Being a social worker is not just about helping people, it is also a commitment to lifelong learning. Every day brings challenges and real-life lessons but those working in social care must also complete two pieces of continuing professional development (CPD) annually to maintain their registered status.
CPD does not have to take place in a classroom as social workers are able to learn through a range of experiences in their working – and personal – lives. Conventional training and supervision is an option, but the regulator, Social Work England, also allows CPD from case work, professional feedback, mentoring, and personal lived experience. It particularly encourages CPD that is very personal to the practitioner. As long as it is relevant to a person’s role, and they can reflect on the learning and demonstrate how it has had a positive influence on their work, CPD can take some unexpected forms.
Here are five ways social workers say self-directed CPD has helped them to learn and improve:
Social media and podcasts. Dunmore Chihwehwete, a social care team manager in the London borough of Barnet, finds YouTube a valuable educational resource. He says: “I’ve learned a lot about the interaction between children and adults from watching recorded sessions between respected psychotherapists and their clients, particularly Salvador Minuchin. I listen to podcasts and audiobooks in the car. The truth is you’re always learning, whether it’s watching a Ted Talk or following an academic on Twitter. I also use an app called iTunes U, where universities upload lectures.”
Criticism and praise. Powerful lessons are learned when things go wrong. Anna Ramsey, a service manager for Essex county council’s adult social care department, takes part in a regular online meeting with her team in which good and bad news stories are shared. She says: “Some complaints are hard to hear, but they’re important learning opportunities. We need to ask: ‘How could we have done better?’ We celebrate successes and learn from errors.”
News, events and charitable efforts. A recently qualified social worker in Manchester, Ashiq Khan, gets involved in charities alongside his work and finds these organisations expand his understanding of the causes they champion. He also finds current events can have a big impact on his work. “I attended a vigil in Manchester for Brianna Ghey, the transgender girl killed there recently,” Khan says. “We have a responsibility in our work to challenge heteronormative ways of thinking and I’ve done a work presentation on the topic. It all made me think about our feelings about gender, sexual orientation, and general attitudes constructed over time. One of the most important reasons for undertaking CPD is to ensure the safety of the people we work with. It helps us to reflect and grow personally and as professionals.”
Documentaries, journals, films and novels. In a hectic working week, it can be tricky to find time for extra reading or watching work-related content. But Khan points out that interesting documentaries, as well as films and novels, can open up difficult topics and feed into CPD learning. “I recently watched a movie based on a true story about a woman who had been trafficked, who then ended up running brothels. It touched on areas we see in our work in Manchester and prompted me to do more research, leading me to other related documentaries. Eye-openers are everywhere, whether it’s in books, magazines or television,” says Khan.
Personal experience. Becky Cuming works for Cornwall council’s social services team, supporting five- to 11-year-olds who have experienced trauma. Some of her most valuable learning comes from reflecting on life experiences with colleagues. “In peer supervision, we used family therapist John Burnham’s social GGRRAAACCEEESSS exercise [looking at aspects of personal and social identity which afford people different levels of power and privilege] and we also did questionnaires on our own childhoods to increase our understanding of how the families we work with feel,” Cuming says.
Chihwehwete, too, thinks that talking to colleagues – about life and work experiences and what you have learned – is a rich CPD resource. He adds: “In Barnet, we have a monthly peer-reviewed group supervision where we talk about practice dilemmas. You can get stuck in a relationship with a family, and discussing with your peers can help you see more clearly.”
Every year, 2.5% of social workers’ CPD records are randomly chosen for scrutiny, being assessed to see how someone’s work has been affected by the CPD described, as well as looking for evidence they discussed it with a peer. Although only a small number have their CPD efforts reviewed, all appear to consider continued learning to be vital to their work. Ramsey concludes: “Social work is a huge responsibility. I can’t just rely on what I was taught in 1999 when I qualified. We must be up to date with research, changes to law, always challenging our thinking. We need experience, theory, and knowledge. That’s ongoing.”
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