Summary

Social work education faces increasing pressure from a range of stakeholders including citizens who use services, regulatory bodies and the media to demonstrate that newly qualified social workers are competent and uphold public trust (Munro, 2011; Rees and Raithby, 2012). While social work education and practice draw on similar traditions in theory and practice, there are important differences in the international and institutional frameworks within which they operate. This presentation illustrates some of these differences through a focus on social work education provision in one university. Drawing on the experience and views of the student participants, we examine the benefits of creative approaches that promote citizen involvement and suggest how European traditions can contribute to this process. We define key terms and summarise the literature, followed by presentation of the results and identification of the key learning.  We identify that emancipatory models of education can encourage recognition of learners’ different strengths and can help to assist social work students’ readiness for practice. Finally, the need for cost-benefit outcomes research into if and how citizen coproduction influences subsequent service delivery is acknowledged.  

Keywords (separate with commas)

social work, social pedagogy, citizen involvement, student assessment, creativity.