The more that service users and carers understand the context of the course, the more likely they are to contribute effectively. Through involvement in curriculum design they can have the opportunity of seeing their experiences used to make a real difference to the way that future social workers are trained.
“How the course is designed is important – to have the carers’ perspective.”
—Carer, South East Scotland
All three HEIs stated that services users and/or carers were involved in the development and design of the social work course.
One of the 12 FEIs stated that services users and/or carers were involved in the development and design of the course.
Top Tip: Service users and carers know what they want from social workers. There are different ways you can use this experience in course planning and design.
Involvement in course design tends to be less well developed (General Social Care Council, 2005). Options include:
Service users and carers are involved in module development at the Glasgow School of Social Work. Prior to the commencement of a module, service user and carer representatives meet with the module team and have input in terms of deciding the content of the module. In addition, service users and carers have been involved in the recent reviews of qualifying social programmes within the school. Consultation meetings were held with members of the network in order to determine the content of the new courses. This enabled users and carers to be involved in course design of the whole degree programme.
Consider how you could involve the service users and carers you are working with in developing a new unit or in programme reviews.
General Social Care Council (2005). Working Towards Full Participation.