Good support is a worthwhile investment which encourages sustainable engagement and an effective learning experience. Some of the supports that create a good experience are simple, but they require planning and preparation. Above all, it is important to listen to what people who use services and carers say they need.
“Support for users and carers is needed and this includes practical support before, during and after sessions. Specific training in presentation and communication skills should be available. Citizen trainers also have to be valued in monetary terms as well as being assured that all preparations are sensitively handled.”
—Duffy J., 2006
“Practice, practice, practice”
—Anna Duffin, SCLD Co-trainer
More than half of the [service user and carer] participants identified a need for training on presentation skills or confidence building before they would feel comfortable or effective in direct contact with students.
Top Tip: It is possible for a wide range of people to become involved in contributing to teaching and learning.
Ensuring a pool of people are available to offer contributions can be facilitated by:
Good support enables more people to take part. Some components of good support include:
Systematic capacity-building is one way by which partnerships with academic institutions could enable more users and carers to participate in social work education. Brown and Young (2008) describe a pilot of the Getting Involved Programme which was developed by Skills for Care to facilitate involvement in the social work degree by users and carers new to social work education. Bournemouth University found challenges in the timescales, infrastructure requirements and changes to procedures needed. The authors highlight the importance of sustained funding and commitment to support involvement.
In October 2007 Glasgow’s Service User and Carer Involvement Group (SUCIG) organised a successful and inclusive event to enable people who use services and carers to say how they would like to improve staff training. Over 50 people attended. Participants said that they needed a range of training and learning opportunities to be involved in training. These included presentation skills, confidence building, giving and receiving constructive feedback, interview skills, skills in facilitating groups, telling your story on disc or in writing or pictures.
SCLD works alongside co-trainers to develop all our training materials and deliver courses. We begin with a workshop, asking people for their experiences and views on the topic. Then we work with individuals to develop a script for them to present their contributions. People usually want at least one rehearsal to feel properly prepared. “Calling the Shots”, an interactive learning resource produced by SCLD, Heartfelt and Scottish Borders Council, shows how a wide range of people with learning difficulties became engaged in developing, delivering and monitoring the Scottish Borders Council Social Work Training Strategy. The Open University provides a range of support to service users and carers to enable them to participate. Alice Bradley, an OU tutor, writes about their experience at the end of this section.
It is essential to identify staff time and resources to support people who use services and carers to develop their contributions to teaching and learning. Given that time is a big barrier for teaching staff it may be helpful to consider a contract with a local group to support users to take part. This support is a rewarding activity and could also be a role that could provide a learning opportunity for students.
Brown K. and Young N. (2008) Building capacity for user and carer involvement in social work education. Social Work Education, 27(1): 84-96.
Duffy, J. (2006) Participating and Learning; Citizen Involvement in Social Work Education in the Northern Ireland Context: A Good Practice Guide.