TY - JOUR

T1 - Direct Observations of Practice in Social Work Education

T2 - The Role of Professional Autonomy in Policy Enactment

AU - Pye, Jane

PY - 2024/9/16

Y1 - 2024/9/16

N2 - Although the assessment of students via direct observation of practice is a regulatory requirement of social work qualifying programmes in England, there is relative freedom in exactly how this policy is enacted. This study takes a constructionist approach to explore what direct observations are perceived to be and whether this influences their enactment. Interview data was collected from five participants who are all practitioners involved with this assessment method. Training materials were also analyzed and themed along with interview data. Interpretation of the data revealed three themes; participants had a clear concept of direct observations, valued them as an assessment method and they are embedded in social work education. Analysis of the findings revealed that the lack of regulatory expectations supports professional autonomy by enabling the translation of the direct observation policy into practice in a way which supports ownership, commitment and creativity. These findings demonstrate that it can be more beneficial to allow professional expertise to guide policy enactment in educational contexts than the top-down managerial approaches that dominate both educational and practice settings.

AB - Although the assessment of students via direct observation of practice is a regulatory requirement of social work qualifying programmes in England, there is relative freedom in exactly how this policy is enacted. This study takes a constructionist approach to explore what direct observations are perceived to be and whether this influences their enactment. Interview data was collected from five participants who are all practitioners involved with this assessment method. Training materials were also analyzed and themed along with interview data. Interpretation of the data revealed three themes; participants had a clear concept of direct observations, valued them as an assessment method and they are embedded in social work education. Analysis of the findings revealed that the lack of regulatory expectations supports professional autonomy by enabling the translation of the direct observation policy into practice in a way which supports ownership, commitment and creativity. These findings demonstrate that it can be more beneficial to allow professional expertise to guide policy enactment in educational contexts than the top-down managerial approaches that dominate both educational and practice settings.

KW - Direct observations

KW - education policy

KW - policy enactment

KW - practice educators

KW - professional autonomy

KW - social work education

U2 - 10.1080/02615479.2024.2400205

DO - 10.1080/02615479.2024.2400205

M3 - Journal article

SP - 1

EP - 17

JO - Social Work Education

JF - Social Work Education

SN - 0261-5479

ER -