‘Lost in transition?’ – Newly educated social workers’ reflections on their first months in practice

Is there a shared social work signature pedagogy cross-nationally? Using a case study methodology to explore signature pedagogy in England, Israel, Finland, Spain and Sweden

“…Social work in Sweden continues to be a popular choice for students to study at university level (Sandström, 2007). The Swedish experiences are similar to other countries when it comes to student sense of readiness for practice (Tham & Lynch, 2019). For examples, social work graduates report feelings of unpreparedness for their new roles in practice; this type of research is essential to remind us to remain connected to practice and be cognisant of the importance of staying relevant.…”

‘Perhaps I should be working with potted plants or standing at the fish counter instead?’: newly educated social workers’ reflections on their first years in practice

“…When the social workers were asked to reflect on and describe how their skills had developed over the 20 months since they graduated, many of the reflections concerned client meetings: Learning how to 'read' people During the previous interview at 4 months it became clear that some of the newly qualified social workers had been exposed to threats and violence (see Tham & Lynch, 2019), and one of them had sought treatment for the trauma it caused. Therefore, this time, they were asked about threats and violence.…”

Self-Efficacy, Psychological Flexibility, and Basic Needs Satisfaction Make a Difference: Recently Graduated Psychologists at Increased or Decreased Risk for Future Health Issues

“…The transition from university education to working life appears to be a critical period for human service workers ( Rudman and Gustavsson, 2011 ; Hussein et al, 2014 ; Phillip et al, 2014 ; Tham and Lynch, 2017 ; Frögéli et al, 2019 ). Health problems during higher education and a sub-optimal transition to working life could have a long-term impact on said professionals’ health and wellbeing ( Rudman and Gustavsson, 2011 ; Frögéli et al, 2019 ).…”

“…Previous studies investigating human service workers’ health during the transition into working life and early career (e.g., Hussein et al, 2014 ; Tham and Lynch, 2017 ; Frögéli et al, 2019 ), mainly utilized variable-centered analyses. In the present study, we argue the benefits of person-centered analyses.…”