Changes on the horizon for social work practice education

Published by Professional Social Work magazine, 22 June, 2022

Every few years, practice education acquires new or refreshed quality frameworks and standards aiming to strengthen the skills and knowledge of those entering the social work profession.

The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care published in May and the imminent publication of Social Work England’s Vision for Education and Training, point towards a new direction for practice education. This could involve increased oversight of the practice educator role and a new approach for delivering post-qualifying social work education.

Social Work England has referred to the pivotal role of practice educators in preparing new social workers for employment and have plans to oversee the training and support provided for them.

The five year Early Career Framework for social workers will move away from the first year of assessed and supported year in employment (AYSE) to be replaced by a two-year period of assessment prior to gaining the status of an ‘expert practitioner’.

Practice educator training is likely to become more integrated within the five-year plan as one of the routes available for experienced practitioners who have completed their first two years of social work frontline employment.

There could be several benefits here for practice education. The proposed sharpened focus will be on post-qualifying training aimed at attracting and retaining skilled professionals.

By introducing a progression points system linked to incremental pay increases it is hoped social workers will have a more structured career plan with a clearer route towards practice education or for those wanting to extend their skills in frontline practice or move towards management.

There could be a more co-ordinated approach to qualifying and post-qualifying education by streamlining the multiple frameworks and quality assurance systems currently in place. Also, the current ‘standards saturation’ experience for both social work students and practice educator trainees has the potential to be streamlined, and this could be the opportunity to re-look at this.

There could even be scope to further value the role of practice educators and ensure that this is given prominent attention as part of Social Work England’s vision for social work education and training.

However, the proposals for change are complex and multi-layered. It would be a shame to lose some of the creative and collaborative work that has been happening recently to raise the profile of practice education.

The ‘Look After Practice Educators’ joint initiative by BASW and the National Organisation for Practice Teaching has shone a much-needed light on the real need for practice educators to be recognised and supported within their teams and by the wider profession, which includes helpful guidance being made available for employers.

The review of the Practice Educator Professional Standards (PEPS), for practice educator trainees is being published this summer. This now includes guidance and assessment that is fully integrated with the values for social work practice and provides a comprehensive set of recommendations for PEPS providers, higher education institutions and PEPS trainees.

There is a golden opportunity for social work organisations to work together to review the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF) to retain its strong emphasis on value-based practice which is widely upheld by students, educators and practitioners.

There is a concern that the recent work to quality assure current practice education arrangements will be undermined by the emphasis on new career pathways linked to the new national pay scales recommended in the independent review.

Although recognition of hard work by fair payment is vital for the profession, there are other enhancements that are valued by social workers, such as working in partnership with others, building relationships and being recognised for doing a difficult and complex job. I hope that the emphasis on financial renumeration will not dilute the strength of some of these qualities.

Perhaps most importantly, we need to retain the eclectic and diverse scope of social work and ensure that it doesn’t become a centralised, government-led agenda which splits off child protection work from other early intervention and children in need interventions and retains a holistic focus on both adult and children’s social work practice.

Practice education has experienced a particularly unsettled time over the last two years, so new changes need to provide clear, coordinated and constructive ways to improve the training and support available for social workers.

Primarily, we need to ensure that new quality standards and frameworks are cohesive and do not undermine the fundamentals of social work values.

Jenni Burton. Chair of BASW Professional Capabilities and Development Group