NOPT Annual Conference 2013Dr Jo Finch

J.Finch@uel.ac.uk

Failing to See the Road Signs?

MY STARTING POINT…That social work, and definitions of what is good

(enough) social work, are heavily contested.That assessing students in practice learning

settings is a very complex task.That professional training courses within

universities raise unique challenges and complexities.

And that when issues of struggling or failing students emerge – these complexities come to the fore.

MY STARTING POINT…That social work, and definitions of what is good

(enough) social work, are heavily contested.That assessing students in practice learning

settings is a very complex task.That professional training courses within

universities raise unique challenges and complexities.

And that when issues of struggling or failing students emerge – these complexities come to the fore.

MY STARTING POINT…That social work, and definitions of what is good

(enough) social work, are heavily contested.That assessing students in practice learning

settings is a very complex task.That professional training courses within

universities raise unique challenges and complexities.

And that when issues of struggling or failing students emerge – these complexities come to the fore.

My 1st thoughtThat assessment frameworks cannot protect us from the emotional pain of struggling or failing students.

MY STARTING POINT…That social work, and definitions of what is good

(enough) social work, are heavily contested.That assessing students in practice learning

settings is a very complex task.That professional training courses within

universities raise unique challenges and complexities.

And that when issues of struggling or failing students emerge – these complexities come to the fore.

My 2nd ThoughtThat assessment frameworks can’t always make adequate sense of the complexities

MY STARTING POINT…That social work, and definitions of what is good

(enough) social work, are heavily contested.That assessing students in practice learning

settings is a very complex task.That professional training courses within

universities raise unique challenges and complexities.

And that when issues of struggling or failing students emerge – these complexities all come to the fore.

My 3rd ThoughtThat these complexities can often make relations between the field and the academy challenging.

MY STARTING POINT…That social work, and definitions of what is good

(enough) social work, are heavily contested.That assessing students in practice learning

settings is a very complex task.That professional training courses within

universities raise unique challenges and complexities.

And that when issues of struggling or failing students emerge – these complexities all come to the fore.

4th ThoughtWhether we like it or not – the placement remains a key site of gate keeping

New Road Signs and

Regulatory LandscapeConcerns

about Practice Learning The Challenges of

Working With Struggling

or FailingStudents in

Practice LearningSettings

Presentation will explore

New Road Signs and

Regulatory LandscapeConcerns

about Practice Learning The Challenges of

Working With Struggling

or FailingStudents in

Practice LearningSettings

Presentation will explore

BUT FIRST!INTRODUCTIONS

BRIEF INTRODUCTIONSenior Lecturer in Social Work, MA Social

Work Programme Leader and Admissions Tutor, University of East London

Course Tutor, Professional Doctorate in Social Work, Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust

Practice Educator & MentorLong standing research interest in students

failing in practice learning settings.

BRIEF INTRODUCTIONSenior Lecturer in Social Work, MA Social

Work Programme Leader and Admissions Tutor, University of East London

Course Tutor, Professional Doctorate in Social Work, Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust

Practice Educator & MentorLong standing research interest in students

failing in practice learning settings.

2010 – completed professional doctorate that explored why practice educators found it so difficult to fail students. 2011 (with Alberto Poletti) compared Italian practice educators of working with failing students with UK practice educators.2011/12 explored tutors experiences of working with

failing students in practice learning settings2013 – currently undertaking an ethnographic pilot

study of practice assessment panels.

2013 (with Schaub & Dalrymple) theorising our data further using psychodynamic frameworks, i.e. defensive mechanisms .

New Road Signs and Regulatory Landscape

KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION IN LAST DECADE

Social Work Degree•Introduction of Degree in Social Work in 2003•Number of placement days in increased from 130 to 200.•Fitness to practice requirements on new degree•“Suitability” and “termination of training” emphasised•Service user Involvement in all aspects of social work education•Stricter entry requirements

KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION IN LAST DECADE

Social Work Degree•Introduction of Degree in Social Work in 2003•Number of placement days in increased from 130 to 200.•Fitness to practice requirements on new degree•“Suitability” and “termination of training” emphasised•Service user Involvement in all aspects of social work education•Stricter entry requirements

Care Standards Act (2000)

•Social Work became a protected title•First tribunal hearing 2006•Requirement for CPD•Four regional care councils set up in England, Wales and Northern Ireland •GSCC abolished July 2012.•Regulatory Body in England now HCPC

KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION IN LAST DECADE

Social Work Degree•Introduction of Degree in Social Work in 2003•Number of placement days in increased from 130 to 200.•Fitness to practice requirements on new degree•“Suitability” and “termination of training” emphasised•Service user Involvement in all aspects of social work education•Stricter entry requirements

Care Standards Act (2000)

•Social Work became a protected title•First tribunal hearing 2006•Requirement for CPD•Four regional care councils set up in England, Wales and Northern Ireland •GSCC abolished July 2012.•Regulatory Body in England now HCPC

Changes to Post Qualifying Programmes (2007)

Three levels, specialist, higher specialists and advanced, with academic equivalents. Specialist pathways (i.e. practice education and management and leadership. Practice education started at higher specialist level.

KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION IN LAST DECADE

Social Work Degree•Introduction of Degree in Social Work in 2003•Number of placement days in increased from 130 to 200.•Fitness to practice requirements on new degree•“Suitability” and “termination of training” emphasised•Service user Involvement in all aspects of social work education

Care Standards Act (2000)

•Social Work became a protected title•First tribunal hearing 2006•Requirement for CPD•Four regional care councils set up in England, Wales and Northern Ireland

Changes to Post Qualifying Programmes (2007)

Three levels, specialist, higher specialists and advanced, with academic equivalents. Specialist pathways (i.e. practice education and management and leadership. Practice education started at higher specialist level.

BABY PETER.

“The 17-month-old boy was on Haringey Council's at-risk register and was visited more than 60 times by social workers, doctors and police. But he died after they failed to spot the horrific abuse he was suffering at the hands of his mother, her boyfriend and their lodger”. (Daily Telegraph, 2009)

BABY PETER.Social Work Task Force Set UpSocial Work Reform Board to take

forward the recommendationsMunro reportCollege of Social Work now in operationIntroduction of PCFNew Practice Educator Standards

ALL THESE DEVELOPMENTS HAVE AIMED AT:increasing public trust and confidence in the

profession (DH, 2002)making social work similar to comparator

professions, i.e. nursing (Orme, et al, 2009)Transforming the status and image of

profession (DH, 2002)Emphasising the centrality and importance

of practice learning in social work education.Recognising the importance of practice

educators

ALL THESE DEVELOPMENTS HAVE AIMED AT:increasing public trust and confidence in the

profession (DH, 2002)making social work similar to comparator

professions, i.e. nursing (Orme, et al, 2009)Transforming the status and image of

profession (DH, 2002)Emphasising the centrality and importance

of practice learning in social work education.Recognising the importance of practice

educators

“Students will have to undertake much of their learning in practice settings and demonstrate theircompetence in practice. Service providers, working in partnership with other key stakeholders, must deliver sufficient quantity and quality of practicelearning opportunities in order to ensure that tomorrow’s social workers are properly trained to do their job”. Jacqui Smith, Health Minister, 2002

Concerns about

Practice Learning

LONGSTANDING CONCERNS ABOUT PRACTICE LEARNING

Quantity and quality of placements (Sharp and Danbury, 1999; Kearney, 2003; Skills for Care, 2003)

Rarity of placement failure in UK (and internationally) (Coulshed, 1980; Hughes and Heycox, 1996; Raymond, 2000; Basnet and Sheffield, 2010)

Concerns about failure by profession to deal with issues of suitability in practice (Finch and Taylor, 2013)

Failing students in practice learning settings stressful and general reluctance to fail (Bogo et al, 2007; Finch, 2010; Schaub & Dalrymple, 2011)

Students being passed inappropriately (Shapton, 2006; Finch and Taylor, 2013)

RECENT CONCERNS ABOUT PRACTICE LEARNING

Practice educators find it emotionally painful to fail students (Schaub and Dalrymple, 2011; Finch and Taylor, 2013; Finch and Poletti, 2013)

Concerns that practice educators and tutors may “put off” making difficult decisions (Finch, forthcoming)

Concern about impact on current economic situation on the quality and quantity of placements (Finch, forthcoming)

CURRENT GOVERNMENT (UN-EVIDENCED) NARRATIVES ABOUT SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION:

Too many social work graduates – not enough jobs Social Work training not fit for purpose Current model a “barrier to most talented” (Michael Gove)

"Give me a student undertaking a three-year social work degree, consisting of the most unadulterated Marxist rubbish, and I will give you a social worker who puts their warped ideology ahead of the interests of those they are paid to serve," Harry Phibbs, Conservative Councillor

I am lost!

PRACTICE EDUCATORS

Emotionally painful (e.g. guilt and anger)

Internalise failure of student as own failure

Struggle to maintain adult learning principles

Role conflict/role strain

PRACTICE EDUCATORS

Emotionally painful (e.g. guilt and anger)

Internalise failure of student as own failure

Struggle to maintain adult learning principles

Role conflict/role strain

“I was really pissed off with him….I felt angry”. (Claire) (Finch, 2010)

PRACTICE EDUCATORS

Emotionally painful (e.g. guilt and anger)

Internalise failure of student as own failure

Struggle to maintain adult learning principles

Role conflict/role strain

“I was really pissed off with him….I felt angry”. (Claire) (Finch, 2010)

“…and I did actually think the next time you shout at me, I might actually shout back at you because who the fuck do you think you are…” (Daisy) (Finch, 2010)

PRACTICE EDUCATORS

Emotionally painful (e.g. guilt and anger)

Internalise failure of student as own failure

Struggle to maintain adult learning principles

Role conflict/role strain

“I was really pissed off with him….I felt angry”. (Claire) (Finch, 2010)

“…and I did actually think the next time you shout at me, I might actually shout back at you because who the fuck do you think you are…” (Daisy) (Finch, 2010)

“it was the first fail, I felt terribly guilty, I felt really…I had sleepless nights, felt quite sick, I felt incredibly guilty….” (Claire) (Finch, 2010)

PRACTICE EDUCATORS

Emotionally painful (e.g. guilt and anger)

Internalise failure of student as own failure

Struggle to maintain adult learning principles

Role conflict/role strain

“ That was the issue I was struggling with through this whole thing. How much of her failure was my fault?” (Terry) (Finch, 2010)

“I actually felt it was my failing because I wasn’t getting it [evidence] out of her….” (Martha)(Finch, 2010)

PRACTICE EDUCATORS

Emotionally painful (e.g. guilt and anger)

Internalise failure of student as own failure

Struggle to maintain adult learning principles

Role conflict/role strain

“…he [student] took on the role of a child sometimes and puppy dog. I’m the weak one and you're the strong one and it will be in your hands and you’re the supervisor…[it] carried on, the puppy dog eyes”. (Jude) (Finch, 2010)

PRACTICE EDUCATORS

Emotionally painful (e.g. guilt and anger)

Internalise failure of student as own failure

Struggle to maintain adult learning principles

Role conflict/role strain

“…there was a clash for me between the facilitator of learning role and the kind of management roles.” (Lily) (Finch, 2010)

SOCIAL WORK TUTORS

Managing and supporting practice educators and students at the same time.

“Good” tutors and “Bad” tutors

Conflicts with university systems

Practice Educators and Placements

SOCIAL WORK TUTORS

Managing and supporting practice educators and students at the same time.

“Good” tutors and “Bad” tutors

Conflicts with university systems

Practice Educators and Placements

“…the main challenge is that I feel slightly hypocritical sometimes because what we say to the students is ‘this is transparent process and we wont have any conversations or do anything you don’t know about’ but in reality, there are those conversations [with practice educators] which are sometimes a little more frank than those with the student might be.” (Adrian)

SOCIAL WORK TUTORS

Managing and supporting practice educators and students at the same time.

“Good” tutors and “Bad” tutors

Conflicts with university systems

Practice Educators and Placements

“…there is the level of complexity around the skills of the training team around the student…you’ve got some practice educators that are brilliant…but also to be fair, I question the capability of some academic staff.” (Carol)

“…Some tutors are more active than others and I think that being pro-active you can prevent a lot and I think it’s important that the tutor is proactive in getting to difficulties early and negotiating how to resolve them.” (Jane)

SOCIAL WORK TUTORS

Managing and supporting practice educators and students at the same time.

“Good” tutors and “Bad” tutors

Conflicts with university systems

Practice Educators and Placements

“…there are still problem with it [fitness to practice panels]…we have to argue and insist that somebody who is a registered, qualified social worker, is part of the panel…you’ve got to have a professionally qualified one on the panel”. (Carol)

“we have to fight sometimes to get them [the university] to even listen to our professional regulations. We have had a real struggle with that.” (Carol)

SOCIAL WORK TUTORS

Managing and supporting practice educators and students at the same time.

“Good” tutors and “Bad” tutors

Conflicts with university systems

Practice Educators and Placements

“…there are still problem with it [fitness to practice panels]…we have to argue and insist that somebody who is a registered, qualified social worker, is part of the panel…you’ve got to have a professionally qualified one on the panel”. (Carol)

“we have to fight sometimes to get them [the university] to even listen to our professional regulations. We have had a real struggle with that.” (Carol)

“the university prioritise students’ rights over the publics’ rights, whereas we have to protect the public rights as gatekeepers to the profession” (Gerry)

SOCIAL WORK TUTORS

Managing and supporting practice educators and students at the same time.

“Good” tutors and “Bad” tutors

Conflicts with university systems

Practice Educators and Placements

“the practice educator bottled it…I think it was easier to pass than it was to fail them…it’s a combination of things, partly a bit laziness where they are, for whatever reason, reluctant to do the hard, extra work..” (Adrian)

BACK TO MY 4 EARLIER THOUGHTS

1. That assessment frameworks cannot protect us from the emotional pain of struggling or failing students.

2. That assessment frameworks can’t always make adequate sense of the complexities

3. That these complexities can often make relations between the field and the academy challenging.

4. Whether we like it or not – the placement remains a key site of gate keeping

BACK TO MY 4 EARLIER THOUGHTS

1. That assessment frameworks cannot protect us from the emotional pain of struggling or failing students.

2. That assessment frameworks can’t always make adequate sense of the complexities

3. That these complexities can often make relations between the field and the academy challenging.

4. Whether we like it or not – the placement remains a key site of gate keeping

Finch and Poletti (2013) – Comparison of Italian and UK Practice Educators

•No national (or even regional) assessment framework for practice learning•Italian practice educators more emotionally measured responses when working with failing students.•Lack of assessment framework appeared to “protect” practice educators from the emotional pain.

BACK TO MY 4 EARLIER THOUGHTS

1. That assessment frameworks cannot protect us from the emotional pain of struggling or failing students.

2. That assessment frameworks can’t always make adequate sense of the complexities

3. That these complexities can often make relations between the field and the academy challenging.

4. Whether we like it or not – the placement remains a key site of gate keeping

Current ethnographic pilot study of practice assessment panels (preliminary findings);

•Practice educator reports do not always adequately capture the complexities of the situation and so assessment decisions being deferred (or put off?).

•PAP members often drawing on pre existing knowledge about the student in making decisions.

•Social work tutors play a powerful role in decision making

•Panels often become “split” – powerful voices prevail!

BACK TO MY 4 EARLIER THOUGHTS

1. That assessment frameworks cannot protect us from the emotional pain of struggling or failing students.

2. That assessment frameworks can’t always make adequate sense of the complexities

3. That these complexities can often make relations between the field and the academy challenging.

4. Whether we like it or not – the placement remains a key site of gate keepingAnger SPLITTING BLAMING

“Why does the university send us shit students?” (Mark, practice educator)

“I think the niceness factor needs to be decreased and maybe they [practice educators] need to get more demanding”. (Gerry – social work tutor)

BACK TO MY 4 EARLIER THOUGHTS

1. That assessment frameworks cannot protect us from the emotional pain of struggling or failing students.

2. That assessment frameworks can’t always make adequate sense of the complexities

3. That these complexities can often make relations between the field and the academy challenging.

4. Whether we like it or not – the placement remains a key site of gate keeping

Practice Learning Opportunity 1Entrance to Uni

Fitness to Practice

Academic work

Academic work

Practice Learning Opportunity 2

CONCLUDING COMMENTSThe presentation started off with road signs, but I

lost sight of them when discussing the complexities of practice.

Whatever assessment framework we use, teaching and learning relationships are complex and can raise in all of us, difficult emotional responses…

…which come to the fore when issues of failing students emerge and we may all lose sight of the road signs.

Relations between the field and the academy can then often become conflictual….

…and the assessment process becomes obscured.

CONCLUDING COMMENTS The presentation started off with road signs, but we

“lost” them when discussing the complexities of practice.

Whatever assessment framework we use, teaching and learning relationships are complex and can raise in all of us, difficult emotional responses…

…which come to the fore when issues of failing students emerge and we may lose sight of the road signs”.

Relations between the field and the academy can then often become conflictual….

…and the assessment process becomes obscured.

PCFSOPS

SETS

HCPC

Threshold

Failure Holistic Holistic Assessment

TCSW Service Users

Capability

FINAL WORDS

Developing robust gate keeping practices really important for all of us involved in social work education.

However painful and challenging, we must fail students if necessary.

Reflecting on the dynamics that emerge in teaching and learning relationships is vital.

The new road signs, i.e professional capability framework important but need to use carefully and recognise its potential, as well as its limitations.

Practice education is a highly skilled and complex task.

CONCLUDING COMMENTS The presentation started off with road signs, but we

“lost” them when discussing the complexities of practice.

Whatever assessment framework we use, teaching and learning relationships are complex and can raise in all of us, difficult emotional responses…

…which come to the fore when issues of failing students emerge and we may lose sight of the road signs”.

Relations between the field and the academy can then often become conflictual….

…and the assessment process becomes obscured.

PCFSOPS

SETS

HCPC

Threshold

Failure Holistic Holistic Assessment

TCSW Service Users

Capability

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Finch, J and Parker, J (2013) Editorial, Special Edition – Failing Students, Journal of

Practice Teaching and Learning, Vol. 11 (3) p3-6 Finch, J. and Poletti, I. (2013) ‘It’s been hell.’ Italian and British Practice Educators’

Narratives of Working with Struggling or Failing Social Work Students in Practice Learning Settings, European Journal of Social Work, DOI:10.1080/13691457.2013.800026

Finch, J. and Taylor, I. (2013) The Emotional Experience of Assessing a Struggling or Failing

Social Work Student in Practice Learning Settings, Special Edition – Field Education, Social Work Education, 32 (2) pp:244-258 DOI: 10.1080/02615479.2012.720250

Finch, J. (2010) “Can’t Fail, Won’t Fail – A Qualitative Study of Practice Assessors’ Experiences of Assessing Marginal or Failing Social Work Students” Unpublished DSW Thesis, Sussex University, Falmer

Special Edition – Failing Students, Journal of Practice Teaching and Learning, vol 11 (3) 2012/2013 – available from Whiting and Birch