Social work through collaborative autoethnography

Abstract

This paper discusses a research project involving 5 MA Social Work Students and 1 member of Social Work Academic Staff.Using narrative and taking a collaborative autoethnographical approach, this project highlights some of the feelings that students articulated following a 70 day placement experience. Findings include anxiety, powerlessness and frustration, together with growing confidence, recognition of their skills and a deeper understanding of the role of 'self' in social work. Raising issues of preparedness for practice placement, this paper has implications for both social work practice and social work education.Autoethnography (AE) is both a method of carrying out research and a methodology, specifically a qualitative methodology linked to ethnography and narrative inquiry.AE results in highly personalised narrative accounts of the researcher's engagement 2 with specific sociocultural contexts in the pursuit of knowing more about a phenomenon. Applying such a methodology to explore collaboratively issues of student lived experience of placement is a new and innovative use of this method.

Compassion Fatigue and Vicarious Trauma in Everyday Hospital Social Work: A Personal Narrative of Practitioner–Researcher Identity Transition

“…These methods included reflective sessions with participants and co-researchers whereby a co-construction of meaning has taken place, as well as autoethnographic journaling throughout the life of the research (Jones and Smith 2017). In addition, in the writing of this personal narrative and constructing my analysis, I am drawing on the history of critical reflection and reflexive writing in both social work practice and social work research (Shaw 2005;Kanuha 2000;Gant et al 2019). Subjectivity and researcher indulgence potentially limit the reliability and capacity to generalise the findings (Denzin 2006), risking an account of evocative autoethnography (Atkinson 2006).…”

“…Clear value alignment is important to social workers when approaching research (Shannon 2013), yet so is the capacity to be reflexive on, and in, their practice. Critical reflection has been embraced by a variety of disciplines and indeed is strong in the health sector more broadly (Gant et al 2019). Social work has a strong history and relationship with critical reflection in practice, and in a commitment to reflexivity throughout the profession.…”

Social Work Students Sharing Practice Learning Experiences: Critical Reflection as Process and Method

“…Social Work practitioners operate in an increasingly globalised context (Morley 2004) and by engaging with critical reflection as a pedagogical method, the significance of reflection and critical analysis creates greater possibilities to recognise and challenge structural inequalities, for as Twikirize (in Spitzer and Twikirize 2014, 146) states: 'Social work educators in collaboration with social welfare agencies have a public role and obligation to produce professionally competent, critically aware, culturally sensitive social work practitioners'. Insights into the relevance and practice value of critical reflection from students' perspectives is seen as key in reducing the theory/ practice divide (Gant et al 2019), whilst exploring students' experiences of critical reflection offers the potential to identify and understand the range of variables that may promote or inhibit reflective learning (Higgins and Goodyer 2015;Staempfli, Adshead, and Fletcher 2015).…”

Coping with grief, loss, and well-being during a pandemic: A collaborative autoethnography of international educators during COVID-19

“…COVID-19 has necessitated a shift in our teaching practice due to social isolation, providing an opportunity to pool, analyze, and interpret our experiences (Hernandez et al, 2017). We shared our stories to identify similar and dissimilar experiences of loss, dislocation, and well-being associated with our employment commitments (Gant et al, 2019).…”