Developing Rich Pedagogies for Fast-Track Social Work Education

This paper primarily explores current contradictions within social work practice and education in the context of contemporary English-based developments. How we define the boundaries around our profession-whether broad or narrow, theoretically limited or rich-fundamentally impacts on the role we perform in society and how we educate new social workers. The recent emergence of fast-track pre-qualifying social work programmes in England has raised concern that we may be moving to an overly narrow conception of praxis which may militate against a theoretically integrated generic approach. The top-down government reforms we are currently experiencing has a particular narrative around how social workers should be educated. The educational 'fresh thinking' currently required is to develop pedagogic frameworks with the potential to produce holistic, theoretically informed and process-sensitive curricula where interconnections across disciplines are foregrounded and reflexive practice is promoted within a condensed time frame. As a contribution to this debate, a case-study example drawing upon structured family observations is offered as a vehicle to illustrate how alternative pedagogic approaches can potentially contribute to a broader and more nuanced understanding of contemporary family life with particular resonance for fast-track education programmes.