Download What is good social work practice

What is the link to promoting the dignity and worth of the person?
In a joint seminar, students of social work (“internal students”) and service users (“external
students”) intensively discussed the topic “What is good Social Work Practice” and, with support of a
media agency, produced an educational video about the results of the seminar. Dignity and worth of
service users was promoted by putting strong emphasis on valuing service users’ experiences and
opinions.
What was the purpose of the action?
Service user involvement in social work education generally promotes participation and
empowerment for both service users and social work students. This project aimed to provide a space
for the users to report and reflect on their experiences with social workers in order to enable the
students to relate social work theories to the experiences of the service user. The main aim of the
seminar and the film developed from it was to show both students groups how user competence and
professional competence can complement each other in order to better understand perceptions of
social work practice. One main focus in the course was to empower service users by providing a
platform where students of social work and service users were able to interact on an equal basis.
Describe what are the roles of organizations and participants involved in this action?
The seminar took place at the faculty “Social Work, Health and Nursing” of Esslingen University,
Germany. Internal students were advanced bachelor students of social work who prepared the joint
seminar over the course of several months. External students came from both self-help groups from
the addictions field (mostly legal drugs) as well as empowerment groups (“EX-IN”) from the field of
mental disorders. External students attended the seminar as individuals interested in learning
together with social work students and not as representatives of their respective organizations.
How were service users involved ?
Service users in the fields of addiction and mental health were approached via self-help and
empowerment organizations and were offered to participate in a weekend seminar with the topic
“What is good social work practice” together with students of social work (“internal students”). The
aim of the seminar was to provide both groups with equal opportunities: while service users were
encouraged to talk about their (negative as well as positive) experiences with social work and social
workers, internal students reflected their own histories with regard to receiving help.
What did you do? *
Service users and students of social work participated in a 2-day weekend seminar devoted to reflect
on the question “What is good social work practice”. Using a number of different approaches (oneon-one discussion of personal experiences, group discussions, world café), service users were
encouraged to voice their experiences. Finally, service users who consented to participate in a film
project, reported their experiences on film.
What was the outcome ?
Both internal students and service users developed new understandings about each other: The
experience of collaborating and overcoming challenges during the seminar changed established
attitudes and roles. The “us-and-them”-distinction between the two groups dwindled, giving
members of both groups a chance to “understand the other” in a new way. The service users were
able to perceive and understand themselves in a new light by learning together with the internal
students. They reported that receiving information on the content of social work curricula made
social workers more accessible to them as individuals who, in the course of their studies, acquired
special knowledge on a number of topics while retaining the basic characteristics of a human being.
More specifically, service users valued strongly that they were able to participate in the seminar on
the same level as internal students. The internal students reported that as a result of the seminar,
they are able to see service users in a new way: While knowledge obtained during their studies and
internships in different institutions tended to focus on differentiated roles of help-seeker and helper,
the format of the seminar allowed internal students to perceive service users as individuals whose
life experiences allow a unique perspective on what good social work is. Internal students were
impressed by the opportunities, resources and knowledge the external students had to offer.