An apprenticeship model of social work education Malcolm Payne Malcolm Payne's paper was written for BASW's education and training committee and is intended ro stimulate discussion about alternative patterns of social work education, by ‘taking a stance on one particular pattern under current discussion. While the paper does rnot necessarily represent the views of the committe, it is hoped that the presentation of ‘one point of view inthis way will stimulate debate.” Over recent years, social work education in in has been criticised particularly because social work as it is. practised, especially in social services and social work departments, and social work as it is learned in colleges, are said to bear litle relationship to one another. The solution to the problems offered is sometimes that social work education should be. re- ‘organised on an “‘apprenticeship model”* but the implications of such models, and of such a reorganisation, are not always clear. tis the intention of this paper to examine some of them, Firstly, however, it seems useful to look try to identify what is particularly at issue, land what it is about the present situation ‘that has led tothe erticisms being made, In doing that, we can see what problems we hhave to try to solve. Broadly, it is alleged of the educating institutions by some people in the “'field”” that the content and teaching methods of, courses do not prepare students for work in today's social services. Particularly, students leave courses with inadequate knowledge of the law and practice relating fo work in the statutory agencies and an Inability to understand and work within the heavy pressures of multi-purpose govern- ment agencies with all that that implies about pressure of work, assessing and working within priorities, accepting and ‘dealing positively with the democratic and ‘administrative sructures involved. Further, itis argued that the altitude of some staff in educational institutions is actually hostile to social services depart- ‘ments and other statutory field agencies, in particular, in two ways. It is said firsly ‘that some teaching staff are opposed to the generic concept, would prefer to retain former specialisins and tend to do that in their teaching; secondly, that some other teaching staff especially support and espouse the radical critique of social SBASW member ond banshes_or oer Tesder wisn to commen, shoo wie fo: Mak Payne, Deparament of Soci Acminsntion ad Soca Werk, University of Bris 12 Priory Rood, Bes Maloy Payae aod oter member ofthe comme wlats be plened 10 ange to join tranches at testing fo Sitesions about pombe per for socal work ‘ication work! — which bears particularly heavily ‘against statutory agencies with respon- sibilities for social control, The com- bination of the two constitutes an ‘aggressive and damaging rejection of what social services departments or other large statutory agencies stand for (if that is known), although this is the setting in which most students will work, It is sometimes suggested that it might be better {o motivate them to work there, rather than make damaging, half-truecrticism, Lastly it fs said that the basic skills in recording, interviewing and social and psychological understanding which used to bbe so effectively and practically taught on social work courses are now treated with less importance and replaced by extensive, idealistic theoretical models which bear litte relation to reality. Practical skills learned on courses do not help people to ‘make quick decisions, act effectively and know when and how to cut corners. Different perspective People in educational institutions would reject many of these arguments. Law and procedures are not learned well out of Context, and in any case the area of law is so wide and complex that in our relatively short courses the most effective thing to do is to develop understanding of how the legal system works, general legal concepts, legal thinking, access to legal reference books and texis, and knowledge of social ‘workers’ rights and duties. Procedures and interpretations, anyway, vary between agencies and are best left until the student starts work, ‘Some teaching has always been available fon courses about administration and workload management. But the social work student concentrates on effective social work, and learning requires a limited workload which does not involve pressure, so students do not use this teaching un they are into their work and have to deal with the problems and conflicts of caseload ‘management with their supervisors after the course. Students come to the courses with considerable hostility towards social Services departments. Many have had unpleasant negative experiences and demand a critical appraisal of what they have gone through. They have often been exploited, overworked and offered little help and’ training in understanding what they are doing.” ‘There are very real problems and issues related to social work in social services departments. One of the aims of education is to help learners to understand what they are doing by questioning their activities and seeking new and better ways of doing them, It is a rejection of everything education stands for to suggest that students should be encouraged 10 accept the status Social workers should want to try to im- rove the present position, although Criticism which is not constructive is ob- viously unhelpful. ‘There has been an increase in social science knowledge over the last few years, and this has had an effect on social work ‘theory. There have been developments and improvements in teaching of basic skills reflected in the range of texts available, Sociology has expanded greatly, and developed more flexible and sometimes apparently radical approaches. Psychology, 00, has changed and developed. Social ‘work theory, ten years ago largely psychodynamically based, has seen an explosion of different approaches = family therapy, crisis theory and socio- behavioural approaches are more prominent, and totally new approaches such as planned short-term treatment, ‘cognitive therapies and systems approaches hhave developed. There is much more to learn, the same time to learn it in. Courses Ihave’ severe problems of balance and inadequate time. The balance and pattern of social science learning has moved to more flexible and critical approaches. Assessments of the vvalue of these approaches need to be made in terms of the evidence about their ef- fectiveness as critiques. Social work agencies must answer valid criticisms and, if they cannot do 50, they must suffer the consequences. Of course, criticism should be positive, and seek to offer valid alternatives. There is a need to provide chances to’ unlearn bad practices, and understand and deal with the experience of pressure and exploitation of some students prior to their admission, and prepare students to deal with similar pressures when they leave. Sometimes, in some agencies standards of social work are so low and the available opportunities for effective work so little used that it would be wrong to educate social work students 10 ‘mest them, but it is better to educate them toa high intellectual and practical standard to give them a level to which they can ‘This may be the origin of the allegedly impractical and over-theoretical ‘education being offered, This is broadly the stance taken by Baker.t According 10 CCETSW,* courses must examine practice in terms of research and theory as well as teaching from experience, From these characterisations of the extreme positions, it seems that some conflicts arise from different views of the Social Work Today Vol9 NoS 27.9.77=e Zrcee aces ieee a care ae ectace fore eke cheer maeiet Beret a areas a So Si ea eae ae ae Sovial Work Today Vol9 No$ 27.9.7 ny for base students, but also for thee ‘managers in keeping ip with there developments, and fo eovatonnng ening ouch with wnat pole © the fled The problem is nat fare of osstaning” tegration, bul tot ee Tesrtion "before and’ ater “fora eduction of socal work cperien a Social Work knowledge The Ree alin 1 the whole problem of wh should aks expan ig soc "work Yor ihe lopment_of the profeion snd theory and practice Is rite, then, a frm of eduction hie sees fo eatsne dey aa ot perience mighi sem vey aphroptae 4d most people wand seep ast ae Gile However, tere are arcusettones ao this in te present stucute nhc nee ‘obeidenitied, ty shoul be the case that soil work edacaionalsts both the fd ned in colleges” have’ ‘boin” profentoa aualifation and, preferably, Sondre {Xperience This is, for inslaes, BASS polcy* itis hampered by tie ohne fai, poor satng tales and wetting Condions inthe. academic held wad Problems in recognising racic hpi 5 equivalent 10 aademic epee Asaiing starting sales and eng satus Stony, thee is some. mone between educational esablsharee ent the fed in the other directon aed Of sci wrk edacatons have en a Fenty, and thee r movements taling' department inthe iy ences and ‘the fed. This is humped es Comiderableaitineleciual Hara Pa seca workers" atts andthe Tete Fetognse educational etperane cs equivalent pave and penca management ‘experience and the alcd broblems of tai, poor middle Slant and, ferential’ ip ane et Authoriy eld, which mate if difeat move “across. The fantasy ms Clucationaliss have an “tay tums Stich dosnt equate fo the prestressed ‘omsbiity in tacl sovcrmee a factor eng toa feng in the fa nr academics reno equal to ed jo ne dil range at salaries equvacm toe, Gute good saree afters ew ya Saeamie Tardy socal work eduction incudes fel experience whch ie supposed toaiog students to practie ats hgh sansat the Work sting nd. interne endomis wld with practic empresa en hampered by "poor tclaiont saa Tearation between eld pace ‘eset Ad college teachers which means hat hee tre aitrerences and conf of apponshe by the problems of balance verona increasing amoun' of acadenicepat cies seems tbe ncded and fied chpenenee and by administrate protons ete Up the placements and thr agers fring adequate time to prac tssho 0 ‘ecve work. The vacliaine 2 Sours been biock ad ‘conser pisces is an over sgn ot ae Doblems.'So alo are sue about ae re su of rae tae sa Feta mat ote te sare garam oe the shortage of resources for training in mae he Gene sade a no iui septic sc eae atv ota os ket a a fe se rai ay sade ett sy tata i ct Soncen eit a ea, ances ea fl Sr std cone ene, ery ode etc ores Seana Sie fo, eta Bt en goths ore ier ole nie eal pnt teh pane et Snr ge oe i daca oo'sget non nn Sot I coon OU cerned, Wis with these considerations in mind that we must approach the question of Whether apprenticeship would beany Better ‘asa basis for social work education, Apprenticeship model ‘What are the basic requirements of an effective apprenticeship? The image is often of an industrial situation in which Worker starts as very litte more than a teaboy", gains experience at various unskilled" but related jobs under the Buidance of experienced, skilled pract titioners, doing bits of the skilled tasks, Seeing how skiled men carry them out, ‘radually taking on more responsibilty fos Increasingly skilled tasks, At the same tinge there are day release courses in theoretical ° a |seus vi. wie worn, wogetner sith some “laboratory”” experience 10 prepare for using skills back on the job. From this model we gain the concepts of Slow development from unskilled 10 fully skilled status, rather than the sudden Acquisition of legitimated skill by Qualification, We may see this ideal in BASW's proposals for accreditation and other proposals for “probationary years” land the system of “confirmation” in the probation and after-care service." 2 Primary education to be in practice, supported by theory rather than vice versa The learner spends his time doing things, sharing work, gaining experience, and theory is allied to his experience atthe time toreinforce and order it, 3 Theoretical and laboratory education {in day release and short blocks rather than the typieal social work one-year of two- year course. It must be remembered, though, that many future social workers have higher standards of education and are more accustomed to sustained academic work than industrial apprentices, and may actually resent the loss ofa chance to step back” for a long period. There may be the reed for "de-insttutionalisation”, par- ticularly Tor residential workers, but also forall others bound up in day-to-day work in a hard-pressed agency, since itis dit: ficult to work on the future when there are Dressing problems in the present. 4 Practice is directly related to the work of the particular employer although some generalised skils are learned. Social wor hhowever, is both more mobile and more differentiated as an occupation than mary industrial jobs, and variety of experience may actually Be of benefit to clients and ‘agencies. ‘There are some inadequacies inthis ‘model as it applies to social work, It assumes a fairly stable body of practice knowledge and skill to be handed on, This does not exist in the rapidly changing field fof social work where Keeping up with developing knowledge is just as important as maintaining practice skill. It also assumes that theory and practice are fairly Separate. This is not, or should not be, the ‘ease with social work, where both should be flexibly intertwined. Thus, practitioners need constant theoretical updating, and educationalists need constant practice Updating. This leads to the idea of: $ Reciprocal stimulation, It is argued that if educationalists worked in the field, ‘thus maintaining practice skils, but given time and opportunity to do research and with a major responsibilty for education, their teaching would be more in line with reality, and their knowledge would be more effectively diffused through others in the agencies. Theory and practice would stimulate each other and develop realistically together, so that changes in field practice ‘more quickly induce developments in theoretical formulation, and theory and research are more quickly used to the bbeneft of direct practice with clients. Social Work Today Vol9 Nos 27.9.77 However, there is a very real possibility that in developing such a model, we forget its major disadvantage. A model such as this, whatever the theoretical advantage terms of theory and practice development, will tend towards conservatism. I wil tend to educate people into the way in which things are done, rather than the way in Which they should or might be done. As examples of how this operates, one may nominate the legal. and” medical professions. There may be justification in these professions for conservatism, since their knowledge, skill and value bases ate ‘well-established and subject 10 only slow change, Whatever our opinion of that View, i i not the case in social work; and fan acceptable model of education needs to be able to ensure that radical changes in ‘thought (supported by evidence) lead to radical changes in practice as well as vice We should be clear, then, that the argument fora mote’ “apprenticeship style” of social work education is sup- ported by those who want the colleges to ‘change to fit the field. Will this change have that effect, and if $0, is that what we want? Some would argue that the Field (or parts of it) should be changed to fit the higher standards ofthe colleges. And if it is what we want now, and we make changes in our pattern of education, are we sure that is what we want for the future when it might be more dificult to change back? Tt may be that we should see ap- prenticeship as one alternative in a range of social work education and qualification ms, rather than as the ideal total - In that case, how will teomparein Status with slightly more conventional forms of education for social work? ‘These five points are the crucial basic elements of an “apprenticeship model in social work education, and 1 think the concept of reciprocal stimulation of theory And practice is central with this approach. ‘Apprenticeship might be seen asa way of integrating promotion and pay scales for 8 variety of staff in large agencies doing similar jobs. At the moment we tend to define different jobs in social work in terms (of Separate roles and tasks, whereas in Fact if overlapping continua of responsibility for various tasks fare developed for the purpose of ap- Denticeship education, these could also become allied to a more flexible salary and job definition scale within agencies, Perhaps using task definitions like those suggested by BASW.? Practical problems Some of the difficulties in implementing such a scheme have been identified above. However, there are a number of broad practical problems 1 Manpower resources. Redeployment ‘of manpower in this way would ‘cause problems. It means that existing knowledge ‘and educational expertise now — con- centrated in a few colleges ‘would be slispersed, partially used in practice, and ‘would need to be supplemented by many ‘more people prepared to give more of theit time in education than they do at present as student supervisors. Are they available? Do they want to do this work? Can they be spared from their present work” in Management or with clients? Such moves may limit the careers of social workers who In the academic field, The present ion of labour may not be ideal, but a change on apprenticeship lines might be ‘even more damaging. Related to this is the problem of: 2 Promoting research and development, Some of this is done within large agencies, usually on an operational research basis, Dut large-scale, “pure” and comparative research not directly tied to operational feeds should be continued, If we move ‘many practising social work educators into the field it may not be done at all, or it wll be done’ either by non-social workers in colleges and probably suffer from lack of Social work involvement at the planning stage, or it will be done by people In the field without the intellectual resources and research experience of the colleges. Related tothis are the problems of: 3 Diffusion, Educators will be spread thinly in a wide range of agencies, in some cases away from comprehensive library {and teaching resources in the colleges and from day-to-day stimulation from a range Of colleagues in a college. They will be needed most in agencies where the level of training is poor. Will they want to work there oF will they prefer “good”” agencies Where standards are already higher? Will they have to move round as the level of ‘Qualified staffin an agency is raised? 4 Control, Similarly. there isthe Problem of control. Will the agencies concerned pay for these “training” staff, ill they be funded by central government, be seconded staff from colleges or a ‘mixture of all three? Who. will. be responsible for them — their practice and their educational work? Who will decide what is to be learned, when and how? The educators and students themselves, the ‘agency, or the college or some com. bination? Possibly an arrangement for consortia as in the Certificate in. Social ‘Service Courses! could be made, but there will bea problem of: 5 Maintaining standards. At present, under a general overseeing CCETSW, the colleges ae responsible for maintaining the standard of educational experience, the quality of staff including selection and support of student supervisors, A. com prehensive scheme will be so iarge that local arrangements for these will still be necessary. Who will check on the sian- dards? — an increased bureaucracy in CCETSW, a local college or some con- sortium of agencies? If the latter, will the interests of the large and powerful social services departments prevail against smaller agencies? Will it be in the agencies’ interests to reduce standards? Will some courses run by some consortia become ‘more acceptable than others? At least the ‘existing CQSW is generally accepted