It is vital that social work students learn to integrate their personal and professional selves if they are to meet the challenges of social work in complex changing environments. This accessible text is designed to enable readers to explore and build on their existing skills and abilities, supporting them to become competent and self-aware reflective practitioners. Discussing issues such as identity, motivation to enter the social work profession and lived experiences in the journey into social work, the book brings together stories of hardship, privilege, families, hopes, interests and community activism from many diverse ethnic backgrounds.

An invaluable resource for social work students, educators and practitioners, written by an author team with extensive professional experience.

It is vital that social work students learn to integrate their personal and professional selves if they are to meet the challenges of social work in complex changing environments. This accessible text is designed to enable readers to explore and build on their existing skills and abilities, supporting them to become competent and self-aware reflective practitioners. Reflective Thinking in Social Work uses stories told by a range of social work students to model reflective practice learning. Discussing issues such as identity, motivation to enter the social work profession and lived experiences in the journey into social work, the book brings together stories of hardship, privilege, families, hopes, interests and community activism from many diverse ethnic backgrounds. Each narrative is introduced by the author and ends with a commentary drawing out the key themes and exploring how the reader can use the narrative to enhance their own understanding and critical thinking, and to engage in transformative practice. Framed by an in-depth discussion of available frameworks for reflective practice in different contexts and the importance of narratives in constructing identities, this is an invaluable text for social work students at both bachelor's and master's degree levels.

Reflecting back on one's work to determine where one succeeded or failed is crucial in any field, but it's particularly important in social work, where mistakes can cause real harm. In this book, Alessandro Sicora argues for the value of reflecting on our professional mistakes, and he offers a number of tools, for individuals and groups--backed by real-world examples--designed to help social workers at every stage of their career establish a regular, reliable, and effective reflective practice.

This highly practical guidebook will help you develop the critical and analytical skills essential to your successful social work education and evidence-informed, reflective practice. Key features include: Theoretical break down and simplification of key theories How to avoid common pitfalls Activities to help you cement your learning Case studies applicable in practice. This will support you right from the very beginning of your programme through to the end of your final placement and into practice.

Reflective practice is a key element of learning and development on social work courses and it is an important aspect of social work practice. This accessible and introductory text explores a range of approaches to reflective practice that will help students become more confident in answering the question 'what is reflective practice?' There are sections on writing reflective journals, communicating well with service users and carers and reflective practice while on placements. Written in three parts, this essential guide starts with a broad exploration of reflection, drawing on key texts that have informed its development. It then moves on to real practice issues including the management of social work practice and interprofessional working. Finally, part three looks at maintaining reflective practice and how to use these skills during your time as a social worker. Fully updated with the Professional Capabilities Framework, this third edition is a must-have for all social work students at the beginning of their careers.

Reflective practice is an essential skill for those working in health and social care, but why is it so vital and how can it be learned? As inter-disciplinary working becomes more common, finding shared ways of reflection on practice are becoming more and more important. How do we share our ideas and thoughts to enrich both professionals and their client base? This book uses stories and exercises to enable readers to develop their skills. Its emphasis is on the practical, from how to construct a reflective essay to the ethical ambiguities of whistleblowing and constructing a professional persona. The book is written with the needs of students of health and social care in mind. For those who want to develop their skills beyond the scope of the book, each chapter ends by with a step-up suggestion enabling them to build on what they have already learned.

Covers all major topics relevant to clinical social work. Discusses social work practice, multicultural and diversity issues, and research, as well as assessment and measurement.

This book explores concrete examples of different strategies and activities aimed at creating and embedding critically reflective learning and working environments within organisations whose prime function is social care. Critical reflection has long been recommended as a general professional skill and is a core component of the practice capabilities in social work in countries across the Western world. However, despite unequivocal support for it in social work education, sustaining critical reflection within organisations as both an individual and collective practices, supported by organisational cultures, is problematic. With contributions from social work practitioners and educators who have sought to embed critical reflection into broader activities and cultures within their organizations, the book addresses common features of critical reflection, and challenges and benefits in specific case studies. This book will inspire and develop new thinking and vision about being critically reflective in organisations, and facilitate efforts to improve the learning and working experience in addition to that of service quality and delivery. It will be required reading for all undergraduate and postgraduate social work modules focusing on management, leadership organizational change, and professional education.