Professionally Competent and Confident - Level 7
Students should demonstrate an awareness of the concept of professional competence and confidence and exercise some initiative and independence.
HEIs need to deliver teaching which explores the notion of a professional, and the role of a social worker. A key document which HEIs could use as a basis for group discussion is the '21st Century Review of Social Work', Changing Lives (2006).
Students will have registered with the SSSC and need to start to demonstrate that they have some understanding of the implications of this with particular reference to child care and protection. For example, they should understand the need for Enhanced Disclosure and where the requirement fits within a range of policies to protect children.
Students need to be aware that personal responsibility is intrinsic to professional competence and confidence and they have a key responsibility for their own continuing professional development. Consequently they should be encouraged to identify gaps in knowledge and take responsibility for developing this knowledge base and keeping abreast of developments - by accessing research and literature. In line with the Framework for Social Work Education in Scotland (2003) we would recommend that students start professional development plans in their first year that they continue to build on through their academic career.
Students may identify a lack of confidence in work with children, for example, and should explore how they might address this.
Students need to show an awareness of the meaning of professional boundaries and start to be able to make links between this and the appropriate use of authority. Within HEIs, students need to have an opportunity to use case scenarios to explore some of these issues. For example, when considering boundaries, students might be asked to consider how they would respond if a child sat on their knee during an initial home visit. Students need to start to consider their use of authority, employing case scenarios to start to practise this. We recommend that at least one of these scenarios should involve a child in need of protection.
Students need to be introduced to the concept of working in an organisation and could start to practise the skills this requires by undertaking exercises in a group. They need to be considering group dynamics and their responsibility within this. For example, in an organisation whose service users are adults, they would need to satisfy themselves that the organisation had appropriate recognition of the issues of child care and protection.