THEORY AND PRACTICE:
A Practice Educator Overview
Siobhan Maclean July 2012
“A holistic assessment is made when the meal is
judged on its overall taste, quality and
presentation etc, however if one part of the
preparation or an ingredient is missing or below
standard, then this will impair the quality of the
final product. In making an analysis of what was
deficient, the process and individual components
will need to be examined. Furthermore the quality
standard for judgement will differ according to
whether this is a corner café or a Michelin starred
restaurant.”
The College of Social Work (2012)
“Theory without practice is the
foundation without the
superstructure. Practice without
theory is the superstructure
without the foundation. The
former is useless. The latter is
dangerous.”
(William Noyce Kernott 1875
in Rasmussen 2004)
Lindsey Browne
(NQSW) (2012)
Theory without
practice is like a lid
without a food
processor…
POINTLESS………
Practice without
theory is like a
food processor
without a lid…
DANGEROUS
Ask a social worker what theory are
you using there? And ….
Ask a social worker what legislation they are
using and they know – chapter and verse….
We are leaving ourselves open to
direction from others….
“Social work is what
social workers do”
(Health and Social
Care Bill 2011)
International Definition of Social
Work
“The social work profession promotes social
change, problem solving in human
relationships and the empowerment and
liberation of people to enhance well-being.
Utilising theories of human behaviour and
social systems, social work intervenes at the
points where people interact with their
environments. Principles of human rights and
social justice are fundamental to social work.”
My Eureka Moment!
Theory – noun – ‘naming’ word
Theoretical – adjective – ‘describing’ word
Theorising – verb – ‘doing’ word
Theorising is putting ideas into
action and drawing ideas out of
action
The fact is that theory provides more than
simply “food for thought” it provides the
essential nutrients that enhance, inform and
provide validity for social work practice……
Theory also
reflects the
complexity
and diversity
of social
work practice
Did the potentially reductionist approach
promoted by the National Occupational
Standards starve social work of these essential
nutrients? Providing the profession with a
range of ready made meals for practitioners to
simply warm up....
Professional Capabilities Framework
The theory
“With guidance apply
research, theory and
doughnut….
knowledge from sociology,
social policy, psychology,
health and human growth
and development to social
work practice”
Domain 5 PCF end of first
placement
However much you
decorate it… there is a
hole in the centre
We have some
exceptional
practitioners and
students who should
be working together
with academics to coproduce the social
work knowledge base
and fill that hole!
HCPC Standards of Proficiency
13.4 Understand in relation to social work
practice:
• social work theory;
• social work models and interventions;
14.4 Be able to use social work methods,
theories and models to achieve change and
development and improve life opportunities
Theories: recipes for practice?
“Theory is typically taught in a
way which presents theories
as ‘recipes’ for practice.
Students often eat but never
cook.”
(Lopez 2011)
FORMAL THEORY
INFORMAL THEORY
- “common knowledge”
- “practice wisdom”
(Beckett 2006)
Have you ever been to one of those
restaurants where you feel excluded by the
menu?
Many social work students feel excluded by
the “academic code” (Thompson 2010)
used to express some theory…
Taking a critical approach
Remember the
concept of
‘practice validity’.
If the ‘food’
tastes terrible we
have a
responsibility to
let academics
know!
Theorising on practice
As practitioners, we have a
responsibility to co-produce
the social work knowledge
base. If theories are
‘recipes’ we need to cook
and we need to be involved
in devising creative recipes
that work with the
ingredients available to us
Some exciting developments to
look out for….
• International Federation of Social Workers
(Europe) are due to start a project looking at
empowering social workers to theorise and to
share practice wisdom more systematically
• BASW are looking at rolling out a masterclass
on theory and theorising in social work
practice across the UK
Let’s stop warming up the ready
made meals ….
Critical
reflection and
theorising
practice can
produce much
more nutritious
and diverse
food for the
profession
Theory is more than the icing on
the cake…….
It is the
cake
And we
can have
our cake
and eat
it……….
Practice Educators have always been
committed to the future of the profession.
So let’s get cooking!
References
Beckett, C. (2006) Essential Theory for Social Work Practice.
(London) Sage.
Lopez, J.J. (2011) Contemporary Sociological Theories. online at
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:JdxbXU3vSGsJ:ssm
s.socialsciences.ottawa.ca/vfs/horde/offre_cours/0028710205.
accessed 1.8.11
Rasmussen, C. (2004) Increasing Momentum: Engineering at the
University of Melbourne 1861-2004. (Carlton) Melbourne
University Press.
The College of Social Work (2012) Understanding what is meant
by Holistic Assessment. (online) TCoSW
Thompson, N. (2010) Theorizing Social Work Practice.
(Basingstoke) Palgrave Macmillan.