+

Enhancing the Readiness to Practise of NQSWs

in Aotearoa New Zealand

+Project team

Neil Ballantyne, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand.

Dr. Liz Beddoe, Associate Professor of Social Work , University of Auckland.

Dr. Kath Hay, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, Massey University.

Dr. Jane Maidment, Associate Professor of Social Work, University of Canterbury.

+FTE time on task

+Issues for social work education in Aotearoa New Zealand

Seventeen programmes of social work accredited using ten generic competences.

Vocal government and stakeholder critique of readiness to practise based on anecdote and opinion.

New challenges to employers in the form of government social service and CYF reforms.

Lack of clarity regarding capability of NQSWs and capabilities at other points in the career journey.

To create a map of the content of the social work curriculum in New Zealand.

To discover the perceptions of students, managers and service users on the readiness to practise of NQSWs in Aotearoa NZ.

To collaborate in the production of a social work capabilities framework with clear expectations for the social work curriculum.

To enable TEIs to graduate NQSWs who are confident, capable and ready to practise.

The problem The opportunity

+Project aims

Develop a Professional Capabilities Framework clarifying the capabilities of newly qualified social workers (NQSWs) and social workers at experienced, advanced and expert levels of practice.

+Project research questions

What is the content of the current New Zealand social work curriculum and how does it relate to the SWRB core competencies?

How well prepared are NQSWs to enter professional social work practice and how is their learning being supported and enhanced in the workplace?

What professional capabilities, including cultural capabilities, should we expect of NQSWs and of social workers working at experienced, advanced and expert levels of practice?

+A project in three phases

+Phase 1: Map the curriculum Write a literature scan of literature relevant to the process

of curriculum mapping in professional education. Collect and analyse the curriculum documents of

participating TEIs. Create a taxonomy of Topics for Indexing Social Work

Education in Aotearoa New Zealand (TISWEANZ). Use the taxonomy to map the curriculum at each of the

TEIs. Hold focus groups with one group of educators and one

group of final year students at eight of the participating TEIs. Write a report that profiles the social work curriculum

nationally and at individual TEIs (anonymised).

+Phase 2: Assess the readiness to practise of NQSWs Write a literature scan of literature relevant to the

readiness to practise of NQSWs. Conduct an online survey of all NQSWs and their

managers who have been in post-qualifying practice for between six months and one year.

Interview a sample of NQSW students and their managers to assess perceived readiness to practise.

Conduct focus groups of service users to assess perceived readiness to practise of NQSWs.

Write a report on the readiness to practise of NQSW’s in New Zealand

+Phase 3:Co-produce a Professional Capabilities Framework Write a literature scan of literature on professional

capabilities frameworks in social work education. Conduct a content analysis of existing capabilities

frameworks. Enable engagement of stakeholders using an online card

sorting exercise. Hold five stakeholder workshops to explore issues and

gather stakeholder input. Consult project reference groups on draft Professional

Capabilities Framework. Hold launch event for the Aotearoa New Zealand Social

Work PCF.

The stakeholders

+The logic model

Mission: Develop a PCF clarifying the capabilities of NQSWs and social workers at experienced, advanced and expert levels of

practice.

Context: Rapid policy change in social services environment, sustained critique of readiness to practise of NQSWs, no shared

vision of career pathway.