The Social Work Degree Apprenticeship

Developed specifically for the social work degree apprenticeship, this book guides apprentices through the unique requirements of this new qualifying route. With contributions from academics, employers and students, it provides a broad and inclusive perspective to build effective working relationships. The social work degree apprenticeship is unlike any other qualifying route to become a professional social worker. Apprentices have to juggling a number of competing demands, balancing their work and learning commitments, the expectations of their employer and those of their university. It can be intense, high-paced and stressful, and very often apprentices are mature students who may not have been in formal learning environment for many years. This book has been written specifically with apprentices in mind and by a range of stakeholders, not just academics, who draw upon their experience and expertise to help apprentices successfully navigate this qualification. Key theoretical concepts are introduced throughout, practical advice given and learning features encourage reflection and application, making this a go-to textbook, whether it’s your first time taking a degree or you’re a mature student returning to study - this is an essential companion to your learning journey, helping you manage your relationship with your university and employer.

An essential guide for all students studying for a Master's degree in social work, whether they have come directly from their undergraduate studies or after a period of employment. This book focuses specifically on the skills needed to study social work at Master's level, helping students get to grips with the academic rigour required at this higher level of study. This includes research skills, writing style, tone, the emphasis on self-reflection and the need to communicate in both academic and professional contexts. Pedagogical features and activities provide opportunities to explore, analyse and reflect on what has been learnt. The book will help cultivate a social practice approach to writing, raise awareness of the choices available, and aid understanding so that readers can produce the types of discourse required at Master’s level in social work.

This revised second edition of Social Work: The Basics is an insightful introduction to the often misrepresented world of social work. This accessible book presents a broad view of contemporary social work, exploring its roots and its possible future. It dispels myths surrounding social work, addresses media debates, and offers a balanced account of what social workers do. Arguing for a social work that is partisan in support of social justice, questions covered include: How did social work arise? How and why do people come into contact with social workers? What are the true aims of social work – to help or to control? What is the relationship between social work and social policy? How and why do people become social workers? What’s it like to be a social worker? Can social work cross borders? Drawing examples from the full range of social work practice, this book is valuable reading for all individuals interested in the field of social work. It will provide a helpful introduction for students considering a career in social work, those beginning social work courses, and other professionals whose work brings them into contact with social workers.

The eminent Harvard educationalist Howard Garner writes a preface to the Place Model within his Good Project Blog which provides a preface to this timely book. Professional is a slippery term, open to willful abuse, misuse and misunderstanding – as evidenced by the ways in which this chameleon term can be used as both a compliment and an insult. In this book academics from a range of professional fields deconstruct ‘professional’ and reimagine professionals in an age of rapid change where professionals are both increasingly in demand and frequently under threat. Several deploy the lens of Clarke’s Place Model to examine professions including teaching, midwifery, social work, journalism, and optometry. Some papers are empirical and some are based around using the Place Model as a thought experiment. All turn a critical eye on professionals and all find them to be, like all humans, neither devils nor divines (Maya Angelou), but at their best a combination of two indispensable characteristics, trustworthiness and expertise.

Flapjacks and Feudalism: Social Mobility and Class in The Archers is an excavation into the family and class politics found in the clans of the residents of Ambridge, in BBC Radio 4’s The Archers.

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a critical juncture in the development of the welfare state affirming its importance for its citizens’ economic, health and wellbeing, and safety, especially for its most vulnerable populations. It demonstrated that the crisis preparedness that is crucial for an effective protection of its citizens, the ultimate purpose of the welfare state, unquestionably exceeds the narrow horizon of a corporatised welfare industry with its singular focus on the maximisation of profit for the elites and cost containment for the government. Social workers need to engage with the contradictions and tensions that spring from underfunded welfare services and engage in the political struggle over a well-resourced welfare state. Contributors to this book take on this challenge. By tracing the various contradictions of the pandemic, the contributors reflect on new ways of thinking about welfare by exploring what to keep, what to challenge and what to change. By highlighting important challenges for a social justice-focused response as well as exploring the many challenges exposed by the pandemic facing social work for the coming decades, contributors critically outline pathways in social work that might contribute to the shaping of a less cruel and more capable welfare state. Using case-studies from Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia, Italy, Slovenia, Estonia, Sweden, Spain, South Africa, Canada, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, China and the United States, the book features 19 chapters by leading experts. This book will be of interest to all social work scholars, students and practitioners, as well as those working in social policy and health more broadly.

This very practical guide will teach students everything they need to know to successfully apply theory, methods and approaches in real-life practice. It will assist in developing and hone their skills to make the best start in their practice placement and beyond as a newly qualified practitioner. To get the most out of this book, visit the companion website at https://www.study.sagepub.com/rogers2e to find journal articles, templates, ‘how to’ guides and brand new videos with discussion questions, and a glossary.