Sharing experiences of social work at Birmingham City University

In England there are over 300 higher education courses for people wanting to become social workers. It is Social Work England’s role to assess and approve these courses. We ensure that students can gain the knowledge, skills and behaviours they need to apply for registration and get off to the best possible start in their vital roles.

Our education and training standards set out that education providers must “ensure that the views of people with lived experience of social work are incorporated into the design, ongoing development and review of the curriculum.”

To find out how, the interim chair of our board, Dr Andrew McCulloch, spent a day with first year social work students at Birmingham City University (BCU). He was invited by Sally Parker, a member of our National Advisory Forum, who is an expert by experience at the University. Sally and Andrew have been working together through Social Work England’s ‘board buddy’ scheme, which was set up to share different perspectives of social work. We spoke to them about the day.

Sally:

“I’ve been an expert by experience at BCU for over 6 years. Initially I was just sharing my personal experiences of social work with the students. Now we have a strong team of experts by experience who are heavily involved in co-production of the programmes. We co-facilitate modules with academics, facilitate workshops, deliver seminars, write interview questions and sit on admissions panels. I also spoke at an international conference recently.

“I spoke with the team at BCU and arranged for Andrew to spend the day with students, practice educators, supervisors and academics. Gavin Moorghen, Social Work England’s regional engagement lead for the Midlands and Liz Howard from the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) were also there. Andrew threw himself into a typical day as a student, taking part in workshops, plus giving a question and answer session and chatting to students and tutors in the canteen.

“Andrew took part in our ‘difficult conversations’ workshop. I like to think of experts by experience as offering a safety net so students can ask questions in a supported environment before they go out to practise. I talk honestly about the language they use and how it makes me feel. At the end of the day, social work is about how you make somebody feel. When a social worker knocks on my door, I don’t know whether they've got a PhD or a bachelor’s degree and I don't really care. It's how they make me feel. I want to make the students understand their impact and the power imbalance.

“My role is different and important at the University because I am looking at areas where their voices might not be represented. For example, students may be doing direct work with a child, and I will ask, ‘have you got the voice of the child and how have you got it?’ My role is to advocate for all people with lived experience and bring in their voices for the students, so it’s not just me talking about social work through my experiences as a parent carer.

“I’ve got a brilliant relationship with the students and the academics at BCU. We’re a team. I love teaching, debate and critical thinking and I love seeing that light bulb moment with the students. It’s when you make them realise it’s not just a ‘case’. It’s her little boy. It’s the most precious gift she’s got. It’s a family.”

Andrew:

“It was great to sit in teaching sessions, meet students and staff and hear what was on their minds. I was really impressed; they were enthusiastic, diverse and had some great questions.

“I have considerable knowledge of what social workers do as I have managed and been advised by social workers through much of my career, and my life partner and several of my friends are social workers. I have also cared for people receiving social work input. But I have little experience of social work education and wanted to gain more.

“We discussed the role of Social Work England, the image of social work and the challenges in the current environment. I already knew that social workers are very concerned about the image of the profession, but this was a takeaway for me, and we should try to do more.

“Throughout my career I have worked with people with lived experience as well as drawing on my own personal and family experiences. For me, the primary benefit of the board buddy scheme has been engaging on a personal basis in a relationship of trust where I can discuss and learn about key topics from a real life perspective. This makes my thinking more grounded.

“From a regulatory point of view, we must remember that Social Work England’s primary task is to protect the public and people engaging with social work. To do so we must understand the reality of their lives and make our processes sensitive.

"People with lived experience are integral to the work and values of Social Work England in so many ways, including our board buddy scheme, National Advisory Forum and through our professional and education and training standards. It was great to experience how BCU involves people with lived experience like Sally in its programmes and witness first hand how it’s benefiting our next generation of social workers.”

David Childs, Associate Professor and Interim Head of School of Education and Social Work at Birmingham City University commented:

“We were really pleased to be able to meet Andrew and share with him a deeper understanding of how we place lived experience at the heart of our practice. We are really proud of the co-production and integration throughout our programmes at BCU.

"It was great to demonstrate to Andrew the meaningful way this shapes and enhances education. Positive and engaging leadership is a key focus for us at the University and it was really good to share this approach with Andrew and hear his views and listen to his key priorities and commitment.”

Andrew and Sally are now planning more visits to the University. Look out for the next blog, in which students will share their experiences.