Reports

The Continuous Learning Framework sets out what people in the social services workforce need in order to be able to do their job well now and in the future and describes what employers need to do to support them. It has been developed by the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC), Iriss and a reference pool of people with a broad range of expertise and experience across the social services sector.

Research enquiry into the history of social work and social welfare is a vital and ongoing scholarly activity, underpinning our understanding of the past, and illuminating present day practice and policy. 'Memory institutions' like libraries and museums have a key role to play in preserving, and providing researchers with access to, original cultural heritage material

Social work and social welfare services in the developed world have a rich, if relatively recent, history with origins in the social upheavals associated with rapid industrialization and urbanization during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. There is a regular flow of scholarly work analysing historical trends in the policies and practices of social welfare agencies.

Case-studies illustrating how vocational qualifications have made a positive difference to individuals, the organisation and service delivery.

Ian Watson from the Scottish Institute for Excellence in Social Work Education and Nada Savitch from the Social Care Institute for Excellence explain how they are working together to enable social care staff to access the knowledge they need.

Learning objects are bite-sized digital learning resources designed to tackle the e-learning adoption problem by virtue of their scale, adaptability, and interoperability. The learning object approach advocates the creation of small e-learning resources rather than whole courses: resources that can be mixed and matched; used in a traditional or online learning environment; and adapted for reuse in other discipline areas and in other countries.

The document provides guidance for those involved in higher education to promote the involvement of service users and carers in the education of social work students.

Preliminary findings of a study of practice-related research activity within social work agencies.

Dr Ogilvie-Whyte reports on the existing evidence base supporting (or otherwise) the effectiveness of specialist training and education in child care and protection social work, particularly as it impacts on professional practice and outcomes for abused and neglected children.

The Key Capabilities (KC) in Child Care and Protection are designed to allow students within social work degree programmes to map their specific learning in this area whilst achieving the more generic Standards in Social Work Education (SiSWE). The KCs further allow social work students to evidence their learning in child care and protection by their progress being assessed at the mid and end points of the programme.