Direct observations of practice in social work education: the role of professional autonomy in policy enactment

Although the assessment of students via direct observation of practice is a regulatory requirement of social work qualifying programmes in England, there is relative freedom in exactly how this policy is enacted. This study takes a constructionist approach to explore what direct observations are perceived to be and whether this influences their enactment. Interview data was collected from five participants who are all practitioners involved with this assessment method. Training materials were also analyzed and themed along with interview data. Interpretation of the data revealed three themes; participants had a clear concept of direct observations, valued them as an assessment method and they are embedded in social work education. Analysis of the findings revealed that the lack of regulatory expectations supports professional autonomy by enabling the translation of the direct observation policy into practice in a way which supports ownership, commitment and creativity. These findings demonstrate that it can be more beneficial to allow professional expertise to guide policy enactment in educational contexts than the top-down managerial approaches that dominate both educational and practice settings.