I understand you made an audio recording for the Open University. Could you tell me about that?
It was an interview for the website for Open University students. That was done, I think, in 2007. I went to the BBC in Queen Margaret Drive with A. (OU tutor) and I had a set of headphones on. Matthew, the guy from the Open University was down in Milton Keynes and he did the interview from there. It was like the News reports where they interview someone from a studio in Glasgow or Edinburgh.
What was the interview about?
He asked me for a good experience and a bad experience of social work. I gave him a comparison of how services were some years back and now. I gave him a history lesson! So basically it was asking about service experiences I had and how social workers should treat people.
How did it go?
We did it in one take. I enjoyed it – I do stuff for student radio anyway. A. said it had gone very well.
How did you prepare for it?
A. worked extensively with me beforehand. We went for a coffee somewhere and talked about what I would say and A. told me what they wanted to get out of the interview for the training.
Do you feel you are making a difference by contributing to student learning in this way?
I hope so. I think in time – it’s not going to get better overnight.
Why is it important for people who use services and carers to be involved in training social work students?
I think the students need to have an understanding of what it’s like to have services and assessments. They need to meet people that they’re going to be working with so that they understand better what our needs are.
Do you have any top tips for involving service users in creating learning materials?
Preparation is essential. We spent an afternoon the week before talking about it. A. prepared me for what was going to happen. We talked about what would happen in the interview, the purpose of it and what was needed for the training materials. So my advice is: talk about it beforehand.