Enhancing Social Work Practice Through Reflective Learning

Practice Study - Critical reflection

Social work placements provide the opportunity for practice learning and “they are about a wider philosophy, linking practice to academic learning, research and continuing professional development” (Doel, 2010, p4). A reflective practice is, in essence about thinking” (Wilson et al., 2008). It influences the judgement made, which shows that, a social worker is thinking or viewing the scenario from multiple prospective, researching alternative explanation and ability to use evidence in supporting or evaluating decisions (Wilson et al., 2008). Furthermore, reflecting helps you to develop your skills and review their effectiveness, rather than just carry on doing things as you have always done them” (The Open University, 2019). If you are seeking to enhance your reflective practice and need assistance with your social work dissertation, consider seeking social work dissertation help to support your academic journey.

I will be critically reflecting on my own placement setting and begin by providing a descriptions of a service user case study drawn from my placement, to draw on the practice experience gained and how this demonstrate my learning so far. Furthermore, it will also include how social work values and ethics, law and theory helped to guided me through.

My placement was based in a non-profit organisation called Sussex empowered living. The company provides home care and supported living to promote the health and wellbeing of their service users. They have a diverse range of service users they support these are: service users with Learning disability, Autism and Mental Health. The purpose of the support is to ensure that the service users maintain or gain greater rate of independence. The company uses the person-centred approach, Care act 2014, mental capacity act and mental health act in ensuring that service users are safeguarded appropriately. They receive service users from the local authorities and private agencies across England and the clients are funded by their local authority.

Many of the service users that we work with at the Sussex Empowered Living has some level of independence, but due to their learning disability, autism or mental health they often need prompting to continue to remain independent. I found that, becoming independent is beneficial for them because it takes them out of the care system to be independent which enables them to learn life, make mistakes and make new friends.

This reflection will be based on a 29 years old boy with cerebral Palsy, epilepsy and autistic that I worked with and who I will refer to using pseudonym ‘Peter’. “Autism is a lifelong, developmental disability that affects how a person communicates with and relates to other people, and how they experience the world around them” (National Autistic society, 2018). Peter’s autism affects his ability to communicate because he stammers and he does not finish a story before moving to another, which can be confusing and the way he views the world and people. Also, he finds it hard to understand how other people feel or think. His cerebral palsy means that he cannot do certain things without help as he uses only one arm.

CA (2014) ensures that Peter must meet nine areas of wellbeing. And these are an individual's dignity; mental and physical health and

Emotional wellbeing; social and economic well-being; protection from abuse; control over day-to-day life; participation in work, training, education or recreation (legislation.gov.uk, 2014). So, staff members must ensure that Peter’s wellbeing is being met.

In this case, I was given a task by my manager to become Peter’s key worker. To be a service user key worker at Sussex empowered living means that I will be spending more time with him to build a relationship, ensuring that his care plans, support plans and risk assessment are updated regularly and helping him meet his set goals. My manager felt that, this would enable me to meet several PCF learning outcomes. The company helps service user establish goals and work with them to accomplish it, Peters established goals is to live like someone without a disability and the proposed plan to achieve this is by focusing on his computer science university course, spending time studying, meeting up with friends, accepting and asking for help, being positive about dating by trying new forms of dating and to listen to advice and keeping focussed on good lifestyle changes to ensure that he is in the best health.

Prior to the initial meeting with Peter, I followed the company’s procedure and policy which is to read his care Plan, risk assessment and support plan to gain knowledge out his history, likes and dislike. By doing this shows good professionalism. I also began to research theories to understand Peter on how best to deal with Peter and plan ahead on how best to communicate with him.

“An important part of reflection in social work is the application and consideration of theories in practice” (Trevethick, 2012).

On reflection, I used the Bronfenbrenner’s ecological prospective, to help me understand Peter’s systems and how they play a role in his life. Teater 2012, states that When examining the fit between person and environment, the social worker must take into account the physical and social aspects of the environment and how culture impacts the interplay between them (Gitterman and Germain, 2008). Peters has a good relationship with his grandmother, but they often argue because of misunderstanding, their relationship is better, when he is living alone. Tajfel et al., (1979) proposed that, people belong to groups such as football, family school which are important source of pride and self-esteem because it gives them a sense of identity. Sussex empowered living and university of Brighton is very important to Peter because he feels that he is part of a community which gives him pride and increases his self esteem, so it is very important that, he is supported and do not break his agreement with The Sussex Empowered Living and also fail his university course as this helps his wellbeing and makes him independent.

My practice supervisor wanted me to shadow a community case worker to visit Peter as this will give me the opportunity to meet and introduce myself to him. When we arrived at Peters flat, the goal of the visit was to prompt him to ensure that he tidied his room, wash his clothes, prepare him for his new flat viewing and support him with any other tasks that he may want to achieve. The care Act 2014 guidelines insist that a service user must have control over their day to day life for a good wellbeing (legislation, 2014). So therefore, we worked with Peter in a person-centred way because the approach puts Peter in control of his life. (Sharf, 2012) states that “the goal of the person-centred approach is to help clients discover their true self, a self which has been hidden from the client’s awareness” (Teater, 2014, p104). By using this approach will encourage positive regards, whereby Peter will be making all the decisions; he has the right to reject any support or tasks we suggest.

Peter did not want to attend the flat viewing, On Peter’s care plan, it states that, staff should encourage him to make the right decision and explain to him the benefits even when he is arguing and frustrated. Therefore, the caseworker continued prompting him and explains the benefits of going for the viewing which made him more frustrated and angrier. This made him angry and he left the coffee shop.

I was very happy to see Peter get all the tasks that was urgent done such as laundry and cleaning. Peter was excited about viewing the new flat but when he realizes that a different member of staff was going with him, he became adamant about not attending the viewing. It was sad to hear that Peter is refusing to go, because I knew how important it was for him to move to a new flat. When he walked away, it made me feel nervous to see him upset because I thought we had done something wrong.

It was good that we helped Peter become independent by achieving his daily tasks. The staff member motivated Peter by telling him about the positives of viewing the flat whilst being person-centred. However, I realised that my colleague was not able to creatively motivate Peter to attend his flat viewing.

This experience enables me to develop an awareness to be professionally curious. Professional curiosity enables a professional the capacity and communication skills to explore what is happening with rather than making assumptions or accepting things as face value (Manchester Safeguarding Partners, 2020). Using this will influence my view as a professional, encouraging me to dig deeper and explore wilder. When I had a meeting with my practice educator about my experience and my curiosity about why Peter missed his flat viewing appointment, she asked me to explore further with Peter, on why he missed a flat viewing appointment. I used motivational interviewing to express empathy through listening and avoided direct confrontation and to resolve his ambivalence about the flat viewing appointment (Teater, 2014). I explored his reason for change in an atmosphere of acceptance. Peter informed me that the reason he failed to attend the appointment was because he felt tired, he did not like the property and he did not want to go with the staff member schedule to support him. When working with Peter, I was mindful not to misuse my power as a professional. So when he asked for my opinion, I would explain information in positives and negatives, so that, he can weigh the information and able to make an unwise decision if he wishes. I updated Peters support plan to inform staff members about using motivation theory as useful tool, when Peter is refusing to do something that will make him independent.

I continued to work and build a trusting relationship with him. I used skills such as listening, building boundaries, being non-judgemental and good body language to build a strong relationship. On visits, Peter would often discuss about his day and people that he met. He informed me that he was spending money unwisely on online cam girls. So, I explored it further, using motivational theory. He informed me that the reason he spends money online is because he cannot get a relationship with a girl. I realised that he was interested in dating and starting meaningful relationship, so I suggested some dating events for him to attend to enable him meets others and thought him some dating techniques.

On day I arrived at Peters house, he seems very withdrawn and upset, I ask Peter if he needed time alone to reassure him that he is the control He wanted me to stay with him.

So I explain confidentiality which enable me to break the ice of silence, it also helped me reassure him that I am trustworthy, and I will be keeping all of his information safe except if the information makes him vulnerable of makes somebody else vulnerable. Trevithick, (2019) states that “To understand people and their social world, acknowledging our ignorance of the person world is important by asking good questions to provide information about them”. I used a calm tone voice to make him relaxed and comfortable, then I used open ended question and scale question such as how you are feeling and from 1 – 10, where would you say that you are today, 1 being bad and 10 very good. The open-ended questions enable me to get relevant and enough details for enabling me to search for clues to dig deeper. Peter informed me that he believes that his teacher has been unfair to him, because, he disclosed something personal to the teacher and he informed the class about it and also, he believes that his teacher purposefully failed his essay. On Peters care plan, it states that, when he thinks about unrealistic ideas because of his Autism, staff must support to him and explain the reality.

Social work England states social workers should “1.6 Promote social justice, helping to confront and resolve issues of inequality and inclusion” (Social Work England, 2019). Peter disclosure was concerning and challenging. I sensed power dynamics to be the issue. Thompson (2000) stated that, power can be a complex issue that operates on different levels. The Power imbalance between Peter and his teach may because by lack of effective communication between the teacher and Peter. The HRA a14, the right to not be discriminated against in the enjoyment of your other rights protects Peter case to be properly investigated by university.

Peter was willing to accept a fail and he was thinking of dropping out of university, he thinks that he is not clever enough for university because of his learning disability. On reflection, I used Abraham Maslow hierarchy of needs to help me understand him, his environment and why he was thinking of making the decision to drop out of university. Maslow argues that, there are five stages of human needs that motivate human behaviour. He further states that, our esteem needs which involve feelings of self-confidence, feeling good about oneself, feeling valued by others and feeling that our achievements and contributions have been recognised by other people needs to be met because people feel confident and valued if they are met (Vandevell, 2019). Moreover, if they are not met, they may experience what Alfred Adler described as a “feeling of inferiority” (Smith, Mullis, Kern, & Brack, 1999). Peter will often have doubt himself and blames it on his learning disability and cerebral palsy. He has low self-esteem, when communicating with him, I am non-judgemental, communicate effectively and listen to him, to earn trust and praise his effort to motivate him.

The social model of disability describes the concept of normal as a misleading and unhelpful and recognises that diversity as part of our human condition (Oliver, 2016). In the shop when, Peter tries to find the right money or put away his change, he would often say that, he feels patronised by other customers behind him, waiting to use the till because he is slower.

A person with disability is often prevented from doing things by the society not because they cannot do it. When I applied this to Peter’s case, I realise that people with severe learning disability like Peter often are not expected to reach university level by the society, but he has worked very hard to be studying computer science degree despite his learning disability. A slight slip in his moral may lead to self-doubt in completing completer science degree.

I prompted Peter to email his teacher to book a one to one session to review his assignment and to find out how he can improve his grades.

He was excited about the idea but was nervous to email the teacher. So, I empowered and encouraged him by telling him about my personal experience when I failed an essay I believed that I should have passed. I found booking an appointment to speak with the teacher helpful in enabling to understand my mistakes and how to improve it. After informing him about my experience, providing him with reassurance and encouraging him to remain positive, he decided to send email to the teacher for an appointment.

When Peter received an appointment from his teacher, he wanted me to go with him to support him. So I explored a list of question that he wants to ask the teacher and I wrote them down, to take with me to the appointment. Writing these question was beneficial to help us avoid forget it whilst in the meeting and to ensure that he is getting the right support. When we arrived for the appointment, I introduced myself to the teacher and explained the issue. I was person centred, I allowed Peter to take the lead and I spoke when he wanted me to speak. Approaching the teacher was beneficial because he explored how he can improve his assignment to get a better grade. He was very helpful and Peter was happy on the outcome. Peter still had some doubts about the assignment because he thinks that he was too hard for him. I continued to encourage him using the strength approach. My ability to work with other professional to resolve a service user issue shows that, I can work with other professionals to resolve service user problems.

I decided to use strength based approach to motivate Peter. The approach appealed to me because it insists that those we work with are far more than a label of their problem. Consequently (Howe, 2009, p99) cited from (Witkins 2002: xiii) further explains that “it is hard to see the person with mental illness or a child abuser as something other than their label”. The strength approach helped me to see Peter behind the label of failure but rather recognised that he has the potential to re write his assignment to the required standard. This approach helped Peter to understand and see the positive attributes of him, which empowered him to plan an intervention on how he will get the failed essay done. This is in line with social work values which emphasis that on social workers to help service user feel empowered and in control (British Association of Social workers, 2020)

Whilst on placement, I continuously reflected on my practice, reflect with my practice educator, and reflect with senior staff members and practice supervisor. I found that speaking to them enabled me to think positive and gain a wilder experience which shaped me to be more confident practitioner. I thought that, I would struggle to use a reflective journal. Moreover, it was a requirement that I learn to record in a reflective journal. Kam-shing, (2006) encourages social workers to use reflective journal because it helps them express their thought and ideas to avoid forgetting it whilst in practice. however in the beginning, I felt that it was overwhelming to express thought on paper but as I begin to use it, I found it useful because it improved the awareness of my practice which enable me to gain self-reflection of my practice and helped my supervision with my practice educator beneficial.

In my interaction with Peter and other service user, I recognised that reflecting in action was useful to make quick decisions. This Schön (1991) technique of reflection is useful way of reflecting whilst an event is occurring. For example, When Peter said that he believes that his teacher was unfair and failed him; I was able to use my ability to reflect in action about my experience that, I had and how it made me feel. By doing this, I was able to empathise with him and encourage him.

Theory is an organised, coherent set of ideas that offer an explanation for something we observe or experience” (Beckett and Taylor, 2019), it is evidence-based, and it gives social workers the platform to understand human behaviours. Thyer (1994) argued that, it is a waste of time for social work educators to teach theory because they are taught incorrectly and are invalid, which can affect practice. As a social worker student on placement, I found that, applying theories to cases was beneficial to explain service user situation which gives me deeper knowledge on service users and provides an accountability of my work. Simon (1994) encourages that social work practitioners must learn and gain theoretical knowledge because they can serve as an anchoring frame and a conceptual screen for case assessment, causal explanation, intervention planning, and outcome evaluation. Social work England further states that social workers should “Hold different explanations in mind and use evidence to inform decisions”. Using theory improved my practice. I will ensure that, I continue to read books and attend classes to improve my knowledge of social work theories.

In conclusion, Peters experience changed my view on working with people with disability and gave me an insight of challenges people living with disability face. The root of the difficulties that, Peter faced is more psychological, this is mostly because of the negative stigma on people living with disability. The stigma makes him develop low self-esteem. Matinez, (2014) explained that, the society may define normal as able bodied but whatever body that we are born into, we have our own difficulties which makes nobody normal. Social worker must continue to promote social change to ensure that equality.

This essay helped me to develop awareness of my own practice and provide explanation to some decision that I made and how they affected the service user’s life. I demonstrated that, as a social worker there is a number of factors involved when practicing in a anti oppressive way, these involves using theory to get an holistic view and explanation on service users life and life situations and practising in a non-judgmental way by putting aside personal values, which may interfere with my social work value. For example, I do not practice any form of meditation, but researches shows that meditation is beneficial for the mind (Powell, 2018). I did not let my personal value restrict my practice, so I suggested meditation to Peter to help him reduce stress level. I discovered that, I have gained skill and techniques from co-workers that I have worked with and situation that I find myself in with service users.

I find being professionally curious and being creative in practice useful to problem solve. My professional curiosity equipped me with the knowledge to always strive to dip deeper to find out ways to help solve Peter’s problem which enable me to create a trusting professional relationship with him because he was aware that I wanted to know more about him and help to make a difference. Creativity helped me to encourage and prompt him to be involved which created social change. Overall, Reflection is an integral part of social work. Social worker should aim to be reflective practitioners, as this will help them to make better decision.

References

British Association of Social workers, (2020) Code of Ethics [online] Available

Wilson, K., Ruch, G., Lymbery M. & Cooper, A. 2008. An introduction to contemporary

practice. Essex: Pearson education limited

National Autistic society, (2018) What is autism [online] Available at:

Tajfel, H., Turner, J. C., Austin, W. G., & Worchel, S. (1979). An integrative

Social Work England, (2019). Professional standards [online] Available at

Oliver, M. (2013) The social model of disability: thirty years on, Disability &

Thyer, B.A. (1994). Are theories for practice necessary? No! Journal of Social Work Education, 30(2), 148-151.

Powell, A (2018) Researchers study how it seems to change the brain in depressed patients [online] Available:

Vandevell, T.(2019)Printable Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Chart / Maslow’s Pyramid Diagram [ONLINE] Available at:

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