Towards sustainability in Australian social work field education
- Authors: Neden, Jeanette , Townsend, Rob , Zuchowski, Ines
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Social Work Vol. 71, no. 3 (2018), p. 345-357
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- Description: The educational framework of Australian social work field education has remained static over the past few decades. Emerging challenges are creating a compelling case for change. These include increasing demand for placements, declining capacity of organisations to provide placement requirements, reduction in practitioners’ incentives and capacity to support student placements and to facilitate a work integrated learning context, and an interrelated web of policies and regulations that constrain adaptation to these changes. In a critical exploration of multiple levels of regulation and policy contexts, we argue that conventional approaches to social work field education are not sustainable given significant changes to the funding arrangements for universities and within the welfare service system. To futureproof integrative learning in social work, we advocate transformation of educational culture, policies, and design toward sustainability. IMPLICATIONS Supervised placements are designed to integrate practice and academic learning but their future use as the single means for achieving this integration will be unsustainable. Drawing on an ecological orientation enables social work educators to position sustainability as a key consideration and response to current constraints in higher education and the field. Focusing on sustainability across policy, practice, and regulation contexts has potential to generate transformative change that enhances our effectiveness in futureproofing the design of integrative learning in social work. © 2018,
Horse talk : Equine based learning programs and their engagement with individuals
- Authors: Townsend, Rob , Hood, Michelle
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Adult Learning Vol. 59, no. 2 (2019), p. 254-268
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- Description: Studies about equine therapies or equine experiential learning recommend that significantly more research, specifically longitudinal research, across age groups, genders, contexts and client cohorts needs to occur in diverse contexts. There exists diverse equine-related programs which engage with a range of cohorts, specifically; young children who have experienced abuse; adolescents who have experienced abuse and family violence and adults who have experienced family violence, psychiatric disorders, social anxiety and social isolation. The most common outcomes from the equine learning program studied for this article, from the case-studies and the thematic analysis includes; behavioural changes, stress relief, mind and body awareness and control, forming a relationship with an intuitive practitioner, guided meditations as a means of creating independent meditation techniques and re-engagement with education, work, friendships and family relationships. The mind-body awareness that is gained by participants of the program provides skills and techniques for individuals (and families) to utilise in every-day, with lifelong learning a crucial aspect of the program.
Developing a case-based experiential learning model at a program level in a regional university : reflections on the developmental process
- Authors: Patil, Tejaswini , Hunt, Michelle , Cooper, Kimberlea , Townsend, Rob
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Adult Learning Vol. 60, no. 2 (2020), p. 225-244
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- Description: This article reflects on the developmental process of a case-based experiential learning model: the Federation University model, in an undergraduate community and human services program at a regional university. There is abundant literature that addresses the use and need for introducing experiential learning at the subject/unit level in community and human services/social work content. However, despite the expansion of research on experiential learning, there is limited literature that bridges the gap between course/program level teaching philosophy and using experiential learning activities in individual subjects. The article will demonstrate how Kolb’s four stage cycle (Kolb, 1984) and case-based experiential learning were integrated to develop curriculum at a program level. It will also demonstrate how a move to experiential learning facilitated better alignment with face-to-face and online learning. As a way of argument, we suggest that case-based experiential learning is very relevant and useful to human services/ social work education because of its emphasis on bridging the theory and praxis nexus and providing graduates with an opportunity to work effectively in a complex, fluid and ever-changing sector. © 2020, Adult Learning Australia. All rights reserved.
The role of connection in the efficacy of animal-assisted therapies : a scoping review
- Authors: Beggs, Sharron , Townsend, Rob
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work Vol. 33, no. 3 (2021 2021), p. 34-47
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- Description: INTRODUCTION: There is an undeniable connection between humans and animals, with the relationship between the two being well documented across the centuries of history and storytelling. METHODS: This article outlines a scoping review of the literature and research exploring the history, efficacy, and currency of animal assisted therapies (AATs) as they have developed in recent decades within human services and social work programmes. FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS: Archaeological research suggests a mutualistic relationship has existed between canines and humans dating back 140,000 years evolving to deepened connections between animals and behaviourally modern humans including 15,000 years of animal domestication. These connections have generated relationships where animals both work for and with humans, assuming diverse roles ranging from service animal to companion pet, from livestock to live entertainment, from symbolic idol to science experiment and, as demonstrated in this article, as co-therapist or therapeutic medium in psychotherapeutic, human services and social work practice processes.
‘You say one thing wrong, and your children are gone’ : exploring trauma-informed practices in foster and kinship care
- Authors: Cooper, Kimberlea , Sadowski, Christina , Townsend, Rob
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: British Journal of Social Work Vol. 53, no. 6 (2023), p. 3055-3072
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- Description: Trauma-informed care is a growing practice approach in child and family social work. Current policy directions in out-of-home care (OOHC) in Victoria, Australia show an interest in further implementation of trauma-informed care, particularly through training for foster and kinship carers. Drawing upon findings from grounded theory research with sixteen foster and kinship carers, this article considers the application of trauma-informed practices in home-based care in the Central Highlands region of Victoria, Australia. The research reveals that whilst carers utilise principles of trauma-informed care to support children and young people, they do not always experience trauma-informed support from the wider OOHC system. This discrepancy suggests that the implementation of trauma-informed care has the potential to increase pressure on home-based carers if it is only encouraged at the interpersonal level between carers and children, without incorporating associated systems-level change. These findings propose that whilst micro-level support and training for carers are necessary and useful, it is crucial for OOHC systems to move beyond such initiatives to plan and enact macro-level reforms. © The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The British Association of Social Workers.