Evidence from Dr Gillian Ferguson’s recent research about workplace learning shows how extraordinary our profession is.
Social workers’ lived experiences show the complexity of what is involved in their workplace learning, and daily practice (Ferguson, 2021). Supporting CPL across the career requires an understanding of our specific needs as learners, the nature of our workplace, complexity of role and the tasks we do.
Workplace learning
Workplaces offer rich sources of learning, and work can be structured to maximise opportunities that are aligned to defined tasks or role requirements (Billett, 2001). However, in social work, tasks and roles are notoriously hard to define (Moriarty et al., 2015). Although learning is promoted as a broad spectrum of activity in rhetoric, standards and policy (SSSC, 2020), plans quickly default to tangible, formal training as the primary source of continuing professional development (Ferguson, 2022b).
Social workers’ learning in the workplace: a complex web
Social workers’ learning in the workplace can be represented as an intricate web of sensory and emotional experiences that span places, spaces and tasks (Ferguson, 2021). This web involves interwoven themes shown in the diagram below: ‘journey of the self; navigating landscape and place; navigating tasks; learning through others; learning through the body; practices and conceptions of learning; and learning by chance’ (Ferguson, 2021, p154).
Full details of these different aspects of learning and the nuances of this web can be found in the links shown at the end of this article, but some ideas I found most striking are highlighted.
Ziggy Stardust
For many, the experience of practice, and of learning through it, involves the whole person, immersed in navigating the places and tasks of their work. Some social workers describe creating an entirely new persona, whereas others describe how their personal and professional selves merge (Ferguson, 2021).
‘When David Bowie created Ziggy Stardust, it was about assuming someone else, you can never escape yourself but certainly you do assume different characters for different people that you work with. You’ve got judges and sheriffs. You’ve got a whole swathe of different professionals and people that you work with. The way that I talk to the children’s hearing and then present a case is different than when I do an unannounced visit to a family. All that screwing on a different head – recreating yourself. I think there is a similarity in various areas that you go into in social work, you need to be able to wear different hats for different audiences – and Ziggy only lasted 19 months.’
(Boab in Ferguson, 2021, p93)
This example from Boab, who has been qualified for three decades, shows his whole, embodied experience of learning as a social worker, learning to navigate places and tasks. Boab also nods to the longevity and retention of social workers in his use of this analogy. Social workers’ experiences of learning through work are however deeply personal and individual.
Work and workplaces
The nature of both the workplace and work itself are important – the places that we work in are diverse, as are the tasks we do. Social workers are learning to navigate systems and processes: ‘managing the conveyor belt’; ‘having to upload to the terminal’; as part of their work (Ferguson, 2021, p164). Workplaces are extraordinary, where extreme situations or unusual places become normal for social work practice. These can be physically or psychologically isolated: ‘in the dark’; ‘alien’; ‘on your own’; and ‘at night’ (Ferguson, 2021, p158). Workplace learning environments also involve heightened emotional and physical sensory experiences for social workers, which include textures, smells, sounds and sights (Ferguson, 2021). We also know lots about the complexity and atmospheres of the home visit as a learning site from Harry Ferguson’s work (e.g., Ferguson, 2018). Workplace learning offers opportunities that cannot be replicated through other methods.
Other social workers
The influence of other social workers is crucial in workplace learning (Ferguson, 2021), however formal and informal learning opportunities where social workers are with one another have decreased. Workplace learning has resulted in some of the most significant learning experiences across social workers’ careers but often down to chance variables: initial practice placements; employment opportunities; nature of organisation/service/team/manager; specific cases; personal interest and motivation (Ferguson, 2021). Workplace learning is highly valuable for the kind of learning that matters to social workers and learning through practice extensively promoted in our profession (e.g., Thompson, 2018).
A balanced approach
A balanced approach to CPL is vital, for individual social workers, their employers and regulators, where we remember the importance of learning in and through direct practice. The web diagram is a way of remembering what is involved in the learning process for social workers. Remembering the Ziggy analogy can remind us of the unique learning journey that social workers take and just what daily practice involves.
Author biography
Gillian Ferguson is a lecturer working centrally with The Open University for their programmes across the UK. She has worked in a broad variety of settings including direct practice, workforce development, advisory and regulatory roles, including as a social worker, community learning worker and academic. A committed and active practice educator, she previously led the practice educator qualification for the Tayforth Partnership in Scotland. Gillian is an educational researcher, a member of SWU, a registered social worker and maintains direct practice involvement in a third sector addictions service.
Twitter: @learnventurer
Email: gillian.ferguson1@open.ac.uk
Gillian at the Open University: https://www.open.ac.uk/research/people/gf873
References and further reading
Billett, S. (2001) Learning through work: workplace affordances and individual engagement. Journal of Workplace Learning, 13(5/6), 209-14
Ferguson, H. (2018) How social workers reflect in action and when and why they don’t: the possibilities and limits to reflective practice in social work. Social Work Education, 37(4), 415-427
Ferguson, G. M. (2021) “When David Bowie created Ziggy Stardust” The Lived Experiences of Social Workers Learning Through Work. The Open University [Online] http://oro.open.ac.uk/77930/ (accessed 18/01/23)
Ferguson, G. (2022a) Influences on professional learning in the workplace. in Scottish Social Services Council (2022) Promoting NQSW learning and development in the supported year [online] https://www.nqsw.sssc.uk.com/promoting-nqsw-professional-learning-and-development-in-the-supported-year/ (accessed 08/08/22)
Ferguson, G. (2022b) The Importance of Workplace Learning for Social Workers, Iriss Insight 67 [online] https://www.iriss.org.uk/resources/insights/importance-workplace-learning-social-workers (accessed 18/01/23)
Moriarty, J, Baginsky, M and Manthorpe, J. (2015) Literature review of roles and issues within the social work profession in England. Social Care Workforce Research Unit, King’s College London, London
SSSC (2020) Continuing Professional Learning Requirements (CPL) guidance. Scottish Social Services Council, Dundee, [online] at https://www.sssc.uk.com/knowledgebase/article/KA-02994/en-us (accessed 08/08/22)
Thompson, N. (2018) The Learning from Practice Manual Avenue Media Solutions order online at https://neilthompson.info/product/the-learning-from-practice-manual/