Slides from a meeting to involve the social work community in the co-production of a Professional Capabilities Framework for social workers in Aotearoa.

1. Enhance R2P
Wellington Co-production hui

2. The project
background
“ChildYouth and Family reports that many new
graduates they employ lack the required level of
knowledge of child protection, youth justice, child
development, mental health, addictions and family
violence. This means new social workers need to learn
these skills on the job.”
Children’s Commissioner (2015, p.34)

3. Research
questions
 PHASE 1 | 2016: What is the content of the current
Aotearoa New Zealand social work curriculum and how
does it relate to the SWRB core competencies?
 PHASE 2 | 2017: How well prepared are NQSWs to
enter professional social work practice and how is their
learning being supported and enhanced in the
workplace?
 PHASE 3 | 2018: What professional capabilities,
including cultural capabilities, should we expect of
NQSWs and of social workers working at more
experienced and expert levels of practice?

4. Phase 1:
What is the content of the current Aotearoa New Zealand
social work curriculum?

5. The three
curricula
The Declared
Curriculum
The Learned
Curriculum
TheTaught
Curriculum
Analyse curriculum documents
Student focus groupsEducator focus groups

6. Declared
curriculum
dataset
Metadata about the core dataset Totals
Participating tertiary institutions 14
Polytechnics / PrivateTraining Institutes 9
Universities 5
Participating SWRB-recognised social work programmes 19
Bachelor’s degrees 14
Bachelor’s Honours degrees 2
Master’s degrees 3
Course descriptors obtained for analysis 402
Compulsory courses 353
Elective courses 49
NZQF level 5 courses (1st year) 117
NZQF level 6 courses (2nd year) 101
NZQF level 7 courses (3rd & 4th year) 148
NZQF level 8 courses (Honours) 12
NZQF level 9 courses (Master’s) 32
Courses with a value between 15 to 20 credits / points 328
Courses with a value between 30 to 45 credits / points 70
Courses with a value between 60 to 90 credits / points 4

7. Top 12 course
topics
Key CourseTopic No. of courses No (and %) ofTEI’s
with key term in the title
Field work 29 14 (100%)
Research 29 12 (86%)
Social work theory 25 13 (93%)
Social policy 23 12 (86%)
Social work skills 20 8 (57%)
Professional development 16 12 (86%)
Community work 14 11 (79%)
Te ao Māori 12 9 (64%)
Fields of practice 11 10 (71%)
Human development 11 11 (79%)
Treaty of Waitangi 11 9 (64%)
Sociology 10 7 (50%)

8. Creating the
curriculum
maps
Taxonomy
Terms
(N=600)
eR2P
Database
SWRB Core
Competencies
(N=10)
Nvivo
content
analysis
Curriculum
Documents
(N=402)

11. Families
Family
Violence
Whānau

12. Disabilities
Older people
Health

13. Mental health
Addictions

14. EDUCATOR
FOCUS
GROUPS:
Perceived
readiness to
practise
I guess readiness is only defined by the situation that you are presented
with isn’t it? I mean a lot of them will say no, they are not ready, because
they don’t feel ready they are not confident and I guess for us to
encourage them to be confident and to be open to learning and to be
critical are really…and the rest will just come with good supervision and
support.
I just think we need to, as programmes, emphasise that when our
students graduate that they do graduate at that beginning level
and we don’t expect them to graduate as experts…like we don’t
expect doctors or lawyers or psychologists. But there does seem to
be this expectation from some people, mainly the government,
that our social workers graduate and are ready to do top level
complex work, and that is just bloody ridiculous quite frankly.

15. STUDENT
FOCUS
GROUPS:
Perceived
Readiness to
Practise
I feel as well prepared as I can I guess. It’s always nerve racking
doing these things after studying it for four years. I guess I always
doubt myself but I just have to take on the feedback from my
placement supervisor and be more confident within myself. I think I
have the knowledge and skills to practice because the degree has
really prepared me in that way.
…the government or the agencies that were expecting that we’re
going to know, they’re expecting that we’re going to know
everything…you know? Social work has got so many diverse fields
that we can’t know everything in a particular field .. we keep on
learning when we start work… it’s like there seems to be all of that
negative stuff in the media that they’re expecting us to be
specialists straight away…

16. FOCUS
GROUPS:
Child
protection,
trauma &
violence
Although most students seemed to think that these topics were covered well it
was evident that students from one programme focus group did not think that
was the case.
The second year group did that for integrating theory with practice, up
front assessment…So the whole group got to understand more about
that, got to recognize what it was and why it was important (Educator,
A1).
So the family and whanau paper covers indicators and assessment,
and working with physical, emotional, sexual abuse and neglect, as
well as interpersonal violence and a range of other things that
place a family at risk, like having a parent in prison or sudden
transitions like death in the family. (Educator, H1)
A lot on violence. Domestic violence side of things and child abuse. A lot of
concentration on that. (Student, I1)

17. FOCUS
GROUPS:
Practice skills
learning
Role-plays, mock court, videos, substantive use of case studies across course
offerings.While documenting skills were talked about as a key emphasis in
most programmes by educators not all students felt they had enough
preparation prior to placement
Emphasis on critical thinking skills and capacity for critical reflection.
Students concurred with this sentiment across the board. In terms of the need
to be reflexive, self aware and conscious of use of self universally felt this was
addressed in their education
Quite a few of us that had to do case notes on our placement, we hadn’t
really been given a lot of guidance around that. (Student,K1)
Probably the most important thing that we emphasise is that ability
to reflect on oneself, one’s values, one’s knowledge and how that
impacts on us and our work with the people we work with.
(Educator, B1)

18. FOCUS
GROUPS:
Gaps identified
- health,
ageing &
disability
We didn’t do any health social work papers…I think there is a key
role for social workers working in multidisciplinary or
interdisciplinary teams and you’re not taught those skills.
(Student E2)
I think we need to pull in a stream around working with older
adults, adults with disabilities, adults at risk.There is very little
legislation to protect vulnerable adults but I think we need to
spend a bit more time considering adults at risk. (Educator D2)

19. FOCUS
GROUPS:
Field
Education,
quality & ad
hoc nature.
The most important thing I think as well for students is the quality of your
placements (Student K1)
For three months [on placement] I had just three supervision
sessions…it was supposed to be weekly, but I just got [3] because
they are incredibly busy, they are really busy. (Student C3)
I was bullied and I only had eight out of my 23 weeks I had
supervision.Where do we sit in terms of health and safety law?
(Student A5)
I was really lucky on my two placements. I’ve had really good supervision,
so much so they keep on asking me all these questions about theory and
reflection.(Student, J1)

20. Phase 2:
How well prepared are NQSWs to enter professional social
work practice and how is their learning being supported and
enhanced in the workplace?

21. NQSWs &
Managers:
Survey &
Interviews
A replication
The survey is a modified replication of a UK study by the SocialCare
Workforce Research Unit, Kings College, London (Sharpe et al, 2011)
The Managers/Supervisors survey
Required respondents to have managed or supervised a NQSW within
the last two years.There were a total of 193 responses to this survey,
however, 10 failed to meet the selection criteria and a further 25
dropped out of the survey resulted in a final sample of 158
managers/supervisors.
The NQSW survey
Required respondents to have completed an approved social work
qualification from a NZ tertiary education institute within the last two
years, be in current paid employment and been employed in a social
service agency for a minimum of six months.There were a total of 195
responses to this survey, however, 71 failed to meet the selection
criteria and a further 5 dropped out of the survey which resulted in a
final sample of 119 NQSWs

22. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
MONITORING AND EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF INTERVENTIONS
ANALYTIC ABILITIES
PLANNING FOR SPECIFIC OUTCOMES FOR SERVICE USERS AS A RESULT OF SOCIAL
WORK INTERVENTION(S)
WORKING WITH PASIFIKA
FACILITATING INDEPENDENCE FOR SERVICE USERS, GIVING THEM CONTROL OVER
THEIR LIVES
ABILITY TO PRIORITISE THEIR WORKLOAD
WORKING WITH MĀORI
GROUPWORKING WITH SERVICE USERS, CARERS, COMMUNITY MEMBERS
STANDARDS OF LITERACY IN REPORT WRITING
INTER-PROFESSIONAL WORKING (WITH COLLEAGUES IN HEALTH, EDUCATION, ETC)
WORKING WITH DIVERSE COMMUNITIES
EFFECTIVE ENGAGEMENT WITH SERVICE USERS AND CARERS
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
TEAMWORKING
Managers’ ratings of newly qualified social workers’ skills and abilities
Excellent
Adequate
Disappointing

23. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
COPING WITH STRESS AND PRESSURE
TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR (TAKING OWNERSHIP OF) THEIR OWN
DECISIONS
INITIATIVE AND RESOURCEFULNESS IN HELPING SERVICE USERS AND
CARERS RESOLVE THEIR PROBLEMS
SELF-CONFIDENCE
INTEREST IN CONTINUOUS LEARNING
RECOGNISING THE IMPORTANCE OF INTERNAL PROCEDURES AND
POLICIES
ADAPTABILITY, FLEXIBILITY
CULTURAL SENSITIVITY
COMMITMENT TO THE BEST INTERESTS OF SERVICE USERS AND CARERS
ENTHUSIASM FOR THEIR WORK AS A SOCIAL WORKER
Managers’ ratings of newly qualified social workers’ values and personal
qualities
Excellent
Adequate
Disappointing

24. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
THEIR LEGAL POWERS AS SOCIAL WORKERS
EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE
THE ANZASW CODE OF ETHICS
AVAILABILITY OF SPECIFIC LOCAL SERVICES, RESOURCES, ETC., FOR
SERVICE USERS AND CARERS
THE SWRB CODE OF PRACTICE
UNDERPINNING THEORIES ABOUT SOCIAL PROBLEMS AND
DISADVANTAGE
SOCIAL WORK ORGANISATIONS – FUNCTIONS, RESPONSIBILITIES AND
STRUCTURES
Managers’ ratings of newly qualified social workers’ knowledge
Excellent
Adequate
Disappointing

25. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
10. ABILITY TO PRIORITISE THEIR WORKLOAD
9. WORKING WITH DIVERSE COMMUNITIES
8. PLANNING FOR SPECIFIC OUTCOMES FOR SERVICE USERS AS A RESULT
OF SOCIAL WORK INTERVENTION(S)
7. KNOWLEDGE OF UNDERPINNING THEORIES ABOUT SOCIAL PROBLEMS
AND DISADVANTAGE
6. FACILITATING INDEPENDENCE FOR SERVICE USERS, GIVING THEM
CONTROL OVER THEIR LIVES
5. COMMITMENT TO THE BEST INTERESTS OF SERVICE USERS AND CARERS
4. COPING WITH STRESS AND PRESSURE
3. TEAMWORKING
2. ANALYTIC ABILITIES
1. EFFECTIVE ENGAGEMENT WITH SERVICE USERS AND CARERS
Managers' ratings of top ten most important qualities
Excellent
Adequate
Disappointing

26. 24.5 23.8
20.9
7.2
18.3
5.6
17.6
1.6
18.3
12.7 14 12.5
57.6 57.5
59.5
60.4
56.9
63.5
69.3
54.0
59.5
76.2
56.7 58.5
17.9 18.2 19.6
33.0
24.8
30.9
13.1
44.0
22.3
11.1
29.3 29.5
NZ UK NZ UK NZ UK NZ UK NZ UK NZ UK
UNDERPINNING THEORIES
ABOUT SOCIAL PROBLEMS AND
DISADVANTAGE
AVAILABILITY OF SPECIFIC
LOCAL SERVICES, RESOURCES,
ETC., FOR SERVICE USERS AND
CARERS
EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE SOCIAL WORK ORGANISATIONS
– FUNCTIONS, RESPONSIBILITIES
AND STRUCTURES
CODES OF PRACTICE THEIR LEGAL POWERS AS
SOCIAL WORKERS
Managers’ ratings of Newly Qualified Social Workers’ knowledge: (NZ, 2017 & UK,
2009)
Excellent Adequate Disappointing

27. 79
78.2
72.3
71.4
70.6
69.7
66.4
65.5
63.9
63.9
43.7
42.9
42
29.4
22.7
15.1
10.9
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
CHILD PROTECTION/SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN
WORKING WITH MAORI
MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS AND THEIR LIKELY PROGRESS
THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
FAMILY VIOLENCE
COMMUNICATING WITH CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE
TRANSITIONS IN THE LIVES OF SERVICE USERS
WORKING WITH PACIFIC PEOPLES
DRUGS OR ALCOHOL DEPENDENCY/MISUSE
CHILD DEVELOPMENT MILESTONES
PREPARING REPORTS FOR LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IN COURT/TRIBUNAL
LEARNING DISABILITIES
ADULT PROTECTION/SAFEGUARDING VULNERABLE ADULTS
PHYSICALLY DISABLING HEALTH CONDITIONS AND THEIR LIKELY PROGRESS
AGEING AND THE IMPACT OF LIFE CHANGES
REFUGEES AND ASYLUM SEEKERS
OTHER
Specialist knowledge relevant to present job? (%)

28. 62
73
62
47
54
62
54 52
46 51
15
34
22
14 16
10 7
31
17
23
37
29
20
22 23
29 23
35
14
26
19 10
8
6
WHEN YOU STARTED WORKING IN THIS JOB, DID YOU KNOW AS MUCH
ABOUT THE SPECIALIST KNOWLEDGE AREAS AS WAS EXPECTED OF
YOU? (ACTUAL NUMBERS)
Yes, my level of knowledge was acceptable No, I was expected to know more about this than I did

29. Levels of
Knowledge
acceptability
Top 5 Knowledge Areas % Relevance
% Knowledge
Acceptable
% Expected
to know
more
Child protection/safeguarding
children
79% 73% 27%
Working with Māori 78% 81% 19%
Mental health conditions & their
likely progress
72% 56% 44%
The rights of the child 71% 73% 27%
Family violence 70% 65% 35%

30. 7.6
10.1
10.1
12.6
13.4
16
19.3
21.8
21.8
23.5
24.4
25.2
25.2
26.1
26.1
26.9
30.3
30.3
32.8
32.8
35.3
46.2
47.9
53.8
61.3
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
GROUPWORK
ANTI-DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICE
SUPPORTING CARERS
USING YOUR ‘SELF’ AS A RESOURCE IN ACHIEVING OUTCOMES WITH SERVICE USERS
OTHER
MANAGING BUDGETS
LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
WORKING WITH MĀORI
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
ENCOURAGING OR EMPOWERING SERVICE USERS TO TAKE CONTROL OF THEIR LIVES AND MAKE CHOICES
CROSS-CULTURAL PRACTICE
FAMILY AND WHĀNAU DYNAMICS
INTER-PROFESSIONAL WORKING, INTER-DISCIPLINARY COLLABORATION
WORKING WITH PACIFIC PEOPLES
ENGAGING EFFECTIVELY WITH PEOPLE WITH SPECIAL COMMUNICATION NEEDS (E.G., CHILDREN AND YOUNG…
ATTACHMENT THEORY
ACQUIRING ADVANCED AND SPECIALIST SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE QUALIFICATIONS
THE EVIDENCE BASE FOR YOUR AREA OF SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE – ‘WHAT WORKS’
GOOD RECORD-KEEPING
FAMILY VIOLENCE
SERVICES AND RESOURCES AVAILABLE LOCALLY ‘IN YOUR PATCH’ THAT MIGHT BENEFIT THE SERVICE USERS…
ASSESSING RISK
LEGAL BASIS FOR SOCIAL WORK INTERVENTIONS
DEALING WITH HOSTILITY, AGGRESSION OR CONFLICT
WORKING WITH TRAUMA
Topics that NQSWs wish to know more about (%)

31. NQSWTop 5
perceived gaps
in knowledge
NQSWs in Aotearoa NZ (2017)
 Working with trauma (61%)
 Dealing with hostility,
aggression or conflict (54%)
 The legal basis for social work
interventions (48%)
 Assessing risk (46%)
 Services and resources
available locally ‘in your
patch’ that might benefit the
service users or carers on
your case (35%).
NQSWs in England (2009)
 Dealing with hostility,
aggression or conflict (62%)
 Assessing risk (60%)
 The legal basis for social work
interventions (51%)
 Evidence base for your area
of social work practice –
‘what works’ (43%)
 Services and resources
available locally ‘in your
patch’ that might benefit the
service users or carers on
your case (35%)

32. Managers &
NQSWs
OVERaLlVIEW
Very well
prepared
23%
Fairly well
prepared
62%
Not very well
prepared
14%
Not at all well
prepared
1%
NQSWs view on degree preparedness
Very satisfied
26%
Fairly satisfied
46%
Neither
satisfied or
dissatisfied
18%
Fairly
dissatisfied
10%
Very
dissatisfied
0%
Managers’ satisfaction with newly
qualified social workers

33. Phase 3:
What professional capabilities, including cultural capabilities, should
we expect of NQSWs and of social workers working at more
experienced and expert levels of practice?

34. Competence
or capability?
 Competence as “what individuals know or are able to
do in terms of knowledge, skills, attitude” (Fraser and
Greenhalgh, 2001, p. 799)
 Capability as “the ability to adapt to change, generate
new knowledge, and continuously improve
performance” (Eraut, 1994, p. 799)

35. Four
frameworks as
reference
points
1.The Canadian Council of SocialWork Regulators (2012). Entry-LevelCompetency Profile for
the SocialWork Profession in Canada
 6 competency blocks
 21 competency families and
 152 sub-competencies
2. British Association of SocialWorkers (2018). ProfessionalCapabilities Framework.
 9 Domains
 72Capabilities
3. US Council on SocialWork Education (2015). Educational Policy and AccreditationStandards
 9 competencies and
 31 observable behaviours
4. SocialWorkers Registration Board (2016). SWRBTen CoreCompetence Standards
 10 core competence standard and
 45 ways of demonstrating them

36. The BASW
Professional
Capabilities
Framework
Source: https://www.basw.co.uk/professional-development/professional-capabilities-framework-pcf

37. NZ UK US CANADA
1. SW with Maori
2. Ethnic & cultural
3. Diversity Diversity Diversity
4. Rights & justice Rights & justice Rights & justice
5. Social change Policy practice
6. Knowledge, methods &
models
Knowledge
7. Critical thinking Critical reflection Research-informed
8.Empowerment
9. Legal & ethical Values & ethics Applying ethical standards
10 Professionalism Professionalism Professionalism Engaging in reflective Practice
and Professional development
Skills
Contexts
Leadership
Engagement
Assessment Conducting assessments
Intervention Planning interventions
Evaluation Delivering services
Improving policies and
practices

38. Enhance R2P SWRB UK US CANADA
TeAo Māori |The Māori world SW with Māori
Ethnic & cultural
Kanorau | Diversity Diversity Diversity Diversity
Manatika | Social Justice Rights & justice Rights & justice Rights & justice
Kaupapa Here | Policy Practice Social change Policy practice
Knowledge, methods &
models
Knowledge
Whaiwhakaaro |
Critical Reflection
Critical thinking Critical reflection Research-informed
Empowerment
Legal & ethical Values & ethics Applying ethical standards
Mātanga | Professionalism Professionalism Professionalism Professionalism Engaging in reflective
Practice and Professional
development
Hononga | Engagement Skills
Aromatawai | Assessment Contexts
Wawaotanga | Intervention Leadership
Arotakenga | Evaluation Engagement
Assessment Conducting assessments
Intervention Planning interventions
Evaluation Delivering services

39. Competences
& capabilities
Enhance R2P Capabilities
1. Te Ao Māori |The Māori world
2. Kanorau | Diversity
3. Manatika | Social Justice
4. Mātanga | Professionalism
5. Whaiwhakaaro | Critical
Reflection
6. Kaupapa Here | Policy Practice
7. Hononga | Engagement
8. Aromatawai | Assessment
9. Wawaotanga | Intervention
10. Arotakenga | Evaluation
SWRB Core Competence
Standards
1. Social work with Māori
2. Different ethnic & cultural
groups
3. Diversity & Difference
4. Rights & Justice
5. Social change
6. Knowledge, methods &
models
7. Critical thinking
8. Empowerment
9. Legal & ethical
10. Professionalism

40. Value
statements

42. Discuss the six
enhance R2P
values and the
ten enhance
R2P domains
Take 15 minutes to discuss our value
statements and write on the flipchart
messages you want to convey to the
research team about the values.
Take 15 minutes to discuss the proposed
10 domains and write on the flipchart
messages you want to convey to the
research team about the domains.

43. Discuss the
sample
capabilities for
one domain
1. For the first 20
minutes prioritise the
sample statements by
sticking them to a
flipchart indicating
high, medium & low
priority.You may
change the
statements or add
new ones
2. For the last 1o
minutes write on the
flipchart messages
you want to convey to
the research team
about the capability
statements.
HIGH
MEDIUM
LOW