demonstrate : • Effective use of knowledge, skills and commitment to core values in social work in a given setting in predominantly less complex situations with support and supervision. • Demonstrate capacity to work with people and situations where there may not be clear cut solutions.

23. Final Placement • By end of qualifying programmes newly qualified social workers should have: • Demonstrated the knowledge, skills and values to work with a range of service user groups. • The ability to undertake a range of tasks at foundation level.

24. Final Placement • The capacity to work with more complex situations, be able to work more autonomously, whilst recognising that the final decision will rest with appropriate support within supervision. • The capabilities will have been demonstrated through the last placement together with the final assessment of other work.

25. Holistic Approach • This is a different conceptual approach • Previous interpretation of NOS suggests and reinforces a segmented or “ partial” approach. ( tick box). • Thus assessors need to exercise judgement, yet also pay attention to detail where necessary.

26. Holistic Assessment • Support judgements about readiness to progress in an holistic way • Not a micro focus on competence • Holistic Assessment is progressive leading to final assessment, formative or summative • In progressive assessment everything that takes place counts towards the assessment decision. • Staged learning, including work undertaken on qualifying programme.

27. Standards of Proficiency (SOPS) • Important Standard as set by HCPC • Developed alongside the SWRB • PCF and SOPS have different roles • SOPs are thresholds of standards • Incorporates and extends the PCF • PCF describes the capabilities required • See Appendices in Placement Handbook

28. Assessed Tasks • Practice Analysis- 23rd Jan 2015 • Portfolios ( 2 copies bound) to be submitted by 6th March 2015 • Not to go through university online system (Turnitin), due to confidentiality of material. • Practice Educators asked to have final report completed in advance of the deadline, 20th Feb 2015

29. Portfolio: Generating Evidence • Practice Placement Agreement • Practice Placement Summary • Midway Review ( approx mid Nov) • Observations of Practice x 3 • Service User/Carer Feedback x 1 • Practice Analysis x 1 • Professional Recording x 3 • Critical Reflection • Self Evaluation • Practice Educator’s Evidence/Recommendation