I was invited by The Guardian to write a blog about social work education: see link below.
http://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/social-life-blog/2015/jun/17/dont-take-social-work-training-away-from-universities
My motivation to write about this issue stems from my desire to ensure that current students and those about to embark on their social work education develop as knowledgeable, reflective and critically aware social work practitioners, and avail themselves of the wide range of additional opportunities which a university education can bring. The Guardian blog explores some of these. I might have added that university education exposes students to knowledge derived from a long standing commitment by the profession to continuously improve practice and service users experiences through rigorous research and inquiry. Familiarity with new technologies and digital competence are also much needed skills for social work practice and are central to university education. Social work practitioners need to be equipped with critical thinking skills, and the confidence and abilities to challenge "common sense" thinking and be emotionally literate. I am not suggesting that private training providers can't facilitate this, I am however suggesting that the emphasis on producing social workers who can "do the job" is driven by ideology. The education of social workers does not end once they begin to practice, indeed their continuing professional development is critical, and the current governments' interest in social work might be better oriented towards supporting and resourcing CPD in the same way that other human service professions are.
Whenever I hear the term "common sense" it reminds me of Antonion Gramsci and his consideration on what constitued "common sense" and how it differs from "good sense" For Gramsci, common sense comprises the "diffuse, unco-ordinated features of a general form of thought common to a particular period and a particular popular environment" (Gramsci 1971:330). For Gramsci, 'good sense' is altogether different, it is more nuanced, considered and thoughtful. I t takes inot consideration the particular social, economic and political climate. Camerons invocation of a "common sense" approach is disingenious; it is an attempt to recast Social Work and disengage it from a structural perspectives that require a critique of society and it's impact on the individual. Encouraging critical perspectives in students is vital for the development of a profession that seeks to speak truth to power, it needs to take place in University's and needs to be facilitated by academics, any other method lacks credibility and is unethical.
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