Building Capacity in Practice Learning

You are invited to our building capacity in practice education event. We have a fantastic line up of speakers including Professor Mark Doel, Dr Jennifer Allen, Síne Charles, Gay Robinson, Dr Erna O’Connor, Dr Sinéad Whiting, and Kevin Ryan. This event is led by Eleanor Kelly, Practice Learning Co-ordinator for the MA in Social Work (MSW) at the University of Galway and supported by the National Health and Social Care Professions Office. (HSCP).

Presentations:

Social Work Placements: A Traveller’s Guide, Professor Mark Doel.

A Traveller’s Guide is about introducing students to social work and how you (the practice teacher) can make best use of your ‘landscape’ in order to help the student to understand it in the context of social work practice and theory. It also helps you the practice teacher to understand your own landscape better. And it’s fun!

Group supervision: Professor Mark Doel will also present a session on group supervision in practice education.

Professor Mark Doel, PhD, is a registered social worker and Professor Emeritus at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. He has twenty years’ community-based social work practice, specialising in groupwork and task-centred practice. He has experience as a social work teacher and trainer, practice educator, head of school of social work, a writer (22 books, plus many scholarly articles and chapters), journal editor, a researcher, project director and external examiner. He leads workshops in groupwork and practice education. He is researching the use of objects in direct practice, with support from Coram/BAAF and with Universidad de Los Lagos, Osorno, Chile: social work in 40 objects

The experience of co-practice teaching in social work; an exploratory case study of what works in practice, Dr Jennifer Allen, Síne Charles and Gay Robinson.

Dr Jennifer Allen, Síne Charles and Gay Robinson are social work colleagues practicing in an Older Adult Mental Health Service in South Dublin with extensive experience of co-practice teaching. All very much value the reciprocal learning that is gained from hosting student placements, but appreciate the constraints of being a sole facilitator. In 2023, Jennifer and Gay published a case study based on their and some of their social work students experiences of co-practice teaching in the Journal of Practice Teaching and Learning entitled: 'The experience of co-practice teaching in social work; an exploratory case study of what works in practice'. Jennifer, Síne and Gay’s input will focus on an exploration of what works in practice through sharing insights from the student and practice teacher perspective, and a reflective framework for co-practice teaching, and round table discussions.

Experiences of a pilot tutor-led, placement programme in a healthcare context, through a Communities of Practice lens, Dr Erna O’Connor and Dr Sinéad Whiting, and Kevin Ryan.

Dr Erna O’Connor and Dr Sinéad Whiting are Assistant Professors in Social Work and Practice Education Coordinators at Trinity College Dublin. Kevin Ryan is a Senior Social Work Practitioner and Placement Coordinator at St James’s Hospital, Dublin. Together, Erna, Sinéad and Kevin share a strong commitment to high-quality, innovative social work practice education. Sinéad and Erna, along with colleagues from other higher education institutions, were founding members of the National Practice Teaching in Social Work Initiative (NPTSWI). In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, they developed a Hybrid Placement Model that continues to inform placement structures across social work education. In 2023, Kevin collaborated with Trinity College on a pilot tutor-led placement programme at St James’s Hospital. This project was supported by the School of Social Work and Social Policy and funded by the HSCP. Drawing on learning from the pilot tutor-led programme and the subsequent evaluation of this post, their presentation will explore collaborative models of placement, including hybrid and tutor-led innovations, and will share insights into what works in practice from both academic and frontline perspectives.