7a Safeguarding
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In this podcast we continue to look at the social work journey and discuss how safeguarding fits into social work practice. We focus on the philosophy behind safeguarding – what are we trying to achieve and why – and consider how we can do this well.
6c Working conditions
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In this additional podcast, we highlight recent UK research about social workers’ working conditions. The social work context needs to change – we discuss what social workers need in order to help others, and how we can act to improve things.
6b Markets
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In this podcast we discuss how social care differs from other markets and what this means for social work. We explore issues around accessing and delivering quality, sustainable and ethical support for people.
6a Funding
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This podcast continues our discussion of social work involvement with the tricky topic of funding. In a context of finite resources and cuts, we discuss how social workers make ethical judgements and advocate for individual and citizen rights.
5b The good life
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In this podcast we discuss how social work helps people to build the good life. We look at what this means and why it matters. We consider how the UN global development goals help us to build a good life globally as part of a world-wide profession.
5a Planning
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This podcast explores how good planning in social work can provide a belief in a different future and a map to get there. We look at the practicalities and potential of planning to improve lives.
4b Decision making
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In this podcast, we focus on decision making. We look at some important issues around how people make decisions and how the context affects us.
4a Assessment part 2
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We continue our exploration of the social work journey, by discussing how we analyse and draw conclusions in assessment. We draw on a recent ruling on the use of evidence to consider social workers’ expertise in making judgements.
3b Language
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In this podcast, we discuss the importance of language in social work. We consider how social workers communicate, the meaning of language, and how it can give or take away power.
3a Assessment
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As part of our exploration of the social work journey, we discuss the ethics and practice of assessment. We consider how to gather information openly and purposefully in order to understand someone’s story.
2b Counselling
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Continuing our exploration of what we can learn from different disciplines, we discuss how counselling skills enhance social work. We look at how we use our humanity to relate to others and how we provide containment so people can explore dilemmas.
2a Building a relationship
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In this podcast, we continue the social work journey by considering how to build a relationship. We look at relationship-based social work, and at the theories and evidence that underpin this. We draw on Relationship-Based Social Work, Second Edition (Edited by Gillian Ruch, Danielle Turney and Adrian Ward, 2018).
1b Biology and psychology
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In this episode, our first ‘b’ podcast for series 3, we start our exploration of what we can learn from different disciplines. We consider what we can learn from biology and psychology: how we can slow down; be reflexive; and understand why we and others are behaving as we are.
Series 3 Introduction
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Topics covered in Series 3 include, how social workers work with people and how we can learn and draw from other disciplines.
1a First contact
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Welcome to the first podcast for Series 3. In our ‘a’ podcasts this series we are looking at the social work journey, starting here with first contact. We discuss how we can overcome barriers to make our first encounter with someone helpful and hopeful.
10b Review of the social work year
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In this podcast, the last in series 2, we discuss what’s happened over the last year in social work. We look at new learning, the importance of relationships and the need to shape our context in the year ahead.
10a Ecological approach
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This podcast summarises our approach to series 1 and 2. We started with the importance of integrity and then took an ecological approach to consider ourselves, our relationships and our context. We discuss the importance of biology, behaviour and the environment in social work; and we look at how our approaches to attachment, emotional regulation and competence affect us.
9b Positive social work improvement
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In this podcast we consider how we can use targets positively and take different approaches to learning from good practice. And how we can avoid a focus on compliance and blame.
9a Social work evaluation
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How do we know what difference we make? This podcast considers the ethics and practice of social work evaluation.
8b Social control part 2
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In this podcast we continue to explore the conflicts at the heart of the social work role. How can we ethically use and share our power?
8a Social work scrutiny
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This podcast explores the impact of scrutiny on social work. We discuss how social workers can influence public understanding, including through social media.
7b Social control
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In this podcast we start to look at the conflicts at the heart of the social work role. How do we respond to influences – our own and society’s – that push us into controlling rather than helping? How do we use our power well?
7a Diversity and exclusion
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In this podcast we discuss the role social work has in responding to diversity and overcoming exclusion. How do we help people to be visible and to be heard?
6c Social work in England по-русски
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Подкаст о социальной работе в Англии по-русски.
This podcast gives a brief introduction to social work in England in Russian.
6b Social justice
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Social work is born out of social justice. In this podcast we look at what this means for social workers working with individuals and working to change society.
6a Social work context
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In this podcast we start to consider the social and economic context of social work. We discuss how social workers can act to influence society and how our society influences what we do.
5b Using evidence in social work
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In this podcast we discuss how we decide what evidence to use in social work, and we talk about the difference between using evidence to defend our views and using evidence to explore.
5a Trust in social work
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This podcast explores how we build trust in us as social workers by being open about our expertise and by using the best evidence available. We discuss legitimacy, empowerment and knowledge exchange.
4b Social work regulation
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In this podcast we think our way through the complex area of social work regulation – what is it for, who is it for, and how can it be helpful? We consider how the relationship between the social work profession, the regulator and government can work well, so that social work can develop and flourish for the benefit of people who need it.
4a Social work culture
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In this podcast we explore how different professional cultures affect the way agencies interact. We use a model to help understand how to build bridges between social work and other agencies.
3b Social work specialisms
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This podcast explores how we can specialise and develop our social work expertise within a single profession. And we discuss how specific standards can help (or hinder) practice development.
3a Interagency social work part 2
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In this podcast we continue our discussion about how social work works with other agencies and, in particular, how we best negotiate roles, responsibilities and joint decisions.
2b Social work and austerity
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In this podcast we consider how austerity policies impact on society, and how we social workers can respond helpfully and hopefully.
2a Interagency social work
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Social work is rarely the only agency involved in a child’s, adult’s or family’s life. In this podcast we start to look at how social workers can work well with other agencies. We consider how professional identities interact, and the expertise of social workers as ‘specialist generalists.’
1b Social work training
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In the second podcast of series 2, we have a reflective conversation about social work training. We look at what helps social workers to learn and develop, and conclude that the word ‘training’ should be banned. We should provide support for practitioners that is as high as our expectations.
1a Social work leadership
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In the first podcast of series 2, we discuss the importance of leadership at all levels of social work. We look at what makes a good leader and particularly how leaders can support people through change.
Series 2 Introduction
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This podcast explains who we are, why we are doing this podcast on Helpful Social Work and what each podcast will cover in series 2.
10b Change and progress
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As our podcast, comes up to a year old, we look back on the last twelve months in social work.
We try and avoid thinking just about what’s different (change), and look for where things have got better (progress). We talk about practice, research, education and social work policy. There are positives, despite the difficult context, but a lot still to do.
10a Organisations and uncertainty
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This podcast examines the way social work organisations respond to uncertainty and the importance of supporting social workers to remain curious.
9b Doing less with less
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We unpick the idea that we can keep doing more with less, and look at how we can work sustainably and helpfully in social work with fewer resources. We consider social workers’ wellbeing and workload, accountability and prioritising, and how we can lobby for good social care.
9a Helpful challenge
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We consider how social workers can supportively and ethically challenge one another.
8b Social work supervision
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We talk about how social workers can ensure that they get helpful, supportive supervision.
8a Social work support
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This podcast is on the topic of emotional containment and support for social workers. We look at the theory and evidence around how to help social workers to understand, process and learn from the emotional aspect of their work.
7b One social work profession
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In this podcast we discuss how social workers can collaborate and thrive as one profession, despite differences, in the context of reform and scarce resources.
7a Relationships with colleagues
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In this podcast we take a look at what makes a helpful social work colleague and how groups can work well together. We offer a model for discussion to help avoid group think and power issues.
6b Recording social work
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We talk about recording and the myth that ‘if it isn’t written down, it didn’t happen.’ We look at how recording can empower people and support accountable social work practice.
6a Social workers’ workloads
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We take a look at the evidence around how best to manage social work caseloads. We also look at the impact of targets, and the importance of measuring outcomes rather than outputs.
5b Hotdesking
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In this podcast we talk about how hotdesking can affect social work practice. We look at how we can ensure there are appropriate spaces for reflection, and appropriate peer and emotional support for social workers.
5a Social work environments
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This podcast looks at the ethics, theory and evidence about social work environments. We look particularly at the atmosphere and spaces that social workers work in, and how we can control and influence the places we work.
4b Practical reflection
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In this podcast, we talk about how social workers make critical reflection happen, despite the pressure and busyness of our work.