Teoría de la Socialización Primaria de Oetting y sus colaboradores

The findings of this study indicate that in considering their readiness for practice, students struggled with the concept of 'theory' or how they could use theoretical constructs in practice. They described ei g a le to fit togethe the theo eti al components of the course to their practice experience as difficult, and varied in their perceptions of how helpful skills days were in helping them do this. Some continued not to be able see connections and how this learning would help them be ready for the workplace. Others described lightbulb moments of working in practice and realising what they had learned in university helped their understanding of a practice situation.

Other authors have discussed these issues and found that the successful integration of theory into practice is associated with a positive practice learning experience (Regerh et al. 2002) or dissatisfaction expressed amongst newly qualified practitioners associated with little opportunity to reflect (Marsh and Treseliotis, 1996).

The findings suggest that space for critical reflection for students to consider their development, was perceived as important in enabling them to cope in the intellectually and emotionally demanding occupation of social work. Grant (2014) study on critical reflection found that self-assessment and self-regulation are tools

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which supports the development of resilience. ‘u h s stud o efle tio i social work practice, found that it facilitates empathy and it supports insights into how personal backgrounds affect learning and practice. There were differences among the students as to who they considered responsible for helping them use processes of critical reflection to make sense of putting theory into practice and of using creative ways to help the fit things together'. Beddoe (2004), Fook and Askeland (2007) and Cooper (2011) claimed there is a need for more critically reflective social work by students. The authors suggest that reflection in and critical reflection on social work should take place within a learning environment that encourages learning about learning, and thinking about thinking in social work. Beddoe (2004), Fook and Askeland et al. (2007) suggested social work students needed to view reflection and analysis as a conscious journey and if we are to move to a greater understanding of effective learning, there may be implications for how practice educators facilitate and promote critical reflection within supervision during placement. Within the work done by Beddoe (2004), Fook and Askeland (2007) and Cooper (2011), there seems to be so ethi g a out the skills of iti al efle tio ei g i po ta t i doi g so ial o k, but also in learning about becomi g a social worker – making this an important concept for students and practice educators/ assessors to grapple with. Bradbury-Jones et al. (2009) and Fook and Askeland (2007) concurred that reflection has perplexity and questioning at its heart but stressed the importance of including thoughts and feeling to this process. This supports the findings of my study and leads to a conclusion that to achieve this, during the course, social work educators and placement settings could encourage students to use more creative approaches to pro ote lea i g a d e ha e thei a ilit to fit thi gs togethe .

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The way students perceive they learn to be ready for practice neatly reflects what appears to be the competing perspectives of HEIs providing a broad knowledge base on which to base continuing professional development (CPD) (Smith et al. 2013), and e plo e s a ti g fu tio all ead so ial o ke s (Shepe et al. 2011) equipped with practical skills for the job. Students in this study report needing space and direction for critical analysis on practice in order to link theory to what they are required to do, and thus develop deeper critical thinking and understanding; but at the sa e ti e feel p essu e to attai the fu tio al skills of doi g asso iated ith the work. This suggests a olla o ati e app oa h to suppo ti g stude ts eadi ess fo practice. Much work, such as the provision of skills days, can be undertaken in HEIs to prepare the students to be more functionally ready for the working world, but it is also important to make space for the development of critical thinking both on campus and in placement settings. Educators, practice educators/staff in different teams or i di idual p a titio e s a all o t i ute to the stude ts eadi ess fo p a ti e. This was also consistent with similar findings reported by Bates et al. (2010) whose research focussed on NQSW perceptions of the effectiveness of the degree in preparing them for social work employment. Bates et al s o k ide tified key social work practice skills that requires more development by social work educators and highlights the importance of statutory placements for social work students. Bates et al (2010) identified that student social workers in their study felt unprepared in instrumental areas such as assessments, record keeping and report writing.

It can be argued that more emphasis needs to be placed upon linking social work skills days content and context to other modules to reduce the fragmentation that may be experienced across the curriculum leading to a perceived alienation of theory from

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p a ti e. “heppa d et al s o k highlighted the importance of the role of supervision in providing the reflective and cognitive development space as a way of looking at social work knowledge. For Sheppard et al. (2000) there was a need to develop educational processes that would encourage learners cognitive abilities for linking theory with practice and recognising the relationship between them. In a study by Moriarty et al. (2010) of graduating social work students in Britain, student pa ti ipa ts ost alued topi s e e those ated as ei g ele a t to p a ti e a d he e p a ti e isdo of e pe ie ed so ial o ke s could be observed. The notion of critical refle tio assisti g i helpi g stude ts fit togethe theo a d p a ti e during their course may assist in enabling earlier perceptions of feeling ready for practice through promoting greater understanding of the field they are working within.

Studies that have attempted to capture views on readiness for practice among other p ofessio s su h as u ses a d tea he s, also suggest that feeli g ead a e dela ed as stude ts of these p ofessio s ie ed p a ti e eadi ess as ot o u i g at the time of graduation, but after some time in practice (Wolff, Pesut and Regan, 2010). Other authors such as Moo e s stud a fou d that pa ti ipa ts felt that they were expected to know everything and were also made to feel inadequate if they asked questions. “heppa d s idea of p o ess k o ledge ould e o e i po ta t here as it could lead the students experiencing a loss of confidence and feeling shame created by the blame culture that exists within the organisation.

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