Nottingham Trent University World Social Work 2023 updates
WORLD SOCIAL WORK DAY 21st MARCH 2023: UPDATES & INFORMATION
- The social work team will use the day and follow up lectures to showcase international social work perspectives and to reflect on ‘Respecting Diversity Through Joint Social Action’
- Celebrating with a lunch for our BA, MA & Social Work Degree Apprenticeship students with a range of links to watch and follow up discussion
- Collaborative Online International Learning ( COIL)
- Building on the success of last year’s COIL, German students and staff from Potsdam University will return to NTU in April to share face-to-face practice-focused research teaching and placement/court visits to support online line lectures for both student groups. A return visit to Potsdam is planned for summer 2023.
- European Social Work Research Conference–Amsterdam 2022 Dr Bob Cecil, Dr Jo Rawles & Professors Pam Alldred and Geraldine Brady represented NTU & presented papers including ethics & young service users and decision-making in practice.
- International Parent-Centred Network
- NTU continues to be an active member and extended its membership until 2027.This 7-year collaboration was celebrated at its 2022 conference hosted by the University of Malta( Valetta) attended by 9 participating universities & parent-centred organisations with staff, service users and students well represented.
- Dr Bob Cecil delivered a keynote lecture ‘Supporting Positive Parenting: Reconfiguring the relationship between tacit knowledge and professional response’ based on his work in the fostering field.
- Professor Geraldine Brady & Mohammed Sanusi-Adams ( MA social work student) co-presented findings of Mohammed’s dissertation (Poverty-aware social workers: rhetoric or reality’)
- Lisa Wardell (Deputy head SWCC) and Leonora-Gardner-Cawthan (NTU BA Youth Justice student) co-presented Leonora’s undergraduate dissertation findings (‘Are we putting parents on the naughty step? Youth Justice and parenting: the forgotten key element of effective practice’) which interrogated the legal & policy framework surrounding young offenders and their families.
- The conference also showcased a collaborative publication -Reimaging Parenthood in Diverse Contexts (2022)-edited by Professor Carmel Borg
- April 2023 Vilnius ,Lithuania. This year’s conference (‘Parenthood in Stressful Situations’ ) will be attended by Dr Simon Cauvain and Jo Reynolds. Two youth justice students from NTU’s Social Work, Care and Community Department will present ‘Restorative practice- the key to integration for refugee and migrant parents?’. Participants will have the opportunity to attend practice sites and Lithuanian Parliament. Students will work in mixed groups from each university and present conference workshop findings to all participants on the final day.
Ø Social Work in Malawi (SSWIM)
Dr Simon Cauvain, Head of Department, Social Work, Care and Community at NTU, has been working with SSWIM for 8 years and, in partnership with Prof Janet Walker, University of Lincoln, Felix Kakowa, University of Malawi, visits the ‘warm heart of Africa’ to teach sustainable practice education and transformational leadership training. SSWIM’s work involves supporting a clear vision for Malawian social work with practicing social workers and practice educators, Malawian university lecturers, politicians, and other charitable organisations. The training has helped support quality and standards of professional of social work education. SSWIM supports social work as an emerging and critical profession, with a primary role in social development, social justice, human rights, and gender equality.
SSWIM continues to support the recently created National Association of Social Workers in Malawi (NASWiM), with Chisangalalo Ntonio, as its President. NASWiM aims to develop standards, processes, and systems to support the regulation, professionalisation and development of the social work profession.
His Excellency Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chalwera recently appointed Edward Chileka Banda to the position of Director of Social Welfare in the Ministry of Gender. A meeting is planned in March between Simon, Janet, Chisangalalo, and Felix where discussion will focus on national priorities, legislative needs in support of the professionalisation of Malawian Social Work and needs assessment for the next SSWIM visit to Malawi.
Simon and Janet will join Malawian academics in June 2023 to support leadership training and a sustainable ‘train the trainer’ approach to practice education with a scoping exercise to inform how best to support continuous professional workforce development (CPD) .Work will also include field visits to local communities, tribal leaders, and placement settings to gain insights (oral histories) into needs, Malawian social work practice and support new placement developments.
British Association of Social Work (BASW) has supported some of the work completed so far through the International Development Fund and future bids to BASW and other funding streams are planned.
Future collaborative research/ writing plans for publication include:
- The development of social work education in Malawi
- Indigenous knowledge and social work practice
- Malawian communities and lived experience: an exploration through oral histories methodology
- Malawian social work student perspectives
Stephano Akuzike Joseph , General Secretary (NASWiM) writes: ‘The support from SSWIM through practice educators has enabled the Association of Social Workers in Malawi to have in place standards to guide the practice of social work in Malawi. The practical support towards litigation has enabled the Association to make an impact on supporting clients who could otherwise have degraded into further emotional harm.
More support is needed towards raising the profile of Social Worker in Malawi; Institutionalization of Practice Educators, Commemoration of World Social Work Day’.
Ø NTU Eastern Africa Centre
NTU Eastern Africa Centre, including the Eastern Africa PhD Hub, officially launched in December 2022. The Nottingham Trent University: Eastern Africa Centre is “a University-wide initiative established to support the development of sustainable and equitable collaborations with our eastern African partners. The Centre, which builds on the strength of our existing links in the region, provides a platform for the development of networks and the delivery of an ongoing programme of research and public engagement activities, most notably in the areas of Public Health and Ecological Restoration”.
Ø European Conference for Social Work Research (ECSWR)
European Conference for Social Work Research (ECSWR) is the biggest annual social work research event in Europe. The 12th ECSWR in 2023 will take place in Milan, Italy, hosted by the Università Cattolica, del Sacro Cuore. The Social Work, Care and Community Dept at NTU will be represented by four academics: Professor Geraldine Brady, Dr Jo Rawles, Dr Jenny Simpson, and Dr Simon Cauvain.
- If you would like to discuss any of the above and/or share experience of international social work please email Dr Bob Cecil, Principal Lecturer in Social Work and SWCC Department International Lead cecil@ntu.ac.uk
