Student Social Worker – A Male Perspective & Experiences on Placement It is undeniable that men hold significant sway over the children they are responsible for, making a substantial impact on their development and well-being. Today, we are here to delve into the topic of men's involvement in the field of social work, specifically focusing on the experiences of male student social workers during their placements. To kickstart our discussion, we have the privilege of hearing from Aleski, who will shed light on the inspiration behind his publication, aptly titled 'Preparing for First Social Work Placement'.   D. Aleski Brandy-Williams is an experienced social work practitioner, guest lecturer, Youth Advocate and author of two books titled ‘My journey to becoming a Black Male Social Worker’ and ‘Preparing for First Social Work Placement’.   There is more about Aleski Brandy-Williams https://brandy-williams.co.uk/home

In this episode, we focus on all things relating to the practicalities of being on a placement. Touching on home visits, the timing of visits, safety, and risk assessments, as well as writing comprehensive case notes, timekeeping, management of tasks and working with multi-agencies.   Our hosts, Colleen Simon and Tienga Ngale are joined by Sophia Onuh and Michelle Boreland. Sophia Onuh is an experienced SW & Lecturer in Social Work @ Yeovil College University Centre, and Michelle Boreland is an experienced SW, MASH DTM & Practice Educator. Aleski Brandy-Williams’ book on “Preparing for First Social Work Placement” as an introductory guide for aspiring social workers in the children and young people service was featured. The book can be found here: https://brandy-williams.co.uk/shop/ols/products/preparing-for-first-social-work-placement

In this episode, Colleen and Tienga are joined by Jenni Guthrie, the person behind the Autistic Social Worker website, to discuss how we apply theories, models, approaches and laws taught in class on placement. What does competence in this domain look like? Can we identify role models to emulate? Join us to discuss these issues and more.  Jenni Guthrie - Autistic/ADHD social worker, writer, researcher and speaker currently working as a Principle Curriculum Lead on a social work Master's programme. Jenni is also the host of www.autisticsocialworker.co.uk

In this episode, we explore the topic of communications on placement. Effective communication is the heart of social work practice but it is far from simple. How do we do it? How may you experience it on placement? Where might the potential difficulties and what can we do to overcome them? Join our hosts, Colleen Simon and Tienga Ngale, and their guests, Nana Yabbey-Hagan (Practice Educator & C&F SW Manager), and Rohima Begum (Apprentice programme Student SW), who will grapple with these questions.

In this episode, we look at race and explore the experience of race and racism in social work placement. Thinking about Cultural Competence and the experience of working with those you share the same culture with: could familiarity help in relationship building or could it be an obstacle? Our guests are: Shantel Thomas is an experienced SW practitioner, Clinical Professional & Course Lead @ Tavistock & Portman NHS Foundation, and founder of the Anti-Racist Movement (A.R.M.) Thedini Liyanage is a 2nd year MSc social work student from Brunel University. Chito Okeke is a 1st year MSc social work student at Brunel University. An interesting read from an article in the Community Care Newsletter suggests that ‘one in 10 social workers encountered racism from workmates at least five times, while almost 20% reported having increased anxiety as a result of their experiences, finds a poll of almost 2,000 practitioners.’ https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2022/03/18/one-third-of-social-workers-faced-racism-from-colleagues-or-managers-in-past-year-finds-survey/

In this episode, we focus on the student social worker and what they may need to make the most of their social work placement. Thinking about factors such as first impressions, values, behaviours, professional boundaries, commitment, dress code, managing expectations in terms of equipment and learning, preparedness, understanding of PCFs, Social Work England Standards and much more. Our hosts Tienga Ngale and Colleen Simon will be joined by two wonderful social workers: Maria Fashakin who is a Liaison and Diversion Practitioner/Mental Health Social Worker/AMHP/DV Ambassador and Harpal Sokhi who is a Newly Qualified Social Worker. 

In this episode, we focus on the role of Practice Educators in a placement. It will include a conversation about what practice educators do, their key roles and contributions to the experience of students on placement and power relations that are ever-present. Our hosts, Tienga Ngale and Colleen Simon will be joined by our guests for this episode: Jodie Howard is a current ASYE SW in a local authority. Jodie had both of her placements in non-statutory settings and had the experience of only a PE on placement and both Practice Supervisor and PE. Molly Meakin is an Advanced Practitioner and experienced practice educator, currently working with the Safeguarding Adults Team in the London Borough of Hillingdon Social Services Section 2.6 of the Social Work England Practice Placement Guidance has more on the roles and responsibilities of practice educators and can be find here: https://www.socialworkengland.org.uk/standards/practice-placements-guidance/  

In this season, Tienga Ngale, our MSc social work student, Colleen Simon, Head of Social Work at the North West London NHS Foundation Trust, and their guests will de explore different aspects of social work students' placements. In their first episode they speak with

In this episode our students, Rathigga Pushparajah and Tienga Ngale interview Dr Sharlotte Tusasiirwe about her recent article titled Is it indigenisation or decolonisation of social work in Africa? A focus on Uganda. The article was recently published in the African Journal of Social Work and it can be found here: https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajsw/article/view/224731 Dr Sharlotte Tusasiirwe, born in Uganda, is an activist, social worker and educator. She gained her Master's degree in Social work and Human Rights and a PhD from Western Sydney University, Australia. Her PhD focused on decolonising social work education and practice. Sharlotte has researched how African knowledge and Obuntu/Ubuntu philosophies can inform social work, a topic discussed in the article.  Rathigga and Tienga were particularly drawn to the article as it highlighted concepts critical to anti–racist social work practice, such as decolonization and colonisation. The author explains how colonisation affected social work practice in Uganda.  

In this episode, our students Jade Blake, Rathigga Pushparajah and Georgina Georgina Ataa-Nyarko are joined by Solomon Amadasun from the School of Health and Social Development, Deakin University, Australia. The four discuss Solomon's work.  Solomon is a widely published author and has extensively researched social work practice in Nigeria. He aims to shed light on the fact that though willing, upcoming social workers are ill-equipped to apply the anti-oppressive approach in Nigeria due to the social and political climate in the country. In his writing, he discusses where the difficulty comes from and provides suggestions/implications to the social educators in Nigeria to adopt the outlook of strengthening the depth of anti-oppressive discourse both in the classroom and on placement Article: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JHASS-12-2019-0082/full/html Further Work: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1946-0432