Social Work in the Frame of a Professional Competencies Approach (European Social Work Education and Practice)

This book serves as an introductory reader for understanding a professional competencies framework for social work through a new approach. It not only discusses what professional competencies are and why they are significant, but it also shows how to develop a professional competencies approach, measure and research competencies, and learn how to use them to empower professional identity and career development. There has been growing interest to define the social work profession within a professional competencies framework. Professional competencies are considered in their complexity as a triangle of knowledge, skills and values. They are not solely a tool for education and practice, but they are also important for professional socialization and identity in social work. A professional competencies approach has been used to define standards and expectations for social workers-practitioners; it is an evaluation tool for formal education and lifelong learning programs, provides guidance for field practice and placements for social work students, and could be a frame for distinguishing levels of professional expertise. The volume provides an up-to-date, comprehensive overview of a professional competencies approach in social work with 10 chapters organized in four sections: Part I: Understanding a Professional Competencies Approach, including Criticisms of the Competency-Based Education Approach Part II: Major Areas of Professional Competencies, including Leadership and Professional Socialisation Part III: Measuring Professional Competencies and Education Outcomes, including How to Conceptualise, Operationalise and Measure Professional Competencies in Social Work Part IV: Professional Competencies and Professional Development, including A Model of Holistic Competence in Social Work and the unique Professional Capabilities Framework Social Work in the Frame of a Professional Competencies Approach is essential reading for social work instructors, academics and national professional associations interested in developing or reviewing their professional competencies framework. It is an invaluable resource for experts in statutory bodies that set up a legislative framework of social work practice or work in the accreditation of social work education programs. The book is useful for social work students interested in understanding the theoretical background of social work, as well as for field practitioners who wish to use professional competencies for their self-reflection, self-evaluation and professional identity. Preface Acknowledgements Contents Contributors About the Editor Part I: Understanding a Professional Competencies Approach Chapter 1: Introduction to the Professional Competency Framework in Social Work 1.1 Professional Competence Between the “Source and Mouth” of the Profession 1.2 Areas and Content of Professional Competencies of Social Workers 1.3 Overview of Research Practice in Researching Professional Competencies in Social Work 1.4 Heuristic Potential of Professional Competence Framework in Social Work References Chapter 2: Criticisms of the Competency-Based Education (CBE) Approach 2.1 Competence and Competence-Based Education 2.2 Ideological and Political Implications 2.3 Educational Consequences 2.4 Discussion References Part II: Major Areas of Professional Competencies Chapter 3: Knowledge Base and Process Competencies in Social Work Practice 3.1 Knowledge – Base and Professional Judgement in Social Work Practice 3.2 Process Competencies in Social Work Practice 3.2.1 Competencies for Developing a Professional Relationship with Service Users 3.2.2 Competencies for Making Assessments in Social Work Practice 3.2.3 Competencies for Developing an Individual Plan and Contracting 3.2.4 Competencies for Interventions in Social Work 3.2.5 Competencies for Monitoring and Evaluating the Impact of Professional Work 3.3 Digital Competencies for Direct Practice in Social Work References Chapter 4: Professional Competencies for Social Change 4.1 Competencies for Critical Structural Analysis 4.2 Cross-Cultural Competence and Respect for Diversity 4.3 Competencies for Critical Practice and Advocating for Social Justice and Human Rights 4.4 Competencies for Community and Macro Practice 4.5 Competencies for Environmental Practice as an Emerging Field of Social Work Practice References Chapter 5: Leadership and Professional Socialisation 5.1 Leadership in Social Work 5.1.1 How to Define It? 5.1.2 Skills and Characteristics of a Leader 5.1.3 Education for Leadership in Social Work 5.1.4 Leadership Models in Social Work – Totally Different from Others? 5.1.5 How Can a Leader Have an Influence on the Working Collective? 5.2 Professional Socialisation of Social Workers 5.2.1 Miller’s Conceptual Framework of Professional Socialisation 5.2.2 Professional Identity of Social Workers and Perception of the Profession 5.3 Instead of the Conclusion References Part III: Measuring Professional Competencies and Education Outcomes Chapter 6: Starting from Scratch: How to Conceptualise, Operationalise and Measure Professional Competencies in Social Work 6.1 Why Was It Important to Establish a Professional Competency Framework in Croatia? 6.1.1 Identity Issues in Social Work as a Basis for the Professional Competency Framework 6.1.2 Crisis of the Profession as a Source of the Need to Define a Professional Competency Framework 6.1.3 Aligning Education to Practice in Social Work as the Basis for Developing a Professional Competency Framework 6.2 Conceptualisation of the Professional Competence Framework for the Specific Croatian Situation 6.3 Methodological Approaches to the Operationalisation of Professional Competencies 6.4 The Large National Research into Professional Competencies 6.5 Significance of the Established National Framework of Professional Competence for Social Work in Croatia References Chapter 7: Everything But the Kitchen Sink: Making Sense Out of Social Work Education Outcome Assessment 7.1 Introduction 7.2 The Purpose of Outcome Assessment in Social Work Education 7.3 Conducting the Outcome Assessment: First Step: Setting the Goals of the Assessment 7.4 Conducting the Outcome Assessment: Second Step: Choosing Outcome Assessment Tools 7.4.1 Evaluating Course Outcomes vs. Programmatic Outcomes: Curriculum Mapping as a Programmatic Evaluation Tool 7.4.2 Evaluating Outcomes at the Programmatic Level: Standardized Measures 7.4.3 Evaluating Outcomes at the Course Level: The Role of Rubrics 7.4.4 Evaluating Knowledge, Skills, Values, Cognitive and Affective Processes, Respectively: Standardized and Nonstandardized Tools 7.4.5 Evaluating Outcomes in the E-Learning Environment 7.4.6 Evaluating Interdisciplinary Practice Learning Outcomes 7.5 Conducting the Outcome Assessment: Third Step: Data Analysis and Interpretation 7.5.1 The Importance of Benchmarks 7.6 Conducting the Outcome Assessment – Fourth Step: Closing the Loop 7.7 Concluding Thoughts References Chapter 8: The Evaluation Self-Efficacy Scale – III 8.1 Self-Efficacy 8.2 Our Research Program 8.3 The Current Study 8.3.1 Method 8.3.1.1 Study Design and Participants 8.3.1.2 Measures 8.3.1.3 Procedure 8.3.1.4 Data Analysis Strategy 8.4 Results 8.4.1 Descriptive Statistics 8.4.2 Factor Structure 8.4.3 Reliability, Validity and Sensitivity to Change 8.5 Discussion References Part IV: Professional Competencies and Professional Development Chapter 9: A Model of Holistic Competence in Social Work: Implications for Education 9.1 Competence: An Overview 9.2 Toward Developing a Conceptualization of Competence in Social Work 9.3 A Model of Holistic Competence in Social Work 9.4 Implications for Social Work Education 9.5 Conclusion References Chapter 10: The Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF) for Social Workers in England: Creating an Embedded Culture of Excellence, Ambition and Shared Values Across the Profession 10.1 Introduction 10.2 A Unified Profession of Social Work? The Policy Background to the Emergence of the PCF 10.2.1 The Response of Social Work Education in the 1990s 10.2.2 Statutory Regulation and the New Social Work Degree Around the Millennium 10.3 Rebuilding Optimism and Setting New Ambitions – The Creation and Development of the PCF 10.3.1 From Competencies to Capabilities 10.3.2 The Original PCF 10.4 The Development and Application of the PCF 2018 10.4.1 The Key Elements of the PCF 2018 10.4.2 Applying the PCF 10.4.3 Generic Versus Specialist Capabilities 10.4.4 Domains, ‘Super Domains’ and Levels 10.4.5 Superdomains 10.4.6 Using the PCF at Each Level of Initial Education and Career Development 10.4.7 A Domain Example 10.4.8 Reflecting Lived Experience of Using Social Work Services in the PCF 10.5 What Next for the PCF? References Index "This book serves as an introductory reader for understanding a professional competencies framework for social work through a new approach. It not only discusses what professional competencies are and why they are significant, but it also shows how to develop a professional competencies approach, measure and research competencies, and learn how to use them to empower professional identity and career development. There has been growing interest to define the social work profession within a professional competencies framework. Professional competencies are considered in their complexity as a triangle of knowledge, skills and values. They are not solely a tool for education and practice, but they are also important for professional socialization and identity in social work. A professional competencies approach has been used to define standards and expectations for social workers-practitioners; it is an evaluation tool for formal education and lifelong learning programs, provides guidance for field practice and placements for social work students, and could be a frame for distinguishing levels of professional expertise. The volume provides an up-to-date, comprehensive overview of a professional competencies approach in social work with 10 chapters organized in four sections: Part I: Understanding a Professional Competencies Approach, including Criticisms of the Competency-based Education Approach; Part II: Major Areas of Professional Competencies, including Leadership and Professional Socialisation; Part III: Measuring Professional Competencies and Education Outcomes, including how to Conceptualise, Operationalise and measure Professional Competencies in Social Work; Part IV: Professional Competencies and Professional Development, including A model of holistic Competence in Social Work and the unique Professional Capabilities Framework. Social Work in the Frame of a Professional Competencies Approach is essential reading for social work instructors, academics and national professional associations interested in developing or reviewing their professional competencies framework. It is an invaluable resource for experts in statutory bodies that set up a legislative framework of social work practice or work in the accreditation of social work education programs. The book is useful for social work students interested in understanding the theoretical background of social work, as well as for field practitioners who wish to use professional competencies for their self-reflection, self-evaluation and professional identity."--Cover page 4