Author: Vicky

Social worker based in London

Book Review: How to Take Smart Notes

This review relates to the book ‘How to Take Smart Notes’ by Sonke Ahrens. It is available on Amazon here and you can also download the first chapter, free, here and learn more about the book.

Introduction

‘Imagine if we went through life learning only what we planned to learn or being explicitly taught. I doubt we would have even learned to speak. Each added a bit of information, filtered only by our interest, is a contribution to our future understanding, thinking and writing. And best ideas are usually the ones we haven’t anticipated anyway.

Ahrens

I can’t remember how I first fell across this book. No, actually I do. I was recommended Roam Research (I’ll come back to that in another post) on Twitter when I was asking for advice about note taking apps and then through trying to learn about Roam and how to best use it, I came across discussion of the Zettlekasten technique of note-taking. This book is an explanation of the Zettlekasten technique. That’s the name of the ‘one simple technique’ which is referred to on the front cover, that will ‘boost writing, learning and thinking – for students, academics and non-fiction writers’. And being of a curious mind, I bought the book.

Context

‘Studying does not prepare students for independent research, it is independent research’

‘Zettlekasten‘ is a note-taking technique devised by Niklaus Luhmann, a well -known sociologist in Germany who wrote vast numbers of papers. He used this method of note taking and storing and it has been debated ever since. This book explains the system that Luhmann used and refines some of the discussion around in as times have changed and notes are more likely to be digitised now.

The book doesn’t just describe a system though, it seeks to provide an understanding of what note taking is used for and how and particularly to challenge those who might (and I include myself here), underline vaguely interesting paragraphs while I was reading something and rarely return to it.

The idea of the Zettlekasten is that notes would all be linked to each other by topic so you create notes from everything you read/watch/discuss/learn around topics and draw links together in themes which you might not have seen, if you create ‘book’ or ‘lecture’ notes in a traditional way.

By not restricting notes to the book or the paper you are making notes about and linking by ideas, you might fall across links that the authors haven’t and find your own topics or see things you didn’t know you didn’t know, that you want to follow up.

Summary

The initial premise of the book is interesting to start with. It is that the skill of good note-taking has been left out of many study skills books. When we might have books about how to write essays or dissertations and how to think critically, there is little literature available and far less teaching, about how to take good notes. While, considering this, it is important to understand that writing and taking notes isn’t the ‘end-game’ for a writer (and we are all writers). But taking and storing notes well, means you don’t need to rely on memory, or scraps of post-its or chronological notes that don’t make sense in context so you can’t remember what it is you were trying to remember anyway.

In order to think, the premise goes, you need to write. That writing usually starts with notes. There are some simple guides the author ‘teaches’, which is about always having a pen or something to write with (it might be a smartphone app or a notebook) especially when you are reading.

You make three types of notes with this ‘system’. There are the fleeting notes, which are these notes you might make as you write. These are notes about initial thoughts and feelings and responses. You ‘decant’ these notes to your ‘literature notes’ which are the notes which are about particular texts or pieces that you might watch or listen to. The literature notes shouldn’t be verbatim, nor should they contain any quotations. They are about your recollection of the text and how you interpret it through writing about it.

Then from the literature notes, you develop permanent notes. This is where the ‘Zettlekasten’ sits, the repository of themes and ideas that have developed from the literature you read. You link these together as you understand them and it helps you to build connections or locate gaps more easily. Permanent notes should be notes you return to. They are the ‘memory’ you don’t need to retain, because, the idea is, you will come back to the permanent notes and have those connections and references all in place which will make writing about them, more useful.

Ahrens is very much focussed on moving away from too much planning when you are approaching texts and research and to find where you are going, by doing. Perhaps I’m not explaining it as clearly as he does but when I read it, it made a lot of sense.

“A truly wise person is not someone who knows everything but someone who is able to make sense of things by drawing from an extended resource of interpretation schemes’

Ahrens p119

Reflections

There were parts of this book that made a lot of sense to me, and made me cheer as if a curtain was being removed in my mind. Yes, I thought, why DIDN’T I think about being more flexible about note-taking, about adding my thoughts and commentary alongside the key ideas. Do I write too many notes that I will never return to? And particularly, summarising books or articles as I read them, in my own words so I will be able to come back to them. I also enjoy making links between articles and I use Roam to do that.

I am not sure I’m a purist though. My ‘permanent notes’ are as refined as I think they are ‘supposed’ to be, but the book has given me ways to think about note taking and using notes that I think will be useful. I see it as giving me tools and ideas, some of which I will use and some I will not.

Use in Practice

This book has changed some of my practices regarding making and considering notes as I have mentioned above. I’ve created ways of storing and taking notes which have adjusted on the basis of the writings even if there are parts I have discharged. I love making links between what I am reading and thinking though.

For example, this is my note about the book on Roam – you can see the blue links which take me to other pages – each hashtag is also a link and this is how my ideas are pulled together.

And some of the links I have made between these ideas look like this

In a work context, I have started using OneNote through Microsoft 365 for which I have a work account, to make ongoing daily notes as things happen and then link them to other things which are going on at work but also ideas I have as they pop up.

Conclusion

I have been really inspired by this book and even though I’m not following the Zettlekasten method religiously, it has helped me to understand how to gain a different perspective on studying and note-taking. Studying isn’t a means to an end, but can be an end in itself. The good thing about this book is that while it will ‘click’ with some people and won’t with others, the first chapter is available free (see link at the top of the page) and that will be more than enough to make a decision as to whether it’s a book you want to buy or not.

Book review : Critical Thinking

This review relates to Critical Thinking by Tom Chatfield. Available here on Amazon

Introduction

I bought this book a couple of years ago and it had been sitting on my bookshelf until recently. In my desire to move away from books and articles written from my discipline, I started to read with an idea that I probably knew what I was going to be told. I was fairly confident I’d had experience of critical thinking and analysis, after all, how can I do my day job without it? The time spent reading though, was invaluable and has adjusted many of my assumptions – and after all, isn’t that what critical thinking is about?

Context

This book is written by Tom Chatfield, whose bio describes him as a ‘writer, broadcaster and tech philosopher’. I came to this book having read another of his books, (How to Thrive in a Digital Age). I bought the book when I was having a bit of a crisis of confidence at work but put it on the shelf and only recently returned to it.

It is a book which is aimed at a student market, although definitely not exclusively so, but there are references to literature searches, writing including academic writing specifically and understanding academic papers and research which marks the primary audience but there is a sufficient breadth and style that moves beyond that.

The book is written with the intention of being easy to understand. It is not one to come to that expects any prior knowledge of philosophy (because after all, critical thinking is pretty much applied philosophy) or reading about reading, writing and thinking critically. It is not a book for the Kindle, either. It is designed as a workbook, with exercises, room to scribble in margins and notes added with liberal use of illustration and bullet points.

With my new energy for mindmapping as a form of note-taking, I even mind-mapped a few chapters in the margins but I did transfer one of them electronically to give an idea of what I did – it might be small but it relates to different types of fallacy in thinking – and it was written as I took notes from this book.

Summary

So what does the book say? It is divided into two sections. Part 1 is called ‘The Art and Science of Being Reasonable’ and it is occupied primarily with logic and forming arguments where argument means a conclusion based on reasons. It provides a gentle introduction to philosophy for people who may not realise that is what it is doing but it is a useful reminder that there are ways to form arguments that are strong and to be wary of statements without reason. The key areas covered include the ways that deductive (where conclusion is based on factual premises and is therefore, certain), inductive (where conclusion is based on most likely outcome and evidence needs to be examined, for example around probability and sample sizes) and abductive arguments (where conclusion is based on theories and is the most likely conclusion) are formed and the place for each of them as well as what lies behind them.

The second part of the book is called ‘Being Reasonable in an Unreasonable World’. This part covers the use of rhetoric including specific rhetorical devices which might try to pull emotion from fact, like the use (or rather, misuse) of jargon to alienate and complicate or exclude, use of euphemisms or hyperbole to add emotion to an argument. This is not to say there isn’t a place for rhetoric, it is useful to know, but it is also useful to be able to spot.

The book also covers spotting fallacious arguments (see the mindmap above because this was the section I used to take notes from!) and being aware of the bias in arguments presented, including confirmation bias, where you seek views that agree, but also ‘survivorship’ bias which tends to mean that success is more commonly reported because it is the history that ‘survives’ and linked to this is publication bias where journals may be more likely to publish research which has positive results. There was a lot more to it than I’m able to list but some key points about being aware of how statistics can be used to say lots of things in different ways and the choice of what data to include or exclude can display biases.

The writer concludes with a chapter, unsurprisingly, given his background in technology, specifically about ‘thinking critically about technology’. Starting with the different between data, information and knowledge and looking at how, having access to far more knowledge at our fingertips, can expose us to ‘false news’ and echo chambers which we need to have an increasing awareness of.

There are a couple of chapters that specifically draw the learning within the book to an academic context, looking at how to find information and writing up information in a cohesive way, to ensure arguments have premises and are not confused with opinion.

Reflections

The book is eminently readable. There is a lot in it and it can feel like you want to highlight everything to come back to but it is also flows easily and presents the information in an interesting way.

I found myself distracted, at times, by some of the typeface and the notes in the margin. It may be that I am slightly (cough) older than the average reader and I know it’s done to make the book more ‘fun’ but I would have preferred using the space for my own notes. Saying that, I love having large margins that are large enough to make notes in and I thought the exercises presented were very helpful. I can’t say I worked through them all but I can see it being a really useful space.

The book reminded me of the core essentials of pulling back arguments and determining how they are constructed when I read books and journal articles but also newspaper articles, blog posts and websites. It’s a helpful way of thinking and while I would have liked to have thought I was a critical thinker, beforehand, I think I would be better at it now for having read the book.

It is a clearly presented introduction to a subject that can put people off or if you are a student thinking ‘I need to read up on my subject, I don’t have time to read a book about critical thinking’, it is something that can save a lot of time.

It may be basic if you have a good understanding of the topic and it is written for people coming at it from a beginners level. Saying that, I like simple writing styles. I’ve studied logic at undergraduate level and honestly, I prefer it when it’s simply presented.

Use in practice

This is one of the more practically and immediately useful books I have read. Already I am thinking about reports I write at work where I am asked to give an opinion (social circumstances reports, I’m thinking of you) and ensuring that I provide evidence in the form of clear argument rather than lists of facts.

In terms of my academic writing, it has helped focus me on how I identify good papers, in particular from poorer ones. Recently I have read a few papers that I have instinctively thought ‘how on earth did this get published in a respectable journal’ and this book has given me the language to determine why I was uneasy with them (law of small numbers – where small data sets are more likely to provide extreme variation and fundamental attribution error where outcomes are disproportionately linked to an event!).

I’m going to practice using the language of the book, which is the language of logic to identify fallacies where I spot them so in that sense, this is immediately useful and used.

Conclusion

This book was a pleasure to read and I was genuinely sorry to finish it. That doesn’t happen often with me so in conclusion, that has to be a strong recommendation. I’d definitely recommend the paperback rather than the kindle because I’m not sure how the formatting would work electronically and it’s the kind of book that needs to be flicked through rather than read from beginning to end (although that is the way I covered it).

It reminded me how important philosophy is, to social work. Not just the ethics part which is most commonly covered at university, but the logic and the rhetoric as well.

Learning about Learning

This week, on a day off from the full-time work, I took a day back at the university to attend a couple of workshops they set up for postgraduate students. I was wondering beforehand if this had been something of a luxury. Unlike my previous job, I don’t get any days off for study leave (welcome to the NHS!) anymore so all the leave I take is annual leave and I am a bit short on AL this year due to the changes in job where the dates didn’t quite line up.

So despite my reservations about whether it would be better use to sit in a library, I went to the workshops to learn with a mixed group of doctoral and post-doctoral students about learning techniques.

The first session was about speed reading, or as the tutor told us, repeatedly, better reading. He was right. Noone really teaches you how to read effectively after the first few years in primary school unless there is a specific reason or at least, that was my experience.

We started with some fun activities, testing our reading speed and the importance of understanding that memorising (as we did in reading comprehension tests at school) and understanding is vast.

In some ways, I expected a lot of what he said to be obvious, but it really wasn’t. I can say that I have a few more ideas about how I read (and have been reading) and how I can be more effective in reading through information more quickly but also making sure the notes I make about what I read are better (this might be counter intuitive about learning in a class about reading but it is what I took from it).

While I came away eager to practice new techniques, I thought that it was probably, for me, anyway more about reading efficiency than reading speed. How can I get the information I need from a text in the quickest way that ensures I remember and record (if necessary) what I have read. One of the key techniques that I want to practise is about extending my peripheral vision when I read so that I read more ‘at once’. This was something I hadn’t considered before learning about it.

The second half of the day was about mind-mapping. I probably wouldn’t have signed up for it if it hadn’t followed on from the morning because the speed reading was what I had been most interested in.

I’ve tried a bit of mind-mapping, particularly on software (iThoughts if anyone is interested – I’ve tried a few and that’s my favourite) and thought if there is a ‘way’ to mindmap, it might be useful to know. I used it when I wanted to gather my ideas in a different way.

Fortunately, this is how it was presented to us. This isn’t a panacea. It won’t make you cleverer or quicker or more imaginative, but it is a tool that can help with taking notes and recording information in a clearer way. I tend to doodle a lot and make notes with lots of arrows in them, so it could be the method I didn’t realise I wanted. I hadn’t thought of mindmapping to summarise or take notes.

Having attended the course, I’d say that learning from someone who knows, is useful. I have tried any number of mindmaps since the training. The next morning, at work, I arrived and drew my day’s to do list as a mindmap (which I then had to explain to a colleague who was intrigued), it took no longer but it was visually more pleasing – although that is not the point.

What has been more useful were my brief attempts, over the weekend, to link up the speed reading and mindmapping and creating a ‘mindmap’ notes of book chapters and articles. I’ve been able to jot mini-mindmaps after chapters of a book I am reading, (have been trying to speed read!) so I remember what the key points are. I’ve used post-its or pieces of printer paper which I have then popped into the book at the required chapter or scanned and saved with the paper on Mendeley entries. For the first few I’ve done, I’ve written some more conventional notes afterwards, using the mindmaps to test if I have learnt or remembered more or at least, noted down the key useful points and I think it may work as a technique when I need to remember things I have read.

I’m still at the early stages of this. I am mindmapping everything. As we were told though, it’s often about practise and getting better at it. It may not change the way I learn and think in the long run, but it was an enjoyable session that helped me think differently. And I think it helped when I went back to work as well because this isn’t just about helping my learning at university but also at work.

Even if I don’t persist with mind-mapping as a note-taking technique, at least I know a bit more about it and why I would reject it which is a better place to be. As for the speed-reading, I can’t see any situation that won’t be useful so I’m going to continue to practice and if I do get better, I might write up more about the specific techniques. It is good to have a day out from the usual though, particularly if we are able to challenge our own thinking.

Paper Review: Ethical considerations in social work research

Ana M. Sobočan, Teresa Bertotti & Kim Strom-Gottfried (2019) Ethical considerations in social work research, European Journal of Social Work, 22:5, 805-818, DOI: 10.1080/13691457.2018.1544117

Introduction

This is a paper whose aim is to place is looking at the ethics of research through a specific social work lens. What is it that might make social work research and the ethical considerations of it, different from other types of research in other fields. Although there are books devoted specifically to this (Morris, 2006, D’Cruz and Jones, 2013, Hardwick and Worsley 2011 and many others) it is a useful introduction to some of the key tensions and considerations which exist in the field. Not least, for me anyway, because it comes from a perspective of authors from Slovenia, Trento and the United States where most of my reading has been UK-based.

Methodology

In terms of methods, this is more of a piece combining literature relating to research ethics with some of the literature about social work research. Referencing BASW (British Association of Social Work) Code of Ethics and the IFSW (International Federation of Social Workers) Statement of Principles, it pulls apart from of the considerations that make social work research ethics different from research ethics, by adding an additional layer of professional responsibilities and values rather than by removing anything.

It does this with two case study examples illustrating where the values of a social worker as a professional may be at odds with the purity of the research process. In these two examples they are focusing on two particular ‘research values’ and explaining where the conflict could potentially arise.

Context

The examples they give as ‘case study’ type relate to the principle of nonmaleficience. This basically means that the researcher should not cause any harm, obviously not intentionally but unintentionally as well through their research with people. The authors draw on this fundamental principle of bioethics where there may be medical treatments involved and extrapolate to social work where there may be ‘harm’ that isn’t easily identified.

In their example, they refer to research in the field of child protection where there were potentially sensitive issues discussed but the research was around understanding the quality of services delivered from the view of families who received services.

This research was carried out in a focus group and this presented some stresses regarding the role of confidentiality and the use of a group setting where sensitive issues were discussed.

The dilemma identified stemmed from the formation of self-help and support group between people who were the ‘research subjects’ during the focus groups. Should the professional stop these conversations where those who were using services were providing advice and support to each other, talking about how they ‘managed’ poor services and provided useful help within the group? Or should they return the conversation and the group focus to the research questions?

The researcher in question moved the focus back to their research and away from the emergent discussion about how participants may help each other, but the authors leave us with the question about whether this was a misuse of power on the part of the researcher who is also a social worker?

The second case given relates to a social worker/researcher whose roles potentially overlap. On the one hand, the social worker is the ‘agent of change’ but the role as a researcher is to document what is.

In this case, the social worker was researching same-gender parented families. The researcher had personal experiences in this area which is what had led them to the research and in order to aid conversation and discussion, told the participants, so they knew they were speaking to someone who intrinsically supported their families and relationships.

In some conversations, the researcher, on listening to some of the challenges and discrimination faced, was faced with the dilemma of whether they advocate for the families who are ‘research subjects’. Would that change the focus of the research so that some stories became stronger if they were to give a view that might help the family?

These were some of the dilemmas that the authors saw as stemming from the dual role of social work practitioner and researcher.

Key Learning

By presenting case studies, the authors invite us to ask questions about potential ethical dilemmas across social work research, and to explore how these issues may be addressed in writing about social work research, for example, in papers that are published. How do we establish that the research has benefited the participants and social work itself rather than provided a professional stepping stone for the author? This is a useful challenge to reflect on as I make my way through research in the field.

The authors looked at the role of social justice in social work research which had taken place and how often it may have been referenced in studies over the years. They are particularly interested in the role that virtue ethics may play in research with researchers, particularly in social work, exploring their motivations behind the research and ensuring the research is beneficial to participants who are not seen as a means to an end.

The paper asks that universities who train novice researchers from the first steps, engage with ethics by ensuring the language is ethics is central because language feeds attitude.

They present models they have considered about how to review ethical impact, particularly looking at some generic ones which they transpose to a social work framework. The authors then demonstrate how the dilemmas presented in the case studies might work through these frameworks.

Reflection

I enjoyed reading this paper as it was clearly written and easy to follow. I enjoy reading about ethics anyway and placing research ethics within a social work context was immediately useful to me so it may have made my perception of interest stronger.

Some of the issues raised about ethics are specific to research. How do we choose research and subjects? Sometimes this is an individual decision, sometimes it relates to funding availability but it should have a purpose that serves the aims of the profession in terms of growth.

I enjoyed the case study examples as well, they were easy to follow in any context and not specific to social work in a particular area but they made the examples clearer.

Use in Practice

As I am increasingly moving into a different stage of research, this has provided practical contexts for me to reflect on how I design research to ensure that social work principles and standards are embedded in the design from the start, but it is also providing me with a template, through the models given, to review the research but also some of the work we might do on a day to day basis when we try to gather feedback or run QI-type projects, of being aware of any potential harm that may be caused.

It also reminded me of the need to look beyond some of the UK texts I usually turn to and broaden my understanding of professional literature internationally.

Conclusion

This was a useful paper both in terms of research ethics, where it is most relevant but also worth considering some of the points in a more general exploration of social work ethics and how we make decisions about priorities in a work role.

Reflection: On Linking Practice, Research and Writing about It.

After a month or so of writing on this site, after a couple of false starts over the years, I thought I’d reflect a bit on what I’ve learnt through writing and how my research work, day job and additional writing are coming together.

I have tried to develop more of a discipline with the writing. Whether this will see me through the next three years (or so) to completion of my doctorate or not, I don’t know but what I do know is that writing is easy when you are on a roll, but it needs to be a discipline in order to make it a habit. I have never been one for self-help books, especially, but it was a book I read that emphasised the point which, thinking about it, is obvious (which I guess is the same for many self-help books) that to write when you don’t feel like writing, is the toughest part.

It’s also incredibly easy to stop writing. Yes, it’s about creating a habit but it doesn’t always develop naturally through habit and just a day or two of a lapse, makes it much harder to re-start.

I tend to work towards deadlines. One of the hardest things I’ve found about moving to a research aspect of a degree rather than a taught part is the flexibility of deadlines and knowing this in my head. I’ve bought myself (I did this last year as well) an A4 day to view diary with monthly plans at the front and while I’m a big fan of digitalisation, this diary sits on my desk and I make notes about what I have done and am planning to each day. I have the next few months mapped out and whilst that may and is likely to change, I have set myself clear expectations.

My ‘research diary’ as such sits on OneNote but having a paper version allows for other notes and is particularly helpful for setting myself deadlines. The problem with deadlines is the disappointment when you fail to meet them but while trying to build a discipline, I’m also trying not to be too hard on myself.

Along that line, the writing has been on the basis that I will review one paper a week and one book a week. I have deleted one post I published because I was told (and this was correct) that I had fatally misinterpreted an acronym used in the research paper which had completely changed its meaning. This was a very useful lesson to me about assumptions made, on my part and on the part of those who write for us. I am also not sure if I will be able to keep to that pace. I read a lot anyway, and a lot of the books I am reviewing, are books I’ve read over the last few years but having the discipline of trying to write regularly can be helpful, when it doesn’t involve too much pressure. It’s that balance between discipline and self-criticism that one has to walk, especially if you are particularly tired or stressed from work on one day.

While I want to succeed, I often have to prioritise work on a day to day basis and trying not to feel guilty when I spend days doing not-work, not-study things is also a focus.

I write because I want to practice writing. I am not looking at ‘hits’ or developing a loyal readership as I know I am quite selfishly choosing topics which are interesting to me. I choose papers I have found useful, either for my studying or for work. There is a paper that I read recently, that I thought was really poor and a book that I thought didn’t set out what it intended to. Generally, all the papers and books I have written about, I’ve found useful, helpful and well-written. I may need to develop more confidence before confronting the critical although that is a useful skill as well and one I will try to work on.

Often the last few years, I’ve had more division between my part time study and full time work. I had some study days generously granted by my employers and I brought some of the additional reading I had done into the workplace in exchange, including developing some additional mental capacity training which was rolled out. As I moved into a different job, the links are becoming easier to create because I am doing social work and studying about doing social work. It’s not always intrinsically linked because the areas of social work are different (long story) but what it has done is made me far more aware of the breadth of social work and the value in not compartmentalising the profession into ‘mental health’, ‘child protection’, ‘dementia’, ‘learning disabilities’. The ‘social work’ runs deeper and needs to run deeper than the topic. However, it has become more difficult to separate the time between work and study. I’ve had to actively use more leave which has an impact on the time to rest. This, I hope, will improve but it is a worry.

The other area I have become more aware of is the links and divisions between research and practice. Practitioner research happens and is happening. I am evidence of that. But in order for the profession to grow, it needs to happen far more. This isn’t about battle lines drawn between academia and practice. If anything, I have seen those are increasingly unhelpfully divisive, but we need to make space for more conversations and more conversations with the people who aren’t used to having these conversations – about how we can work together and how we can draw in more user and carer voices.

So I will try and continue as far as I can with the writing, as long as it helps me to learn. I keep telling myself that if I stop now, what I have learnt has already been worth the time (and financial) investment. I may move to one review post and one more flexible post, whether it’s posting links, an update on where I am going or how I use the various tools I use (I am currently on my fifth reference manager). Thank you for joining me.

Research in Social Work – January 2020 links (Open or Free Access papers)

When I started writing at the beginning of the year, I thought I’d compile a summary of links each month about news and research, but it became a bit too much to compile, and this is, fundamentally a hobby for me.

So, I’ve decided instead to highlight each month some open access papers that I’ve found useful, interesting or have bookmarked for later, that others might want to read because we all want accessible research information and the more we read, the more we understand what is worth reading. So here are a few for February – they aren’t always new, but they will be new to me!

This paper in Social Work Education (May 2019) looks at how critical reflection is taught in social work courses specifically in relation to working with older people.

This issue (2018) of the British Journal of Learning Disabilities is open access (most aren’t) so is worth browsing and includes (among other interesting ones) this article which is a study on what is it link to move house for people with learning disabilities.

This is a free access review of literature about trauma-informed care in inpatient mental health services (2013) from the International Journal of Mental Health Nursing which is a useful way to get a broader view of the topic at the moment.

On a slightly different tack, Critical Social Policy have an open access article from January 2019 on ‘Raising Critical Consciousness in the struggle against poverty’. Nice of them to make it free! Seriously though, we need to speak about poverty and the impact it has on our work at every level.

And Practice – Social Work in Action, has this article about decision-making of AMHPs which is a useful read from 2019.

Although this is not ‘my’ area of social work, this paper in Qualitative Social Work from December 2019 with birth mothers’ accounts of the impact of the removal of their children on their future lives has impact for all of us in the sector.

This 2017 paper on the role of trustworthiness in social work from Australian Social Work is definitely something I found helpful in my consideration of how we carry out ethical social work.

Book review: Social Work Theory – A Straightforward Guide for Practice Educators and Placement Supervisors

Introduction

This book by Siobhan Maclean and Rob Harrison from Kirwan Maclean Associates Ltd (best ordered directly from the publisher) is a book written with a specific purpose to run through the different models and theories of social work to equip those teaching and learning in placement settings to have a broad understanding of their students’ needs.

Context

Kirwan Maclean have a reputation for producing social work textbooks and materials which are very much focussed on social work practice rather than the idea of social work which can exist in some text books which are written with a university market in mind. I have actively used this book as a practice educator and beyond that in broadening my understanding of social work models and theories as I try to link them in to the work which I undertake on a day to day basis.

I am a big fan of this publishing house and can honestly say I’ve never read anything from them that hasn’t immediately jumped to the top of my ‘most useful’ pile because the books are written to be understood and used rather than studies and the authors don’t care much for using academic language where it is not necessary. I’ve always believed that the best writers are the clearest writers and Maclean and Harrison certainly achieve this.

Summary

The book is set out into eight sections. Each section has a dedicated bibliography and includes some tasks to use with students relating to the topic covered, immediately helping the busy and maybe (I’m thinking of myself here) tired practice educator who needs new ideas.

The first section is background about practice education and the context of teaching social work in a practice setting. Teaching at work is a particular skill set and the teaching part is fundamental. Students are training in skills but they are also learning about practice. The book emphasises the importance of the education role as it includes theories of learning that were mostly familiar to me from my my practice education course. This was reassuring as it allows a refresh, especially after a few years.

The next sections look at different models, frameworks and theories, separated logically and allowing a ‘pick and mix’ approach when the student returns from university with a new theory. It starts with anti-oppressive practice (such as social and medical models, feminist and race perspectives) followed by human development and learning theories (including attachment theory with both children and adults, and models of grief and loss). Then the book covers a section on using theories in the assessment processes – this includes a section on risk assessment and models of assessment including how theories such as strength-based perspectives are used in practical contexts. The next sections are about models and theories which influence ways of intervening and they are split into ‘counselling models’ such as psychodynamic approaches. Then, those approaches and models based on social work frameworks such as systems theory, task-centred practice and crisis intervention. The models that will be very familiar to any social work student. Maclean and Harrison finish with consideration of organisational theories and leadership before covering the use of eclecticism.

Each theory or model has a roughly 4-6 pages with a brief explanation of the background, some examples of how it happens in social work settings and then some thoughts at the end of how you might ask a student to think of the theory.

The book is very accessible and easy to dip in and out of. It allows a quick refresh of concepts that may be a bit ‘rusty’ but also gives a useful bibliography where more can be explored if necessary.

There is a broad range of theories that should be a good start and cover most of what’s needed in practice but if it isn’t, it allows frameworks to talk about theories in practice settings.

There is a comprehensive presentation of a wide range of theories and models, explained clearly with pointers for further and deeper investigation.

Use in practice

The joy of this book, as with many from Kirwan and Maclean is its immediate practical value and use. From the moment I bought it, it proved its worth ensuring that I was able to catch up and refresh some of the theory and models that I had learnt years before but also allowed me to familiarise myself with the language of social work theories again. While we all know it shouldn’t, practice as a social worker can sometimes struggle, outside a student placement and practice education context, to call back to the theoretical contexts and the ‘why’ of what we do. While this book is very much aimed at practice educators, it has a use far beyond that for the practising social worker whose initial training may be a few years back and who wants to refresh understanding of the why and how we justify what we do within a professional framework.

I’m not teaching students anymore as I don’t take students on placement (I may, in the future but I’m fairly new to my job now). I was out of direct social work practice for a number of years. Picking up this book, which is genuinely a pleasure to read, allowed me to reconnect with the ‘why’. It is perfect for practice educators who like clear and concrete examples, written accessibly by knowledgeable authors who do not patronise their readers by over-complicating unnecessarily. But it also has a use far beyond that, for all who practice or who want to practice social work.

Conclusion

This is one of those books with a purpose, which it states on its cover and it does exactly what it says on the cover. You want a straightforward guide to social work theory and you’ve got it. My only addition would be to say that it isn’t just for practice educators. Although there is a separate version which is adapted for student social workers (which I always recommended to my students on placement), this book suits more experienced practitioners who want to refresh and revise those connections with theories and it can start a journey, with helpful links and references, back to picking up the why as well as the what we do.

Paper Review: Emotional Intelligence, Emotion and Social Work : Context, Characteristics, Complications, and Contribution

This post is about this article:

‘Emotional Intelligence, Emotion and Social Work: Context, Characteristics, Complications and Contribution, The British Journal of Social Work, Volume 37, Issue 2, February 2007, Pages 245–263, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcl016 by Tony Morrison

Introduction

This paper looks at the way ’emotional intelligence’ may link to social work practice by aligning it’s use with five core social work tasks ‘engagement of users, assessment and observation, decision-making, collaboration and cooperation and dealing with stress’

Context

The paper starts with a definition of emotional intelligence as

Being able to motivate oneself and persist in the face of frustrations: to control impulse and delay gratification; to regulate one’s moods and keep distress from swamping the ability to think; to emphasize and to hope’

p246 – quoting from Goleman 1996

The author sets up the links between emotional intelligence and social work (specifically social work with children) by explaining different models of emotional intelligence in different settings and applying them to social work. This is a discussion paper rather than describing research so the methodology is based on reflecting on literature relating to emotional intelligence and linking it to social work settings and environments.

Emotional intelligence literature emerged from management and business studies. The author as an academic teaching social work practice, found the literature useful in describing some of the skills and attributes necessary for competent social work. He draws links between literature about emotional intelligence and social work practice and drew this together with a study in the US about nursing practice (Benner 2001) and developing competencies in nursing which found that the emotional state of the nurse could impact on the quality of patient care. It was this ‘intuitive’ aspect of care which the author tries to link with good social work, beyond technical knowledge of practice.

He draws on literature reflecting the danger of social work becoming a series of skills to be learnt rather than a way of understanding to do undertake tasks skilfully. This is linked with the move towards managerialism in social work. Ironic, then, or perhaps not, that there has been the turn to the language and concepts of management.

By presenting emotional intelligence as learnable, it therefore becomes teachable which is key within a social work department in a university.

Learning and gaps

In looking at core social work skills identified by the author, he refers to them in the context of emotional intelligence. With engagement he refers to the lack of choice that people coming into social work services would have and why the initial contact may be filled with ambivalence or fear. Moving to assessment and observation, he relates to the importance on inter and intra-personal skills and the need for sensitive and responsive assessment as poor communication can lead to poor assessment. Part of this process is about understanding and interpreting emotions on both sides of the conversation that is an assessment.

Regarding decision-making, the author refers back to the challenge of objective (or ‘professional’) judgement as if there is a pretence that emotion does not play a role. I’d argue there is no such thing as objective judgement in social work because we have to bring ourselves into every decision we make but that’s more about the research work I am doing and why I chose it. Decisions cannot be made without understanding the place of emotion.

With collaboration and co-operation, he refers to emotion as a representation of the collective experience, including institutional experiences. Social work exists within the institutions in which we work and we need to understand organisational dynamics to work effectively. We also need to work with difference. This is where the author, somewhat tenuously, in my view, brings in the need to work with diverse groups and ensure we tackle and address discriminatory attitudes.

Values and knowledge about discriminatory forces have to be integrated with inter-personal skills, if practitioners are to be able not only to identify, but also challenge, such forces appropriately

p258

Finally, the author turns to the necessarily social work skill of dealing with skill and developing coping strategies. He relates the ability of social workers to seek help themselves when they might be approaching burnout as a key tenet of emotional intelligence. Practitioners who are able to create positive social and professional networks of support will more likely thrive and he links this to relevant research.

Use in practice

This paper is a literature-based study linking the work around emotional intelligence to the attributes needed for social work practice, particularly focusing on social work with children. It is an interesting approach and he has drawn some useful links identifying how the context of writing can be regarded from a different angle to have professional relevance. Personally, I’m not entirely convinced that pulling in management think is always helpful in understanding professional practice within social work. We need to ensure our language and how we describe what we do is not tied up with the latest zeitgeist management talk. However, where there are useful elements to glean it is important that we do not ignore them.

Regarding practical learning from this, there were two aspects that I thought I would take with me from Monday morning. One was about building supportive networks personally and professionally in order to ensure I am looking after my own support and development needs in order to thrive effectively as a social worker and secondly ensuring I have an awareness of the role my emotion plays in my report-writing and assessment as this has an enormous impact on the lives of those I am working with.

Conclusion

This was an accessible paper which drew together strands of literature to extract the core of good social work as separate from the ability to carry out social work tasks or have a good handle on social work skills. In some ways, I see the emotional intelligence as being linked to practice wisdom, as it is sometimes called, the sense of instinctiveness to make judgement quickly and remain open to challenge, learning and change.

The author expresses concern about the growth of managerialism but hope that by capturing the essence of social work in a concept which is basically teachable seeing ways forward for the profession. Personally, I think time and space is needed to develop the capacity for understanding the role emotion and individual subjectivity play in important social work tasks which is why reflection is necessary. Maybe less fast-track and more slow development will build the emotional intelligence necessary for good practice.

Book review: How to Write a Lot – A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing

I read ‘How to Write a Lot – A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing by Paul J Silva published by American Psychological Association – I have a copy of the 1st edition (2007) which is the one I am reviewing below but I have linked to a more recent 2nd edition (2018).

Introduction

To write well, you need to choose good words.

p61

This is a short and accessible book from the US Psychology Academic. The background of psychology becomes more important through the book and it is intended to be a ‘tap on the shoulder’ type book nudging reluctant academics and people who need to write in academic contexts, towards writing. I can’t remember how I came across it, if it was on a reading list or a recommendation (mostly how I decided what books to buy).

Context

As mentioned above, the author, Paul Silva is an academic psychologist based in the US. He has taken the approach of writing in a conversational manner and the book is intended to spur writers who may not see themselves as writers to ‘get on with it’. It would be of less use to experienced writers who have their own systems in place.

Of course, it also serves as a means to delay actually starting writing because you are writing it but fortunately, it is a short book which does not need a lot of time to cover.

The author covers a broad range of topics at a steady pace, including starting out and just writing as well as, more specifically, writing for publication including journals and books. The book itself is 132 pages.

Summary

Delete very, quite, basically, actually, virtually, extremely, remarkably, completely, at all and so forth. Basically, these quite useless words add virtually nothing at all ; like weeds, they’ll in fact actually smother your sentences completely

p64

The book is divided into chapters that cover the areas you would expect, including knocking down those barriers, including the excuses like ‘I don’t have enough time’ or ‘I need to read more about X before I start writing’ as well as ‘I don’t have any space/working PC etc’. They’ll be all the usual ones you can think of. Silva comes back at the reader with responses, some more helpful than others.

Ultimately, the reason is often related to time or alternative priorities with work or life, to which the answer is, unsurprisingly, just write and allocate protected time to write. This isn’t a wonderful relevation but it is a message which can keep being knocked on the head to make sure it has a difference.

Silva may claim to not always have been a planner but a planner and a scheduler you need to be if you are going to write effectively and productively. Planning your writing, counts in the writing time and setting achieveable goals is important as well and give yourself deadlines if noone else is going to. He also talks about prioritising projects and how those priorities can differ and that needs to be fluid.

He likes monitoring progress by word counts or meeting specific daily goals which might work if reading is writing.

To Silva, ‘writers block’ is not something that happens to academic (as opposed to creative) writers. It is just ‘not writing’ and by ‘not writing’ you have ‘writer’s block’. The way to cure it is to write. This is about approaches, attitudes and excuses. It might be that some writing needs more editing than other writing because of the flow that develops but it can be progress and it can be measured all the same.

There is a chapter specifically about style and the importance of clarity in writing. This includes a good reminder to write for audiences that may not have English as a first language. The best writing is accessible and readable. Use jargon when it is necessary but don’t import it in if it does not add to the understanding of the reader. This may be a good discipline in all writing exercises and tasks. He reminds us, as writers to think of the meaning of the words you use, each one having a function to increase clarity. This is a lesson which stuck to my heart as I often write with excess verbosity.

Strengths and Gaps

Silva writes unapologetically as a psychologist and the book is published by the American Psychological Association (APA) so examples about journals and book are based on psychology. I don’t think this is a weakness or a gap so much as a ‘thing to be aware of’.

As he goes through the different parts of a paper and how to construct them, he includes a section on the importance of references and what the reference section means. I have not seen this in a book of academic writing previously but that might say more about my reading than about what is out there but I found this helpful.

It was useful to see a differentiation in the way writing would be approached when considering papers with empirical research and ‘review’ articles, both of which he covers.

This is, though a small book. It probably won’t teach you information you have not come across before regarding how to start writing and get writing but it is concise, clearly written and accessible. It is quite pricey though so might be worth tracking down in a library or getting a second hand copy (as I did).

Use in practice

This is an eminently practical book which has immediately led to some changes in behaviours and ways I think about writing. While it isn’t about innovative new methods, the point about writing is you just have to do it and the way to get better at it is doing more of it, so the book serves to grant permission to believe in yourself and your ability to improve by doing.

For myself, I tend to schedule writing time anyway. I write and study at weekends because I work during the week but it has made me consider how much time I may be able to add to weekdays before work and how to quantify the writing I do. For example, I am now editing this post at 5.45am when I usually get up for work at 6am. I’m also writing a blogpost instead of academic writing though, so swings and roundabouts. Writing is writing!

Silva makes writing – including articles and books, accessible. It seems like the ‘I can do it and so can you’ attitude prevails to the extent that I almost begin to believe it. More importantly, it is a fun book to read. It wasn’t difficult to sail through it quickly. It wasn’t an effort to read which some texts can be.

Conclusion

This is a useful addition to the toolkit for someone who is new to academic writing. It can also serve as a cheerleader in the resources to give more confidence to do what you do regarding writing and to feel better about writing than not-writing. Style is essential but practice embeds style. I would recommend this if you come across it, particularly in a library.

The link to buy it is at the top of the page – this is not an affiliate link. I bought this book for myself.

Paper Review: Human Rights : Its Meaning and Practice in Social Work Field Settings

This post refers to the following paper :

Julie A. Steen, Mary Mann, Nichole Restivo, Shellene Mazany, Reshawna Chapple, Human Rights: Its Meaning and Practice in Social Work Field Settings, Social Work, Volume 62, Issue 1, 1 January 2017, Pages 9–17, https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/sww075

Introduction

As I have covered Australian and British social work papers, I thought I’d turn to the United States with this one and while I have read and learned about human rights in the context of English mental health and mental capacity legislation, the ability to see where the global human rights debate is, was appealing. It has been useful to look at where research is focused in the US where the role of social work has some distinct differences and the cultural context may not be as similar as we sometimes assume.

Context

The research study which was carried out involved interviews with social work students and and ‘field supervisors’ who are experienced social workers as might be obvious, who are supervising students in their initial training placements.

The paper starts with a literature review which covers social work and the role of human rights in social work settings. This has the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 as the starting point but diverges by looking at some of the additional principles to cover, what they describe as ‘population-specific’ conventions including the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Principles for the Older Person which grew up subsequently. There is also reference to some of the work which has linked human rights with social work in a broader context and where human rights practice crosses with social work. This includes the role of advocacy in social work and an interesting distinction between case-based advocacy and cause-based advocacy. There is also reflection on the role of community based social work as human rights in practice.

It was interesting reading through a UK lens where obviously the European Convention of Human Rights doesn’t figure but also where the UK-based literature on human rights and social work would not have been as relevant to the article. This is very much my ‘little England’ view and a literature review is never going to be comprehensive. However, it also introduced me to a broader understanding of human rights, encouraging me to read further and put my focus on UK human rights into a better global perspective.

Methodology

One thing I noticed in this study which was helpful (to me, as a novice researcher) was that the authors explicitly stated their research questions which were

“What means do social work students and their field supervisors attribute to the concept of human rights as it relates to their work in field settings?” and “How do social work students and their field supervisors describe human rights practice in their own agency meetings?”

Having the research questions clearly established helps with appraising the research which takes place and helps understand decisions made regarding research design.

In this case, the authors took a phenomenological approach. These terms can sound like a different language intended to detach academic world but it only means that it is looking at the experiences of people who have them from their viewpoint. It is not an ‘objective’ study but that would not have been unsuitable for the research questions which are asking about how the participants experience and understand human rights in their practice and so phenomenology fits well.

The study was carried out through online questionnaires. Online surveys were sent out to students and supervisors and they were open for responses for two months. There were, in the end, 35 student participants and 48 supervisors. There was a mix of students on different programmes (Batchelors and Masters) and mix of gender and race which was established in the results. The average age of students was 20 and the average age of supervisors was 45. I noted this only because I can’t imagine the average age of UK students would be so low. So another notable difference.

The survey contained a mix of open-ended and structured questions.

Results

The researchers divide the outcomes into seven themes in terms of identification of human rights issues relevant to practice and five themes under which they described their own practice or observation of practice.

In terms of the human rights overlap with social work, the most common theme identified was poverty, in addition to this was discrimination, participation, self-determination, autonomy, violence (right to live free from violence where violence is expanded to mean abuse), dignity, respect, privacy (including confidentiality) and ‘freedom and liberty’.

Poverty identified reflected the resources that link to access to housing and healthcare. This obviously has a different context where healthcare is mostly on an insurance basis but presented another layer of the economic and social human rights which occupy the social justice element of social work and embed social work as a human rights profession.

The interesting point the researchers made about discrimination was that students primarily focussed on discrimination faced by LGBTQ+ groups whereas the supervisors more often referred to cultural competencies and gender based discrimination.

The themes of participation, self-determination and autonomy emphasised the right to have the means to determine ones’ own destiny, including refusing or discounting professional advice.

The group of supervisors who referred to ‘freedom and liberty’ were non-descriptive. It is an interesting expression of a more abstract concept as a right.

In terms of practice and how they saw human rights expressed within the agency there were five themes determined. These were advocacy, service provision, assessment and relationships.

Advocacy was reflected in both individual practice with clients and in terms of challenges within organisations. The researchers distinguish themes of case advocacy versus cause advocacy. Cause advocacy was more heavily emphasised by students. Service provision included areas like psychoeduction and providing direct support to groups of people that had specific needs. I’m not sure of case management as human rights but that might be about my prejudices and understanding of the term rather than the way it is meant by the participants.

Assessment was seen as a human rights engaged activity as a process in order for ‘needs and wishes’ to be met. I think this may be a bit tenuous at best because I prefer ‘conversations about needs’ to ‘assessments’ but that might be my issue with the language. Sometimes, assessments need to be assessments. Do they always lead to resources that are necessary? Perhaps not.

The relationship was interesting as it was presented as being key to human rights in practice including the honesty and transparency of the connection. For the purposes of the paper, treating people with dignity, care and in a way that is free from discrimination were part of the relationship.

Key learning for practice

There were a couple of interesting elements that I took from this paper. It was fascinating to read about human rights from a non-European perspective. It made me itch for more exposure to international research. Struggling to match human rights in principle to work that social workers apply on a day to day level can be a challenge and this research addresses this by asking about both conceptual and practical visions of human rights.

The language of human rights was measured in the research and it can make us think about the language we use in practice. Do we talk about assessments meeting wants and needs or about assessments as processes to be completed? Do we distinguish and action both case and cause advocacy? We might not be able to to both but do we recognise it when we do it.

One of the things I thought I could do as a result of this, was self-audit some of the small actions and conversations I have and records I write in each week, meetings I attend and consider how human rights legislation and principles are enacted in practice.

Reflections and gaps

I enjoyed reading this paper and enjoyed particularly seeing the process of a research project including research questions being described. Of course, the study was based on students and practice supervisors. It would have been interesting to see the outcomes if it had been practitioners at various stages of their careers. The different areas of practice were not also clearly differentiated so it wasn’t clear how many worked with adults or children and in what settings, for example. This might have produced further interesting results. It was a relatively large sample (I thought) and the survey was an interesting way of collecting data, particularly large tracts of data but I wondered about how useful (or different) interviews might have been.

Conclusion

One of the things that struck me (and possibly the authors as well) was the lack of reference to race and discrimination on the basis of race and culture particularly by the students who were interviewed. This was something I wondered about in terms of teaching within social work settings as well. The authors speculate that this might align with gaps in the teaching curriculum although discrimination in the LGBTQI+ community was more heavily referenced by students.

Poverty came up as a strong theme in discussion but in practice it wasn’t always clear how this was challenged and addressed. This is more about where some of the cause advocacy might focus, perhaps.

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