Please could you explain the role of the Practice Teacher?
My role is to assess the practice of students on placement, usually over a period of six months. I link work with other colleagues who provide input on legislation. To assess the student I observe their practice and then verify the report that they write. I think it is a really important role.
In your view, could people who use services and carers contribute more to practice learning?
Yes, absolutely. I don’t think the universities are very good yet at gaining information from service users and carers. I don’t think it is given enough emphasis. The students come here with lots of learning foci they have to meet. It is true that they have to find evidence that they have sought the views of service users and carers, but it is up to them how to do this. Most of them just use a questionnaire to interview service users and carers. Then I conduct a direct observation of them with a service user or carer and then interview that person about the student. But of course people tend to want to help the student so the feedback is not always as meaningful as it could be. It ticks a box for the student but more thought could be given to different ways that students could gain information from service users and carers and to how they could evidence this in more meaningful ways.
How do you offer opportunities for students to learn from service users and carers and what works well?
I offer students the opportunity to run a group. This is a piece of work that lasts for six months, certainly no more than eight, so it fits with the length of their placement. In the group they have face-to face contact with service users and can talk directly with them. It means they are working in partnership and can use what they learn about the experiences of service users to think about how services could improve. For example, a student recently facilitated a group in which a service user was presenting a desktop publishing course to fellow service users at their request. I think this is a more meaningful way of enabling students to learn from service users and carers. It provides a way for service users and carers to contribute the students’ learning, as they wish to do, and it provides a good learning environment for the students too. It works both ways – and this means it works well.
What are the benefits of a practice learning placement in your project?
This is a mental health project that provides social support to people with any sort of mental health difficulties. It works on preventative and community development principles and encourages people to access the same local community facilities and opportunities as everyone else, as part of their journey to recovery. By coming to the project, students have an opportunity to have direct contact with service users and carers in a more informal setting.
As an experienced Practice Teacher, do you have any key messages about involving people who use services and carers in Practice Learning? What are these?
I think it is important for the students to learn the views of service users and carers while they are in training and when they are under less pressure so that, hopefully, they will carry the messages with them when in the real world of social work and when they are carrying a caseload, working under pressure and dealing with competing organisational demands on their practice. If they get a good experience while in training and good feedback from service users and carers, they’ll carry it with them.
Involvement of people who use services and carers can only enhance the knowledge and skills of students which will hopefully lead to better practice and facilitate better working relationships. In the informal environment which we are able to provide, the quality of relationship can be different, both from the classroom and from more formal practice settings, and so it is an opportunity for students to meet service users and carers on a more equal basis.