Social Work in the Frame of a Professional Competencies Approach (European Social Work Education and Practice) 303113527X, 9783031135279

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European Social Work Education and Practice

Ana Opačić   Editor

Social Work in the Frame of a Professional Competencies Approach

European Social Work Education and Practice Series Editors Nino Žganec, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia Marion Laging, Faculty of Social Work, Health Care, Esslingen University of Applied Sciences, Esslingen am Neckar, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

European Social Work Education and Practice is a Series developed within the frame of the contributions of the European Association of Schools of Social Work (EASSW) on the current developments of social work education and its links to the practice of social work in a European context. The Series supports the international dialogue among social work academics, practitioners, service users, and decision-­ makers. The aim of the Series is to provide a platform for identification and discussion of various challenges and developments within European social work. Similar to other professions, social work also is constantly contending with new demands regarding changing fields of work, new financial models, rising competition among the institutions, new groups and types of service users, and many other challenges. All of these circumstances require professionals to be well prepared and to provide new responses on how to work in the context of globalization and neoliberalism while adhering to the principles of solidarity, social justice, and humanity. More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/16359

Ana Opačić Editor

Social Work in the Frame of a Professional Competencies Approach

Editor Ana Opačić Social Work Study Centre, Faculty of Law University of Zagreb Zagreb, Croatia

ISSN 2662-2440     ISSN 2662-2459 (electronic) European Social Work Education and Practice ISBN 978-3-031-13527-9    ISBN 978-3-031-13528-6 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13528-6 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

Preface

This book was written to be a unique path for all those who want to get involved in professional competence and professional competencies in social work. The book offers an overview of the fundamental concepts and approaches to understanding professional competence and contains a detailed overview of the areas and dimensions of competencies while explaining the methodological apparatus for researching professional competencies. Furthermore, the book endeavours to show the significance of addressing professional competence for the profession per se, including the education system, professional practice and scientific work while pointing out the heuristic potential of the approach. While aware that there is a kind of ambivalence in the professional community in determining and measuring competencies, the criticism of the approach and potential traps are transparently elaborated. Therefore, the book is intended for all those who deal with this topic within higher education, scientific institutions, vocational organisations and all bodies that are involved in regulating the social work profession (e.g., government ministries). The book will be helpful for all social workers and social work students who will be able to find information in it as to why it is important to consider competence and competencies for social workers as well as the dimensions and areas it covers. The first two chapters provide a theoretical introduction to the topic of professional competence and professional competencies in social work. In the first chapter by Ana Opačić, an overview of fundamental concepts is provided, including professional competence, fundamental dimensions and areas of professional competencies systematised, and an overview of research practice. Moreover, the underlying significance of professional competencies for science, education, practice and the profession of social work is given. Chapter 2, authored by Nélida Ramírez Naranjo, meticulously presents a critique of competency-based education, including traps and risks that determine competencies contributing to social work. A thorough understanding of the topic means fathoming that there is no consensus on accepting the competence framework. A separate chapter highlights opposing arguments enabling the reader to get all the information when deciding whether to deal with the topic and how.

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Preface

The following section has three chapters that describe eight key areas of professional competencies in social work. Given that these areas have been systematised on the basis of an exhaustive analysis of available material, we believe that consensus in the international professional community can be reached on these areas, and they can be a useful framework for establishing a national professional competence framework. Chapters 3 and 4, authored by Marko Buljevac and Ana Opačić, describe the following areas of competencies: knowledge and integration of knowledge for social work, process competencies (Chap. 3), and competencies for social change that include a critical structural approach, cultural competence and competencies for community work (Chap. 4). Chapter 5, authored by Martina Podobnik and Antun Ilijaš, describes the areas of competencies regarding professional and organisation development, including professional development and identity, professional ethics, and functioning and leadership within an organisation. The third section of the book provides a methodological framework for measuring professional competencies in practice and education. The author Ana Opačić shows in Chap. 6 the process of conceptualisation, operationalisation and measuring professional competencies within a national context where such a framework is absent. An example of social work practice in Croatia is given, which can also be a typical example for all those who want to pursue the same process within another national context. The methodological section of the book continues with Chap. 7 by Orly Calderon, describing in detail the approach to measuring competencies to monitor educational programme outcomes. The professional competence framework achieved its legitimisation as a link between the education system and professional practice. Orly Calderon explains in detail how competencies can be transformed into measurable indicators to determine to what extent learning outcomes facilitate the adoption of fundamental competencies. The final contribution in the methodological section is Chap. 8 by Gary Holden, Kathleen Barker and Sofie Kuppens. They are authors who are widely known within the professional community in utilising the concept of self-efficacy in researching professional competencies in the education process. In this chapter, the authors offer an overview of research based on the concept of self-efficacy and provide examples of developing and validating a research instrument for a selected competency based on Bandura’s concept of self-efficacy. The last two chapters in Part IV show how professional competencies and the professional competence framework can be used in the professional development of social workers. Chapter 9 is one of the final chapters written by Professor Marion Bogo to whom the professional community is in debt for her holistic understanding of professional competencies, thereby responding to criticism that such competencies will de-professionalise and reduce complex social work to simple, measurable skills. The chapter by Marion Bogo addresses the use of the holistic approach to competence in social work in terms of education and professional development of social work students who acquire experience in field practice. Chapter 10 by Ruth Allen presents a unique example of the British Association of Social Workers called

Preface

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the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF). This approach is unique in that it shows how professional competencies can be used to further develop and empower the careers of social workers. Overall, this book is our endeavour to highlight important perspectives in understanding the professional competence framework, i.e., perspectives relating to the profession itself, science, professional practice and education, as well as comprehending how professional competence should be the framework that linearly tracks the development of social workers from fundamental education to advanced stages in their career. Zagreb, Croatia

Ana Opačić

Acknowledgements

The publication of this book was a joint effort by a group of authors that willingly accepted the invitation to build one piece of a puzzle called a professional competency framework in social work. The authors are gathered around the same concept, but with different viewpoints and perspectives on the matter. First and foremost, I sincerely thank each of them for accepting the invitation and pursuing this collaboration until the very end of the publishing process. I hope that this could be a good foundation for our future work. When we started to research professional competence in Croatia, one of the first reference points was work by Professor Marion Bogo from University of Toronto and her holistic model that gave true meaning to professional competencies as a tool for professional development, identity and empowerment. The Croatian research team was honoured when Professor Bogo responded to our invitation for further collaboration. Professor Bogo also wrote a chapter for this book, but with great sadness, we accepted the news of her loss. My deepest gratitude goes to the family of beloved Professor Marion Bogo, her colleagues from the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto, and to the dean Professor Charmaine Williams who kindly assisted in finalising the publication process. This edited book was written in challenging times for the professional and academic community in social work. Thus, finally, I want to express my gratitude to all Croatian social workers. During times of pandemic, earthquake, public pressure and unprecedented crisis that we as social workers faced in our national context, it was a privilege to learn all over again what social work is and what it might or should be. I thank my colleagues in the research team, Marko Buljevac, Antun Ilijaš, Jelena Ogresta and Martina Podobnik, for hours and hours of our discussions and dedication to truly understand professional competence, to develop scientifically rigorous procedure to explore it, and for sharing your ‘inner social worker’ that was a bridge between the content, identity and reality of our profession.

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Contents

Part I Understanding a Professional Competencies Approach 1

Introduction to the Professional Competency Framework in Social Work ��������������������������������������������������������������������    3 Ana Opačić

2

 Criticisms of the Competency-Based Education (CBE) Approach ����   21 Nélida Ramírez Naranjo

Part II Major Areas of Professional Competencies 3

Knowledge Base and Process Competencies in Social Work Practice ��������������������������������������������������������������������������   39 Marko Buljevac and Ana Opačić

4

 Professional Competencies for Social Change��������������������������������������   57 Marko Buljevac and Ana Opačić

5

 Leadership and Professional Socialisation��������������������������������������������   75 Martina Podobnik and Antun Ilijaš

Part III Measuring Professional Competencies and Education Outcomes 6

Starting from Scratch: How to Conceptualise, Operationalise and Measure Professional Competencies in Social Work������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  103 Ana Opačić

7

Everything But the Kitchen Sink: Making Sense Out of Social Work Education Outcome Assessment ��������������������������  119 Orly Calderon

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8

 The Evaluation Self-Efficacy Scale – III������������������������������������������������  147 Gary Holden, Kathleen Barker, and Sofie Kuppens

Part IV Professional Competencies and Professional Development 9

A Model of Holistic Competence in Social Work: Implications for Education����������������������������������������������������������������������  165 Marion Bogo

10 The  Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF) for Social Workers in England: Creating an Embedded Culture of Excellence, Ambition and Shared Values Across the Profession ������������������������������������������������������������������������������  181 Ruth Allen Index������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  203

Contributors

Ruth Allen, PhD, is CEO of the British Association of Social Workers (BASW). Her career and professional objectives focus on values-based leadership and change in social work, mental health, and the wider health and social care system. She is committed to developing excellent practice and working to create great services, great service user and family experience, integrated pathways, community collaborations between professionals and citizens, and real coproduction. She is particularly dedicated to developing professional leadership in social work and devise and run courses on this with diverse collaborators. Kathleen Barker, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at Medgar Evers College. Prior to her employment at CUNY, Dr. Barker was the director of gender studies at Bard College; directed Via Pace, a social action consortium; was elected senior college representative to the Professional Staff Congress (PSC) for two terms (6 years); a PSC grievance counsellor; and served since 2001 as a senator in the UFS.Dr. Barker received her PhD in social-personality psychology from The Graduate Center, CUNY, and has authored/co-authored 46 publications and 52 presentations. According to Google Scholar, her papers were cited more than 2000 times.She has conducted multidisciplinary research in the areas of nonstandard work, higher education and social justice, as well as on methodological issues. Dr. Barker’s reputation in labour studies was established by her forward-looking examination of contingent work in the United States: Contingent Work: American Employment Relations in Transition (ILR/Cornell University Press). The text was selected by Princeton University’s Firestone Library as its year’s noteworthy book in industrial relations and labour economics. Marion Bogo, PhD, is a full professor at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto. She teaches direct clinical social work practice, social work supervision, and the theory and practice of social work education. Her primary research interests focus on conceptualising, teaching, and assessing competency for professional practice including social work education, field education, and clinical social work practice and supervision. In her research, she has developed and tested xiii

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a holistic model of competence, field education models, and the use of simulation in teaching and assessing student and practitioner competence. Her work has been widely disseminated in books and journal articles with invited presentations internationally. According to Google Scholar, her papers were cited more than 5900 times. Marko Buljevac, PhD, is an associate professor at the Social Work Study Center, Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb in Croatia. He is an experienced researcher in field of disability, diversity and field practice. He is an author of many research articles published in domestic and international peer-reviewed journals. Marko Buljevac is a member of Croatian project team that developed a national framework of professional competencies in social work in Croatia. Orly Calderon, PsyD, is an associate professor at Long Island University (LIU), teaching courses in research design and data analysis, program assessment and evaluation, and psychological evaluation and psychopathology. After teaching in the Social Work Department for 15 years, Dr. Calderon has recently assumed the role of the Director of Assessment at LIU’s Psychological Services Center. Dr. Calderon earned her dual degree B.A. in Psychology and Education from Long Island University, her M.A. in Developmental Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University, and her Psy.D. in School and Community Psychology from Hofstra University. For the last 25 years, she has been combining her teaching and scholarly work with clinical work, focusing on psychological evaluations. Dr. Calderon’s research reflects her clinical interest in at-risk populations. She has utilized her expertise in empirical approaches to study immigrant youths, youths with ADHD, individuals with disabilities, and people with chronic illness, focusing on evidence-based practice and advocacy. Concurrently, Dr. Calderon specializes in program evaluation strategies and has been involved in developing tools and approaches for pedagogical and clinical outcome assessment at LIU, as well as other organizations in the USA and abroad. For the last few years, her work has focused on researching students and faculty responses to blended and online learning, as well as on developing pedagogical approaches for integration of information technology tools in and out of the classroom. Her research emphasizes the role of input from faculty and students in shaping the design, delivery, and assessment of online learning. Dr. Calderon’s work in this area has been presented and published in various peer-reviewed forums and journals, and has served as a model for evaluation in other programs and learning institutes. Gary  Holden, PhD, is a professor at the New  York University Silver School of Social Work. He is a former faculty member in the Mount Sinai School of Medicine Department of Community Medicine where he was a co-investigator on the National Inner City Asthma Study and the Minorities Risk Factors and Stroke Study. Since coming to NYU, he completed the third randomised controlled clinical trial of Starbright World, the award winning computer network for hospitalised children and a meta-analysis of the set of RCCTs that examined this intervention. Dr. Holden

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is the former editor-in-chief of the Journal of Social Work Education. He developed and is the current editor of Information for Practice, the international news and new scholarship aggregation site for social work professionals (Twitter feed  – @ Info4Practice). Dr. Holden has published on a range of topics including behavioural telehealth, bibliometrics, social work education and the social cognitive theory construct self-efficacy. According to Google Scholar, his papers were cited more than 3400 times with papers on self-efficacy being the most cited. Antun Ilijaš  was the first president of Croatian Chamber of Social Workers and still holds this position since 2012. He is an experienced social work practitioner with more than 30 years of experience in direct social work practice. He is involved in many statutory bodies and is recognised for his advocacy work for the social work profession. Alongside direct practice, Antun Ilijaš is recognised as a supervisor for more than 25 years. He is currently a doctorate candidate at the Social Work Study Center at the Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb with the topic of professional stress and burnout syndrome in Croatian social workers. He has published several scientific papers on social work practice in centres for social welfare. Sofie Kuppens, PhD, is head of research and knowledge transfer at KdG University of Applied Sciences and Arts and a visiting professor at KU Leuven, Belgium. She is an expert in methodology with research and teaching interests focusing on meta-­ analysis, measurement and applied statistics. Her substantive research interests involve unravelling atypical development in children and adolescents from a biopsychosocial perspective and improving the quality of care for these youth. Martina Podobnik  is a social work practitioner working with youth and families. She is currently a doctorate candidate at the Social Work Study Center in the Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, with the topic of professional competencies and social work in Croatia. She has published several scientific papers on social work practice in centres for social welfare. Nélida Ramírez Naranjo, PhD, is a full professor at the Académica Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y Económicas, Escuela de Trabajo Social, Universidad Católica del Maule in Chile. She is an experienced social work academic and deals with issues of sustainability and critical social work. She is particularly engaged in considering social work education from critical perspective and critique of neo-liberalism.

About the Editor

Ana  Opačić, PhD,  is an associate professor at the Social Work Study Center, Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb in Croatia. She was a project leader on a collaborative research project ‘Social Work in Social Welfare Centers in the Republic of Croatia’ in which the aim was to develop, measure and validate a national framework of professional competencies. She has more than 10 years of experience in teaching theory of social work at the baccalaureate, master’s and postgraduate doctorate levels. She is one of the authors of the university textbook Theory of Social Work and author of many articles about social work in domestic and international peer-reviewed journals. Ana Opačić is very active in professional associations, namely Croatian Chamber of Social Workers and Croatian Association of Social Workers. She is engaged in statutory bodies dealing with professional standards and competencies in social work.

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Part I

Understanding a Professional Competencies Approach

Chapter 1

Introduction to the Professional Competency Framework in Social Work Ana Opačić

1.1 Professional Competence Between the “Source and Mouth” of the Profession Almost every day in each professional community, we come across the question “Am I competent enough” and “Is that expert competent enough for the job he or she is doing?” Though these kinds of questions are unavoidable, the problem arises when the respective replies are based on our personal impressions or presumptions what someone should know. Social workers, who are often exposed to stressful and risky situations and social and political pressure, increasingly pose such questions. People tend to replace dissatisfaction with outcomes (i.e., what is happening in their lives) with dissatisfaction regarding someone’s work, or more specifically, dissatisfaction regarding someone’s competencies. They do this without knowing which competencies the expert should possess. It may very well be that social workers can also make the same “mistake” in drawing their conclusions. However, though we need not expect immediate stakeholders to know which competencies social workers should possess, social workers should know the answer to this question. Professional competence is defined as generic, integrated and internalised capability to deliver sustainable effective (worthy) performance (including problem-solving, realising innovation, and creating transformation) in a certain professional domain, job, role, organisational context, and task situation (Mulder, 2014, p. 109).

Competence is built upon competencies as A. Opačić (*) Social Work Study Centre, Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 A. Opačić (ed.), Social Work in the Frame of a Professional Competencies Approach, European Social Work Education and Practice, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13528-6_1

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A. Opačić a coherent cluster of knowledge, skills and attitudes which can be utilised in real performance contexts (Mulder, 2014, p. 109).

Therefore, competencies are cells that overall construct competence and which in their entirety cover knowledge, skills, and views, that is, values in social work. These three dimensions are mutually presented as a triangle of knowledge-skills-­ values to indicate their fundamental inseparability. Finally, competencies are individual characteristics implemented and presented in professional practice. Accordingly, one of the most popular definitions of professional competence is given by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE, 2015, p. 6), which says social work competence is the ability to integrate and apply social work knowledge, values, and skills to practice situations in a purposeful, intentional, and professional manner to promote human and community well-being.

Professional competencies should be understood in light of professional practice. Professional practice should be viewed as a process and outcome. Professionals are expected to be competent both in a way they do the practice and in the sense of satisfactory performance in completing tasks. In a certain sense, the profession develops through a social contract with the other party (society), given that what the expert offers (competencies as input) should be aligned with the expected results of its implementation (professional task as an output). Though the professional community can autonomously define competencies, it cannot be fully autonomous in defining professional tasks, given that they are always, to some extent, the result of an expectation (from the government or other social groups) as to what social work should be doing. In return, a change in social expectations and circumstances will create the need for new competencies resulting in maintaining the feedback loop between the (autonomous) professional community and social structures. This described trend is somewhat idealized, and there is no need to flee from the fact that the framework of professional competencies has led to certain risks. According to Mulder (2014), competencies and competence are increasingly the focus of interest in a contemporary meritocratic society. This is not just a question of excellence or quality, but also efficiency, if you will, justification of costs associated with the existence of a certain profession. Consequently, there is an increasingly greater expectation that the education system will prove its purposefulness, that is, its ability to “produce” experts that will respond to labor market requirements. If we presume that the “preserving factor” of autonomy for the professional community is the education system, which is most credited for input, this topic evolves into the question concerning the link between education and practice, that is, the labor market. Accordingly, two key questions exist: (a) Who dictates more strongly the relation between competency and professional tasks? Is it the labor market that more strongly forms expectations of outputs, or is it the education system and professional bodies that define more quickly what competent social worker has to “deliver.” (b) How is a social worker’s competence proven, that is, what aspect of input has the most significance in practice? Put more simply, are skills the most important

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for the labor market, where knowledge and values are neglected? Does the labor market require a congruent expert who knows what he or she is doing, knows the reason for doing so and therefore does so to present integrity and for the general good? Depending on the answer to these questions, we recognize various approaches to reflecting on relation between education-competence-professional practice. Mulder (2014) suggests the three general approaches (using the examples of various professions), which are linked to the previous questions. The first approach is competence and behavioristic functionalism where the labor market seemingly dictates trends, and students are to be trained for expected roles. Competencies are dominantly proven in the use of specific, actual, and measurable skills. This approach has been strongly criticized as responsible for the atomization of competencies, responsible for the technocratic and Fordist approach, and finally, leading to the derogation of the profession. The other approach is competence as integrated occupationalism where the atomization of competencies is not accepted, but the insistence is on the whole, generic, and integrated understanding of competencies as knowledge, skills, and relationship of experts toward the job (in social work, this refers to values). This approach, more so than the previous approach, supports the role and autonomy of the educational system, where the key is to deliver “experts” possessing all attributes guaranteeing the quality of work. The third approach is called competence as situated professionalism, suggesting still another factor between competencies and professional practice. This is the context factor, that is, competencies acquire meaning within a context when experts are in common interaction. Here, competencies are powerfully linked to identity; hence, it comes as no surprise that the strong role of professional associations, which, at times more so than educational institutions, preserve the identity or common understanding of the underlying meaning of a profession. If we consider that talk of professional competencies occurs predominantly in the Anglo-Saxon circles and the European context, we notice that there are two approaches in social work. The approach by Anglo-Saxon countries (USA, UK, Canada, Australia) is such that strong occupational organizations define the framework of competencies. These competencies are then implemented in educational programs (through a system of accreditation) and are then delivered from education to practice. A similar approach on the global level has the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) and its document titled Global Standards for Social Work Education and Training (International Federation of Social Workers, IFSW, 2020). Though the document does not refer explicitly to competencies, it does speak about the integration of knowledge, skills, and values students should acquire in education. The Anglo-­ Saxon model in social work conforms to the Mulder’s (2014) approach of competence as situated professionalism. The second approach is found in European Union countries, which, upon accepting the Bologna reform, should link more strongly the education system and the

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labor market. Given that workforce mobility is one of the foundational principles of the EU, member states and other European countries have accepted the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) as a common European reference framework whose purpose is to make qualifications more readable and understandable across different countries and systems (CEDEFOP, 2022).

Therefore, the underlying point is that the vocation that the expert acquires becomes the guarantee of overall competencies mastered by the expert leading to recognition of the expert in various countries. This conforms to the approach called competence as integrated occupationalism (Mulder, 2014). Based on the European model, equal relevance is given to educational institutions and the labor market, which can equally provide the initiative in defining vocational standards, whereas educational institutions determine competencies. Vocational organizations, such as chambers, mostly decide later to join as partners in the mentioned process. We finally mention that the first and second approaches diverge from the model of atomization and reducing competencies to measurable skills. Indeed, both approaches emphasize multidimensionality and entirety in understanding competence and competencies. This is highlighted in the above-cited definition of CSWE. In the European Qualifications Framework competence is defined in the following manner: ‘competence’ means the proven ability to use knowledge, skills and personal, social and/or methodological abilities in work or study situations and in professional and personal development. In the context of the European Qualifications Framework, competence is described in terms of responsibility and autonomy (Official Journal of the European Union, C 111/1 Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 on the establishment of the European Qualifications Framework for lifelong learning).

This definition highlights the triangle of knowledge-skills-personal qualities and further emphasizes the primary responsibility and autonomy, placing the person as a professional in their entirety and includes the acquisition of a university degree, meaning acquiring social status as a guarantee that the purpose of the profession will therefore be fulfilled.

1.2 Areas and Content of Professional Competencies of Social Workers The systematic utilization of professional competencies by social workers requires identifying the content and dimensions of professional competencies. At the global level, there is no consensus on this matter. This situation is expected given that social work as a profession is partially subject to national legislation, whereas a part of the profession under the influence of international organizations and educational traditions is common at the global level. Accordingly, the conceptualization of professional competencies should be in accordance with the national context while also retaining the basic dimensions of competencies inherent to social work in all

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countries of the world in which the profession exists under the name of social work. The national context does not only require the special content of the competencies but also can mean the difference as to which dimensions of professional competencies carry more weight in particular countries. Though there might be a fundamental understanding of professional competencies at a global level, their associated dimensions and fundamental scope, elaboration, and development of particular areas vary at the national level. In this sense, we will present systematic areas and the content of professional competencies as a possible initial framework for conceptualizing competencies across a national contexts. Chapter 6 presents experience in building the competency framework at the national level in Croatia and a methodologically secured adequate proportion of what should be universal or inherent to the social work profession and specific national context. The starting point for the systematization of professional competencies required the use of available scientific and expert sources, the systematization of competency indicators, and abstracting them into a number of fundamental areas of process competencies and meta-competencies. Here is important to distinguish the conceptualization from operationalization. Conceptual framework is essential for understanding the holistic and multidimensional character of professional competence. However, measurement of competencies for research purpose requires its simplification and reduction to measurable indicators. This does not mean that competencies are equal to assessment scale. They are much more than that and research instruments should not be used beyond their immediate purpose. The sources of indicators used were documents and scientific papers linguistically available (somewhat limiting the scope of drawing possible conclusions). However, given that the tradition of defining and measuring competencies is more developed in Anglo-Saxon regions, it is no surprise that the greater number of sources come from that part of the world. The systematization of indicators enabled more abstract notion of areas of professional competencies for social workers. This was done based on the following sources as shown in Table 1.1. Aggregating indicators in the mentioned sources provide very extensive material that enabled reliable conclusions on the areas of professional competencies in social work. These can be accepted as inherent in the social work practice. The sources in Table 1.1 reveal two limitations: competencies are predominantly defined in Anglo-­ Saxon regions and English-speaking regions, where the scientific approach conducts the measurements on the student population. However, despite these limitations, the content was adequately extensive to conclude that there is no specific and significant area of competencies not included, and there is no specific area of competencies that we would say does not belong to social work. Accordingly, we consider these sources reliable for identifying the areas of competencies inherent to social work today, regardless of the national context. Based on specifically collected and systematized indicators, we determined eight areas of professional competencies in social work. In this systematization, we

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Table 1.1  Professional and research sources with indicators of professional competencies in social work Source and country Council on Social Work Education (2015) USA

Australian Association of Social Workers (2013) AUSTRALIA

Title of document 2015 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards for a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Social Work Programs Practice standards

Type of document Document produced by professional association

Approach to professional competencies Defining nine professional competencies in social work. The document is used for accreditation of educational programs in the USA.

Document produced by professional association

Defining eight areas of practice standards based on initial values and contextualized in areas of practice. Primary serves practitioners for organizing their work. Defining nine areas of professional competencies. Detailed elaboration of competencies for the purpose of professional development of social workers at five levels. Defining nine areas of professional competencies. They are referred to as the Core Learning Objectives and are primarily used in the accreditation of educational programs for social workers. 52 items with an approach to measuring perceived self-efficacy on a scale of 11 levels (0 = cannot do at all, 50 = moderately certain can do, 100 = certain can do, 10 point intervals, p. 118). The Scale was applied to the student population. 46 items with an approach to measuring perceived self-efficacy on a scale of 100. A number is entered from 0 to 100, where 0 = no confidence, 50 = moderate confidence, and 100 = complete confidence p. 69). The scale was applied to the student population.

Professional Capabilities Framework

Document produced by professional association

Standards for Accreditation

Document produced by professional association

Holden et al. (2002) USA

Social Work Self-Efficacy Scale (SWSE)

Scientific measurement scale

Williams et al. (2002) USA

Self-Efficacy Scale for Scientific Social Workers measurement scale

British Association of Social Workers (2013) UNITED KINGDOM Canadian Association for Social Work Education (2014) CANADA

(continued)

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Table 1.1 (continued) Source and country King (2003) USA

Title of document The Social Work Student Self-Appraisal Inventory

Self-Efficacy Rishel and Majewski (2009) Measurement Scale USA

Type of document Scientific measurement scale

Scientific measurement scale

Checklist of skills for experts and students

Cournoyer (2011) USA

The Social Work Skills Self-Appraisal Questionnaire

Pedrazza et al. (2013) ITALY

Self-Efficacy Scale for Scientific measurement Social Workers scale (SESSW)

Holden et al. (2017)

Self-Efficacy Regarding Social Work Competencies Scale (SERSWCS)

Scientific measurement scale

Tompsett et al. (2017) UNITED KINGDOM

Self-Assessed Skills Inventory (SASI)

Scientific measurement scale

Wang and Chui (2017) CHINA

Perceived Social Work Scientific measurement Competence Scale scale (PSWCS)

Approach to professional competencies 20 items with an approach to measuring perceived self-efficacy on a scale of 11 (0 = cannot do at all, 5 = moderately confidence can do, 10 = very certain can do p. 183). The scale was applied to the student population. 129 items with an approach to measuring perceived self-efficacy on a scale of 100. (0–20, cannot do at all; 30–60, moderately certain can do; 70–100, certain can do (p. 378). The scale was applied to the student population. 104 indicators of knowledge and skills. Estimation of self-appraised proficiency in the knowledge and skills in social work on a 4-point rating scale. Scale has 13 items, and responses are rated on a scale of 7 levels of confidence. The scale does not measure competencies but dimensions of self-efficacy in working with users. The scale was applied to social workers – practitioners. 41-item scale with an approach to measuring perceived self-efficacy on a scale of 11 (0, cannot do to 100, highly certain can do, p. 597). The scale was applied to social workers – practitioners. 29 items devised on the basis of a skills inventory. The responses were placed on a scale of 5 levels. The scale was applied to the student population. 48 items on scale of 5 (ranging from 1– I am not at all confident I can do this to 5 – I am very confident I can do this, p. 93). The scale was applied to the student population.

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followed the model proposed by Marion Bogo (2010) that distinguishes procedural and meta-competence. Based on this, we can propose eight areas that include process competencies and seven meta-competencies: (1) professional behavior and professional identity, (2) professional ethics, (3) cultural competence and inclusive practice, (4) critical structural approach, (5) integration of theory into practice and critical thinking, (6) cross-­ sectoral collaboration and the macro-approach, and (7) leadership and functioning within the organization. Each of the areas is further elaborated into subareas, and each of the subareas can be elaborated into specific indicators. The content of the competencies constantly maintains a three-dimensional understanding of competencies as knowledge, skills, and values, which cannot be interpreted separately from one another. Some indicators are one dimensional and clearly indicate a specific knowledge or having mastered a skill. However, many indicators are multidimensional, especially when involving complex competencies, which also implies mastering knowledge, skills, and the integration of values. The total system of competencies should be integrally taken into account and in a horizontal, vertical, and pyramidal sense. Vertical integration means not leaving out an important area and subarea of professional competencies. Horizontal integration means integrally understanding the triangle of knowledge, skills, and values within each area. Pyramidal integration means that the system of professional competencies is not static and not the same for all social workers. Indeed, competencies are developed over a lifelong perspective, and importantly, they should facilitate recognition and evaluation of professional development as well as differentiating foundational or basic competencies from advanced ones. The first area of competencies is process competencies that relate to direct work practice with users and most often when working with individuals and families. The subareas of process competencies follow the generic social work process from assessment to planning and implementation of interventions to evaluation and monitoring. Specific subareas of process competencies are as follows: • • • • • • •

Creating contacts and relationships Effective communication Assessment Planning and contracting, including risk assessment Implementation of interventions Termination of the process Evaluation of the practice

A detailed description of this area and mentioned subareas is found in Chap. 3. The first area of meta-competencies is the area of professional development and professional identity. This area elaborates on essential issues involving the professional self, that is, the relationship between the social worker toward various realities in which he or she encounters: toward one’s own personal reality as opposed to professional reality, toward one’s profession and professional community as an abstract and real organization, toward the user with whom a personal and

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professional relationship is established, toward the organization that acts and its environment and also toward one’s own professional development. Specific subareas of the professional development and professional identity are • • • • • • • •

Promoting the profession Professionalism, professional roles, and boundaries Recognizing the need for professional development Becoming involved in various forms of professional training Self-critique toward professional capacity and self-evaluation of one’s own work Critical self-reflection and awareness of one’s professional self Managing workloads Recognizing and utilizing one’s professional authority

A more detailed description of this area and associated subareas is given in Chap. 5. The second area of meta-competencies is professional ethics. This area includes graded competencies from elementary recognition of ethical standards and codex through to a deeper understanding of the value foundations of social work and implementation of values in practice, right up to the complex elaboration of ethical issues and dilemmas when they occur in practice. In addition, competencies in the area of professional ethics are covered by the fundamental values of social work and their operationalization in practice. The specific subareas of professional ethics are as follows: • • • • • • • • • •

Knowledge of the code of ethics Applying ethical standards in practice and acting in line with ethics Resolving ethical issues and ethical dilemmas Critically examining personal and professional values Adhering to human rights as an ethical principle User participation as an ethical principle Right to user privacy as an ethical principle Right to self-determination as an ethical principle Respecting user dignity as an ethical principle Accountability for professional actions

A more detailed description of this area and associated subareas is given in Chap. 5. The third area of meta-competencies is the area of cultural competence, respecting diversity, and inclusive practice. An important aspect in this area is identifying diversities relating to numerous fundamental aspects and their positive evaluation as a richness of coliving. Indeed, even experts are subject to their numerous sociodemographic and cultural determinants. Recognizing cultural specificities does not mean recognizing only who is different from me, but how generally cultural determinants form us in terms of behavior, belief, and experience. This area highlights the critical component, that is, competencies of social workers to recognize how cultural differences are often linked to

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inequalities and discrimination, that is, how belonging to a certain group can be the source of its unfavorable position in society. Specific subareas of cultural competence, respecting diversity, and inclusive practices are • • • • • •

Recognizing and evaluating diversities Building a multicultural practice Antioppressive practice and combatting discrimination Cultural identity Personal cultural identity and culturally sensitive practice Strengthening competencies for multicultural practice

A more detailed description of this area and associated subareas is given in Chap. 4. The fourth area of meta-competencies is a critical structural approach. The critical approach in social work has been one of the fundamental postulates of the profession since its origins. There have always been schools of academics and practitioners in social work advocating the idea that social work should address social inequalities and oppressive practices and contribute to positive social changes. This approach is integrated into the last two global definitions and expresses an international consensus on understanding critical action as an essential determinant of the profession (Ornellas et al., 2018). As in the previous area, competencies for the critical structural approach consist of understanding and gaining insight into the dimensions of inequality and action undertaken by social workers to combat inequality. The critical approach seeks a critical relationship toward one’s own practice and reflection if the practice contributes to inequalities and discrimination. Specific subareas of the critical structural approach are • Knowledge of oppressive effects stemming from the social environment and inequalities • Becoming involved in antidiscrimination practices and actively advocating human rights and social justice • Recognizing social work practice, which does not contribute to equality but deepens inequality and discrimination • Critical application of legislation that protects social justice and human rights A more detailed description of this area and associated subareas is given in Chap. 4. The fifth area of meta-competencies is called the integration of theory into practice and critical thinking and relates to the knowledge base held by social workers, how knowledge is integrated into social work, and how professional decisions are made. Knowledge for social work is most often divided into cognition facilitating an understanding of social phenomena and cognition or discovery of practice models. Regarding theoretical frameworks, listing all the theories essential for social workers is not so important, but how the theories can be used to understand a person’s development and his or her relationship with the environment. Social work is a profession integrating various knowledge within and outside of scientific

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disciplines. Of particular importance is integrating perspectives from nonscientific fields, especially the perspective relating to indigenous knowledge of users and communities. Social workers often encounter the challenge of what to do with a different insight and knowledge. At a higher level of competencies, a skill is to make meaningful integration in order to deliver argument-based professional decisions. Additionally, critical thinking is an essential aspect of making professional judgments more dynamic and variable due to new discoveries and flexibility to change. Specific subareas in integrating theory into practice and critical thinking are • Critical and systematic thinking, reflective practice, integrating various perspectives • Theories for understanding the concept of the person in environment • Structural knowledge and knowledge of policies • Applying theoretical knowledge • Practice-based research • Evidence-based practice and evaluation of practice based on data A more detailed description of this area and associated subareas is given in Chap. 3. The sixth area of meta-competencies are competencies at the macrolevel and community organization. Community work is ordinarily considered the third-largest method of social work, but it is more than that. It is an especially complex area of social work practice with numerous possibilities. Social work in terms of community work succeeds in achieving the goal of social change in the immediate environment. Social work in the community is equally directed to the process and outcome level. At the process level, social workers in the community are facilitators and agents for linking people and organizations as well as building formal and informal social capital. At the outcome level, social workers develop specific programs and projects, thus creating new services and resources in the community. Specific subareas for competencies at the macrolevel and for community development are as follows: • • • • •

Building cross-sectoral community collaboration and development Critical analysis and building the legislative normative framework Understanding the role of the profession in a wider social environment Advocacy practice in the community and development of social resources Social work as an agent of social change and political action

A more detailed description of this area and associated subareas is given in Chap. 4. The seventh area of meta-competencies is organizational functioning and leadership, and this is the only area of competencies primarily involving the profession of social work and organizations in which social workers work. Social workers should allocate part of their work-related engagements to developing the profession and organization, transferring know-how and support in the professional socialization of future experts. This is especially important for periods when the profession and/or organization is in a crisis and when it is important to explain its role to the wider

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community. The contribution to the development of the profession, organizations, and systems is the basis for competent social work in other aspects. Accordingly, once more, the importance of cross-dependency of the dimensions of competencies and gaining an overview as an integral whole is important. The specific subareas for competencies in the organizational functioning and leadership are as follows: • • • • • •

Assume a competent role in the organization and build collegial relationships Proactively advocate improvements to the work of the organization. Teamwork Participate in education and strengthen competencies of new experts Be an expert model with the best practice Contribute to developing the profession

A more detailed description of this area and associated subareas is given in Chap. 5.

1.3 Overview of Research Practice in Researching Professional Competencies in Social Work Professional competencies represent a field of interest for numerous researchers throughout the world in various professions and disciplines. We could say that it involves a contextually enriched area, theoretically and empirically supported, offering transfer of know-how to an international level. When referring to researching professional competencies in social work, an overview of scientific works published on the database Web of Science has been conducted. The key term primarily used is professional competence, and additionally, professional capabilities and self-efficacy. Initially, a search for the thematic area was done by combining the terms professional competence and social work (TS=(professional competence AND social work)). The search was narrowed to the category of SOCIAL WORK, whereas book reviews were excluded. This resulted in 317 bibliographical results. Based on the search, we can initially conclude the following on research practice in the area of professional competencies: Though research has existed since the 1990s, the greatest scientific production has been recorded from 2015 and up to 2022, during which 203 of all 317 papers were published. In other words, it is a recent interest of research. Marion Bogo is among the most productive authors, where most scientific papers (N  =  12) are attributed to the University of Toronto. However, there are a lot of authors and institutions addressing this topic throughout the world. Though, as expected, papers in the English language dominate (N = 290), with the 13 papers in Spanish and 10 in the Croatian language, the theme of professional competencies is globally present. This theme is convincing a theme from Anglo-­ Saxon regions, with 107 (34%) of the papers from the USA.  If we add Canada,

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Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, a total of 197 or 62% are obtained from Anglo-Saxon regions. In all, 89 papers (28%) have been published from the European area (excluding the UK and Ireland), mostly from Spain (17), Norway (16), Croatia (10), and less than ten papers from Italy, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Lithuania, Portugal, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Romania, Serbia, and Ukraine. Professional competencies have also been researched in African countries (South African Republic, Egypt), Asia (India, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Bhutan, Malesia, Vietnam, Jordan), and South America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Columbia). Further insight into the content reveals 288 papers conforming to the search parameters. Given the specific theme of the scientific papers, they can be categorized into three dominant groups. The first group contains papers that predominantly deal with some specific area of social work practice and investigate competencies (either a wider framework or specific competency) within the respective area of practice. There are 72 such papers. Here competencies in the following areas are conceptualized: child care, youth work and family work, work in healthcare and the special area of mental health; work in the judicial system, social work targeting the elderly and palliative care, and finally the area of supervision. Specific areas of social work practice are indeed diverse, and a dominant area of interest cannot be found (somewhat more papers address the issue of working with children and families). In concluding, we can say that competencies are an integral element of reflecting on areas and methods in social work. The expectation is that, in addition to the general frameworks of competencies, appropriate frameworks are developed for the specific area of social work practice. The second and largest group of scientific papers in the Web of Science database addressing the topic of professional competencies in social work is scientific research in a specific area or dimension of competencies. There are 120 such scientific papers and the area of competencies can already be identified that most attract attention from the scientific community. Convincingly, the most popular area is cultural competencies and understanding of cultural competence from a critical perspective (e.g., from the aspect of racism, decolonialization in social work, power relations, and other aspects). There are 67 (64%) such works where the topic of cultural competency is addressed at the general level, at the student population level, or in some other area of social work practice (e.g., children, palliative care). The next chosen area is the area of critical structural approach covered by ten scientific papers. A certain number of papers address competencies involving self-­ reflection and the emotional experience of death and trauma (12 papers), and interestingly seven papers address competencies relating to spirituality. Some of the papers examine competencies in professional ethics, leadership, and digital competence. Process competencies are covered less than expected and mostly in relationships toward users (9 papers), and only three papers address evaluation competencies. In terms of categorizing areas of competencies, we see that there is a large opportunity for further researching process or procedural competencies, social worker

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competencies in community organization, functioning within the organization and leadership, integration of theoretical knowledge and other sources of cognition, and the area of professional behavior including the development of professional identity. The final group of papers (86) addresses the topic of competencies in a narrower sense, that is, measuring them (most often in the student population) and developing the social work profession. Majority, that is, 67% of papers, presents the research of competencies in frame of competence-based education. This includes overall assessments of competencies in field placement (N = 9), assessments on a general level as education outcomes (N = 14) or in specific field of competencies, such as ethics, cultural competence, macropractice, communication skills, etc. (N  =  12). When it comes to students’ perspectives, there are another two important topics: students’ international mobility (N = 6 research papers) and their transition from education to practice that include transfer of competencies and professional identity (N = 13 papers). Finally, there are only 14 papers in which competencies are considered within overall development of social work as a profession. For example, there are papers that describe development of social work as a profession in China, Ireland, Cuba, India, Norway and competencies are discussed within this process. Several papers (N = 4) present the assessment of competencies during training programs for social workers outside formal education. Only 4 papers directly discuss competencies through their relevance for social work as a profession, practice development, or connection with professional identity in globalized and changing world. Two other widely used concepts should be mentioned when referring to the overview of research into professional competencies in social work. The concept of self-efficacy means the scientific operationalization of theoretically set professional competencies. More detail about the approach to using the concept of self-efficacy in researching competencies is given in Chap. 8. The authors of that chapter, Gary Holden, Kathleen Barker, and Sofie Kuppens, are also the most productive authors in utilizing the self-efficacy concept as a scientific “measure” for particular social work competencies. We also note the concept of professional capability, most often used in the United Kingdom, and which implies competencies and the capacity to perform social work tasks based on competencies as an inherent individual category. Chapter 10 will further address this approach.

1.4 Heuristic Potential of Professional Competence Framework in Social Work We believe that the professional competence framework is important for social work as a profession and that it is potent at various levels. This is our underlying opinion despite the criticism and disadvantages of the professional competence framework, differences between the national context and contextual foundation of

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social work as a profession. We are also conscious that providing definitions of competencies is predominantly an Anglo-Saxon tradition and in European countries. In such conditions, the expectation is that the profession is standardized and regulated, and a clear link between education and the labor market is established. Primarily in terms of professional identity, competencies are significant almost like the definition of social work. We view them as an operationalization of the definition of social work, which helps draw its multidimensionality closer to experts and the wider public. The work of international social work associations exhibits a yearning toward articulating social work through a global definition and education standards for social work. When referring to knowledge, processes, skills, and values in education standards, there is no reason to not talk about the competence framework in the future that integrates all dimensions of social work. Though the identity is questioned and reconstructed within an organizational context, to a large extent, we believe that it is transferrable above and beyond such contexts. The umbrella of professional competencies can facilitate the preservation and heritage of social work beyond the diversity of organizations, sectors, and even the state. Here is important to mention that common framework of professional competencies in social work can help in protecting the name “social work” itself. There is a growing tendency where specific areas of social work separate from the profession itself and then the name social work is replaced with another one (e.g., social service officer, child worker, social policy). In this case, social work stops being an umbrella term with numerous specializations and becomes something different. This process leads toward shrinking of social work and, on the other hand, development of another transdisciplinary fields that are considered as emerging professions. We advocate here that social work is a complex profession that has many specializations that should be developed within, and not outside the profession itself. The professional competence framework has already been shown to be potent for the education system. In the USA, it is used directly in accrediting educational programs, whereas in the European Qualification Framework, it is used to establish a direct link between the education system and the labor market. More specifically, professional competencies are used in field practice by social work students. They guarantee the integral linking of knowledge, skills, and values in social work, where students, teachers, and practitioners share a common understanding of the role of social work. The close link between competence framework and education is elaborated in detail in Chap. 7. through development of evaluation tools. In terms of social work practice and professional associations, professional competencies are used as a professional identity mechanism and are the basis for regulating the status of the profession. Professional competencies can be an empowering tool particularly in times of its own crisis, as described in Chaps. 6 and 10. When there exists an agreed professional competence framework, it is then possible to expect that work tasks and the job classification will be in line with the competencies of social workers. The professional competence framework can be a valuable tool for developing promotional systems in the profession and, accordingly, an incentive for developing lifelong learning programs. A specific example is the British Association of Social Workers, which will be further expounded in Chap. 10.

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Finally, it is worth mentioning that professional competencies are a growing area of scientific research. The professional competencies of social workers should be researched through exploratory and explanatory research. The goal of exploratory research is to conceptualize the professional competence framework and to develop instruments for their measurement. Explanatory research into professional competence can be utilized to explain other phenomena, such as professional burnout or job satisfaction. Finally, all that we have researched in social work, we have done so with the ultimate purpose of advancing the position of the well-being of vulnerable social groups. From that aspect, it is important to integrate professional competencies into evaluation research as a factor of successful practice and so legitimize their end purpose, that is, the well-being of users and positive social changes.

References Australian Association of Social Workers. (2013). Practice standards. https://www.aasw.asn.au/ practitioner-­resources/practice-­standards. Accessed 18 Apr 2020. Bogo, M. (2010). Achieveing competence in social work through field education. University of Toronto Press. British Association of Social Workers. (2013). The professional capabilities framework. https:// www.basw.co.uk/pcf/PCF10EntryLevelCapabilities.pdf. Accessed 18 Apr 2020. Canadian Association for Social Work Education (2014). Standards for accreditation. https:// caswe-­a cfts.ca/wp-­c ontent/uploads/2013/03/CASWE-­ACFTS.Standards-­1 1-­2 014-­1 .pdf. Accessed 18 Apr 2020. CEDEFOP (2022). European qualifications framework (EQF). https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/ en/projects/european-­qualifications-­framework-­eqf#group-­contacts. Accessed 23 Mar 2022. Council on Social Work Education (2015). 2015 educational policy and accreditation standards educational policy and accreditation standards for baccalaureate and master’s social work programs. https://www.cswe.org/getattachment/Accreditation/Standards-­and-­Policies/2015-­ EPAS/2015EPASandGlossary.pdf. Accessed 18 Apr 2020. Cournoyer, B. R. (2011). The social work skills workbook. Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. Holden, G., Anastas, J., & Metrey, G. (2002). Outcomes of social work education: The case for social work self-efficacy. Journal of Social Work Education, 38(1), 115–134. Holden, G., Barker, K., Kuppens, S., & Rosenberg, G. (2017). Self-efficacy regarding social work competencies. Research on Social Work Practice, 27(5), 594–606. https://doi. org/10.1177/1049731515586466 International Federation of Social Workers, IFSW. (2020). Global standards for social work education and training. https://www.ifsw.org/global-­standards-­for-­social-­work-­education-­and-­ training/. Accessed 23 Mar 2022. King, M. E. (2003). Creation and validation of the social work student self-appraisal inventory. Doctoral thesis. University of Georgia in Partial. Mulder, M. (2014). Conceptions of professional competence. In S. Billett, C. Harteis, & H. Gruber (Eds.), International handbook of research in professional and practice-based learning (pp. 107–137). Springer. Official Journal of the European Union, C 111/1. Recommendation of The European Parliament and of The Council of 23 April 2008 on the establishment of the European Qualifications Framework for lifelong learning. https://eur-­lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=O J:C:2008:111:0001:0007:EN:PDF. Accessed 23 Mar 2022.

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Ornellas, A., Spolander, G., & Engelbrecht, L.  K. (2018). The global social work definition: Ontology, implications and challenges. Journal of Social Work, 18(2), 222–240. https://doi. org/10.1177/1468017316654606 Pedrazza, M., Trifiletti, E., Berlanda, S., & Bernardo, G. (2013). Self-efficacy in social work: Development and initial validation ofthe self-efficacy scale for social workers. Social Sciences, 2(3), 191–207. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci2030191 Rishel, C. W., & Majewski, V. (2009). Student gains in self-efficacy in an advanced MSW curriculum: A customized model for outcomes assessment. Journal of Social Work Education, 45(3), 365–383. https://doi.org/10.5175/JSWE.2009.200800101 Tompsett, H., Henderson, K., Byrne, J. M., Mew, E. G., & Tompsett, C. (2017). Self-efficacy and outcomes: Validating a measure comparing social work students’ perceived and assessed ability in core pre-placement skills. British Journal of Social Work, 47(8), 2384–2405. https://doi. org/10.1093/bjsw/bcx001 Wang, Y., & Chui, E. (2017). Development and validation of the perceived social work competence scale in China. Research on Social Work Practice, 27(1), 91–102. https://doi. org/10.1177/1049731516631119 Williams, N. R., King, M., & Koob, J. J. (2002). Social work students go to camp: The effects of service learning on perceived self-efficacy. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 22(3–4), 55–70. https://doi.org/10.1300/J067v22n03_05

Chapter 2

Criticisms of the Competency-Based Education (CBE) Approach Nélida Ramírez Naranjo

2.1 Competence and Competence-Based Education The concept of competence and Competency-Based Education (CBE) has often created controversy and confusion. Jansen (1998) indicates that the language and terminology associated with CBE are too complex, confusing and, sometimes, contradictory. From my point of view, the real issue is not about terminology (a technical problem relating to the imprecise use of language or the assigning of more than one meaning to a term), but about the recognising and understanding of the different ideas and viewpoints underlying the terminology. Ashworth and Saxton (1990) argue that the concept of competency reveals serious ambiguities and inconsistencies, because competencies [have] an unclear logical status and the meaning of competence had not yet clearly defined…it is not clear whether a competence is a personal attribute, an act, or an outcome of behaviour (pp. 3–4).

Brown (1994) describes competencies as traditionally focused and strongly embedded in the rational-positivistic paradigm, as well as being imposed, hierarchical and deterring emancipation or independent and free thought. In the same sense, Hyland (1993) asserts that the conception of competence “is founded squarely on behaviouristic learning principles and suffers from all weaknesses traditionally identified with such programmes” (p.  59). From Hyland’s perspective, competence is concerned with what people can do, rather than with what they know, and he asserts that the advocates of competence need to explain what sort of knowledge is meant to

N. R. Naranjo (*) Universidad Católica del Maule, Curicó, Chile e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 A. Opačić (ed.), Social Work in the Frame of a Professional Competencies Approach, European Social Work Education and Practice, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13528-6_2

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underpin their approach, and how the connection between knowledge and competence is to be conceptualised.

2.2 Ideological and Political Implications Theoretical work on competence indicates that competencies represent the fusion of behavioural objectives and accountability which support a new ideology for those seeking accountability and input-output efficiency in the new economic realism of the 1980s (Fagan, 1984, p. 5).

According to Hyland (1993) in the 1990s, there was a marked movement away from narrow behaviouristic conceptions of competency toward a generic version which identifies the role played by knowledge and understanding in the generation and development of competence (p. 59).

The confusion and debate about the precise nature of competence have created a situation that is epistemologically equivocal and theoretically suspicious (Hyland, 1993). In other words, CBE exhibits incoherence in both its logical and epistemological basis. Another apparent risk is the consideration of an alternative or broader conception of CBE, such as the generic and cognitive versions identified by Norris (1991). For Hyland (1997), competence strategies cannot carry the weight of alternative models that incorporate understanding, values and a wide-ranging knowledge component, because CBE is primarily concerned with the assessment of performance, not with learning and development. Further, CBE strategies are more closely associated with techniques and managerial assumptions and, as a result, cannot accommodate the ethical and epistemological foundations of professional practice. Elliot (1993) observes that: CBE strategies, although now somewhat discredited in the academic domain, continue to linger in the political domain as an ideological device for eliminating value issues from the domains of professional practice and thereby subordinating them to political forms of control (p. 496).

The introduction of CBE approaches has led to widespread de-professionalisation by marginalising the foundational values of professional activity. For Hodkinson and Issitt (1995), this marginalisation or disconnection of a profession’s ethical values and principles make the profession much more vulnerable to the managerial policies of market-oriented influences. The critical perspective sees the competency-based education and training movement as embedded within a particular set of existing economic, social and political power relationships that are anti-emancipatory and exploitative. From this perspective, competency-based descriptions of work cannot be divorced from the ways that they are used to continue the exploitative nature of work organised in so-called free market economies (Chappell et al., 2000). From this perspective, CBE is tied to a

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neoliberal model of education that adopts and utilises narrow, functional approaches to education. In strictly analytical terms, the following question can be formulated: How is it possible that a competency model that has no pedagogical history, but within the economy, has become the main model of pedagogy? The fact that a concept that has a tradition within the economy, but none in pedagogy, has become the main pedagogical model should be considered as a paradox. If the history of pedagogy is reviewed, from ancient times to the present day, CBE model does not appear; but when reviewing the history of the economy, competencies appear since 1736 with the industrial revolution. For this reason, for some authors, the economic model has become the main pedagogical model of the contemporary era (Moreno & Soto, 2005). The competency model has become a key model: a unique model for the entire education system. It was launched by the World Bank in 1991 and was immediately supported by the Banco Interamericano del Desarrollo. It was implemented in a general and successful way; a possible reason may be the financing of education. The World Bank is interested in developing labour, instrumental, cognitive skills, but is not interested in developing spiritual, emotional competencies and effects. Díaz Barriga (1997, p. 45) indicates that: International organizations promoted the concept of “core competencies” as a central element of programming the educational model. This concept aims to analyse what are the competencies that should be promoted at each level of the education system.

The great project of the European Union, based on the competency model, has reflected in the University as a company project. It is since then seen in the obsession with competencies, and its impact on student training has not ceased to take root and spread across education systems around the world (Boutin & Jullien, 2000). Competencies are another form of a new ideology that colonise the current educational systems. They can be seen as a neoliberal process tending to place the student at the service of the needs of the economy and the market, and not education at the service of the student. It is about reducing education to the manufacture of an economically performant student: trained to be competitive in the professional and labour markets. In the genealogy of the CBE and according to J. Guzmán (1999, p. 12): there are three models: the British (80’s) whose emphasis lies in the evaluative aspects of the competencies that are defined according to the necessary standards in the environment known as NVQs (National Competent Vocational Qualification); the Australian whose emphasis is on the interrelationship of attributes that gives great weight to professional judgment, and the Spanish (1993) that revolves around know-how and procedures.

In this way, within the CBE model, we can observe a process of displacement of labour logics to the educational field under the consideration of a greater possibility of access to the labour market. This is because the CBE is designed to cover its requirements, and for a vision of the educational subject that installs in the students a set of values ​​and norms as per the challenges of competitiveness generated by the productive vision of neoliberal globalisation. This is evident in Guzman’s conception when he states:

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In this sense, and following Barnett (2001), privileging competency-based education would generate two serious implications at the pedagogical level: … Epistemological: how is it possible in a professional field where knowledge constantly changes, to specify in advance the knowledge that is required to achieve certain competition? and ontological: it is not possible to evaluate from simple observation, the registration of the actor’s understandings is necessary. The relationship between thought and action is non-existent, so in this model, the idea of a​​ person as a thinking and reflective being is non existent (p. 112).

The pedagogical part is observed to be disrupted and not sufficiently developed, because as the competencies cannot serve as a guide for a curriculum, which should be considered as a central element for the academic contents and their appropriation. From the educational world, several researchers (Barrón, 2000; Barnett, 2001; Rojas, 2000) have criticised this economist educational model, pointing out that: public universities should not stick to a pragmatic education which instils students a set of values ​​and norms in line with the challenges of competitiveness where the ideal of man is the symbolic analyst subjected to continuous training and recycling processes” (Barrón, 2000, p. 6). In addition, “competencies cannot serve as a guide for a higher education curriculum, it must develop critical capabilities… (Barnett, 2001, p. 115).

In this way, the business perspective in education is generating a lack of intellectual reflection and academic criticism oriented toward a better understanding of the different national contexts; meanwhile, the pragmatic CBE model sets aside holistic and critical visions of our realities.

2.3 Educational Consequences Jacobus (2007) analyses criticisms of the CBE model based on the design and implementation process of the CBE model in education: 1. Early CBE programmes focused on competencies to the detriment of the role of knowledge. Complex professional education could not be completely conceptualised or defined by a list of key competencies. 2. CBE ignores the educational process and focuses solely on particular measurable and practical outcomes. 3. Criticisms against the behaviourist approach to CBE include the view that a behaviourist-CBE is narrowly utilitarian and uses an instrumental approach that implies a fragmentation of subjects. Behaviouristic CBE is criticised for ignoring the connections between tasks; the attributes that underlie performance; the meaning and intention, or disposition to act; the context of performance; and the effect of interpersonal and ethical aspects.

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4. CBE reduces education to a form of human engineering, because it views education as an instrument to attain specific, pre-defined ends Systematic means-end programme design thus attracts labels like technical and technocratic, because it has an unbalanced focus on competencies and neglects values and the technical precision of outcomes (atomised list of functions). It presents education as a product rather than a process. Auerbach (1986) argues that the method itself by which a CBE curriculum is implemented carries hidden assumptions about reality and the social order that serve to support the existing socio-economic model. According to Kerka (1998) for the critics, the CBE model is: excessively reductionist, narrow, rigid, atomised, and theoretically, empirically, and pedagogically unsound… The behaviourist breaks down competence into the performance of discrete tasks, identified by functional analysis of work roles. This analysis is the basis for competency statements or standards upon which competence is assessed and toward the achievement of which CBE is directed (p. 2).

The emphasis on behaviours and performance, rather than on the mastering of cognitive skills, is consistent with the view that perceives competence in terms of basic attributes. This view not only tends to produce narrow technical skills, but also ignores the students’ and workers’ meaningful experiences in the practical field (Dall’Alba & Sandberg, 1996). The competency model is classified as a tool that, if defined and assessed too narrowly, can actually hinder education and training. In some cases, if the model is used as a curriculum document to teach discrete tasks, or used to assess superficial competency standards, then the resulting curriculum may become narrow in content (Kerka, 1998). Critics of the competence model suggest that it contains an inappropriate and reductive representation of learning. According to Jacobus (2007), the competence model is educationally and philosophically inadequate and there is no basis for choosing any one specific, theoretical definition of competency from the almost unending inventory of competencies. According to Chappell et  al. (2000), competency models pursue, develop and exercise only a reductionist list of behaviours and the competency approach effectively ignores the human capabilities of thinking and reflecting. All competencies are seen as mechanical responses that are built on a behaviourist foundation. Gonczi (1997) indicates that in recent years, there has been an increase in international interest in the relationship between education and the workplace. Countries in almost every part of the world, including Scotland, England and Wales, Canada, the United States, Mexico, many South American countries, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, France, Spain, Kuwait, Indonesia, Korea, and Thailand, have all undertaken, or are about to undertake, substantial reforms of their educational post-­ secondary systems (Gonczi, 1997). To implement this systemic reform, many of the countries mentioned are committed to selecting a particular curriculum approach, and the adoption of the CBE model is one option. Adopting a CBE model, however, constitutes a risk if the decision does not entail a vigorous debate and full discussion

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of both the conceptual issues underpinning CBE and the practical problems involved in the implementation of a CBE model (Gonczi, 1997). According to Gonczi (1997), one way to address the complex range of risk factors associated with CBE and the practical application of using the said model is to ask important questions like the following: 1 . Who are the main actors in the learning process? 2. What are the values and principles underpinning the educational programme? 3. Are the pedagogic and teaching models responding consistently to the curriculum approach? 4. How does the educational programme ensure quality? These questions, and many others, are indispensable in the discussion of a rationale for the selection of CBE as an alternative guide to curriculum change. Both radical conservative policymakers and progressive educational reformers (Gonczi, 1997) have adopted CBE curricula. To understand this seeming contradiction, Gonczi (1997) indicates that it is necessary to consider the following factors: 1. The conjunction of an agenda that simultaneously includes authority control on the learning process and meets the requirements of industry standards. 2. The dominance of educational curricula by disciplinary and professional boundaries. 3. The reduction of the gap between practice and theory. 4. The breaking down of the dominance of institutional learning and consequent democratising of education These considerations illustrate the complexity of the debate on CBE. While opponents claim that CBE is just a manifestation of a conservative political agenda, its supporters see CBE as a potential tool to change such agendas. Before education and university training were oriented to the development of the intellectual abilities of the student, regardless of the possible fields and the possible forms of its uses, jobs or applications; today education and university training are oriented to develop that knowledge to be applied to certain skills. While education and university training aimed at capacity development are built based on the concrete “freedoms” of individuals, education by skills instrumentalises knowledge and reinforces its utilitarianism (Nussbaum, 2012). The ideologues of the competitions have tried to incorporate these to university education, without a previous critical reflection on what the competencies are, what their origin is and where they come from, what their ideological context is and, above all, the incompatibilities and contradictions between the model of knowledge and skills of competencies and scientific, theoretical and critical knowledge. To compensate for this lack of critical treatment of competencies and their adaptation to the scientific academic systems of universities, the ideologies of competencies have proceeded oppositely: to adapt the epistemological processes and procedures of university teaching to the scheme of competencies. Several consequences result from such practices that can be observed in many of the studies and articles that have been written on the subject. In some cases, the

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most coherent or radical, the application of competencies to university teaching devastates the scientific and academic specificity of the latter, changing the training of future professionals. In other cases, the introduction of competencies is almost more nominal or declarative than effective, in some fields more appropriate to this educational model, but irrelevant in other areas of knowledge and training. We can find hybrid proposals, which try to combine with more or less consistency an academic-scientific model of university teaching with teaching skills modulated by learning. In any of these cases, what appears clear is that the programme of competitions has found major resistance in countries where there is deep-rooted educational thinking, which is much more solid and with more tradition, while the model by competitions is established in newer educational systems and university institutions without a strong educational and scientific tradition. Competency education reverses the teaching objectives by subjecting them to the ones of evaluation, making the latter the main criteria of learning instead of being just a benchmark of this process. The student must be evaluated to better learn and not learn to be evaluated (Del Rey & Sánchez-Parga, 2011). This indicates that student learning is reduced to only what can be assessed. This implies that teachers need to make adjustments to the assessment process (Rope & Tanguy, 1994, p. 104). The imperative of the evaluation imposes a teaching of knowledge already organised and formatted by the criteria of its use to be competent, but neglects or relegate learning to organise knowledge. In synthesis, an educational model is proposed that incorporates different visions and proposals, since the learning that is imparted from a system of competences established with criteria of dubious educational validity is external to the child’s or young person’s learning system. Many authors see in these new educational models “the knowledge” and the process “towards a society of ignorance.” After the imperceptible change of orientation (since it is no longer about adapting the public to knowledge but these to the public), the neoliberal project starts “reconstructing the different areas of social life according to the model of the economic market and especially the two spaces that would most resist their pretensions: politics and knowledge” (Gauchet, 2009, p. 164). Far from being oriented to the development of student intelligence and the rationality of their faculties, competency education responds rather to demands of ease and utility and, ultimately, to market demands: “The purpose of this learning is nothing more than disciplinary normalization adapted to neoliberal utilitarianism” (Del Rey & Sánchez-Parga, 2011). Competencies are established outside the student who must acquire them regardless of the development of their intelligence, regardless of the structure and phases of the learning process. The competences presuppose in the end a man without qualities, as a smooth surface capable of acquiring the good competences regardless of the qualities available and those provided by the situation to which it is confronted. The competence model represents a process of learning about different topics by elections (pick up) as if they were items on a supermarket shelf, unrelated rational

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among them, and by aggregations without a subjective articulation that organises and give them intellectual coherence. This means that the acquisition of competences is the opposite of the real learning process, where the sequence of knowledge is rationally articulated with each other. Competency-based education removes the essential efficiency from the educational process, which consists of that learning by the student, which goes beyond all teaching, which is a process of socialisation, whose importance transcends the processes of knowing and knowing intellectuals. It is illusory to believe that competency education ends by personalising these in the student, and they can become incorporated as part of their intelligence. What happens is the opposite: learning by competencies ends by formatting the intelligence of the student, atrophying their development and creativity. Competencies are considered to be endowed with autonomous intellectual value, when in reality, they are closely dependent on adaptation to a type of society and demands that value them from an economic perspective. The intellectual validity and effectiveness of competencies are as ephemeral and contingent as the demands to which they respond and the contexts of their application (Bottani & Vrignaud, 2005). While intelligence and its faculties cannot be measured, competencies are nothing more than what can be measured by a test or other instrument. Moreover, competencies are defined, taught and learned only to be evaluated and measured. While each intelligence relieves from a fundamental subjectivity, and in a way unique, education and evaluation of competencies presupposes the uniformity of learning, favours at the global level the generalisation to all educational systems in the world, allowing (i) all students and professionals can circulate as goods for all labour and employment markets; (ii) that all of them can compete with each other based on their competencies. The learning of competencies consists of learning of ignorance, because it involves learning knowledge that others have thought but that are not understood. It is about ignoring what is learned or learning what is not understood and cannot be explained. For what it does not prepare the teaching/learning by competencies is to think, to produce knowledge and to create technologies (Michea, 2006). Competency education prepares a nursery for cheap labour, flexible, to respond to labour markets of unskilled labour. It is about guaranteeing a significant growth of jobs for workers of the service sector in retail and distribution, as well as for other elementary occupations, which do not require formal qualification or very little. Until now the University and knowledge had been valid for reducing inequalities and guaranteeing equal opportunities in order to achieve greater social equality; today the market and neoliberal domination are served of competency learning to consolidate social inequalities along with the inequalities of knowledge already from the same University (Bottani & Vrignaud, 2005). Naive colleagues or auspicious prisoners of educational fashions moved without a doubt for the best intentions, but without a sufficient critical alert, they are willing to accept as the best the last pedagogical slogan, the last recipe or educational slogan, the latest teaching or teaching/learning model, and all without questioning where such innovations come from, and believing that the changes justify themselves (Guzman, 2017). Just because it’s new doesn’t mean it’s better, without

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wondering where innovation comes from, what is its implicit ideology, who manufactured and subsidised it, who is responsible for disseminating it, what interests it responds to and ultimately what effects and consequences it can have. The same thing happened yesterday with the fight against poverty, the economic growth with equity, the governability first and the governance later, and the same happens with the learning by skills. Two substantive questions object to educational budgets and professionalisation of skills training. In the first place, the problem of education or training by competencies is that their budgets, the most implicit ones, do not justify it. What seems to support and guide the competencies is their best and most adapted level of professionalisation of the students and their greater capacity to respond to the demands of the labour and professional markets. However, it is the same structure and operation of these markets and in particular, their increasingly rapid changes, which in the medium and even short term invalidate the skills acquired in increasingly shorter times. The competencies that the student acquires at the university today may no longer be required in a couple of years, when the professional and labour, technological and know-how demands are different. In this sense, skills training prepares ephemeral professionals, easily disposable and hardly recyclable. Secondly, it is important to note that labour and professional markets generate demands increasingly specific and specialised, very precise skills niches and narrow, so that not only is it very difficult to achieve high levels of specialisation and compete for them, but also such specialisations cutting edge make it even more arduous than specialised competitions can be converted and recycled with others. The challenges of transforming didactic-pedagogical thinking and educational practices are involved in any reform of the educational process, which always calls into question the experience, certainties and safety zones built by professionals in the field undoubtedly, the most important resistance of socio-educational agents is ideological in nature, mainly due to the origin of the model of Education by Competencies. As a result, there are accusations from those opposed to the model such as: the model is only intended to train cheap labour for companies, it is a neoliberal educational approach and the proposal for training in skills has a reproductive nature of the prevailing system of domination among others. At the same time, teachers are critical of the fact that the competency model inhibits critical, analytical and reflective thinking. As a result, the model does not allow for an inclusive and comprehensive educational process aimed at the formation of a critical and supportive citizenship. In addition the competency model only intends to impose the rationality of the market in educational systems, to mention only some of the most recurring. It is not the object of this space to assess the relevance and legitimacy of these resistances, but only the fact of pointing out their existence in the socio-educational contexts of the dawn of the twenty-first century.

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The Competency Model suggests the establishment of a pragmatic training approach, which abandons the traditional humanistic perspective and transcends the usual paradigm of modern education, focused on the exclusive development of the intellect and privileged assimilation of products built by scientific-disciplinary practices. The development of the capacities of the intellect is not the fundamental a priori of the competency approach, nor are scientific-disciplinary products its central reference. The competency model is intended to develop the different capacities that the ontological structure of the human being, such as imagination, initiative, creativity, adaptability and knowledge, among others; assuming as a nodal reference, the context of the performance of individuals and communities. Competency-based education is different from education that emphasises encyclopaedism and trains for the society of the future, the educational paradigm by competencies proposes a certain type of education for life, in the societies of the present. Designed and promoted from business pragmatics, the true importance of the model lies in the effectiveness and efficiency of its practical functionality, not so much in its coherence and theoretical formality, or the utopia of the human and/or educational ideal that it proposes. The traditional socio-educational agents have felt the requirement to erect a theoretical foundation that allows their institutional establishment in traditional educational centres. This characteristic of the competencebased model has two radical consequences for the socio-educational context. First, the significant extension of the training contents to the rest of the socio-cultural dimensions, transcending the usual transmission exclusive of scientific knowledge, and second on the other hand, the involvement of the integrity of human capabilities, overcoming the reduction of the development of the intellectual faculty that involves modern education, of an enlightened-encyclopedist nature. However, from this absence of theoretical support also come the main problems of appropriation and restoration of the Education by Competencies model, at the different levels, instances and modalities that constitute the educational systems of today. In general terms, the establishment of the educational model by competencies in contemporary socio-educational contexts confronts three major problems. First, the absence of clarity and conceptual precision of the term of competence itself, from the socio-educational perspective; second, the lack of a philosophical, sociological and psycho-didactic-pedagogical foundation of the training model involved in the approach, as well as its implications for intra-school educational practices. From this perspective, Boon and Van der Klink (2002) state that not even on the conceptual level can any type of theoretical, articulated and consistent body be recognised, on which the approach of competencies in education can be based, nor is there consensus around the concept of competition. Indeed, the absence of a theoretical corpus that founded, defined, explained and framed the psychological principles, pedagogical concepts and educational elements constituting this model of education, has led to the multiplying ways of understanding what competencies are in a diverse range of definitions, depending on the perspective of each author in the world.

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Importantly, it should be noted that its dissemination has been based, rather, on a series of presuppositions, intuitions and repetitions of terms without precise explanation either, than on a systematic exposition of the educational approach. The other problem associated with this phenomenon is the ascription and articulation of the Competency Education model to all types of psycho-pedagogical currents built by the educational tradition, as diverse as pragmatism, behaviourism, constructivism, humanistic pedagogy and social pedagogy, to mention just a few. Finally, there is the problem regarding the insufficiency of the institutional transformations that are necessary to promote the educational reforms corresponding to the application of the competency model, at different levels, modalities, schools and classrooms of current educational systems. In fact, the dysfunctionality of the application of the model in the different educational systems of Europe, denounced by different socio-­ educational specialists, at present, comes rather from such problems than from its possible didactic-pedagogical inconsistency. Meanwhile, in the field of educational organisation, the instrumentation of this educational approach has induced minimal changes in the rigid structures and almost inflexible institutional procedures that dominate modern formal education. Additionally, the main innovations caused by the establishment of Competency Education have been reduced to curricular reforms. In addition to the emerging training of technical and teaching bodies – although it is important to mention that at the higher level, an insufficient and artificial link with the productive sectors has been attempted. However, the institutional adoption of the model has had very little impact on the rupture of the predominant self-reference schemes and the formative confinement, the teaching determination of the didactic-­pedagogical management processes, standardised and closed curricular designs. The verticality of the school organisation, the bureaucratism of the school control operating systems, the disciplinary evaluation, accreditation and educational certification processes, among other multiple aspects. In this perspective, it should be noted that the traditional institutional structures and procedures of schools, university organisations and modern educational systems are not only contrary to the model of competence development, but also represent real obstacles to their proper establishment in the processes of contemporary training. In 1999, representatives of 29 European countries had signed a declaration in Bologna committing their countries to the development of a common space of higher education by the year 2010 (Bollag, 2003). This common space required a thorough reform of post-secondary education in many countries and is the first reform ever undertaken in Europe as a whole. Thus, it may be the most profound change in European education since the middle of the nineteenth century. It has been proposed, for example, to lengthen the time of educational programmes leading to the academic degree, to five years, made up of two academic periods of three and two years each. The three-year programme would lead to a degree similar to the North American Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree. The Bologna reform proposals seek, on one hand, to outline and order degrees so that each level has both academic integrity and public application. On the other hand, the reforms also seek to harmonise academic credits and degrees across

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European states, thus facilitating the movement of social workers from one country to another. There are many advantages of the Bologna proposal (Bollag, 2003). Standardisation has some appeal, especially within the academic community, given the chaos and resistance to scrutiny of purely national systems. As well, there are powerful practical and economic reasons driving the Bologna Agreement. Dividing the educational periods leading to the various European degrees allows students to earn academic qualifications in shorter and more realistic time frames, and is more accommodating to individual student schedules. Harmonisation of European social work degrees would give students greater control over their educational assets and lower the cost of lengthy higher education programmes from which there is often a high drop-out rate. From the perspective of the European labour market, educated individuals with competencies that are equivalent from one country to another would enter the labour force earlier. Other advantages of Bologna include creating a single European consciousness, renewing the content of higher education programmes, and responding to changing needs with greater flexibility. Degree harmonisation would also allow universities in continental Europe to compete with their British counterparts in attracting Asian students. Asia is a rich source of university students to which Europe, with the exception of the UK, has limited access (Bollag, 2003). Despite its economic origin and perhaps because of its underlying pragmatism, Competency Education necessarily requires an educational practice open to the individual’s competitive development and contextualised to the area of ​​life in which they participate, that is, it requires an environment completely different from the one inherited by the modern educational tradition. The competency approach involves an Education for Life model, not so much an Education for School, as the educational understanding of the enlightened-encyclopedist cut has become. However, the nuclear problem from which this complex set of diverse problems derives, without a doubt, is represented by the ambiguous, imprecise and eclectic discourse that has been built around the definition of competencies, their philosophical, sociological and psycho-pedagogical, as well as concerning the curricular, formative and institutional implications of its translation into formal educational processes. The word competencies has a polysemic character and its origins lie in behavioural psychology and the theory of human capital. The educational reforms based on competencies appear as the remedy to poverty detected in the classroom practices, in the didactic models with which it has been working. But it forgets to take into account the conditions in which a teaching staff who is urged to change does they job, but without seriously implicating him. Michea (2006) indicates that it is necessary to promote the following attempts: 1. Without taking into account their professional cultures, the traditions in which they have been socialising for years as an education professional. 2. Without an authentic teaching career that serves to stimulate innovations. 3. With an increasingly impoverishing teacher updating policy.

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4. With an editorial monopoly that obtains great advantages, through free textbook policies. 5. Offering the help of a group of professionals dedicated to disseminating and trying to clarify to teachers the “true” meaning of the different terminological fashions with which the educational authorities tend to want to condition the direction of educational change (Michea, 2006).

2.4 Discussion The idea of ​​competencies leads to knowing and knowing how to do, theory and practice, knowledge and action, reflection and action. This represents a change in the approach to knowledge: from knowing what to knowing how. In practice, this shifts the weight of the curriculum of the principles, of the conceptual framework, to the methods. Undoubtedly, the method is important, but it is still a mere technical question, variable depending on the principles and the conceptual framework, which is given within the structure that represents the curriculum as a whole, meaning and significance. It is difficult to understand that the student must be responsible for their learning or that they must participate in their evaluation and that they learn not only content (learn what) but also learn to do something with them (learn how to do with them, learn to use them). If we do not know previously that framework in which the proposal becomes understandable and in which it acquires signification. In practice, the discourse of the competencies reinforces the importance of the methods and omits the other elements of the educational process and, before, ignores the conceptual framework of reference that gives light to the different elements that make up the curricular structure, including the evaluation. Without further references to ways of understanding teaching and learning, evaluation is reduced to mere control exercise. The control of results understood as finished products are sought, which are well offered to establish comparisons, regardless of the contexts in which they are generated and alien to the people who produce them and that give them contextualised meanings. In addition, the evaluation will end up confused and reduced to the qualification, which usually ends up as a resource for classification, for the selection of exclusion of some groups against others. In the absence of any other type of foundation, the pre-established standards are the reference for the manufacture of control instruments. Interdisciplinarity does not figure as a substantive part of the reasoning. Nor is it clarified in the new curriculum formats what is understood by knowledge, by knowing, by understanding, concepts that practically do not appear properly framed and explained. Perhaps, this fact is the reason for so much divergence in the interpretations and uses made of them. Without references to knowledge, everything fits, including contradictions, contradictions, gaps, lack of clarity. There is only a programmatic and pragmatic proposal, with a markedly operational tendency, of strong efficient connotation, which points to demands of an economic-productive nature in

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the face of very competitive socio-economic situations. In this scenario, the words of Barnett (2001, p. 32). we are currently abandoning one kind of hillock to embark on another. The change consists, essentially, in passing from knowledge as a contemplation to knowledge as an operation.

There is no doubt that analysing and reflecting on the consequences and benefits of CBE is a necessary task before selecting or rejecting the approach. Identifying the weaknesses and pitfalls of the CBE model at the beginning of curricula design or renewal provides an opportunity for those who are leading the curricula change to avoid mistakes. Analysing and reflecting on the issues associated with the selection and implementation of a CBE curriculum is an indispensable part of responsible and thoughtful decision making.

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Gonczi, A. (1997). Future directions for vocational education in Australian secondary schools. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Vocational Education Research, 5(1), 77–108. https:// search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/aeipt.86172 Guzmán, J. (1999). El qué, por qué y para qué de la educación basada en competencias (EBC). In Modeos curriculares de la educación basada en competencias (pp. 11–14 y 32–41). Facultad de Psicología-UNAM. Guzman, F. (2017). Problematica general de la educación por competencias. Revista Iberoamericana de Educación, 74, 107–120. https://doi.org/10.35362/rie740610 Hodkinson, P., & Issitt, M. (1995). The challenge of competence. Cassell. Hyland, T. (1993). Competence, knowledge and education. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 27(1), 57–68. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-­9752.1993.tb00297.x Hyland, T. (1997). Reconsidering competence. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 31(3), 491–503. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-­9752.00070 Jacobus, F. (2007). A framework for the design and implementation of competency-based teacher education programmes at the University of Namibia. Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Stellenbosh University, Namibia. Jansen, J. (1998). Curriculum reform in South Africa: A critical analysis of outcomes-based education. Cambridge Journal of Education, 28(3), 321–330. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764980280305 Kerka, S. (1998). Competency-based education and training: Myths and realities. ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education, Center on Education and Training for Employment, College of Education, the Ohio State University. Michea, J. (2006). L’enseignement de l’ignorance et ses condition modernes. Climats. Moreno, P., & Soto, G. (2005). Una Mirada reflexiva y crítica el enfoque por competencias. Educare, 73–80. Norris, N. (1991). The trouble with competence. Cambridge Journal of Education, 21(3), 331–342. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764910210307 Nussbaum, M. (2012). Crear capacidades. Propuesta para el desarrollo humano. Paidós. OCDE. (2010). Habilidades y competencias del siglo XXI para los aprendices del nuevo milenio en los países de la OCDE. OCDE. Rojas, I. (2000). Precisiones sobre la noción de competencias. In M. A. Valle (Ed.), Formación de competencias y certificación profesional (pp. 41–51). CESU-UNAM. Rope, F., & Tanguy, L. (1994). Savoirs et competences. De l’usage de ces notions dans l’école et dans l’entreprise. L’Harmattan.

Part II

Major Areas of Professional Competencies

Chapter 3

Knowledge Base and Process Competencies in Social Work Practice Marko Buljevac and Ana Opačić

An overview of professional competencies most often begins with what is most noticeable and “most real,” that is what is related to direct work with service users or beneficiaries. We explained in Chap. 1 that professional competencies should be viewed triangularly through knowledge, skills, and values, where all three dimensions are integrated and connected, as a system in which meta-competencies and process competencies are organically interconnected. This chapter will address competencies in direct practice in social work in more detail, meaning those to whom in practice we “deliver” social work in the immediate environment. The users or beneficiaries of direct practice are individuals, couples, families, and groups (Hepworth et al., 2013). Direct practice in social work relies on professional discernment and the social work process (Hepworth et  al., 2013), and this will be the area of competencies elaborated further on.

3.1 Knowledge – Base and Professional Judgement in Social Work Practice The sources and content of knowledge are equally important for social workers, as is their integration into professional discernment. Social work is a profession and discipline built on integrating knowledge from different scientific disciplines, but also from non-scientific epistemic sources (Miljenović, 2010). Possessing a fund of knowledge from different sources and disciplines is not enough. Instead, professional judgement requires the skills in complex processing of heterogeneous M. Buljevac (*) · A. Opačić Social Work Study Centre, Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 A. Opačić (ed.), Social Work in the Frame of a Professional Competencies Approach, European Social Work Education and Practice, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13528-6_3

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information, especially when making decisions that directly impact the lives of users. Knowledge in social work has three topical elements: (1) knowledge in understanding the concept of the person in the environment, (2) structural knowledge and knowledge of policies, and (3) knowledge stemming from the theory of social work. The concept of the person in the environment mainly refers to understanding intrapersonal and interpersonal processes, including a systematic mutuality of person and society (Kondrat, 2013). Specifically, this fund of knowledge encompasses a cognition of psychological development, including biologically conditioned processes that occur throughout a lifelong perspective and are reflected in behaviour, cognitive, and affective functioning. Furthermore, these cognitive discoveries include understanding the interpersonal relationships, family, and peer relationships as well as relations that exist on a community level. Especially important is understanding disharmony and conflict among various factors on the individual and social dimensions, resulting in social exclusion, decreased functionality, or the deteriorated health of an individual. Social workers find these cognitive revelations important in explaining how to achieve desired personal and social changes in the immediate environment where the user lives. Structural knowledge and knowledge of policies include knowledge of the social, political, legal, cultural, and institutional context within micro and macro communities. The structural context should be viewed critically as a source of social inequalities and violations of human and social rights, and potential for profound social change. Essential is the knowledge of public policies and social protection systems manifested in the institutional and legislative framework. Social workers need knowledge of social protection systems at a national and international level, that is what provides to beneficiaries, the processes that shape it, and the implications for the position of vulnerable social groups, reducing inequalities and protecting rights. The third corpus of knowledge concerning social work stems from the theory of social work in the narrowest sense, especially knowledge of the methods and areas of social work, that is the theory of intervention, approach, and models in social work practice. Given the heterogeneity of cognition, their treatment and utilisation in professional discernment is a complex process. The concept of critical thinking in the broadest possible manner encompasses an active relationship towards discoveries that have become practical and usable, where Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skilfully conceptualising, applying, analysing, synthesising, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action (Scriven & Paul, 1987).

Specifically, critical thinking is revealed in the following skills: • Creatively devising various solutions and assessing their advantages and disadvantages • Structuring professional opinion based on arguments provided by theoretical knowledge, empirical discoveries, and experiential discoveries (of experts and

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users) which also includes specific inherent knowledge within a certain local community. Critically evaluating various sources of cognition (scientific and non-scientific, professional and user, intuitive or unfounded in facts), and recognising the difference between opinion and fact. The ability to reflect and critically self-reflect. Reflection refers to questioning what we do, how it appears from the perspective of others, and why we undertake certain professional actions. Critical self-reflection goes deeper into the being of experts who link their professional work to their private beliefs, identity, motivation, and emotions (Bolton & Delderfield, 2018). The ability to reflect and self-­ reflect is further encouraged through the act of supervision. Identifying errors or unfounded generalisations in conclusions. Ability to re-examine or change one’s expert opinion in light of new information, (un)achieved planned changes, or changes in user attitudes.

The key importance for social work as an applied academic discipline is the relationship between science and practice, theory and practice. These two systems are not automatically connected, and much on the subject has been discussed in the literature, including bridging the obvious gap. Accordingly, the mentioned competencies of social workers include competencies for linking science, research, and theory with practice. As practitioners, social workers draw closer to scientific discoveries by actively utilising scientific literature, exhibiting an understanding and recognising the usability of scientific discoveries in practice. This approach enables research-based practice. Another form of drawing science closer to practice is through practice-based research, where social workers provide the initiative, encourage implementation, and undertake such applicative or action-based research. Such research stems from practice; hence, they are much simpler to execute and integrate to improve practice. Another area of cognitive integration of science and practice is through evidence-­ based practice. Social workers have the competencies to utilise existing data or independently build a database that facilitates reasoned decision-making or monitoring of social processes. Data is important for practice, revising or changing practice, and crucial in evaluating the work process. Thus, a direct fourfold connection is established between science and practice when research is built around practice (research originates from practice or is utilised in practice) or when practice is built around data (data is the source of practice, data is used to revise practice).

3.2 Process Competencies in Social Work Practice Process competencies are a set of competencies crucial for social work practice. These competencies are contextualised for specific institutional surroundings and a national situation that includes particular legislation relevant to social work practice. Process competencies in social work are everyday working competencies

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based on social worker skills, knowledge, experiences, and working conditions. They are defined by politics, the social status of social workers in each state, and obligations in the form of tasks for social workers in different societies. According to the usual social work process based on a problem-solving approach (Compton & Galaway, 1999), process competencies are grouped as follows: (a) competencies for developing a professional relationship with the service user, (b) data collection and assessment, (c) developing an intervention plan, (d) implementation of professional interventions, (e) monitoring and evaluating the impact of professional work, and (f) developing collaborative networks with the local community.

3.2.1 Competencies for Developing a Professional Relationship with Service Users The first group of process competencies relates to the perspective of service users. This group enables users to define their priorities for social work intervention, the participation of the users and people from their immediate environment who are important to service users in the decision-making process, and cooperation between such users and social workers in assessing intervention based on defined goals. Given that the social work paradigm has changed, concepts associated with assistance have changed in line with support concepts. Social workers are professionals providing formal support to users. Formal support is always defined within legislation, but interpersonal circumstances should be considered. User expectations, experiences, strengths, fears, knowledge, abilities or disabilities, socio-economic status, race, gender, religion, and skills present the basis of the user’s perspective in social work. The user perspectives in social work means hearing their voices, paying attention to their perspectives, and enabling social workers to provide adequate support based on user potential and strengths (Grundy et al., 2016; Kam, 2019). It provides an opportunity for users and social workers to become equal partners in formulating newly defined changes in the life of users. The user’s perspective means knowledge and information concerning their experiences, goals and life situations (Grim et al., 2016), and information about their social capital or networks, and their expectations of formal support. It is also based on the social worker’s knowledge, skills, and person-centred approach, crucial to social work practice. The process is based on the social worker’s skills like active listening, tolerance, critical thinking, empathy, communication, trust worth, confidentiality, acceptance, and their ability to set professional boundaries. Social workers should be aware that most users of their services have the power, skills, and responsibility to make a positive change in their lives, but most have not had the opportunity to exhibit or utilise such changes. When someone has power, they also have responsibilities. Social workers are primarily professionals representing a formal support system. They support guidance and positive changes; hence, they are equal partners with users in the ongoing process.

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The perspective of users of social work is based on a non-judgemental and non-­ discriminatory human rights approach. This approach should be based on the social worker’s theoretical and practical knowledge and skills, as it may be exploited wrongly by both sides of this relationship between the welfare service user and the social worker. A review of past studies shows that welfare partnership with users comes from a discourse of the rights and power, improving the quality of experiences for users (Taylor & Le Riche, 2006). For example Wood and Tully (2006) stated that the work of social workers is always defined in some way by their beliefs and interests, while social work is defined by theory and cannot be politically neutral. That is why the user perspective is a powerful tool in the change process. Giving users the opportunity to define their priorities for social work intervention is based on their perspective. Gibson (2018) stated that this approach allows users to express their plans and point of view, what they want to avoid, all based on their wishes, hopes, and dreams. The previous experiences of users are essential in this process. On the other hand, social workers must possess specific skills to be good mediators in getting users to participate in the decision-­ making, such as active listening, empathy, and knowledge about user rights as defined by law. Many have not had this opportunity to express their thoughts, feelings, and desires; hence, they require support when initially expressing their perspectives. The participation of users and people from their immediate environment who are important in the decision-making process leads to cooperation between service users and social workers in assessing intervention based on pre-defined goals. One leads to another. These competencies should be used whenever possible, because there will be situations when they cannot be implemented. Giving opportunities to users and important people to them to present their perspectives represents an active involvement in collaboration with the social worker. Willumsen and Skivenes (2005) stated that, in most cases, this type of collaboration is defined as an asymmetrical balance of power and knowledge between social workers and users. They also point out that the social worker must be certain that the information is complete, given that information and expectations from users may be unwise, incomplete, and limited. This competency provides the social worker with the opportunity to gain insight into the user’s skills, life situation, issues, and everything that is relevant for them to make decision. The knowledge held by service users is based on their personal and collective experience of policy, practice, and services, while users offer, in collaboration with experts, their insights, experiences, understandings, and their knowledge (Beresford, 2000). Users are experts by expertise. The results of the Beresford et al. (2008) study show that users value when social workers possess these skills and use such approaches, including the ability to determine their own agenda in an expert-user partnership by listening, having a non-­ judgemental approach, treating users respectfully, being given the necessary time, and when the social worker is available, accessible, reliable, responsive to needs, and has sufficient knowledge and expertise. Some of these factors are mentioned earlier in this chapter. Our opinion is that the results indicating that social workers should possess sufficient knowledge and expertise are important, because

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professional competencies are based on theory and should be learned during the education process. Also, allocating ample time to users in the decision-making process to define their agenda in cooperation with the social worker is at the heart of the user perspective. There will be situations when social workers will not be able to ensure such conditions, but as mentioned earlier, some aspects of social work cannot be fully carried out in terms of the user perspective. Service users expect social workers to be clear about their role, listen, and endeavour to understand their world (Leigh & Miller, 2004). Empowerment is another important and crucial competence of social work based on our analysis of competencies in the social work profession. Social workers use empowerment when encouraging users to assume their responsibilities and make positive life changes. Empowerment means that service users become more powerful, solve problems, achieve goals and build the capacity to assume power (Adams, 2008; McLaughlin, 2014; Pierson & Thomas, 2002). Social workers should be aware that there are numerous users who have not had the opportunity to make decisions concerning themselves. Accordingly, social workers should possess specific knowledge, skills, and competencies to empower such users. Some of these skills include the ability to openly communicate, patience, theoretical knowledge about human behaviour, and multiculturalism. They should be aware of earlier user experiences with the formal support system, a support system they did or perhaps did not have available, life circumstances, and earlier life experiences. The defined goals should be realistic, achievable in the short term, and involve negotiation and collaboration between the social worker and user (Pierson & Thomas, 2002). When collaborating with users, social workers should provide support and guidance during life changes, accept them as persons, use their power as experts positively, and define clear boundaries in their relationship. There may be situations when users think that social workers are their friends. In such situations, a clear and professional relationship is necessary.

3.2.2 Competencies for Making Assessments in Social Work Practice Assessment is necessary for every aspect of social work as it represents a fundamental social work tool. Assessment must be based on the social worker’s theoretical knowledge and practical experience. Although the user perspective is necessary for assessing user needs for support or help, some competencies are specific. First, there are some challenging situations that social workers need to overcome at the start of their practice. Some of these competencies include working with involuntary users, recognising manipulative behaviour among users and persons from their environment, protecting oneself in a conflict situation or when a user is aggressive, and providing counselling and support for users when they are endeavouring to cope with loss or grief. Involuntary users express resistance to receiving social work

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services but nonetheless are recipients of such services, either due to legal sanctions or pressure from formal or informal sources (Pope & Kang, 2011). Social workers are required to work with involuntary users in various situations. The aforementioned specific skills must be applied in working with involuntary users while pointing out the important ones like trustworthiness, communication, and the user perspective (Rooney, 2002, 2009). Sometimes users are “involuntary” in that they lack sufficient information about the support they can receive and lack trust in the support system. Hence, they believe such support is unnecessary, have had bad experiences upon receiving support, or simply believe that social work support should be different from the existing support they receive. The findings from the study by Pope and Kang (2011) suggest that effective work with involuntary users is characterised by clear, honest, and frequent discussions about the role of the social worker and the role of users in the direct practice process. Sometimes this is impossible to accomplish, but trying to gain trust and establish a relationship with involuntary users will certainly result in benefits and positive changes (Rooney, 2009; Trotter, 2015). Smith (2020) also highlights the importance of the relationship between the social worker and service user in achieving effective outcomes, including the value of clear communication, information, and explanations, and awareness of bureaucratic managerial structures possibly acting as barriers to user engagement. Manipulative behaviour by users is also a barrier to establishing an honest relationship with such users, gaining insight into user needs, and the ability to provide the necessary support or help. There are particular reasons why some users use manipulation. One reason is the definite lack of trust in social services. Knowing how to work with manipulative users is an important competence in the realm of social work and is based on professional experience and knowledge of human psychology. Social workers should possess certain knowledge about psychology and psychiatry; however, social work is more often concerned with the social dimension of people’s lives (Joseph & Murphy, 2014). For example, Cooper (2012) thinks that the best way to deal with manipulative behaviour by users is to establish and maintain boundaries. Manipulation can lead to aggression and conflict. Another competence is protecting oneself in a conflict situation or when a user becomes aggressive. A study by Littlechild (2003) shows that the most effective way of dealing with violent or aggressive behaviour is to give immediate feedback to service users about the unacceptability of abusive or violent behaviour. This approach also includes setting clear limits and boundaries for users, possessing a high level of skill, confidence, and assertiveness in engaging and maintaining relationships with service users, and receiving support in developing a secure and confident professional self-­ esteem to deliver effective interventions and assessments. Counselling in social work is also a necessary competence, but a more specific competence is to provide support to users when coping with loss or grief. Importantly, social workers should recognise grief as a reaction to loss (Goldsworthy, 2005), given that social workers are called to provide support and empowerment to users

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when elaborating to users how their past affects them in the present situation (Knight, 2015). Many users have problems rooted in some form of traumatic experience (Joseph & Murphy, 2014). In terms of competencies, the prerequisite in performing social work assessments is the ability to collect data and information. This method is also founded on other specific competencies in holding the first conversation with a user, gathering information from fieldwork, and collecting documentation from other sections of the formal support system. The first conversation explores a user’s needs or issues, initial strengths and weaknesses to obtain useful information and gain insight into support system sources at the user’s disposal. This approach enables users to tell their stories in more detail (Symonds, 2018) which, in turn, is connected to the user’s perspective. Communication is the core of social work. Gathering information from fieldwork means social workers frequently visit a user’s residence and also the user’s local community. Fieldwork is a perfect way of gathering important information about user experiences, needs, and problems, enabling social workers to get information about available community resources, social networks for users, and determinants of the user’s lifestyle. The next group of competencies concerns assessment and comprises the user’s need for assessment, assessment of family strengths, risks and needs, ability to define a user’s quality of life, risk assessment during social work intervention, provision of emergency interventions for user protection, and recognition of risk factors that contribute to user abuse or neglect. The assessment facilitates reaching an initial conclusion or devising methods to be used (Parker, 2017). The assessment methods in social work are interviewing, observation, different kinds of drawing techniques, genogram, vignettes, scales, questionnaires, and data analysis from documents (Holland, 2010). Assessment means discerning the importance, quality, and significance of a matter and using it to evaluate situations, the functioning, and standards in relation to some agreed or defined measures. It is usually defined by law (Pierson & Thomas, 2002). Our opinion is that the assessment of family strengths, risks, and needs must be based on three perspectives: the family as a system, various dyadic relationships within it, and individual family members, all according to task accomplishment, role performance, communication, affective expression, involvement, control, values, and norms (Skinner et al., 2000). Quality of life also provides results about the living conditions of users. For example, one of the well-known tool for measuring the quality of life is the Manchester Short Assessment of Quality of Life (MANSA) (Priebe et al., 1999). Pierson and Thomas (2002) defined risk assessment as carefully weighing the chances that particular forms of harm might or will happen to a service user or be caused by a service user in a given situation. Risk factors that contribute to user abuse or neglect are age, illness, disability, social isolation, female gender, minority status, living arrangement, substance abuse, financial resources, lack of social support, victim-perpetrator relationship, pathological family dynamics, transgenerational violence (Choi & Mayer, 2000; Fleming et al., 1997; Pillemer et al., 2016).

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3.2.3 Competencies for Developing an Individual Plan and Contracting A comprehensive estimation of strengths, risks, and individual and environmental factors is the basis for devising a work plan, i.e., an individual plan that carries various titles (individual change plan, individual care plan) in various countries. This is a critical phase for the direct practice in social work and represents “a bridge between planning and intervention” (Sheafor & Horejsi, 2015, p.  322). Planning should result in several key elements, such as specifying goals that the user wants to achieve, identifying the scope of changes in a user’s life to achieve the goals, selecting a strategy that will give the best results, defining specific interventions and activities as well as establishing a time framework for implementing activities (Sheafor & Horejsi, 2015, p. 322). The planning process is materialised in terms of written documents and verbal agreements in the process of contracting that takes place between the service user and the social worker (Sheafor & Horejsi, 2015). The entire process involving individual planning and devising the individual plan was recognised by Ajduković and Urbanc (2009) as a tool for an integrated approach to social work and a presumption for case management. In line with the modern approach to social work, the necessary competencies for planning should equally include competencies relating to outcomes and processes. In terms of the process, today, it is impossible to talk about individual planning without actively including cooperation with users where the emphasis is placed on the need to define goals with users or by users, but not establish goals for users (Wilkins, 2016). A collaborative and participatory approach is the foundation of person-centered approach (Ajduković & Urbanc, 2009). The planning process should importantly incorporate all that has already been mentioned regarding the user perspective and working with users in challenging situations. We emphasise some additional communication elements important for including users in the planning. Full participation by users makes sense when there actually exists the possibility of choosing and in terms of the goals and strategy of actions to be undertaken. Furthermore, the goals of users and their immediate environment need not be the same, which is an additional challenge for social workers who need to know how to work around and communicate conflicting interests. Knowing how to deal with insecurities that arise from interventions and changes occurring in the lives of users is especially important. This almost always leads to new risks and possibly a reluctance by users to persevere in change or reject change altogether. Even when users are unaware of these risks, the social worker’s role is to anticipate and communicate them transparently. One of the prerequisites for genuine collaboration with users is to place the authority of experts within a framework that will give the user a sense of trust and security, but at the same time, without overcoming or overwhelming the user’s real desires and thoughts. In terms of outcomes, planning is a highly structured intellectual operation that must lead to a clear vision of what will be different and how and when to implement changes.

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Planning begins with setting the goals in line with the SMART approach and which should be sufficiently specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely (Wilkins, 2016). Wilkins (2016) recommends the POWER strategy to define goals, which is more in line with participatory social work. This approach means that goals should be positively defined (Positive), emphasise the active role of users (Own role), monitored by proposed specific activities (What specifically) and defined performance indicators (Evidence). Goals should gravitate towards positive change that will build, renew, or strengthen systematic relationships between users and their environment or users towards their personal development and well-being (Relationship). Achievable goals are based on previously detected resources and needs, together contributing to a vision of personal, family, and/or environmental change that should happen. After defining the goals, social workers develop a series of possible strategies to achieve the changes. In this phase, the planning becomes more specific, and social workers offer more alternatives while understanding and communicating each of the risks to the user. Active participation by users is noticeable and can select the strategy, especially when informed about the significance of the intervention for the user and immediate environment. Social workers prioritise goals and the sequence of activities with users based on available opportunities, anticipated changing circumstances, and the onset of risks or insecurities in people’s lives. Even now, social workers need to have a Plan B and the competence to develop rapid action and intervention plans if necessary (British Association of Social Workers, BASW, 2013). Anticipation and risk assessment should rely on scientific knowledge to assess the onset or escalation of risks due to individual and environmental factors and risks resulting from interventions. In the ongoing phase, planning becomes a reality through interventions and activities that the expert, user, and other actors undertake within a clear timeframe. Accordingly, social workers should plan coordination tasks that will facilitate integrated action and the mobilisation of resources and general consent for decisions made at the level of the multidisciplinary team of experts. Social workers should be able to verbally explain how planned activities are linked to goals and clearly differentiate urgent measures from developmental measures. In addition, an integral part of planning is identifying performance indicators as well as defining criteria when reviewing the plan if the desired changes are not achieved.

3.2.4 Competencies for Interventions in Social Work Competencies necessary for executing interventions in social work can be again viewed through the framework of processes and outcomes. We have already highlighted the importance of the user relationship and including the user in the process. When social workers intervene, they will again find themselves in a situation where they will have to work against resistance from users and their immediate environments. Coordinated tasks are expected when vertical action is expected at different

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levels (micro, meso, and macro levels) and horizontal actions towards different systems (education, social welfare, judiciary, healthcare, local community). In their work, social workers should be a model for the community and, with help and support activities, to not forget that their ultimate goal is the empowerment and independence of users. Therefore, interventions that support independence and prevention should take precedence over care and emergency action whenever possible. Professional discernment is crucial, followed by documenting work and arguing the case as to which interventions are carried out, why they are appropriate, their contribution, and when they should be altered. Social workers need to be competent to recognise signs of violence and threats to the well-being of users and make timely decisions in emergency interventions. Competencies for interventions in the narrowest sense include knowledge and skills for applying social work methods and techniques. Answering the question, “What do social workers do?” requires a response in multiple ways. It most often relates to competencies for applying key methods in social work (and familiarity with theoretical models), for example individual work, group work, community work, and social planning. Furthermore, interventions refer to the application of specific skills, for example complex communication skills such as negotiating, planning, informing, and advising. The interventions may imply the use of specific techniques, such as creative techniques in work. Competencies for interventions can also be viewed in terms of general or specialised practice in social work. General practice in social work refers to the fundamental work and implementation of the social work process with individuals, groups, and communities, regardless of the social worker’s system. The general practice of social work is most often based on a problem-solving approach. However, social workers are expected to undergo ongoing training in a particular sector and apply specific methods as specialised practice. This means that social workers acquire specific knowledge and skills that qualify them to apply certain methods (e.g. counselling, mediation) or work in a specific field (e.g. social work with juveniles experiencing behavioural problems or social work within the probation system). Competencies for intervening in social work can be described through a prism of social working roles. Engelbrecht (1999) mentioned that social workers can assume different roles, such as counsellors, brokers who link users and the immediate environment, experts for helping users adapt to an environment or sensitisation, managers who manage programmes and services, specialised experts, facilitators, motivators, educators, someone who empowers users in an individual process, advocates and activists. In many countries, social workers have a statutory role in executing public authorities, implementing measures of a repressive character, or making decisions on user rights. Social work interventions are never just about the individual user or beneficiary. In a procedural sense, we have already said that simultaneous action at different levels is essential; hence, social workers are expected to build collaborative networks within the local community. The basis for such action is possessing information about systems operating within the community and various legal possibilities to

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provide users with the best solutions. Users are instructed to become involved in community services and utilise community resources. Social workers might also contribute directly to building new services. Thus, interventions can target users or their environment and often coincide at both levels.

3.2.5 Competencies for Monitoring and Evaluating the Impact of Professional Work Evaluation is the final phase in the social work process, even though it is reflected upon in the planning stage. The evaluation should not be viewed as the end of direct practice in social work. Namely, the monitoring and evaluation process continues indefinitely as long as interventions occur, but the recommendation is to continue with some form of monitoring even when the social work process is finished. Competencies directed towards evaluation comprise simple and complex knowledge and skills. The integral elements of evaluation are indicators and defining indicators for achieved goals is the simplest of competencies. The indicators are predefined criteria that will signalise the extent to which the desired change happens in the user’s life (at the personal or environmental level). This approach can, for instance, involve particular behaviour that the social worker notices, changing events and user experience, living conditions, social networks or associated verbal feedback on personal impressions. The indicators should be based on scientific discoveries. That means we can describe the change using scientific concepts, and science also tells us how to measure such concepts. When a social worker defines indicators (desirable to do so in cooperation with the user), then the skill should be “translated” in a close and understandable way to users and their environment. This brings us to another somewhat more complex task, that is choosing the methods for collecting data on indicators. Social workers can do this at a professional level by developing their own databases and simpler tools, such as checklists, record keeping or short questionnaires for users. Given that continuous evaluation is expected (not only when the practice is over), an individual plan is a fundamental framework for evaluation. It enables monitoring outcomes and processes and whether activities happen within the desired timeframe. When establishing collaboration with the scientific community, collecting data for evaluation can also be more complexly devised in terms of evaluation research. Evaluation is deemed completed upon writing up reports in which the expert elaborates various aspects. Adhering to the following OECD evaluation criteria specifies the importance of affirming justification of expert action based on initial needs (relevance), justification of activities for set goals (coherence), achieved goals (effectiveness), the process involving work and cooperation with users (efficiency), the wider intentional or unintentional and positive or negative effect on users and their environment (impact) including the level of

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sustainability of changes upon completing the interventions (sustainability) (DAC Network on Development Evaluation, 2018). To some extent, the sustainability of changes can be projected in line with stated intentions or the extent of changes that have taken place in the lives of the users. However, sometimes it will be necessary to do follow-up monitoring, especially when dealing with complex cases where the well-being of users has been seriously compromised. This approach means that the social worker needs to plan, maintain contact and record pre-determined indicators. Competencies for monitoring and evaluating expert work do not dwell only at the evaluation stage. Importantly, expert decisions on the significance of evaluation for further practice need to be made, given that it is not a form of surveillance or control but primarily a tool for learning and improving expert work. Based on the conclusion of process evaluation, a decision on the need for modifying methods and techniques used in work needs to be made, or changes to the entire strategy, especially when interventions fail to deliver the planned results. It is essential to record catalysers and facilitators of changes when they occur more quickly or more favourably than anticipated. Moreover, evaluation provides insight into newly revealed needs that should be addressed. The evaluation conclusions can be integrated into recommendations for improving institutional activities, community collaboration, coordination with services and the multidisciplinary team. Although this is not always the case in practice, direct practice in social work should be of limited duration. Preferably, this duration is predefined, and completion of the process is not an automatic process. Theorists who have described the direct practice in social work point to the importance of competencies relating to the termination of the professional process (Harrigan et al., 1998). At the process level, this phase is challenging as it involves the user’s ambivalent feelings about “losing” professional support and, in some ways, remaining “alone.” Here again, the key communication skills of experts, including recognising and addressing resistance from users, may indicate that the process has finished. Of course, a suitable manner of completing the intervention is essential. Due to the nature of their job, social workers will sometimes set aside too little time upon finishing the process, because they are already orientated towards new users. However, properly completing the process and setting aside sufficient time for the transition from the user and final greetings is an important element in professional behaviour. Termination of the process is a critical phase in work as the expert needs to assess when to appropriately complete the intervention. Ideally, the end of the intervention is already foreseen in the individual plan, but it is realistic to expect that activities will not take place as planned or achieve the desired outcomes. Recognising the moment interventions are completed is critical, as a balance is expected between user autonomy and stabilisation of achievements. Social workers encourage users to look at their achievements, expressing confidence that they can continue to maintain positive changes in their lives on their own (Skidmore et al., 1997).

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3.3 Digital Competencies for Direct Practice in Social Work At the end of the chapter on process competencies, we will briefly address the digital competencies due to the increasing area of social work in the virtual environment. The COVID-19 pandemic has further accelerated the digital revolution in social work and forced practitioners worldwide to adopt new work methods. Digital competencies are an integral part of the social work process, but we will elaborate on them to understand the subject more easily. Digital competencies are considered one of the basic generic competencies in lifelong learning, that is future competencies in social work (Westwood et al., 2022). In line with the framework for digital competencies of the European Commission (DIGCOMP) (Ferrari, 2013), digital competencies are divided into the following areas: (1) information, (2) communication, (3) content creation, (4) safety, and (5) solving problems. Competencies relating to the availability of information in social work refer to the skills of social workers in seeking relevant and trusted information in the virtual domain. It is not difficult finding information in actual time, but a greater challenge is critically evaluating its validity. Another challenge is the quick and effective processing of information and integrating it into expert discernment. Given that social workers collect information on their own, possessing digital competencies facilitates developing proprietary databases and their effective use in monitoring needs in the field, informing users, and evaluating work. Many countries are developing applications in public systems that automatically store or retrieve data. For instance, in Great Britain, the saying “Digital by default” refers to the overall digitalisation of public administration and relates to social work activities (British Association of Social Workers, 2022). Another critical area of digital competencies is the area of communication, which is of particular importance for social work. It presupposes knowledge of written and unwritten communication norms within a virtual environment. Social workers can use digital technologies to interact directly with users. In using technology, simpler activities can be organised, such as informing users or simpler practical help. However, digital platforms can also facilitate more complex interventions, such as counselling processes, group work, or educating users and professionals. This approach demands more complex competencies, from adapting the communication process to the digital environment to better familiarity with platforms for interacting with users (e.g. advanced settings on platforms such as Zoom, Teams, Skype, and other specialised platforms). Some of the communication competencies also comprise those for establishing interdepartmental collaboration using digital technologies and broader mobilisation of inhabitants to encourage citizen activism (Ferrari, 2013). The third area of digital competencies concerns creating digital content using various means of message transmission (audio, video, photography, writing). These skills are useful for carrying out educational and sensitising activities for users. Digital technologies can foster creativity and entrepreneurship, also considered future skills (Westwood et al., 2022).

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The use of digital technologies poses the question of security in a wider but also narrower sense. Digital competencies include those for recognising and undertaking actions for protecting users when exposed to risks associated with digital technologies (e.g. violence, sexual exploitation, financial fraud, excessive use). Social workers require additional training to be able to recognise user factors and when exposed to such incidents. Furthermore, knowing the legal framework is also necessary based upon which the user can be protected and even possess technical knowledge that can be transferred to the user for the purpose of self-protection. In a narrower sense, social workers who communicate with users and collect information about them in the virtual domain should be aware of security risks (unprotected personal data or misuse of data shared by users), critically assess security risks, and take appropriate protection measures so that communicating with users or databases are not compromised. Social workers will encounter in digital communication a series of technical issues. They are not expected to know how to resolve such issues entirely, but they are expected to possess a certain skill and knowledge set for eliminating minor technical complications. In addition, they are also expected to recognise when user needs can be more effectively fulfilled, aided by digital technologies, especially assistive technologies. Also, the expectation is that they will know how to use technologies creatively, and in the event of an interruption in work, they will be able to devise alternative technological possibilities. Newer generations of social workers acquire digital competencies already during education, but their mastery requires further education, because we can expect that technological opportunities will be more significant. Therefore, the competence is essential that social workers detect the need for new knowledge and skills or detect the digital competence gap (Ferrari, 2013).

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Miljenović, A. (2010). Integriranje spoznaja u socijalnom radu. Ljetopis socijalnog rada (The Annual of Social Work), 17(2), 171–194. Parker, J. (2017). Social work practice: Assessment, planning, intervention and review. Learning Matters. Pierson, J., & Thomas, M. (2002). Dictionary of social work. Open University Press. Pillemer, K., Burnes, D., Riffin, C., & Lachs, M. S. (2016). Elder abuse: Global situation, risk factors, and prevention strategies. The Gerontologist, 56(Suppl_2), S194–S205. https://doi. org/10.1093/geront/gnw004 Pope, N. D., & Kang, B. (2011). Social work students’ attitudes about working with involuntary clients. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 31(4), 442–456. https://doi.org/10.1080/0884123 3.2011.597677 Priebe, S., Huxley, P., Knight, S., & Evans, S. (1999). Application and results of the Manchester Short Assessment of Quality of Life (MANSA). International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 45(1), 7–12. https://doi.org/10.1177/002076409904500102 Rooney, R. (2002). Working with involuntary clients. In A.  R. Roberts & G.  J. Greene (Eds.), Social workers’ desk reference (pp. 709–713). Oxford University Press. Rooney, R. (2009). Strategies for working with involuntary clients (2nd ed.). Columbia University Press. Scriven, M., & Paul, R. (1987). Critical thinking as defined by the national council for excellence in critical thinking. www.criticalthinking.org. The Foundation for Critical Thinking. https:// www.criticalthinking.org/pages/defining-­critical-­thinking/766. Accessed 21 Jan 2022. Sheafor, B.  W., & Horejsi, C.  R. (2015). Techniques and guidelines for social work practice. Pearson. Skidmore, R. A., Thackeray, M. G., & Farley, O. W. (1997). Introduction to social work. Allyn and Bacon. Skinner, H., Steinhauer, P., & Sitarenios, G. (2000). Family Assessment Measure (FAM) and process model of family functioning. Journal of Family Therapy, 22(2), 190–210. https://doi. org/10.1111/1467-­6427.00146 Smith, M. (2020). Recognising strategy and tactics in constructing and working with involuntary social work clients. Australian Social Work, 73(3), 321–333. https://doi.org/10.108 0/0312407X.2020.1717562 Symonds, J. (2018). Engaging parents with parenting programmes: Relationship building in initial conversations. British Journal of Social Work, 48(5), 1296–1314. https://doi.org/10.1093/ bjsw/bcx074 Taylor, I., & Le Riche, P. (2006). What do we know about partnership with service users and carers in social work education and how robust is the evidence base? Health & Social Care in the Community, 14(5), 418–425. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-­2524.2006.00653.x Trotter, C. (2015). Working with involuntary clients: A guide to practice. Routledge. Westwood, J., Needham, K., & Watson, I. (2022). Review of social work education – Future skills. Scottish Social Services Council. https://www.sssc.uk.com/knowledgebase/article/KA-­01881/ en-­us. Accessed 8 Mar 2022. Wilkins, D. (2016). Guide to developing social work care plans. Community Care Inform. https:// www.researchgate.net/publication/307864588_Guide_to_developing_social_work_care_ plans/citation/download. Accessed 8 Mar 2022. Willumsen, E., & Skivenes, M. (2005). Collaboration between service users and professionals: Legitimate decisions in child protection–a Norwegian model. Child & Family Social Work, 10(3), 197–206. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-­2206.2005.00371.x Wood, G. G., & Tully, C. T. (2006). The structural approach to direct practice in social work: A social constructionist perspective (3rd ed.). Columbia University Press.

Chapter 4

Professional Competencies for Social Change Marko Buljevac and Ana Opačić

Social work is a profession of social change. Since the beginning of the profession, two fundamental paths have been carved out in social work, with the goals of (1) improving individual capacities to facilitate integration into one’s environment, and (2) building an environment adapted to humans. Though both paths stem from different sources, which today seem to present contrary tendencies, this dialectic nature of the profession is an integral part of its identity. We have categorised competencies for social change into a separate area within the system of professional competencies. It is separate from direct practice, which mainly refers to working with individuals and families, although, in nature, working with social systems is also a form of direct practice. The contribution of social work to change in the social environment is most evident in community work, but it is not uncommon to find examples of its impact on broader structures. Although controversy exists as to the impact of social work on social reality is more theoretically conceptualised than practically implemented, there is consensus in the professional community that the mission of social work is to contribute to positive social change. In this chapter, we elaborated on four groups of professional competencies for social workers and directed to social change: (a) critical structural analysis that takes into account societal, ecological, economic, political influences that have an impact on social inequalities and human rights, (b) cross-cultural competencies and respect for diversity, (c) a critical approach, social justice, and human rights, and (d) community and macro practice. Later on, we will specifically address competencies in environmental practice as an emerging field of social work practice.

M. Buljevac (*) · A. Opačić Social Work Study Centre, Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 A. Opačić (ed.), Social Work in the Frame of a Professional Competencies Approach, European Social Work Education and Practice, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13528-6_4

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4.1 Competencies for Critical Structural Analysis Critical social work is, in theoretical terms, one of the most fruitful areas of social work (Healy, 2000); hence, some critics point out that critical social work is more of a product of theory than practice. When discussing social change, social work begins from a critical theoretical position of comprehending social reality as something that is not an ideal but creates social inequalities that need to be radically changed. Therefore, the first area of competencies for social change relates to knowledge and the manner of elaborating cognition to devise a structural analysis and identify sources of social inequalities. Critical theory builds up the capacity of social workers to understand what is oppression, its forms, and mechanisms for its implementation. Learning about critical theory helps social workers understand discrimination, levels of social inequalities, and forms of power. Critical social work also offers an understanding of how social inequalities and discrimination against users affect their daily lives, well-being, and social status. Based on acquired knowledge, social workers can develop more complex competencies, that is conduct a structural analysis by applying acquired knowledge. This approach means explicitly determining how social processes in the broadest sense, that is economic, political, and environmental processes, contribute to inequalities in the powers held by particular social groups threatening human rights. Furthermore, it means recognising how social systems participate in reproducing inequalities, violations and restricting human rights and how stereotypes and prejudices are perpetuated through social narratives and discriminatory practices are supported. Recognising how laws contribute to this situation is especially important, even though laws should not allow discriminatory outcomes. Social workers should critically review the effects of the social welfare system or broader social protection (not just the (in)action of institutions, but also legislative consequences) and the measure in which they are indeed agents of change and agents that reproduce existing social relationships. Social workers should recognise and critically evaluate laws and practices in their surroundings and those that degrade the right of users to self-determination. Systems in which social workers work, such as social welfare from the position of critical theory, are often characterised as contributing to stigmatisation and then self-­ stigmatisation of beneficiaries, making beneficiaries dependent on the welfare system and not contributing to their true empowerment (Mullaly, 2007). For the same reasons, the humanitarian approach in social work and the aid system, in general, is criticised. There are significant critics of the extensive development aid programmes that developed countries deliver to developing countries. The term neo-colonial philanthropy has also noted criticism of this form of helping system (Irfan, 2021). Critical structural analysis should help social workers understand how social inequalities and experience of injustice or breaching of rights is directly manifested at the level of individual circumstances, that is family relationships, an individual’s health, quality of life, and relationships with the immediate environment. The environment’s effects on individual well-being are simpler to identify when involving

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structural issues, such as poverty, unemployment, and violence in the community. However, social workers should have a deeper understanding of how unfavourable social situations and discrimination directly contribute to individual and interpersonal problems, such as difficulties with mental health, violence, delinquency, and dysfunctional family relationships. Social inequalities have a corrosive effect on society as a whole, whereas structural factors have a radial effect on all pores of human life, as well as on one’s impression of oneself due to the mechanisms of stigmatisation and self-stigmatisation. Besides understanding the cause of the problems, critical social work has developed a normative theoretical system that explains the activist role of social work. Competencies, therefore, include understanding social workers concerning their social role and also the mission of their profession, as well as expressing solidarity in situations when the rights of certain social groups are seriously breached. The core of such action is the creation of social conflict, which questions the powers and endeavours to understand them as a mechanism of change rather than a mechanism of oppression (Allan, 2006). Social workers need to understand the indigenous and truly effective mechanisms in their national context that contribute to social change within a normative framework and change in an institutional context or the redistribution of goods.

4.2 Cross-Cultural Competence and Respect for Diversity Based on our analysis, a specific group of social work competencies are those relating to multiculturalism and respect for diversity. Social workers should promote practices that respect these two competences. The first competence in this group is cultural competence. It means recognising the distinctive features of different social groups. Different social groups, especially minorities, have specific features that are sometimes different from the social norms and features of the majority in a society. Given that social workers always work within the legal frame, they are sometimes faced with challenges in promoting the cultural identity of a user and providing legislative-based formal support, which is sometimes different from a user’s cultural identity. Intercultural competencies are based on overcoming stereotypical oversimplifications and refer to the social worker’s language skills, understanding of verbal and non-verbal communication based on cultural norms, knowledge about how people from other cultures think and act, and understanding the impact of a user’s culture on their conception of reality (Stier, 2004). Skills in verbal and nonverbal communication are necessary and crucial in the service user–social worker relationship. Social workers should recognise the significance of non-verbal communication within the different social groups they encounter and utilise various competencies like active listening and showing respect. Gaining insight into a user’s perspective concerning problems, life, and expectations should be based on their perspective and the social worker’s ability to understand someone who has a different perspective. Showing respect and dignity is also a part of this competence, because social

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workers should always treat their users in this way. According to Kohli et al. (2010), cultural competence refers to the ability and skill to respect and interact with individuals from different backgrounds. Social workers should overcome their biases to provide adequate support. Cultural competence provides social worker skills and abilities based on knowledge about specific ethnic or cultural groups (Abrams & Moio, 2009), and requires social workers to appreciate the strengths of different cultural practices (Littlechild, 2012). This approach implies in social work practice the social worker’s heightened consciousness of how users experience their uniqueness and deal with their differences and similarities within a larger social context (Simmons et al., 2008, p. 8).

Cultural competence refers to the awareness, knowledge, and skills that social workers should develop and use to deliver culturally appropriate services, their ability to demonstrate a capacity for understanding the way culture shapes and influences user identities and behaviours, and which should result in the empowerment of social work practice (Danso, 2015; Jack & Gill, 2013; Simmons et al., 2008). According to the National Association of Social Workers (2015), the standards and indicators for cultural competence in social work practice are ethics and values, self-awareness, cross-cultural knowledge, cross-cultural skills, service delivery, empowerment and advocacy, diverse workforce, professional education, language diversity, and cross-cultural leadership. One of the best ways to understand how culture impacts the lives of users is to carefully listen to what users are saying about their beliefs and experiences and recognise that they are experts in their personal lives. As mentioned earlier, working on one’s own prejudices is necessary. Professionals should have adequate knowledge of a user’s cultural background and identity, treat them with respect and dignity, and ensure support for them in a way they understand and accept. This competence is important, especially in societies with different ethnic minorities, where social workers are representative of the majority. Therefore, a competent social worker has the knowledge, skills, and tools to work with users who are members of minority groups. A very similar competence to cultural competence, but one that is more specific, is the social worker’s ability to promote respect for intercultural diversity. This competence is based on the social worker’s cultural competences. Tesoriero (2006) states that engaging with people of different backgrounds remains the core of social work. Cultural diversity in social work has primarily been associated with race and ethnicity, but in the last few decades, it is taking on a broader meaning and includes the cultural experiences of people of different genders, social classes, religious and spiritual beliefs, sexual orientations, ages, and physical and mental abilities (Sousa & Almeida, 2016). Williams and Soydan (2005), based on a review of literature about ethnicity, stated that minority families are often pathologised and stereotyped, formal social support is universalised, whereas ethnic affiliation of users is very important. Racism is never simply an individual prejudice but a reflection of discriminatory structures and institutional practices (Pierson & Thomas, 2010). Becoming a member of a specific social group is an important part of every person’s social identity.

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An even more specific competency in social work is showing respect to users who are members of minority groups. This competency is often related to the term “ethnic sensitive social work practice,” referring to the practice of being mindful of the effects of ethnic and minority group membership in social functioning and incorporating this understanding into practice (Schlesinger & Devore, 1995). Problems associated with ethnic and minority individuals are often very complex as they face institutional racism; hence, social workers should always be aware and use cultural values and norms in interventions and assessment, and be aware of sociocultural and environmental factors that impact users (Chau, 1990). The competent social worker must keep in mind that formal support offered or provided to users can be negatively perceived by members of the respective minority group. A user’s cultural legacy may differ from the norms. When possible, a social worker should always obtain insight into the cultural perspective of users concerning offered help or support. Members of minority groups, such as national minorities, often encounter racism, impoverishment, hate crimes, bullying, mobbing, and social exclusion. Lack of trust is also often present. The first step is to gain confidence from the user based on the social worker´s knowledge about the respective minority group. Social workers can utilise strategies such as empowerment, socialisation and educational strategies, development and mobilisation of human resources, lobbying, advocacy, community mobilisation, identification of discrimination, and human resource development (Chau, 1990) to promote and ensure this competence. These strategies contribute to solving individual or group problems experienced by minority groups. Respecting a user’s religion and spirituality is another specific competency. Social workers should be aware of the need to respect individual user beliefs (Furness & Gilligan, 2010). Respecting the religious beliefs ensures better insight into a user´s life perspective, and this approach highlights that spirituality is an important resource and tool for social change. This competency is reflected in a holistic approach applied in social work. It also reflects the cultural identity of users. This is an important competency, especially in societies where religious minorities face discrimination and unequal treatment. In such cases, as a profession, social work must protect the rights of religious minorities. Social workers should never question and problematise the spirituality of service users. The next set of competencies are about showing respect to users based on their specific features. Based on our analysis, these features are age, sexual orientation, material living conditions, and health status. Some are also based on group membership. Pierson and Thomas (2010) noted that a formal support system should not respond on the basis of discriminatory assumptions regarding a user’s age, disability or health condition, race or ethnic origin, gender, social class, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion, or belief. Showing respect for users of different ages is a competency that is demonstrable in various ways. The results of the study by Sung and Dunkle (2009) show that the most frequently demonstrated forms of respect towards elderly users are linguistic respect (using proper language), salutatory respect (greeting and saluting), care respect (providing care and services), acquiescent respect (assenting and listening), presentational respect (maintaining proper manners), spatial respect (furnishing

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with comfortable seats), and consulting respect (seeking for advice). McLeod (2006) stated that social workers think that their respect of children is evident through listening to them, while Nelson (2011) states that a stereotypical perception of the elderly is those persons who have lost their independence or health. Consequently, social workers should question their attitudes towards ageing based on stereotyping, prejudicial beliefs, or discrimination and stigmatisation (Azulai, 2014). Respect of a user’s age is an important competence as it demonstrates knowledge about different age groups, effective communication skills (adapting a communication style to a user), and, of course, theoretical and practical knowledge about needs, problems, expectations, and wishes of children, youth, adults, and elderly persons. Another competency is showing respect for the user’s sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics. Social workers should show respect for users with different sexual orientations or gender expressions by using accurate and respectful language in all communications to and concerning LGTBQ users (Fish, 2009; Morrow, 2006). Language is a powerful tool, but it can stigmatise. Social workers should also respect the user’s level of outness and not push users to make disclosures beyond their own reasonable level of safety and comfort (Morrow, 2004). They should also develop culturally sensitive practice techniques that provide GLB youth with support, affirmation, and resources (Crisp & McCave, 2007), to ensure confidentiality, understand discrimination based on sexual orientation, and facilitate open communication (Fish, 2009). Sexual and gender identity are an important part of every person’s life; hence, gathering data and information about these factors from users is a delicate part of the social work profession. Social workers should be able to provide a safe, comfortable, and non-judgemental environment for users and be sensitive to the user’s gender identities. McCave et  al. (2014) noted that sexism and heterosexism are topics present in social work, but social workers must be aware that within each of these discriminations, there are prejudices and marginalisation tied explicitly to the sexual attitudes, and identities or behaviours of a user group. This competency commences once the social worker is aware of their own attitudes, beliefs, or prejudices concerning the LGTBQ population, recognising them in their work and eliminating such prejudices or discriminative behaviour. Social workers should also show respect for the material living conditions of users. Many services users live in poverty. Social exclusion is a consequence of poverty and low income, but other factors such as poor housing, low education, and deprived living environments also underpin it (Pierson & Thomas, 2010). It leads to falling behind in terms of formal support services and various opportunities. Knowledge and awareness concerning the impact of poverty on a user’s life is the basis of this competence. Krumer-Nevo (2016) pointed out that scholars from many countries have called for the restructuring of relationships between social workers and people living in poverty based on a social justice agenda, where social workers should develop an awareness of how poverty impacts a user’s life. This means that they should promote and create poverty-aware social work. Based on a review of literature by Boone et al. (2018), they concluded that people living in poverty are

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not recognised as full citizens in social interactions in European societies and that dignity, self-esteem, and recognition have been denied to them. Therefore, showing respect is crucial. The results of a study conducted by Boone et al. (2019) imply that social workers should be aware that an equal relationship with users living in poverty is not possible due to various complexities of poverty. Instead, they should endeavour to sensitise society about the socially unjust nature of poverty and frame poverty as a violation of human rights. Jack and Gill (2013) pointed out these facts which can be linked to this specific competence, that is the fact that poverty interacts with other disadvantages in people’s lives can help social workers see the world from the unique perspective of each person within the family and recognise their individual access to resources while keeping in mind that the particular effects of poverty on each family members are likely to depend on a range of factors (e.g. role within the family, age, and gender). Social workers should feel comfortable starting to openly and honestly discuss poverty-related issues with both adults and children, demonstrate empathy, utilise user-friendly language that avoids creating or reinforcing feelings of blame or stigma, and be fully aware of all pressures and problems users experience due to poverty. The last specific competency from our analysis relates to showing respect for the different health statuses of users. Social workers often struggle with issues of power, responsibility, and professional tension between using directive interventions and supporting the user’s autonomy (Scheyett et  al., 2009). Based on a review of studies conducted by Steketee et al. (2017), they concluded that social workers should address the emotional, behavioural, and cognitive needs of users and family members to reduce illness and promote health, coordinate care teams and different services, provide case management, create needs and risk assessments, seek out care settings for users, advocate for users experiencing health problems, visit user homes for assessment, and provide counselling or support to caregivers. All this points towards a specific competence relating to a user’s health status. According to the National Association of Social Workers (2016), the guiding principles for social workers working in a health-care setting are self-­ determination, cultural competence and affirmation of the dignity and worth of all people, the person-in-­environment framework, strengths perspective, primacy of the client–social worker relationship, social justice, and importance of social work research. Working with individuals, families, groups, and communities comprises those competencies in which the focus of social work activity is the user – as the individual, the family, groups, and communities (Australian Association of Social Workers, 2008). A culturally competent practice in healthcare means that social workers should develop and maintain an understanding of the history, traditions, rituals, values, family systems, and communication patterns of service users, as well as understand the influence of culture on help-seeking behaviours and perceptions of health status, recognise how different kinds of oppression affect a user’s bio-psychosocial spiritual well-being, access to and use of formal support, and health outcomes (National Association of Social Workers, 2016). Based on the standards for social workers working in mental health (Australian Association of Social Workers, 2008, 2014), we have concluded that the specific competencies

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are active listening, showing respect, confidentiality, multiculturalism, empowering, empathy, counselling, collaboration with users, different assessments (e.g. a user’s strength assessment, assessment of community resources), implementation of different psychosocial interventions, advocacy, providing support, fighting discrimination of users, case management, sensitisation about mental health, different social actions, networking, management, team work, research, and professional development. Cross-cultural competencies are significantly connected to a critical perspective. Social workers should have the capacity for self-reflection and notice whether they are truly modelling the desired social change. Social work through education should challenge biases and stereotypes as well as address discrimination towards race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, and mental illness by improving overall awareness, understanding, and acceptance of diversity and individuals who differ from the majority (Wahler, 2012). There are two very similar but more specific competencies that a social worker should use to prevent, reduce, or stop discrimination, that is respond appropriately when co-worker attitudes or behaviours seem discriminatory and respond appropriately when discrimination is based on a user’s cultural identity. The Policy, Ethics and Human Rights Committee (British Association of Social Workers, BASW, 2014) points out that social workers should challenge and seek to address any actions of their colleagues who demonstrate negative discrimination, and whether it is connected to empowerment. Addressing the discriminative actions of colleagues is a very delicate matter but necessary. Users should have the opportunity within the social work process to be treated with dignity, and social workers should provide them with freedom from discrimination on the basis of age, sex, race, disability, sexuality, and religion (Ife, 2012). Social workers should be aware of and recognise the potential for power imbalances in working relationships with service users and carers and the use of authority in a responsible manner (Penhale & Parker, 2008), given that users are discriminated against by social services providers whose behaviours often reflect racial profiling (Ayón & Becerra, 2013). This topic relates to a competence involving a response to discrimination at the institutional level. Pierson and Thomas (2010) distinguished two concepts that are necessary for this competence: (1) anti-discriminatory practice in social work, aiming to challenge the unfair, discriminatory treatment experienced by specific groups in society, and (2) anti-oppressive practice focused on extreme differences in power between service users and employees within the formal support system. Pierson and Thomas (2010) remind us that anti-oppressive social work practice aims to counter the sources of oppression in society, whether stereotypes, discrimination, disadvantages, or unequal distribution of power. Solidarity between social workers and service users is necessary to overcome the imbalanced power relations among them and the subordination of service users (Krumer-Nevo, 2016). Human rights are based on respect for the dignity and worth of each person, regardless of race, gender, language, religion, opinions, wealth, or ability (Pierson & Thomas, 2010).

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4.3 Competencies for Critical Practice and Advocating for Social Justice and Human Rights The most complex area of competencies is where social workers utilise to contribute directly to social change, that is the underlying competencies making critical social work activistic and transformative. As we pointed out earlier, the potential of activistic social work is more far-reaching in theory than what is the case in practice because social work as a profession primarily does not have access to key levers of social powers. At the basic level, competent social workers (regardless of the sector in which they work) recognise when user rights are violated and automatically or routinely take appropriate action and apply the necessary regulations. In other words, critical action is an integral part of their professional impulse, and they routinely integrate the principles of social justice into their practice and do so in challenging situations (British Association of Social Workers, BASW, 2013). At the next level are competencies for critically viewing the context in which social workers work, including practices and a normative framework. They will know how to recognise and articulate when the normative framework is oppressive or contrary to human rights standards. Social workers should also possess competencies to analyse practice, theirs and others. Using critical thinking and previously acquired knowledge, they can identify when practice is not based on social justice and does not support true empowerment of users, equality, and social inclusion. This approach means that social justice and human rights principles should be a horizontal topic or “lenses” through which the standard evaluation of practice will be conducted (British Association of Social Workers, BASW, 2013). On the other hand, they will join those practices that can generate a fairer position for users and help in achieving human rights. Critical and activist action takes place outside the professional “comfort zone” and often involves conflict in reconsidering and challenging existing power relations (Allan, 2006). This view requires professional courage from experts but may also create the risk of placing the user in a challenging situation, where the protection of rights and empowerment results in the risk of losing an existing position. In addition, it is quite likely that the social worker will be confronted with conflicting interests and needs, even when it comes to users in an equally disadvantaged position. Competent social workers in such situations will not give up but seek adequate support to overcome perceived barriers (British Association of Social Workers, BASW, 2013). At the third level, social workers possess competencies for proactive activism. According to Knežević et al. (2013), activism within social work takes place through three groups of activities: demonstrative, cooperative, and transformative. This categorisation stems from the thesis that social change is achieved in a stratified manner through three dimensions: (1) changes to the narrative and identifying the gap in power inequalities, (2) gathering stakeholders and their mobilisation (whether it involves people who are directly or indirectly affected by some problem), and (3) specific changes that are more often manifested in changes to the source of power, that is change to norms and change in access to resources.

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Social change cannot commence while there is no critical social consciousness of the scale of inequality and its dimensions. Inequalities can be identified as inequalities in accessing basic resources, as inequalities in implicit or explicit standards of the judiciary, through unequal opportunities in acquiring social benefits, in cultural representations, in the way persons internalise and normalise their position and finally in terms of self-stigmatisation (Davis, 1991 in Touwen, 2009). Moreover, inequality also exists when the principle of equal rights and rules for all assists in perpetuating an existing position of inequality of outcomes (Davis, 1991 in Touwen, 2009). The desire for change requires recognising the extent of inequality on a cognitive level and provoking on an emotional level a reaction from social stakeholders to admit that this situation also “affects” them and that it causes them anger and dissatisfaction. Therefore, awareness-raising activities are carried out for those directly affected by the problem and those who do not directly encounter it but feel social responsibility. At the same time, demonstrative activities should result in a positive vision of society when the desired change occurs so that mobilised groups gain a sense of meaningfulness and motivation. Therefore, the competencies of social workers include the ability to creatively carry out various demonstrative, lobbying, and advocacy activities. Implementing such activities requires appropriate knowledge, analysis, and reasoning that will strengthen social awareness and implement targeted research and evaluation. Social workers need to experiment with different creative ways of sending out messages and acquire the skills to communicate with the public to identify what will best reach key stakeholders. The manner of shaping the message cannot be the same for different addressees, that is the users, political public, experts, and general public. In addition, social workers gather their strength and legitimacy for activism from user experience and often from their own professional or personal experience. The basis of activist action is mobilising stakeholders who want to systematically advocate social change. Social workers have access to users directly affected by problems or encounter social inequalities. Previously acquired trust and work methods means that social workers can encourage the formation of interest groups of users who can be mobilised for broader action. Their role is predominantly indirect and empowering, helping users become aware of their capacities and power, learn from others’ successful examples, and obtain technical and information support (Henderson & Thomas, 2013). Besides users, social workers can gather a diverse circle of social stakeholders willing to lobby for necessary change. This approach transposes the concept of power permitting change, that is the power of and the power to, instead of an oppressive power over (Dominelli & Campling, 2002). The final level of competencies is the most complex and relates to implementing transformative activities intended for direct action for social change. Social change should happen as a change in the source of power, where power in contemporary society ordinarily stems from two basic elements. The first source of power is the normative framework that regulates rights, obligations, and social privileges. The other source of power is material resource, most often access to financial power. Access to material resources can change due to advocating a redistribution

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mechanisms or the creation of new resources (such as funds or trusts) to which certain social groups have direct access. In both cases, these are complex activities that require the highest level of professional competence, including complex knowledge of political, legal and economic processes and advocacy skills, articulation of political positions, and proposing legislation or legal and political action when responding to unfair regulations. Finally, at the highest level of integrating competencies, social workers are expected to integrate the activist habitus, that is to demonstrate the integrity of professionals who consistently and continually work for social justice. This kind of expert is a model for activism in social work, contributes to a righteous organisational culture, and such an organisation is recognised as protecting human rights. These experts can take the lead in activist activities, take the initiative to fight against oppressive practices in their own organisations, and even warn colleagues of their discriminatory views.

4.4 Competencies for Community and Macro Practice We have already shown the effect of social work in broader structures in the context of a critical paradigm. However, social work in broader structures is, to a large extent, brought to life through community work, which directly affects broader social structures. Social work within a community is not a priori critically orientated, that is it may be based on a wide range of theories and paradigms resulting in various community work models. In other words, social work in a community is not necessarily involved in topics of inequality or social justice. However, regardless of the starting point, social work in the community always gravitates towards social change at the local community level. Competencies for community work are based on a dichotomous understanding of community development as a process and outcomes (Twelvetrees, 2008). In a narrower sense, the word community development is a process of constructing a community network, building trust and norms that form social relationships. In other words, community development is directed at strengthening social capital within the community. Social workers contribute to building informal relationships, most often through a framework of good-neighbour assistance, encouraging volunteerism, and various activities in which inhabitants have the opportunity to meet up, socialise, and become more aware of the position of vulnerable groups. Social workers should also possess competencies to strengthen formal social capital, for example, through the formalisation of community initiatives and the creation of super-organisations. Namely, one of the most complex tasks placed before social workers is to coordinate and build interdepartmental cooperation to bridge or avoid fragmentation of services. The mechanisms accomplishing this task are most often organisational forms that enable cooperation as separate entities, for example networks, coordinating bodies such as committees and councils, strategic partnerships governed by agreements, protocols or coalitions. This role of social workers implies

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possessing knowledge and information about social stakeholders and their roles, cooperation skills as a complex communication skill that overcomes institutional or sectoral boundaries. When it comes to competencies for community relations, community social workers often face different and even conflicting interests, even when it comes to vulnerable groups of citizens. Hence, negotiation skills are essential, and working in a broad dialogue to effectively mitigate resistance at the community level. At the outcome level, social workers need competencies to create specific changes in the community, such as new or improved services or new material resources for the benefit of citizens in need. This approach most often requires that social workers possess competencies for planning and managing community projects, from preparation to implementation, monitoring, managing, and finally, evaluation. The dichotomy in the resource-oriented approach compared to the needs-oriented approach is important for understanding community work (Twelvetrees, 2008). Although the resource-based approach is accepted as being modern, while the needs-oriented approach is more traditional, the competencies of social workers include competencies for assessing both needs and resources. These levels are important for planning community programmes and projects and involve multidisciplinary collaboration, connecting, and stakeholder networking. Accordingly, a coordinated response to the needs of citizens is ensured, and available resources are mobilised economically and efficiently. The structural contribution of social work within and outside of the community at the macro level is most often manifested through participating in political processes, especially in social policies. Here, a few levels of competencies are expected of social workers. The lowest level is competencies in recognising social policy measures at the local, regional, and national levels (whether they are formulated within or outside the social welfare system). The next level is competencies for analysing and evaluating the effects of social policies on the position of users and recognised social issues and risks. In this segment, viewing the underlying basis of when certain rights are regulated by a number of different laws to choose the most favourable right for the user is beneficial. Situated at the final and most complex level are competencies for shaping social policies. Specifically, this includes managing and participating in the social planning process and drafting strategic documents at the local, regional, or national levels. Social planning is a complex technical and professional process that importantly requires knowledge of public systems, skills in collecting and processing analytical data, structured use of data to formulate strategic goals and the ability to formulate measures and indicators to monitor the implementation of measures. In addition, social planning is a participatory and advocacy process that places importance on communication skills in cooperation and negotiation and even lobbying for the political and general public. Finally, when referring to social work and social change, the social worker’s competencies include a unique mindset in which the social worker experiences their professional identity through the prism of structural engagement. The question of the identity determinant for social work is not a question of choosing between focusing on the individual or society (as we explained in the introduction), but the ability to overcome this dichotomy and understand social work as a profession that

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has been historically formed by strong social forces, and also as a profession that actively participates in social processes, mitigating their effects, and even proactively working on changing their direction. Accordingly, understanding how the profession has been shaped during its historical path and the ability to anticipate future trends in developing the profession in a social context is important.

4.5 Competencies for Environmental Practice as an Emerging Field of Social Work Practice Contemporary problems associated with sustainable development and climate change place before the social sciences and disciplines the need to integrate green or eco perspectives. Social work is not exempt from this situation, as testified by the explosion of scientific publications and subjects in green social work, ecological social work, or ecosocial work. Competencies in this area are not vastly different from those previously presented at the structural and critical action level in social work or community social work. However, the specificity of the topic expands the area in interdisciplinary terms, even transdisciplinary collaboration far beyond present levels. Competencies in this type of social work practice depend on how far or radically we observe the relationship of social work with respect to environmental development, and in the familiar triangle of competencies made up of knowledge, skills, and values, it seems that cognitive competencies and value orientation dominate. Namely, the eco-social approach in social work is predominantly described in a cognitive and value transition compared to traditional or modernist views in social work (Besthorn, 2015). The relationship between social work and ecological development can be viewed from three positions. The first level is recognising environmental factors as one of the variables in direct practice, especially in estimating and planning interventions. At the second level, awareness of the deep intertwining of man and his (natural) environment means that environmental issues are not one of the variables but are the key determinant in understanding social problems and risks in certain situations. According to Coates and Gray (2019), it is more correct to speak of environmental social work as a dominant perspective that remains anthropocentric, where the focus is on human well-being, and environmental factors are recognised as the extent of the impact on individual well-being. In this situation, we can say that competencies stemming from new knowledge and information, especially from disciplines other than the social sciences, such as technical or natural sciences, are more important. Expanding the cognitive basis of social work outside the social sciences is an extremely complex task, and new challenges create the basis for integrating social work into new transdisciplinary areas of science. At the most powerful level, we can talk about a complete change to the paradigm and fundamental and substantial turnabout in social work in terms of ecocentric green social work, which will focus on the environment and not on human as part of

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the environment (Coates & Gray, 2019). This turnabout in the profession has not happened yet, but strong theoretical elaborations are opening up such possibilities, even within the framework of a broader social transformation which Matthies (2017) calls an ecosocial transition. This kind of social change implies changing paradigms in economics, social relationships, lifestyles, and political priorities, distancing itself from an anthropocentric view while placing the environment in the broadest sense of the work as a subject of interest. When talking about the competencies of social workers in the mentioned situation, the focus must first be placed on competencies in the domain of values and identity, or a cognitive mindset that does not primarily depend on specific knowledge and skills. Besthorn (2015) sums up the following value and cognitive presumptions: shifting from a linear and mechanistic view (we can also add a return to a true systematic resonance); value expansion of empathy, emotional relationship towards all living beings that share our environment (without limiting to only social milieu); emancipation of existential values in harmony with nature as well as with one another (where others are not only people); raising awareness that the human being in its given state is inseparably linked to the natural world. We can add that raising awareness is linked to the question of conditionality (as testified by positivistic science) and that connectedness should be understood in terms of ethics of relationships and mutuality. In a cognitive sense, a more powerful valorisation of autochthonous knowledge stems from a strong connection to nature (instead of the domination of evidence-based experimental science). Finally, this kind of transition is deeply supported by critical theory, which was elaborated in the introduction to this chapter, and it is deemed that growth to the detriment of sustainable development is a product of the Western system of government which tends to exploit natural resources and was supported by economic, political, technical, and even ideological models. Our conclusion is that the area of green or environmental social work is a growing area, as confirmed by modern crises. In terms of professional competencies and the level of ambition within the profession, the key question is who or what is the focus of social work. If the answer to this question has fundamentally changed how we now view social work, it means in terms of competencies, creating a completely new and different cognitive scheme to investing and linking knowledge, skills, and values of social work.

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Chapter 5

Leadership and Professional Socialisation Martina Podobnik and Antun Ilijaš

Leadership is a three-decade-old topic of significant interest in international debates on education and practice in social work (Iachini et  al., 2015). So far, from the Croatian perspective, no framework of leader competencies in social work has been developed, nor is there an operational definition of leadership, nor has anyone seriously elaborated on the concept. However, at the global level, leadership has been getting increasing attention from theoreticians and practitioners in social work; hence, in the last 10 years, there has been a noticeable increase in the body of scientific literature on the topic. Understanding leadership and strengthening the base of effective leaders is becoming increasingly important in the social work profession, given the quickening pace of changes within social work practice and increasing global and national challenges. Social, health, cultural, economic, political and demographic factors are creating changes in the functioning of support services (professions), resulting in greater diversification, complexity and focus on scientific evidence (Rank & Hutchison, 2000). This suggests the need for strong, proactive leaders who should possess and balance different skill sets. Due to numerous crisis situations that are psychologically very difficult for the professional community of Croatian social workers (e.g. the actual murder of a social worker and lawyer in Đakovo), social work leaders need to empower and motivate their co-workers to be more proactive, strengthen their sense of security and connection in the workplace, their belonging to a professional community and work organisation collective. Therefore, the first part of the chapter focuses on defining leadership in social work M. Podobnik (*) Parents’ Association “STEP BY STEP”, Zagreb, Croatia e-mail: [email protected] A. Ilijaš Croatian Chamber of Social Workers, Zagreb, Croatia e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 A. Opačić (ed.), Social Work in the Frame of a Professional Competencies Approach, European Social Work Education and Practice, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13528-6_5

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and provides an overview of the literature on leadership skills and traits, leadership models, education for leadership in social work, and the potential influence leaders have on the work collective and its members as individuals. Led by leadership education in social work and the influence of leaders on the collective and individuals as members of the collective, the second concept to receive attention in the paper is professional socialisation. Though it has long been considered that it happens during formal education (Miller, 2010), we now know that it begins earlier, continues during education and lasts until retirement, i.e., throughout the entire working life. Professional socialisation is also an under-­ researched concept, and so far, conducted research has been directed primarily to only one aspect of this multidimensional concept (e.g. values) (Barretti, 2004). In the second section, we will highlight Miller’s model of professional socialisation (2010), and special attention will be given to the professional identity and perception of the profession as well as drawing on examples from situations in Croatia where we undergo professional development.

5.1 Leadership in Social Work 5.1.1 How to Define It? Management and leadership are often interpreted as being synonymous. Management implies daily activities, tasks and routines, essential for an organisation to remain sustainable and function unhindered (Sullivan, 2016). To become a manager requires commitment, a strong mind, exceptional effort and work, intelligence, analytical abilities, including tolerance and good will (Zaleznik, 1977, p. 68), whereas, on the contrary, the definition of leadership often includes vision, inspiration, innovation, creativity and strength (Fisher, 2009; Lawler, 2007; Mary, 2005; Rank & Hutchison, 2000; Zaleznik, 1977, as cited in Sullivan, 2016). Brilliant (2001) asserts that managers solve problems and maintain the functioning of organisations; however, it is leaders who are creative, take risks and promote innovation along with organisation growth. Simply put, managers can be “good managers” but need not essentially be leaders. Yukl (1989, p. 5) stated that leadership is broadly defined to include processes of influence that include determining the goals of a group or organisation, motivating worker behaviour to achieve set goals and having an influence on maintaining the culture of an organisation.

Similarly, leadership is understood as a complex cognitive and behavioural task that includes motivating, directing and organising, utilising effective strategies and applying various techniques, conceptual and interpersonal skills (House & Aditya, 1997, as cited in McCormick, 2001). What is important here is that a leader’s efforts do not guarantee organisation success, but it seeks the involvement of the entire collective. Therefore, one could say that the success of a leader is socially mediated.

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Rank and Hutchison (2000, p. 499) define leadership in social work as communicating the vision to create proactive processes in empowering individuals, families, groups, organisations and the community. Similarly, Holosko (2009) points out that the essential characteristics of leadership in social work are vision, positive change, encouraging others to change and action, teamwork and collaboration, and the ability to solve problems. BASW defines within its framework of professional competencies (2018) the tasks of leadership in social work as promoting the profession and good practice in social work. Assuming responsibility for the professional training and development of others.

They also highlighted that we develop and present leadership individually and collectively, promoting the purpose, practice and significance of social work, an organisational context suitable for good practice and learning, and through various activities, such as research, evaluation, utilising innovation and creativity, utilising social media, establishing cooperation with various social stakeholders and users, becoming active in professional organisations, contributing to politics. On the other hand, Lawler (2007, p. 133) points out that we are “still in the position of not having a generally accepted definition of leadership or what it should be in terms of social work,” and in addition, the challenge also stems from the fact that the knowledge base is primarily conceptual and lacks a solid empirical basis (Hafford-Letchfield et al., 2014). No one has seriously addressed leadership in social work in the Croatian context. At the legislative level, conditions do exist for persons to fulfil to be appointed to the position of director at a social welfare centre or as director of a social welfare home and role as director. Hence, Article 132 of the Social Welfare Act (OG 157/13, 152/14, 99/15, 52/16, 16/17, 130/17, 98/19, 64/20) stipulates the following the director organises and runs operations and the professional work at social welfare centres, represents the social welfare centre and is responsible for the legality of its operations.

Furthermore, Article 133 also stipulates who can be appointed as director of a social welfare centre, as the most important institution within the social welfare system: a Croatian citizen who has completed an undergraduate and graduate program in social work, social policies, law, psychology, social pedagogy or educational rehabilitation, with no less than five years of work experience in professional roles in the stipulated academic profession and academic level in the social welfare occupation, and has passed the professional exam.1

and for whom there are no impediments in terms of criminal offences. A person may become a director of a social welfare home under Article 153 of the Social Welfare Act (OG 157/13, 152/14, 99/15, 52/16, 16/17, 130/17, 98/19, 64/20) upon fulfilling the following conditions:

 In Croatia, after earning a degree in social work, persons are obliged to do a traineeship after which they are required to pass the professional exam before the relevant Ministry. Only after passing the professional exam may the person gain membership in the Chamber of Social Workers (the professional organisation assigned the task of licencing social workers). 1

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and for whom there are no impediments in terms of criminal offences. In exceptional circumstances, if no person applies for the position of director published in a job advertisement fulfilling the conditions in terms of academic profession and level, a person who fulfils other stipulated conditions (Art. 154 of the Social Welfare Act, OG 157/13, 152/14, 99/15, 52/16, 16/17, 130/17, 98/19, 64/20) may be appointed as director of a social welfare home. With exceptions to this legal manner of defining conditions, the concept of “leadership in social work” has not been defined by any occupation organisation in Croatia. Understanding the role of a leader depends on national specifics, just as professional competencies depend on a national and work context. Therefore, formulating an operative definition of leadership in social work should be one of the tasks of Croatian occupational organisations in the future. Formulating an operative definition requires conducting a qualitative survey among social work leaders to obtain a detailed insight into the functioning of such leadership in Croatia. On a global scale, occupational organisations offer their definitions and describe the qualities of a leader. These characteristics of a leader are the subject of the next section.

5.1.2 Skills and Characteristics of a Leader Ask yourself: what is necessary for us to become a leader? Leader intuitively poses a set of responses that includes: understanding human behaviour, the ability to provide assistance and support to others for growth and development, ability to consider a situation from various angles, ethically derived values and attitudes, ability to resolve conflicts, multicultural skills, ability to reach consensus, ability to participate in making decisions and other characteristics. Cooke et  al. (1995, p.  240) pointed out some specific leadership skills which seem to be important even today: “managing relationships in one’s environment, such as presenting and positioning effective programs, networking, establishing collaboration, negotiating within unfriendly surroundings and balancing relationships with a number of co-workers and stakeholders.” To improve a working system in an organisation and effectively lead workers, one must first get to know the wider context within which an organisation operates and create a (quality) collaborative network. It is essential to get to know other institutions, professional and social ones, and have interpersonal communication skills to work with various people, good rhetorical skills and sometimes negotiation skills. In practice, it has been shown many times that social contacts established in business circles are the most

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important factor in solving specific practical tasks, such as finding emergency accommodation, getting media space to promote a profession or an organisation’s work, and easier access to information relevant to the organisation. Therefore, a leader must be a good organiser and possess exceptional communication skills and exceptional social intelligence. Along these lines, possessing emotional intelligence and good control of (emotional) reactions is necessary, and giving and accepting feedback and creating a positive working atmosphere imbued with mutual respect and trust. Furthermore, it seems to be extremely important for an effective leader to be authentic and emotionally determined, not to strive to be liked by workers, but to be respected above all as a professional with authority, and this is possible only if we are consistent, objective and effective. If the role of a leader is viewed in terms of the frequency of crises encountered by the social work profession, and especially the media hype,2 then indeed skills in public speaking and rhetoric, functioning effectively under pressure, maintaining the cohesion of professional teams  – empowering those involved in situations and finding ways of maintaining a positive spirit in the collective, while taking care of the psychological well-being of each member of the collective – are exceptionally important and we dare say more important than practical experience. The ability to maintain an optimally positive spirit in the collective and control emotions, reactions, and behaviours seem crucial in the already mentioned crises, such as the case of the tragic murder of a female social worker and male lawyer at the social welfare centre in Đakovo in Croatia. Namely, the leader in such a situation should be able to recognise what is happening with the people he or she leads and not ignore the various signs of warning and alarms expressed by workers. It is precisely in a crisis that a leader’s effectiveness becomes clear, and possibly the kind of atmosphere the leader has created in the team beforehand – do people trust him or her, does he or she have good control of the situation? Accordingly, we consider admitting to making a mistake or seeking help and support when faced with an insurmountable challenge, an extremely important leadership characteristic that requires suppressing the ego and consulting with close or trusted associates. Moreover, some of the characteristics that we find in literature along with a leader’s description are: persistent, confident, energetic, sensitive to the environment, adaptable to different situations, assertive, goal oriented, solves problems well, sensitive to individual and collective needs (Bass, 1990; Yukl, 1994; Zaccaro et al., 1991; Mumford et al., 1993; Yukl & Van Fleet, 1992, as cited in McCormick, 2001). A survey was conducted by Giles (2016) of leaders from 15 countries on the topic of professional competencies of leaders. The task for 195 respondents was to select the 15 most important competencies from a list of 74 competencies. The following ten competencies proved to be the most important for leaders: high  In Croatia, the social work profession over the last 2 years has been marked by three large tragedies: the murder of a female social worker and male lawyer at the Đakovo Social Welfare Centre by a welfare user; a case on the island of Pag when a father threw three of his children from the balcony of the house (family receiving treatment from social welfare) and the case from Pula when a mother killed her 3-year-old child (family receiving treatment from social welfare). 2

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moral and ethical standards (67% of participants), sets goals and objectives with broad guidelines (59% of participants), clearly communicates expectations (56% of participants), has the flexibility to change opinions (52% of participants), is committed to the professional development of workers (43% of participants), communicates often and openly (42% of participants), is open to new ideas and approaches (39% of participants), creates a sense of community in successes and failures (38% of participants), helps me grow into a new leader (38% of participants) and gives me the confidence to try and make mistakes (37% of participants). All of the above are also applicable in social work, and in particular, some of the above competencies may have an impact on creating a positive atmosphere in a work team and act as protective factors in working in very stressful environments, such as those in which social workers work. Certainly, it would be important in the context of social work to check leaders’ perceptions of the skills and characteristics needed for effective leadership. Generally, leaders are viewed as competitive, dominant, authoritative, and confident persons ready to face the most complex challenges and firmly orientated toward tasks, where such qualities are more regularly attributed to men than women (Stelter, 2002). Historically, the domination by men in leadership positions is not new. Such stereotypical thinking that men have more leadership qualities (Stelter, 2002) seems to devalue women’s contribution to the development of leadership, reduce the number of women leaders and impose greater pressure on them, and the need to invest significantly greater effort to prove their leadership capacities, which may decrease their desire to achieve such positions (Gardiner & Tiggemann, 1999). Women are more often viewed as fragile and caring – motherly. For women leaders, there is a saying: “You know you’re not a man, but you’re not a woman. You’re in the third category  – you’re a woman boss.” The saying evokes a challenge encountered by women. In terms of gender and leaders in social welfare centres in Croatia, 16.7% of men and 83.3% of women are in leadership positions. According to the last available annual statistical report for 2018 in public and private social care homes, of the 244 principals, 71.72% (N = 175) are women (Ministarstvo za demografiju, obitelj, mlade i socijalnu politiku, 2019). In other words, in Croatia, at least in terms of social work, we cannot talk about the underrepresentation of women in leadership positions within the social welfare system. Equally so, in positions of state secretaries in ministries responsible for social welfare activities, it is women that hold the majority of such positions. The explanation is that professions found within the social welfare system (social workers, psychologists, social pedagogues, lawyers) are dominantly women’s professions.

5.1.3 Education for Leadership in Social Work In the past, some authors (for instance, Newsome, 1995, as cited in Rank & Hutchison, 2000) noted that there exists an awareness that it is indeed difficult to find social workers who are willing to assume leadership roles, which is perhaps

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supported by the fact that without education for preparing to become a leader, those who are training as assistance prefer to be led. Given the earlier presented statistics on Croatia, the impression is that, nonetheless, the preparedness of social workers to assume leadership roles has improved. We have to point out the possible influence of differences in social work practice and international differences in the functioning of systems and organisational elements, meaning that reliable conclusions on this specific aspect cannot be drawn. When it comes to training for leadership in social work, from Croatia’s perspective, we can say that this type of training is rarely offered, is short-term in nature and is offered to those already in leadership positions. Moreover, the education system in Croatia is focused on preparing students for working with users and empowering them. Little attention is paid to the career development of social workers and strengthening their skills that could become relevant for leadership positions. Together with professional organisations, social work schools should assume responsibility for strengthening the leadership potential among social workers. It is our opinion that to be up to date with current trends, we have to introduce education models that will facilitate the acquisition of multidimensional skills, and which will encourage social workers to develop hard skills. International practice does not diverge significantly from the described Croatian model where educational programmes rarely include teaching skills in running organisations (Lawler & Bilson, 2013; Holosko, 2009; Perlmutter, 2006, as cited in Haworth et al., 2018). Therefore, some authors (e.g. Holosko, 2009; Haworth et al., 2018) conclude that institutions that educate social workers must take some of the responsibility for the stagnant development of effective leadership. Though a positive shift is noticeable, hence interestingly, in the USA, there are double programmes at universities that permit acquiring a business degree or degree in public service management (e.g. MSW/MPA at the Silver School of Social Work and the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service; the Columbia Schools of Social Work and Business grant an MSW/MBA) in addition to acquiring a social work degree. BASW (2019) points out social work needs leaders who are confident, inclusive and effective in making decisions, with the ability to work in complex surroundings with creativity and resilience. Therefore, the BASW has created an educational programme called Excellence in Social Work Leadership (ESWL), which has been run for the last 10 years. The programme is held over 6 days (three two-day modules) in intervals of 4–6 weeks, and participants apply the skills and knowledge in practice between the modules and also analyse their experiences at the next module. During the programme, leaders explore their own motivation to be a leader, values ​​and ethics and how it affects their work style, ways they can increase their own efficiency and that of the team and organisation, ways to solve specific work challenges and improve professional authority, decision-making skills, analytical skills, motivational skills, strengthen self-awareness and cooperation (BASW, 2019). Furthermore, NASW Arkansas (2019) offers a Leadership Academy educational course for people who have demonstrated their leadership capacities and who have the potential to make a positive impact on the future of social work. The purpose of the leadership programme is to identify and develop leaders who will bring

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positive change to social work, and participants have the opportunity to develop their own leadership style through interactive work, build relationships, understand the challenges faced by leaders in social work and acquire skills needed to achieve positive change. We believe that such programmes must come to fruition around the world, including Croatia, which we believe will help build a network of effective leaders in social work. Equally so, the profession also requires reliable measuring instruments. Accordingly, Peters and Hopkins (2019) validated an instrument for measuring leadership in social work, and the first such instrument was devised in the social work profession. The conclusion for validation research is that the instrument was useful for researching and measuring leadership and represents a good tool in identifying individual challenges which leaders encounter and areas in which additional education or training is necessary, and based on self-appraisal and consultation with supervisors. The actual leaders can use it for self-appraisal to check their effectiveness. Given the significant international differences and specifics in practice by social workers, we believe that it will be challenging to secure uniform application of this and similar instruments, i.e., that we will need to develop a national context with adapted measures and frameworks for leadership competencies to cover the research concept adequately.

5.1.4 Leadership Models in Social Work – Totally Different from Others? Despite the topic of leadership in social work gaining increasing scientific and practical attention, one of the critical questions is which specific leadership model is most optimal and purposeful in applying to social work, how to integrate learning about leadership in educational courses and structure courses, and whether the best courses actually contribute to developing the relevant competencies (Hafford-­ Letchfield & Harper, 2014; Holosko, 2009; Iachini et  al., 2015; Lawler, 2007; Leonard et al., 2013; Rank & Hutchison, 2000). Sullivan (2016) points out that the elements of leadership in social work are analogous to those in other professions and that there are grounds for the argument that social work should not be emphasised as specific in terms of the leadership conceptualisation and performance. This has enabled the social work profession to learn from experiences in other professions. Researchers in social work most often hasten to accept models that show the greatest successes used in the business sector, e.g., transformation leadership (Elpers & Westhuis, 2008; Gellis, 2001; Mary, 2005; Tafvelin et al., 2014), and the leader-­ member exchange model (Peters & Hopkins, 2019). We can find in the literature many leadership models, from traditional to collaborative ones (Lawler & Bilson, 2010). Traditional models have limited application in social work due to their directive decision-making system involving rational thinking, low tolerance for

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uncertainty in decision-making, short-term and quick decisions (Lawler, 2007; O’Connor & Netting, 2009), whereas collaborative models are more readily applicable in social work due to participatory decision-making (Lawler & Bilson, 2010). To date, we do not have clear agreement on which model or approach to leadership best suits social work (Tafvelin et al., 2014). We will describe only some of the most prominent models for leadership in social work. Transformational leadership is covered relatively well in literature (Hafford-­ Letchfield et  al., 2014; Northouse, 2016). It stems from the business (economic) sector and utilises the idea of change and innovation, the personal charism of leaders and intellectual stimulation (Northouse, 2016). The emphasis is placed on the relationship between leaders and workers, suggesting how an organisation can advance only when all its members work to maximise their potential (Fisher, 2009; Lawler, 2007; as cited in Mary, 2005). Some authors (Lawler & Bilson, 2013; Hafford-Letchfield et al., 2014; Martin et al., 2010; Sullivan, 2016) consider that the model is compatible with social work as it assumes the existence of a leader who helps in the transformation while at the same time evaluating individuals who are accessible, including those who are inspirational, placing emphasis on collective action and dedication, along with motivation of practitioners to achieve their work goals and that of the organisation. Transformational leadership is known as leadership in times of change (Bass & Riggio, 2006) and can be useful in social work as a profession facing many changes, crises, and reforms (Lawler, 2007). For a leader to be effective in using this model, he or she needs to recognise that worker behaviour is not only driven by a method of rewards and punishments but is genuinely motivated by collective action and when encouraging growth and development (Fisher, 2009). Transactional leadership is defined as a style that focuses on rewards for good performance and threats for the poor performance of its employees (Bass, 1990, p. 20, 1999) as opposed to transformational leadership, in which the leader utilises his or her charisma, motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualised attention to employees (Bass, 1990, 1999). These models focus on the leader as an individual, while participatory or shared leadership does not rest on any one person but as a style implies interaction between people and their environment (Spillane, 2005, p. 144), and leadership functions are shared within the working group (Lawler, 2007, p.  134; Timperley, 2005). It appears relatively often in literature on social work and is related to the development of common values, a culture of cooperation, continual progress and authentic (shared) leadership (Carpenter, 2015; Gibson, 2017; Spillane et al., 2004). It is linked to organisations that are based on relationships, participatory decision-making and consensus, recognition of diverse perspectives and complexities of situations (O’Connor & Netting, 2009). Participatory decision making is defined as a real inclusion of workers, formally or informally, directly or indirectly, in making decisions relating to the structure, financing and organisation of work (Vito, 2018). This model has numerous benefits, such as strengthening worker autonomy, commitment, productivity and motivation, raising the quality of service and efficiency (Hardina et al., 2007 as cited in Vito, 2018). On the other hand, there are certain limitations, such as high time consumption, reduced efficiency and measurable outcomes, and it is not in line with bureaucratic

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structures and requirements (Hardina et al., 2007) faced by many countries, including Croatia. Though at first glance, it may seem that this model is ‘as cast’ for use in social work, evaluation studies of its application in different contexts is needed, with more leaders in social work to embark on a process of drawing valid conclusions. Another important leadership model is the social change model (Komives & Wagner, 2009). It represents a model based on seven fundamental values grouped into three domains: (1) individual values – awareness of self, congruity, commitment, (2) group values – common purpose, collaboration, controversy with civility, and (3) community values – citizenry. Based on the presumptions of this model, all people are capable of growing and developing their ability in leadership (Komives & Wagner, 2009). Due to these conditions, this model has reached consent with the values and ethics of social work. However, there has been no systematic research into its application in social work education or practice. Few studies are conducted on other professions and undergraduate students (Buschlen & Dvorak, 2011; Lane & Chapman, 2011; Rosch et al., 2012; Stonecipher, 2012; Wilson, 2012). Rank and Hutchison (2000) asked people in leadership positions which type of leadership, in their opinion, best suited the social work profession. The research results showed that leadership is based on vision, promoting the values of the profession, motivating and stimulating employees and successfully facilitating change, where leadership in social work is seen as inclusive and altruistic. We believe that social work should build its own niche in the world of leadership models. It seems that, in terms of the Croatian perspective, guided by styles that are predominantly adapted to the business or private sector, we become preoccupied with results, statistics, productivity and finding best practices that can lead to over-engineering or rationalisation of the profession, and finally neglecting its fundamental values.

5.1.5 How Can a Leader Have an Influence on the Working Collective? Leadership is recognised as the basis for a properly functioning organisation. We often hear in professional debates that you can find out a lot about the quality of a collective’s superiors (leaders) based on observations of its functioning. Accordingly, leaders are vital in forming the organisational culture (Lewis et  al., 2012; Vito, 2018). When leaders have an empowering and collaborative style of leadership (top-­ down delegating of authority, autonomy and responsibility), it has a positive effect on worker optimism (Thun & Bakker, 2018), the ability of workers to adapt to their working environment (Gao et  al., 2011) and their well-being, and a subjective impression of professional success, but also a sense of owning the job (Minseo & Beehr, 2018). Similarly, the world of social work research has shown that a leader’s use of transformational leadership is associated with more successful outcome of work tasks, greater commitment to work tasks and greater job satisfaction (Mary, 2005). Later, we will pay more attention to the concept of professional socialisation,

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but here we will only conclude that from the above empirical indicators, we see a strong connection between leadership, leadership quality and professional socialisation of team members led by the leader. In terms of a leader’s characteristics, the leader’s social skills and social intelligence should also be mentioned. Social skills represent a broad range of abilities, primarily tied to the construct of social intelligence (Riggio & Reichard, 2008). While social skills, as key components of social intelligence, include the ability to express oneself in social interactions, ability to read and understand various social situations, familiarity with social roles and norms, interpersonal skills in solving problems and skills in playing social roles (Riggio & Reichard, 2008). Previous research has shown that leaders with social skills positively enhance group motivation and coordination (Barsade, 2002; Sy et  al., 2005), better execution of tasks, especially creative tasks (Isen, 2004), draw a more positive view of the leader and his or her effectiveness (Halverson, 2004; Bono & Ilies, 2006) and professional behaviour (Halverson, 2004) (as cited in Riggio & Reichard, 2008). Also important are the emotional expressiveness of leaders, their ability to convey emotional messages to others effectively (e.g. anger over deadlines for important work tasks), sensitivity to worker needs and emotions, and a general expression of emotions (Conger & Kanungo, 1998). In various situations in the management of organisations, but also generally in the field of professional activity, controlling emotions is extremely important. We need to control our emotional reactions at a level that is harmless to us and the relationships we have either with superiors, colleagues and users. Mitroff (2007) points out that controlling emotions is especially important in times of crisis. Leaders in crises must remain calm and collected because their reactions and situations undoubtedly affect the condition of the entire team. However, Riggio and Reichard (2008) argue that individuals who control their emotions well may act cold and distant, which is undesirable for relationship development. This potentially negative effect will not be prominent if we lead a team with which we have previously worked or had social contact. For example, before we became the leader of an organisation, we were employed in the position of social worker for several years, and then upon becoming head of a specific department, a small team of people had the opportunity to see us in the role a leader. Moreover, given that social work is an emotionally demanding occupation and social workers encounter numerous specific situations and work tasks, we also note its possible effect on our professional work. At least in the Croatian social welfare system, social workers have very little influence on their work and the ability to change priorities or manner of work at the individual level. Wrzesniewski and Dutton (2001) asserted that even when undertaking work which is fixed to a certain framework, is rigid and depends on legislative provisions (such as social work in social welfare centres in Croatia), there is nonetheless some opportunity to adapt work if a proper leader runs the organisation. A controlling leader can restrict the autonomy of his or her workers (Knies & Leisink, 2014), which can additionally lead to work-related pressure. However, when an organisation has an effective leader, he or she uses their skills to optimise workloads and maintain motivation and a positive vision of the future (Hetland et al., 2018; Wang et al., 2003, as cited in

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Audenaert et al., 2019). For many years now, social workers have been warning of increasing workloads. This issue received the public spotlight, at least in Croatia, after the tragic murder of a social worker and lawyer in Đakovo, but no real progress has been made in terms of legislation and implementation. Some other authors point to overly demanding work (Audenaert et al., 2019; Bakker et al., 2010). Intensive work demands are linked to social workers experiencing burnout and other negative consequences (Bakker et al., 2010). Factors that influence burnout syndrome include a low level of social support, autonomy at work, ambiguous roles, and conflict between values and depersonalisation (Arches, 1991; Koeske & Koeske, 1989; Siefert et al., 1991; Söderfeldt et al., 1995; Um & Harrison, 1998, as cited in Elpers & Westhuis, 2008). Social support in the workplace (from colleagues and superiors) is a significant factor in professional stress, especially in demanding work environments (Bakker et  al., 2005; Van der Doef & Maes, 1999). Also, research has shown that support in the workplace reduces the demands of work (Bakker et al., 2007) and compensates for insufficient resources (Hobfoll, 2001). Furthermore, workers with good social support in the workplace are able to incorporate more proactive coping strategies into their work (Greenglass & Fiksenbaum, 2009) and are more likely to take the initiative at work (Audenaert et al., 2019). The same authors (Audenaert et al., 2019) argue that the impact of co-worker attitudes and responses in the workplace can either prevent or support work initiatives (innovate and adapt workloads), depending on how much social support there is at work. Namely, any proposal to introduce changes in the organisation or manner of working requires sponsorship or work colleagues who will support the proposal and advocate for its introduction (Parker & Collins, 2010). If we have bad relations with our colleagues, we can hardly expect that our proposals will be adopted if decided on a collective level. However, if only the leader decides on proposals for improving work processes, we can hope that by acting in the organisation’s best interest managed by the leader, the innovations that bring benefits to the organisation will be accepted. Finally, the results of research in this area will be presented. Only a few studies have surveyed the effects of leadership on social work using a very limited set of variables (e.g. job satisfaction, effectiveness), and most of which were conducted in the USA (for instance, Elpers & Westhuis, 2008; Yoo & Brooks, 2005) whereas in Europe, this area is yet to be researched (according to Tafvelin et al., 2014). Studies have confirmed the link between leadership, job satisfaction organisational commitment (Mary, 2005). Elpers and Westhuis (2008) conducted quantitative-descriptive research aimed to survey expected and perceived leader (supervisor) behaviour and job satisfaction among social workers. The research involved the participation of 833 social workers (164 men, 564 women). The results show a difference between what social workers expect from their leaders (supervisors) and what they perceive their leader (supervisor) actually does. The greater the difference between what is expected and perceived, the lower the job satisfaction (Elpers & Westhuis, 2008). Tafvelin et al. (2014) conducted a study to examine the effects of transformational leadership in social work on the clarity of roles and commitment of employees in Swedish social services (social protection, care for the elderly, care for people with

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disabilities). The survey was conducted on a sample of 158 social service employees (125 women, 33 men). The results confirmed the direct and positive effects of the transformational leadership style in social work (on average, 1.5 years of working with such a leader) on the clarity of roles and employee commitment. Also, the results show that more time spent with a leader and more support from associates is linked to greater effects of transformational leadership. Encouraged by such research examples, we believe it is important to conduct more research in the future to evaluate the effects of introducing different models of leadership in social work and develop ways to measure their effects on the performance of social workers and increase their efficiency and quality of service.

5.2 Professional Socialisation of Social Workers Socialisation is generally understood as a process of acquiring knowledge, skills and positions that systematise membership in society (Brim & Wheeler, 1966) and comprises primary and secondary socialisation. Primary socialisation occurs in childhood, whereas secondary is described as a process of adult socialisation where a person participates in various realities (Brim & Wheeler, 1966). Regarding professional socialisation, the person enters a profession and adapts “externally, to the demands of the specific job role, and internally by way of a subjective self-­ conceptualisation related to the role” (McGowen & Hart, 1990, p. 118). Professional socialisation is viewed as a specialised form of adult socialisation (Shuval, 1980). It has long been considered an essential aspect of social work education (Barretti, 2004; Judah, 1976; Merdinger, 1982; Pardeck & MCallister, 1991; Patchner et al., 1987; Varley, 1963, as cited in Miller, 2010) or a synonym for social work education (Barretti, 2004; Leictentritt et al., 2002; O’Connor & Dalgleish, 1986; Weiss et al., 2004 as cited in Miller, 2010). However, it is a process that begins before formal education and continues after its completion. Today, it is defined as a process that an individual goes through as they move from a position outside a particular profession to within it, reflecting its values, norms and culture (Barretti, 2004). The topic of professional socialisation originated in the 1950s, specifically in medical education. The publication of two sociological studies on medical education is significant: The Student-Physician: Introductory Studies in the Sociology of Medical Education (Merton et  al., 1957) and Boys in White: Student Culture in Medical School (Becker et  al., 1961). As structural functionalists, Merton et  al. (1957, p. 287) define socialisation as the process whereby people selectively adopt values and form views, interests, skills and knowledge  – briefly, the culture of a group to which they belong and endeavour to belong. During studies, we develop the “professional self-imbued with values, attitudes, knowledge and skills that are melted into more a or less a consistent group of dispositions that control our behaviour within a wide spectrum of professional (and extraprofessional) situations” (Merton et al., 1957, p. 287). We enter this process because we want to be members of a professional community and have access to all the formative processes that lead

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us to full membership. On the other hand, symbolic interactionism favours individual experiences, motivation and a commitment to belong to a community. The process of professional socialisation is seen as an interactive process where some professional norms and values are learned during formal education but selectively and are assumed to be subject to change, depending on practical situations and requirements of different organisations. This approach implies that different groups of stakeholders are characterised by different goals and interests in the world of social work. Based on structural functionalism and symbolic interactionism, Miller (2010) offers a framework of professional socialisation, often used in social work literature.

5.2.1 Miller’s Conceptual Framework of Professional Socialisation Miller (2010) constructs the conceptual framework of professional socialisation on the foundations of the earlier studies of Shuval (1980) and Simpson et al. (1979), whose presumptions also include structural functionalism and symbolic interactionism. The studies were conducted among medical and nursing students; however, Miller found them comparable to social work because the studies were orientated toward scientific knowledge and knowledge-based practice in decision-making processes. Moreover, all three professions require intensive clinical and trainee work and have developed a culture of transmissible values, attitudes and interests (Miller, 2010, p. 929). Socialisation for social work is viewed as multidimensional, a long-­ term process that includes several phases: (1) pre-socialisation, (2) formal socialisation and (3) practice after formal socialisation. Pre-socialisation includes primary socialisation that has influenced the development of individuals and the creation of a worldview, and anticipatory socialisation, understood as a process in which a person chooses a reference group of which they are not a member but have an aspiration to become and begin to internalise values and attitudes as their own (Hyman & Singer, 1968; Merton, 1968, as cited in Miller, 2010). Formal socialisation includes an educational process that lasts shorter or longer (undergraduate and graduate, graduate, undergraduate or otherwise). During this period, the person gets to know and internalises all elements of the culture within the social work profession. It is important to emphasise that professional socialisation depends on the situation in which it occurs. For example different schools of social work offer different theoretical and value orientations, different compositions of faculty staff (teachers, associates, field teachers, enrolled students), different study programmes, different course structures and different ways of communicating between teachers and students. Social work practice is also different depending on the national context or the specifics of the workplace. The last phase, practice after formal socialisation, lasts from the completion of formal education until retirement. It includes work experience, supervision, lifelong learning programs, volunteer experiences, building a network of professional contacts and adapting to situations in practice. Miller

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(2010) concludes that the relationship with the working environment in which we are included affects how we are socialised for the profession in previous phases. In contrast, the nature of the respective environment has a reciprocal qualitative effect on the lifelong and continual professional socialisation process. Socialisation in social work demands continual dedication to developing the professional self. Within the profession, there is agreement as to the question of accepted values and attitudes. Miller (2010) points out that organisational structures (educational institutions, professional associations and other occupational associations) serve as a context for socialisation and offer frameworks of competencies and plans for professional training, where socialisation is informed through situational adjustment. The primary wheel of socialisation lies in creating relationships with key professional figures (Miller, 2010). Our professional person adapts to different situations and is in contact with various professionals to meet the demands of various situations and surroundings. Therefore, the process of professional socialisation should be seen as a continuum, nonlinear, individually dependent, intersected by numerous intersections, filled with some overlaps and changes in direction. Each of us is an active participant in our own professional socialisation! In the face of every professional challenge, we have the choice to continue on the well-established path of professional development or to choose change. Sometimes we will face conflicting personal and professional values, roles and attitudes, and we should be aware of that, not ignore it, but tackle the challenge and try to resolve it. If we cannot resolve it, then it is necessary to exercise, for example, the right of exemption (changing the jurisdiction) from acting in a specific case and seek that one of our work colleagues replace us. It is necessary to point out that professional socialisation is an under-researched concept in the world of social work. Barretti (2004) reviewed the literature on the topic of professional socialisation and concluded that most of the existing studies treated only one aspect (e.g. values) of the otherwise multidimensional concept. There is a lack of comprehensive research that facilitates drawing relevant conclusions on the model of developing the professional socialisation process. One of the limitations of research into formal professional socialisation in social work is inconsistency in defining and measuring the concept of professional socialisation (Nienow, 2017). Most authors focus on the effects of formal education and reduce the assessment of professional socialisation to the acquisition of key knowledge or key values by students, measured on only one or two variables using standardised assessments before and after testing (Nienow, 2017, p.  42). Meta-analysis by Barretti (2004) on a sample of 29 articles covers the impact of social work education on the development of traditional values of social work, such as positive attitudes towards the poor (trust, altruism, independence social justice and the non-­imposition of personal values on users. The results of the studies do not provide evidence of how educational programmes socialise students in terms of acquiring knowledge or values (Barretti, 2004). Of the 29 studies reviewed, 22 had either a negative change or no change in student attitudes and values.

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5.2.2 Professional Identity of Social Workers and Perception of the Profession Socialisation comprises values, ideals, ethics and attitudes towards the profession (Patchner et al., 1987). It is understood as a dynamic, interactive and multidimensional process that includes developing a professional identity and internalising group norms. The success of the professional socialisation process depends on individual satisfaction with the profession and mastering competencies (Miller, 2010). During formal socialisation, we disseminate knowledge, adopt values and assume a professional identity, which directly or indirectly affects socialisation within the professional culture (Barretti, 2004; Miller, 2010 as cited in Valutis et al., 2012). We believe that constructing a professional identity and an awareness of whether the chosen occupation is the right choice is enriched through practical experiences. Despite increasing attention given to understanding the professional identity, there is still no uniform definition or understanding of its multidimensionality. When studying the topic, taking the social and cultural impact on its formation into account is necessary. Simply put, an individual cannot develop, even professionally, without interacting with the wider community and the culture from which they originate and live. Building a professional identity is a continuous process often marked by several points that we re-examine. Reconsiderations most often occur after crises that lead us to think about the goals of our actions, the goals of the profession in general, and its purpose. We compare our initial vision of the profession, and the ideals with which we entered professional life with the current ones in slightly different circumstances. In constructing a professional identity and general professional socialisation, values and ethics in decision making are at the centre of attention for social work practitioners (Valutis et al., 2012). Social workers adopt professional principles during their professional socialisation as part of the operational rules, internalising them as their own convictions as to what is right and what is not. Sometimes there are situations causing conflict between professional and personal values. In such situations, social workers are expected to be conscious and sensitive to how their personal values continually affect their practice. There is a difference between social workers in their ability to be focused and conscious of the impact of personal values on decision-making in practice. In social work, we assess users on a daily basis and make decisions that may affect and do affect their lives. Accordingly, it is important to not rely primarily on one’s personal moral and value principles but essentially accept the professional values and be led by the code of ethics in the profession. We believe that confronting students with reality during the earlier stages of their studies is extremely important if, in practice, we want to have social workers who are able to adhere to a code of ethics. Moreover, it is certainly important to continuously offer social workers training, comprising in part experiential learning and the acquisition of practical skills, supervisory work in terms of the applying ethics and values ​​in everyday professional work. Of course, it is the responsibility of professional organisations and the broader professional

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community of social workers to subject the values and ​​ ethics of the profession from time to time to critical judgement and monitor social and societal changes. According to Knežević (2003), in this way, the profession does nothing but respond to changing conditions within the environment (Knežević, 1997; Knežević & Buttler, 2003). The profession needs to have a monopoly over certain knowledge (so-called cognitive exclusivity) and activities, something only it will be recognisable with respect to other professions, and which are important in society, as well as credentialism (issuing diplomas, licensing testifying that individuals possess the knowledge and skills necessary for professional work) (Šućur, 2011). On the one hand, this is a means of controlling group membership and, on the other hand, protecting the interests of the public, because it prevents individuals from practising the profession without adequate knowledge or possessing substandard knowledge. All this seeks to set professional boundaries. Many social workers in Croatia pose the following question in professional debates: What is the specific professional area of social work? It is legitimate to pose such a question in the phase of “searching for a professional identity,” wanting a clear definition as to the nature of our profession, what social workers achieve in their work and search for the answers as they will determine our professional identity. In addition, our impression of our profession and our motivation for action can be greatly influenced by the wider social perception of the profession. According to Knežević (2003), the perception of the profession is at the same time a process of defining the profession and professional competence, as well as the presence of a positive relationship between the public perception of the profession and objective social opportunities to achieve one’s mission. The general public perception of the profession also affects every social worker as a member of the professional community. In this regard, the social work profession has a problem with prestige (status) because it insists on the practical component of its knowledge and knowledge in social work depends more on judgements than on its pure application (Robson, 2002). Knowledge of social work may seem common sense to the average citizen, and that is why we often hear, “I think I could very easily be a social worker.” We believe that these and similar statements anger social workers and heighten a feeling of discomfort during moments when their profession is questioned. Kaufman and Raymon (1995) long ago pointed out that the public perception of a profession also improves staffing, that is the more attractive and socially recognised the profession, the more likely it will attract more quality staff (students) to study for the profession. In Croatia, in the last few years, we have been receiving information from the academic community that students with better grade point averages and better results on the state matriculation exam are starting to enroll in the social work program. This fact leads us to conclude that social work has become a desirable university programme despite the work-­ related stress. On the other hand, practical experience in Croatia shows that there are more and more problems with the turnover of workers between different institutions, the inability to find (quality) staff and an increasing number of social workers leaving the social work profession. Given that we do not have specific indicators, the reasons for the large fluctuations in the social welfare system and the abandonment of the profession should be empirically

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verified. However, Croatia does not seem to be an isolated case, given that similar trends have been observed globally (Baginsky, 2013; Collins, 2008; Hopkins et al., 2014; Smith, 2005, as cited in Haworth et al., 2018). Furthermore, we are increasingly experiencing a segregation from the profession, and in terms of viewing the role of social work, faith in the social and scientific importance of the profession, we experience ourselves as being part of the professional community and as social workers in general, with some shame due to the fact of belonging to the profession of social work. There are many reasons for this, and here we will only list a few that are evident in Croatia: an education system that creates an insufficiently strong professional identity; too little involvement of professional organisations in representing the well-being of the profession, a poor general media image and social attitude towards the profession, as well as the often demeaning attitude from other professions; insufficient opportunities for specialisation in a particular field; insufficient confidence in one’s own knowledge, skills and abilities (e.g. believing that “a psychologist is more competent in talking to a child” and the like); relatively widespread passivation in professional circles; insufficient space for innovation and quality improvement; and the non-existence of a system of remuneration and promotion (insufficiently motivating working conditions). For this reason, educational institutions and professional association should focus on strengthening positive identification with the profession and strengthening professional identity. In addition, the bias that social workers are actually incompetent in the area of knowledge has until recently been common in Croatia (Knežević, 2003) and, to a certain extent, still exists. One can still hear from social workers that our profession is undervalued in society in general, especially when compared to some other professions (e.g. psychologists, psychiatrists, social pedagogues), where this is especially the case with the public presentation of the profession in the media. Undervaluing the value and importance of our profession is also done by us as social workers. Accordingly, social workers should be empowered to be more assertive in presenting their own expertise and work on collective self-confidence and primarily self-respect as professionals and the profession as such. Much more can stem from our own insecurities in the importance of what we do and what our profession contributes to society – and contribute it does!

5.3 Instead of the Conclusion In concluding, we will once more point out the thinking earlier presented in the paper as a recommendation for developing leadership and better understanding the concept of professional socialisation with an emphasis on the professional identity of social workers, whereby we will, to a large extent, focus on the Croatian context. • We believe it is important to verify with leaders in social work their perception of skills and characteristics necessary for effective leadership through a

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•

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q­ ualitative approach. Here, the particular emphasis is placed on Croatia, given that not a single research project has been conducted, while we recommend such research as a good baseline for further development of quantitative practice and creating a leadership model in Croatia. Moreover, we should endeavour to offer an operative definition of leadership in social work. Professional associations should play a special role in this endeavour, especial those assigned the task of licencing in the social work profession. For that purpose, it would be desirable to conduct qualitative research with leaders from the social work profession to gain more detailed insight into their vision of the function and role of leadership (in Croatia). Croatia, in that context, can make good use of occupational organisations from, for instance, the USA or Great Britain. Furthermore, occupational organisations (e.g. NASW and BASW) organise special educational courses for leaders (for current and future leaders) in social work (see Chapter: Education for leadership in social work). These examples should be a guide for Croatia. Occupational organisations (Croatian Chamber of Social Workers) and the academic community should assume a special role in this. We believe that it is necessary to create a base of effective leaders in social work who will be ready to assume leading a very dynamic and challenging collective, such as the social welfare centres in Croatia. In terms of education, to keep pace with the times, we must begin introducing education models that facilitate the acquisition of multidimensional skills and encourage the development of hard skills. In addition, we believe it is essential to strengthen the professional identity among students, especially a belief in the social and scientific importance of the profession, and afford more attention to strengthening skills that can be useful for leadership positions. Regarding leadership models, we believe it is important to conduct in the future a greater number of studies with the aim of evaluating the outcomes of introducing various leadership models in social work and developing ways of measuring their results on the performance of social workers, increasing the effectiveness and quality of provided services. In Croatia, leadership development is in the initial stages, but it is worth learning from the results of evaluation research in the world and applying models which earlier on in other countries were proven to be optimal and compatible with the values and ethics of social work. Moreover, given that professional socialisation is an under-research concept in the world of social work, and that most present studies address only one aspect (e.g. values), we consider it necessary to conduct all-encompassing research into the longitudinal character which will facilitate drawing relevant conclusions on the model for developing the professional socialisation process. During formal education, but also when partaking in field classes (practice), it is better to familiarise students with the values and ethics of social work practice. Even in the early phases of tertiary studies, it is necessary to familiarise students with the fact that we must segregate personal values from our professional values and that professional values have priority over personal values in social work interventions. Naturally, it is the responsibility of professional associations and

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the broader professional community of social workers to subject the values and ethics of the profession to a critique and stay in touch with wider social changes. • Given the identified large fluctuation of social workers and their abandonment of the social work profession, the recommendation is to empirically verify the cause of the phenomenon using qualitative methods so that occupational organisations can act to reduce such negative effects. • The professional associations are expected to empower social workers to more assertively represent their expertise and work on collective self-confidence and primarily self-confidence as professionals and the profession.

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Martin, V., Charlesworth, J., & Henderson, E. (2010). Managing in health and social care. Taylor & Francis/Routledge. Mary, N. (2005). Transformational leadership in human service organizations. Administration in Social Work, 29(2), 105–118. https://doi.org/10.1300/J147v29n02_07 McCormick, M. J. (2001). Self-efficacy and leadership effectiveness: Applying social cognitive theory to leadership. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 8(1), 22–33. https:// doi.org/10.1177/107179190100800102 McGowen, K.  R., & Hart, L.  E. (1990). Still different after all these years: Gender differences in professional identity formation. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 21(2), 118–123. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0735-­7028.21.2.118 Merdinger, J. M. (1982). Socialization into a profession: The case of undergraduate social work students. Journal of Education for Social Work, 18(2), 12–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/0022061 2.1982.10778570 Merton, R. K. (1968). Social theory and social structure. The Free Press. Merton, R. K., Reader, G. R., & Kendall, P. L. (1957). The student-physician: Introductory studies in the sociology of medical education. Harvard University Press. Miller, S. (2010). A conceptual framework for the professional socialization of social workers. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 20(7), 924–938. https://doi. org/10.1080/10911351003751934 Ministarstvo za demografiju, obitelj, mlade i socijalnu politiku. (2019). Godišnje statističko izvješće o zaposlenicima u ustanovama socijalne skrbi u 2018. godini. https://mdomsp.gov.hr/ pristup-­informacijama/statisticka-­izvjesca-­1765/statisticka-­izvjesca-­za-­2018-­godinu/10185. Accessed 2 Oct 2020. Minseo, K., & Beehr, T. A. (2018). Can empowering leaders affect subordinates’ well-being and careers because they encourage subordinates’ job crafting behaviors? Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 25(2), 184–196. https://doi.org/10.1177/1548051817727702 Mitroff, I.  I. (2007). Lessons on crisis leadership. In J.  A. Conger & R.  E. Riggio (Eds.), The practice of leadership: Developing the next generation of leaders (pp. 263–276). Jossey-Bass. Mumford, M.  D., Gessner, T.  L., Connelly, M.  S., O’Connor, J.  A., & Clifton, T.  C. (1993). Leadership and destructive acts: Individual and situational influences. The Leadership Quarterly, 4(2), 115–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/1048-9843(93)90008-h NASW Arkansas. (2019). Leadership Academy. https://naswar.org/leadership-­academy/. Accessed 3 Oct 2020. Newsome, M., Jr. (1995). Vision manifested in leadership. Social Work Education Reporter, 43(3), 1–2. Nienow, M. C. (2017). The professional socialization of macro practice social workers: A narrative inquiry. Doctoral thesis, University of Minnesota. Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed.). Sage. O’Connor, I., & Dalgleish, L. (1986). The impact of social work education: A personal construct reconceptualization. Journal of Social Work Education, 22(3), 6–30. https://doi.org/10.108 0/10437797.1986.10671746 O’Connor, K., & Netting, F. E. (2009). Organization practice: A guide to understanding human service organizations (2nd ed.). Wiley. Pardeck, J. T., & McCallister, R. L. (1991). The effects of undergraduate social work education on the personal growth and development of students. Social Work Education, 111, 382–387. Parker, S.  K., & Collins, C.  G. (2010). Taking stock: Integrating and differentiating multiple proactive behaviors. Journal of Management, 36(3), 633–662. https://doi. org/10.1177/0149206308321554 Patchner, M.  A., Gullerud, E.  N., Downing, R., Donaldson, J., & Leuenberger, P. (1987). Socialization to the profession of social work: A comparison of offcampus and on-campus MSW students. Journal of Continuing Social Work Education, 4(2), 15–19. Perlmutter, F. (2006). Ensuring social work administration. Administration in Social Work., 30(2), 3–10. https://doi.org/10.1300/J147v30n02_02

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Part III

Measuring Professional Competencies and Education Outcomes

Chapter 6

Starting from Scratch: How to Conceptualise, Operationalise and Measure Professional Competencies in Social Work Ana Opačić

In the Republic of Croatia, there was no framework of professional competencies for social workers. In 2018, the Croatian Chamber of Social Workers initiated collaborative research in collaboration with the Social Work Study Centre at the Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb. Earlier research endeavours were directed to defining and measuring competencies in the psychosocial work of social work students, social pedagogy and psychology (Huić et al., 2010), and researching the extent to which social workers utilised acquired knowledge in the study programme and generic skills (Matković, 2018). In both cases, it was not a question of examining the competencies of social workers, but we can recognise these examples as a sign that there was an interest in researching this specific area. Due to the importance of this research endeavour, the Croatian Association of Social Workers and the line ministry, then called the Ministry of Demographics, Family, Youth and Social Policy, joined as partner organisations. Cooperation in this pioneering research project was formalised by a Cooperation Agreement signed by the heads of all bodies and institutions. As the research team, our mission was to conceptualise the social work professional competencies framework for the first time in the specific Croatian situation and operationalise and measure the competencies. We approached the tasks thoroughly, and in this chapter, we will describe the entire process of establishing a national framework of professional social work competencies. We consider this experience to be demonstrative in offering perspectives at the meta-level as to what should be included in developing a competency framework, how to approach the matter and various challenges requiring a response. This chapter will not present the research results but primarily describe the complete multi-stage process of devising A. Opačić (*) Social Work Study Centre, Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 A. Opačić (ed.), Social Work in the Frame of a Professional Competencies Approach, European Social Work Education and Practice, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13528-6_6

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a national framework of professional competencies. At the beginning of the chapter, the situation relating to social work in Croatia will be explained, including the relevancy of the competency framework. The central part of the chapter explains the process of conceptualising professional competencies, followed by methodological procedures in the operationalisation of competencies based on qualitative and quantitative research procedures. Finally, the primary results of measuring professional competencies on a nationally representative sample of social workers and the future significance of the framework for the profession will be presented.

6.1 Why Was It Important to Establish a Professional Competency Framework in Croatia? Social work in Croatia has a long tradition. Education for social work began in 1952, with Croatia becoming one of the first socialist states to begin teaching social work at institutes of higher education (Ajduković, 1994). On 21 March 2000, social work was introduced into the classification of scientific areas at the Ministry of Science and Technology, thereby creating the preconditions for initiating a doctoral programme that has continued since 2002 (Ajduković, 2003). Among the first institutions to employ social workers were social welfare centres, with the first centre opening in 1959  in the city of Pula under the name of the Welfare and Medical Centre (Croatian Association of Social Workers, 2018). Since then, social welfare centres have become the primary social welfare institutions, and social workers are the primary profession. Regarding social work in Croatia, the year 2011 should be pointed out when another meaningful statutory change was introduced. That year, the first Social Work Profession Act was passed, and the Croatian Chamber of Social Workers was founded, after which social work became a regulated profession (Social Work Profession Act, OG 124/2011). Regulated professions have been standardised within the European Directive 2005/36/EC.1 Despite such a long tradition of educating social workers, social work as a profession, and its recognition as an academic discipline and a regulated profession, the national framework of professional competencies has not been clearly established. Prior to this process, there were several reasons why this was important for social work in Croatia. These reasons can be grouped as identity issues within the profession, the crisis of the profession and a stronger connection between education and

 In Directive 2005/36/EC, Article 3 defines a regulated profession as “a professional activity or group of professional activities, access to which, the pursuit of which, or one of the modes of pursuit of which is subject, directly or indirectly, by virtue of legislative, regulatory or administrative provisions to the possession of specific professional qualifications; in particular, the use of a professional title limited by legislative, regulatory or administrative provisions to holders of a given professional qualification shall constitute a mode of pursuit. Where the first sentence of this definition does not apply, a profession referred to in paragraph 2 shall be treated as a regulated profession.” 1

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the professional practice or, more simply, “the connection between theory and practice.”

6.1.1 Identity Issues in Social Work as a Basis for the Professional Competency Framework Social work in Croatia has continually faced significant identity issues. Primarily, education for the profession of social work at its inception was strongly embraced by the socialist state authorities, where social work was viewed as an essential instrument in resolving social issues. This is evident in the first curricula, which emphasised the position of social work in public administration; hence, courses in public administration, law and political order (Opačić & Žganec, 2021) were dominant. In practice, social work was actively engaged in eliminating social problems, had a robust bureaucratic position and was included in the development of large institutions in which a large number of users were accommodated. One of the postulates of the socialist state was to make social problems “invisible,” meaning that state interventionism in people’s well-being was paramount. From those days until today, social work has remained strongly tied to the normative framework of the central government (Knežević et  al., 2006), and social welfare, which employs many social workers, is highly centralised. These factors contributed to the fact that social work in Croatia included social policy as its essential basis and was understood as a profession with public authority, highly dependent on the normative framework and had a contradictory nature of repressive and supportive action (Opačić & Žganec, 2021). Education is continued to generate other identity issues. Though the socialist state set certain expectations, the respective syllabuses could not be sourced from anywhere but only from Western cultural circles, where a long tradition of social work education already existed. This mostly affected the development of treatment social work and, in this way, transferred a tradition of psychosocial work or community work (Kljajić, 2002). Hence, in the 1970s, an increasing number of courses were integrated from the psychosocial tradition of social work. This situation meant that, in practice, statutory social work dominated, and the personal motivation of social workers was to engage in the psychosocial and treatment approach. These processes contributed to the fact that a certain psychologisation of social work began to occur in education and in understanding the profession’s identity (Knežević, 1997). In addition, social work was not recognised as an academic discipline until 2000, resulting in a shortage of academics with a fundamental social work education. The study of social work was dominated by teachers with a basic education in psychology, sociology and legal sciences, and lecturers were often external associates from other universities. It is worth mentioning that social work as a university study programme only at its inception in 1952 was autonomous as the College for Social Workers. In 1972, it became part of the interfaculty programme organised by

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the Faculty of Law, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, School of Medicine, Faculty of Economics and the School of Defectology. Since 1982, the social work educational programme has been conducted at the Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, within the Social Work Study Centre. The educational and institutional framework is reflected in the social work curriculum, resulting in difficulties in establishing demarcation lines between social work and other related disciplines, that is in determining what is differentia specifica to social work as a profession. In Croatia, identity issues in social work can be reduced to two categories: (1) the position of social work between state interventionism and the empowering of individuals, families, groups and communities, and (2) the role of social work, especially concerning other related helping professions.

6.1.2 Crisis of the Profession as a Source of the Need to Define a Professional Competency Framework Generally, the syntagma “social work under pressure” is well known in social work. It most often refers to the high exposure of social workers to professional stress and the risk of burnout in difficult circumstances. However, due to the 2008 economic crisis, stress within the social work profession is viewed in terms of a neoliberal paradigm and the impetus to cut welfare costs and reduce the welfare state. The economic crisis has globally caused a crisis in the social work profession, given that social work has fallen under a new managerialism, emphasising standardisation, harmonisation, extensively normed procedures to prove efficiency and economic profitability (Miljenović, 2013). The approach to developing professional competencies has been widely criticised for the same reason as extending a technical understanding of the profession. The social work profession in Croatia has not been exempted; hence, during the economic crisis, when social problems increased, pressure was placed on the social welfare system to cut welfare costs. This meant that social workers experienced a sense of profound helplessness and were limited in applying their given legislative powers and the psychosocial approach they were trained in. It became clear to everyone that resources were scarce, the possibility of achieving purposeful interventions decreased, and social workers assumed in silence the burden of increasing public powers and exceeding the legally stipulated work norms, that is the intensity of work. For example the legislative framework stipulates that a social worker works with about 70 families at risk (Ordinance on Minimum Conditions for Premises, Equipment and number of Required Professional and Other Types of Employees for Social Welfare Centres and Branch Offices, OG, 57/2014). However, in practice, this is regularly double the number and one social worker monitors as many as 150–200 families at risk a year. However, the social work crisis in Croatia has escalated dramatically over the last few years, especially after the economic crisis, where expenditures for social

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welfare have increased. A significant crisis in social work in Croatia occurred in 2019 and has been manifested in several ways: the public and media lynching of social workers through activist engagement by social groups and supported by media sensationalism and transferred to social media; under public pressure, the Ministry responsible for social welfare introduced significant legislative changes introducing hyper-centralisation of the social welfare system without precedence by establishing the Croatian Bureau for Social Work and terminating the legal autonomy of existing  local social welfare centres. Furthermore, legislative changes decrease autonomy in professional chambers and anticipate citizenry surveillance as a new additional form of surveillance for social workers. The sources of the crisis stem from previous problems faced by social workers: a constant increase in public powers, an increase in legal uncertainty due to constant legislative changes, exceeding workloads, the ineffectiveness of implemented measures due to insufficient cross-sectoral cooperation, lack of community resources and insufficient cross-­ sectoral cooperation (Ilijaš & Podobnik, 2018). On paper, authorities of social workers have increased, but in reality, their influence has decreased. The crisis escalated with the three tragic events that occurred in the social welfare system in Croatia,2 two of which resulted in fatal consequences from domestic violence, and one was the tragic murder of a female social worker and male lawyer in the workplace. The atmosphere of publicly lynching the social welfare system, primarily social workers, has further deteriorated due to high-profile cases involving decisions on child custody in divorce cases. Given that some of the people involved (service users) were well-known public figures, these cases also received wide media and public attention. Generally, the growing complexity of family relationships and increasing number of divorce cases requiring the participation of social workers as expert team leaders responsible for making decisions and providing opinions on child custody means that social workers come under increasing pressure from users, their lawyers and sometimes the media which reports on cases involving well-­ known or influential persons. Social workers cannot receive the necessary support throughout the entire process, nor guidelines and resources from the line ministry. As a result, social workers are identified as “scapegoats,” although other professions are involved throughout the system, and critical decisions are upheld in the courts. As a result, social workers are genuinely under pressure, and the risk of burnout seems to be higher than ever before. The latest research on a national sample of 908 social workers from social welfare centres shows that social workers are at a high risk of burnout (Opačić & Podobnik, 2022). Measured on the basis of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach & Jackson, 1981), 56.9% of them exhibited high results for emotional exhaustion, while 51.2% showed a sense of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment on the job. Data indicating a mitigating factor is that as much as 51.3% of social workers experience low values in feeling cynicism and  It involved a father on the island of Pag who threw his underage children from a balcony who consequently suffered serious injuries. The father was sentenced to thirty years in prison. In another instance, Croatia was shaken by the tragic death of a small girl Nikoll after receiving injuries from her mother. 2

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detachment from the job (Opačić & Podobnik, 2022). This fact means that social workers in social welfare centres throughout Croatia are at a breaking point. They are still very much emotionally engaged, but the pressure seems too much to handle. The expectation is that a more significant outflow of social workers from the system or more professional burnout will happen. In the last two years, social workers have personally and professionally experienced further work exhaustion in critical situations as a “front line” profession that has to operate in COVID-19 pandemic conditions and due to two destructive earthquakes that struck central Croatia in 2021. It is fair to say that social work in Croatia is going through severe crisis in last years. Starting from this position, professional competencies should have served as a framework to protect social workers from taking on responsibilities not in line with their role  and to allign with professional values and guarantee the qulity of professional work. Nonetheless, the professional competency framework has proven to be indispensable in halting the degradation of professional work and de-­ professionalisation of social work. The increasing standardisation of work tasks has contributed to social workers becoming increasingly inundated with administrative work, professional procedures are revised more often, and room for professional discernment and comprehensive expert work is increasingly restricted.

6.1.3 Aligning Education to Practice in Social Work as the Basis for Developing a Professional Competency Framework The Republic of Croatia signed the Bologna declaration in 2001. In the 2005/2006 academic year, the curriculum based on the principles of the Bologna process was commenced at Croatian universities. The Bologna reform in higher education introduced the obligation for (re)accrediting teaching programmes in which one of the criteria was aligning learning outcomes of individual courses with the educational outcomes to be achieved overall, that is aligning to expected professional competencies. Moreover, as a member state of the European Union since 2013, Croatia has been obligated to implement the already mentioned European Directive 2005/36/ EC in its national legislation, which foresaw that work in regulated professions requires verification of professional qualifications acquired outside of Croatia. Croatia has developed the Croatian Qualifications Framework (CAF) at the national level based on the European Qualifications Framework (EQF). The CQF is defined as follows: The Croatian Qualifications Framework is a reform instrument for regulating the system of qualifications at all levels in the Republic of Croatia through qualifications standards based on learning outcomes and following the needs of the labour market, individuals and society (Croatian Qualifications Framework, 2022).

According to the qualification framework, occupational standards and competency standards should be determined for each occupation. The entire process is

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participatory in nature, with equal participation from the education system and labour market as well as mediation from professional organisations and relevant government ministries.3 These changes led to acquiring the formal presumptions for a more systematic reflection on the relationship between the education system and social work practice. Education for the social work profession in Croatia has at times been and still ranks before requirements in practice in terms of the education system familiarising social workers with certain concepts that eventually become part of their practice but only after a few years on the job. Consequently, the education system in social work in Croatia has not given up on its developmental and transformative role but has had to accept the responsibility of preparing social work students for real practice. It partly stems from the fact that academic community members generally have no practical experience, nor even a basic education in social work. However, this shortcoming is overcome by getting practitioners involved in the teaching process and field teaching. On the other hand, burdening social workers with tasks other than social work or a de-professionalisation and violating standards of the profession reduces expectations from the education system and even a simplification of the taught syllabus. These real issues make us see the professional competence framework as an effective instrument or mechanism that can maintain a real connection between education and practice. Education cannot be interpreted as service for the social work practice but recognised for its formational and transformational role in social work.

6.2 Conceptualisation of the Professional Competence Framework for the Specific Croatian Situation The definition of competence guided our reflection of professional competence as an integral triangle of knowledge, skills and values while not attempting to dissect complex competencies into simple technical tasks. For the purpose of conceptualisation, an extensive overview of the literature and stipulated indicators was done for competencies referred to in available documents from national professional associations and research instruments. At the same time, we used available instruments to make a general assessment of competencies (at a generic level) and instruments developed in specific areas of social work practice, where available (e.g. working with families, children, palliative care, in the community). The theoretical framework had to be supplemented with specific competencies for the national context as regulated by the relevant legislative framework, specifically the Social Work Profession Act (OG 16/19, 18/22) and ordinances on the systematisation of working positions stemming from the Social Welfare Act (157/13, 152/14, 99/15, 52/16,

 The expectation is that in 2022, the “social worker” occupational standard will be devised and adopted. 3

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16/17, 130/17, 98/19, 64/20 and 138/20). In this way, more than 640 indicators of professional competencies were systematised. Members of the research team classified the competency indicators into eight areas of competencies, adhering to the conceptual framework of Professor Marion Bogo (2010) for processes and meta-competencies. These eight areas of competence are: (1) process competencies and meta-­ competences: (2) professional behaviour and professional identity, (3) professional ethics, (4) multiculturalism and inclusive practice, (5) critical structural approach, (6) integration of theory into practice and critical thinking, (7) intersectoral cooperation and macro-approach and (8) leadership and functioning in the organisation (Buljevac et al., 2020a, b). The first national survey covering the professional competencies of social workers is planned to take place in social welfare centres. Social welfare centres are the fundamental social welfare institutions in which decisions are made on rights and services provided by the social welfare system and many public powers. Some of these powers include measures of a repressive and binding nature in protecting children, minors and extremely broken family relationships. Social welfare centres implement measures to protect the interests of persons with disabilities or mental difficulties who have been partially deprived of their legal capacity. Social workers often have the status of guardians, which is a job they perform outside of their regular duties. There are a number of reasons why we decided to conduct the first national research in social welfare centres. These centres are institutions that employ a vast number of social workers, approximately 30% (Matković, 2018). Social workers in these social welfare centres are the most common profession, accounting for approximately 64% of all professional workers (Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy, 2021). In Croatia, there are 82 social welfare centres and 37 branch offices, which in 2020 employed a total of 1895 social workers (of which 94% are women). Social welfare centres are the backbone of the social welfare system, facilitating cooperation with other sectors, and the general public perception of the social work profession is built based on these institutions. In other words, social welfare centres play an essential role in shaping the identity and perception of social work in Croatia. While respecting the national context, including elements of implemented measures and public powers given to social workers in professional competencies was essential. Based on a comprehensive list of indicators, the research team comprising five researchers conducted a detailed process of purging the indicators and revising their relevancy and comprehensibility within the national context. The indicators of professional competencies were systematically purged through six cycles, and a useful detail is that members of the research team are scientists from scientific institutions and two researchers are social workers  – practitioners. One of the research team members is the president of the Croatian Chamber of Social Workers, with 30 years of practical experience in the profession. Our experience showed that adopting an existing questionnaire or competence framework defined for a different context is impossible. On the contrary, setting aside sufficient time (more than three months)

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to prepare preconditions for further operationalisation of professional competencies in a partnership dialogue and collaboration was necessary.

6.3 Methodological Approaches to the Operationalisation of Professional Competencies Once the research team set the conceptual framework for professional competencies, qualitative and quantitative methodologies were applied to operationalise the professional competencies of social workers and devise a questionnaire applicable to social work in social welfare centres throughout Croatia. In this section, qualitative and quantitative methods were used, including further consultation with the research team and consultation with an established expert advisory group for the project. The combination of qualitative and quantitative methods facilitated the verification of different forms of validity for the questionnaires. A qualitative approach was used to verify face validity and content validity. Determining face validity involved checking whether our understanding of the professional competencies of social workers conforms to what experts in practice consider professional competencies. Moreover, whether the overall content of professional competencies corresponds to what they do as social workers in practice, meaning whether the “front line” sees themselves as social workers in the proposed competencies. Content validity was determined using a more detailed review of whether all dimensions of the professional competencies of social workers are covered, that is whether some competencies not listed are not applicable in the national context of Croatia. In the qualitative research, the focus group technique was used, and ten regional focus groups were formed throughout Croatia, with the participation of 87 social workers from 39 social welfare centres. The sample was intentional, and social workers were selected to predetermine gender, length of employment, and the department where they work to optimise the representativity. These features were pivoted to get as wide a range of different participants as possible. Participants obtained insight into an earlier compiled list of indicators of professional competencies in eight areas and assessed the extent to which a particular indicator was understandable and to what extent is a competency applicable to their work circumstances. Finally, they were able to add specific competencies not listed. Each focus group lasted approx. three hours, and a deductive approach was selected for effectiveness. Implementation of the focus group required systematising a total of 267 indicators of professional competencies across eight areas; however, social workers went through only three of the eight areas of competencies. All focus groups went through process competencies (89 indicators), and the remaining two areas of meta-competencies were rotated. Participants first wrote down their observations on prepared forms and then participated in a group discussion. Revisions by social workers of the content of competencies were not significant, which backs the

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good theoretical and contextual preparedness. However, the focus groups resulted in a content intense discussion about the profession’s identity, working conditions, and perceiving themselves as experts based on the competency framework. In a way, the focus groups had an empowering effect on social workers who reflected on their social role in a structured way and made a clearer distinction between what belongs to the scope of social work and what does not. The qualitative methodology helped us gain a deeper understanding of the narratives provided by social workers in social welfare centres and helped us cooperate with the community of practitioners to conduct quantitative research. After writing up the transcript of the focus group and qualitative analysis of the content, the research team performed an additional selection and linguistic cleansing of the text. Thereafter, the indicators were revised by members of the project expert advisory group. The project expert advisory group comprised five members who have the practical experience and come from line ministries, occupational associations, and the academic community and had not previously participated in preparing the project. Members of the project expert advisory group were chosen as key informers and recognised experts at the national level. Following the structured discussion with the expert advisory group and based on the focus group results, further validation of the questionnaire was done using quantitative pilot research. The purpose of the pilot research was to determine the metric characteristics of the measuring scales, verify the construct validity and prognostic validity, and indirectly the criterion validity. The scale reliability was also verified based on internal consistency among statements and scale sensitivity based on the variability of the overall results (Pehar, 2020). The pilot study involved 115 participants from 25 social welfare centres selected by the single-stage cluster sampling method, and a postal survey was also used. We were initially faced with the dilemma of determining the sample size for the pilot study, given that the total sample of social workers in social welfare centres is limited. For this reason, we planned a minimal sample for the pilot study so that repeating the research does not significantly increase the bias of respondents who will again complete the familiar instrument. However, we believe that the bias of the respondents has been minimised, given that the period from the pilot research to the main research has been almost a year. The pilot research applied a scale of professional competencies of social workers in Croatia comprising eight subscales with a total of 138 items. The respondents assessed their ability for each of the competency indicators on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 means I am not capable at all and 5 means I am exceptionally capable. Back in structuring the scale, the research team had the task of devising a reasonable number of items. Of the first 640 indicators, a total of 267 were systematised for implementing the focus group, whereupon 138 items were retained in the scale for use in the pilot research. This process could not simply eliminate certain items. The trap of over-generalisation had to be avoided, which could have possibly resulted in the so-called ‘ceiling effect’. Reducing the number of indicators relied on eliminating only certain items, but most often, it required the integration of indicators, taking into account to remain sufficiently specific and indicative. At times, the decision

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was made to retain some specific items that best represented the conditions in a national context. Regarding criterion validity, we were aware of the potential limitations of a simple self-assessment which we decided to use. Namely, we decided against using a two-fold survey on how particular workplace competencies are actually used and how competent respondents feel – we retained only the latter. We did not include an assessment by other stakeholders (e.g. centre directors) of a particular employee or other objective indicators because it would impede the research. That is why we can say we confirmed criterion validity indirectly on the basis of interpreting the results, that is the extent to which the self-assessment results correlate with other forms of competency measures. We identified two methodological issues posing a challenge. The underestimation of competencies by social workers in those areas where they are less frequently used was possible to expect. In other words, there is a justified risk of whether the assessment of competencies measures the possibility of applying the competencies indeed. This risk cannot be completely eliminated because work experience is a strong predictor of self-assessment of competencies (Kaslow, 2004; Meretoja et  al., 2004; Roe, 2002) and confirmed by testing differences between social workers working in different departments. Another problem was the overestimation of generic competencies, which often leads to high scores on these competencies or the so-called ceiling effect where everyone achieves high results. The more generic the competencies, the more general and abstract they are, so a certain level of competency is needed for a person to assess themselves. Therefore, it is not uncommon for people who are more often in supervisory roles or ongoing education to have even lower scores due to a more critical approach to self-assessment (Wilson & Kelly, 2010). Overall, the results showed variability among participants, that the ceiling effect was avoided, with no high correlations and that average competence assessments on the subscales roughly correspond to how we see the situation in practice. Construct and predictive validities were additionally verified. Factor analysis verified the construct validity separately for each of the eight areas of competencies. The results confirmed the theoretically envisaged boundaries between the categories of competencies. Predictive validity was verified based on correlation with possible criterion variables. For almost all dimensions of professional competencies, a link was identified with the assessment of general self-efficacy, whereas only some areas correlated with work experience, additional education, professional identity, and satisfaction in the workplace. Predictive validity was therefore limited, but we attribute this to the somewhat smaller sample mentioned earlier. Based on the pilot research, a final scale for assessing the professional competencies of social workers in Croatia was devised and is called the Croatian Social Work Competence Scale (CRO-SWCS), which is the work of five authors: Marko Buljevac, Antun Ilijaš, Jelena Ogresta, Martina Podobnik and Ana Opačić from 2020. The CRO-SWCS contains a total of 116 items divided into eight areas of professional competencies.

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6.4 The Large National Research into Professional Competencies After the pilot research, the primary research was conducted in the spring of 2021 on a nationally representative sample of social workers in social welfare centres in the Republic of Croatia. More than 70% of all social workers participated in this research, precisely 905 from 98 social welfare centres and their branch offices. One county was completely bypassed for the research because it was afflicted by a destructive earthquake, meaning that social workers were working in crisis conditions. The survey was planned as a population survey, but in the end, the sample was suitable, and the implementation was primarily conditioned by organisational capabilities and the availability of field interviewers. However, the size of the actual sample is such that it is a nationally representative sample. Increasing the sample significantly increased the predictive validity, and correlations with the expected criterion variables were determined. Factor analysis identified the following subscales on individual groups of professional competencies: 1. In the area of professional behaviour and professional identity (18 items), the following subscales were obtained: lifelong learning, managing workload, demonstration of professional identity, setting up a professional boundaries, delimitation of personal factors from professional work. 2. In the area of professional ethics, 11 items were found, and the subscale has a two-factor structure. Factor 1 refers to application of basic ethical principles, and factor 2 is related to resolving ethical issues and dilemmas.  3. The area of cultural competence has a one-factor structure with four items. 4. The area of the critical structural approach has a one-factor structure with seven items. 5. The area of integration of theory into practice has the following sub-categories: application of knowledge in practice and professional judgement. The scale has a total of 10 items. 6. The area of competencies for community organising has eight items with a one-­ factor structure. 7. The area of leadership and functioning in an organisation was measured to have 13 items allocated across the following subscales: contribution to the development of professional practice, collaboration and consultations inside work organization, advocating the organization and its development. 8. The area of process competencies is the most extensive and is measured using 30 items. It comprises the following areas: Initial establishment of professional relationship with the user and initial activities, conducting social work interventions, structured case management.  The national research was conducted during an actual significant crisis in social work. Namely, in the period from 2019 to 2021, when certain phases of the research were taking place, the situation was exceptionally turbulent. Significant tragic events occurred for users and social workers in that period, which shook Croatia. In

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March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was officially declared, during which social workers ensured care for the elderly and practically isolated persons. At the same time, in March 2020 and December 2020, central Croatia was hit by two devastating earthquakes that caused enormous material damage and an explosion of social problems in the community. The buildings where social workers worked were also destroyed, so it was not unusual for some to “end up on the road” personally and professionally. In addition to all the above, the line ministry, on the wave of public dissatisfaction and even the lynching of the profession, and despite the opposition of the profession,4 embarked on a major reform of the system with the aim of centralisation and greater control of the system. We are aware that the challenging context could have influenced the responses of social workers, but it remains to be determined in what way and certainly continue to conduct a systematic survey of competencies. The use of the validated questionnaire for measuring the professional competencies of social workers enabled further systematic tracking of this area and opened a new scientific area in social work in Croatia. Given that the social welfare system in 2022 entered a thorough reform in anticipating a completely new centralised system, repeating the national study would be significant, including determining the scope of changes in the area of professional competencies.

6.5 Significance of the Established National Framework of Professional Competence for Social Work in Croatia The National Framework of Professional Competencies is not only a questionnaire devised for measuring such competencies, but also more than that. It is the articulation of the imperative to define and monitor professional competencies and interpret the role of social work based on the competencies. Furthermore, it is an understanding of the fundamental categories or dimensions and subdimensions of competencies along with an extensive set of indicators. Part of the framework comprises the first validated scale of CRO-SWCS.  We can currently say that the framework is established but has yet to be fully developed. To do so, the following must be done: • Differentiating levels of competencies with respect to the level of advancement in the profession and level of education (from the undergraduate to postgraduate level).

 We note that in the process of passing the new Social Welfare Act, in the course of the e-advice service, a total of 1809 objections were received, and officially, the view that these changes were contrary to the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia and the 2030 National Development Strategy of the Republic of Croatia was lodged by the following organisations: Croatian Chamber of Social Workers, Croatian Association of Social Workers and the Social Work Study Centre at the Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb. 4

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• Revising the fundamental scale, especially in terms of process competencies, to apply the instrument in other sectors in which social workers are engaged (social service homes, local administration, civil society, education, healthcare, judiciary). • Elaboration of various possibilities in assessing competencies (subjective and objective indicators). • Education programs directly linked to professional competencies. Given that the project is a partnership endeavour, the partnership plans to provide the total contribution, making the professional competency framework serve as an instrument for advancing the profession’s position. First, in systematising working positions into a new organisation, the line ministry should valorise the role of social work in a system based on professional competencies. Additionally, the line Ministry is currently developing a promotion system and envisages four positions for social workers within the system: social worker trainee, social worker, social worker mentor and social worker advisor. The expectation is that each level should master a different set of competencies and that the competencies become the source for advancement criteria, but also that the roles of social workers within the organisation change in accordance with the status. Professional competencies are essential for the education system. University undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate (specialist and doctoral) programmes are expected to be more strictly grounded in professional competencies and aligned with learning outcomes. Furthermore, other stakeholders involved in lifelong learning by social workers should ensure that educational programmes evenly cover different areas of competence. The new Social Welfare Act (Official Gazette, 18/2022) plans to establish the Academy of Social Welfare at the beginning of 2023. This new body will be in charge of licensing educational programmes and planning professional development, and the framework of professional competencies should become the guideline. Finally, we anticipate that professional competencies will contribute to empowering social workers to strengthen their identity, position within the organisation, and elaborate roles and expectations of social workers. Therefore, professional competencies are significant for occupational organisations, specifically for the Croatian Chamber of Social Workers and the Croatian Association of Social Workers. In concluding, we expect further development of scientific research in this area, verification of the instrument in other systems and the devising of specific scales, as well as identifying factors that contribute to professional competencies, that is how professional competencies contribute to social work practice outcomes in Croatia. After the first exploratory research, we can anticipate further development of explanatory and evaluation research.

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Chapter 7

Everything But the Kitchen Sink: Making Sense Out of Social Work Education Outcome Assessment Orly Calderon

7.1 Introduction Social work education is at a unique juncture where it has become more minutely defined in its curriculum focus (explicit curriculum), while ever broader in its modality and context (implicit curriculum) (Council on Social Work Education, CSWE, 2015). This results in complex models of outcome evaluation, involving precise assessment of learning within an expansive framework. Current challenges in social work education outcome assessment include targeting different dimensions of learning (e.g., knowledge, values, skills, and cognitive and affective processes CSWE Commission on Accreditation, 2016, p.  6). Outcome assessment plans must consider how to measure each of these dimensions separately, while also evaluating how they contribute to students’ overall capacity for social work practice (Stone, 2014). In this context, it is important to understand that learning outcomes and professional competencies, while closely linked, are not exactly the same. Learning outcomes refer to what students have learned in their course work. Professional competencies refer to the proficiency with which students apply what they have learned when practicing social work. Because social work education is geared toward developing such professional competencies, much of the learning in social work programs takes place outside of the traditional classroom, that is, in the field. Thus, outcome assessment plans must consider how to achieve valid and reliable results from measures completed by field instructors (Matthieu et al., 2016). As interprofessional education becomes more prevalent, social work competencies mastery must be differentiated from other outcomes when evaluating learning in O. Calderon (*) Clinical Psychology Program, Department of Behavioral Sciences, Long Island University (LIU), Brookville, NY, USA e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 A. Opačić (ed.), Social Work in the Frame of a Professional Competencies Approach, European Social Work Education and Practice, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13528-6_7

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curriculum areas that are shared with other disciplines (Wharton & Burg, 2017). At the same time, since joining the Inter-Professional Education Collaborative (IPEC) in 2016, social work education has  incorporated competencies that involve communicating with professionals in other fields, thus necessitating assessment of interprofessional collaboration competencies. Challenges in evaluating learning outcomes in settings that increasingly rely on technology-based education include evaluating the added-value of learning via distributed education (e.g., E-learning, Phelan, 2015). The 2015 EPAS guidelines add specificity of knowledge, values and skills, and cognitive and affective processes to the content competencies. Encompassing the full breadth and scope of social work education learning outcomes can be a confusing and a daunting task for evaluators and burdensome to students, giving the impression that assessment must include everything but the kitchen sink. The purpose of this chapter is to address some of the challenges in social work education outcome assessment, and to offer outcome assessment strategies, including utilization of CSWE resources, for valid and efficient assessment of explicit and implicit social work curriculum. The chapter describes construction and utilization of unique tools to assess values (e.g., Nathanson et al., 2011), E-learning (Calderon & Sood, 2018), and specialized content areas (e.g., interdisciplinary practice of social work), respectively.

7.2 The Purpose of Outcome Assessment in Social Work Education Postsecondary education programs engage in outcome assessment for multiple reasons. Data from assessment of students’ learning can guide improvement in curriculum development and delivery (Calderon, 2013; Suskie, 2009), demonstrate program accountability (Suskie, 2009), and satisfy accreditation requirements (Calderon, 2013). The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) is the accrediting body for social work education programs in the United States. It regulates the curriculum content of social work education, and formulates the areas of competencies students are expected to acquire and demonstrate. In 2015, the CSWE published the revised Educational Policies and Accreditation Standards (EPAS), which articulate nine competencies that must be reflected in social work programs’ curriculum. CSWE sets two major goals in assessing students’ learning outcomes of these competencies: First, social work education programs engage in outcome assessment to ensure “students demonstrate the level of competence necessary to enter professional practice” (CSWE, 2015, p. 6). Second, programs engage in outcome assessment to improve the educational program. CSWE operationally defines each competency through specific observable behaviors, which are the target of assessment (see Table 7.1). In 2015, the CSWE introduced a holistic approach to social work education, requiring that mastery of each competency be informed by “knowledge, values,

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Table 7.1  Social Work Education Competencies (CSWE, 2015) Competency 1. Demonstrate Ethical and Professional Behavior

2. Engage Diversity and Difference in Practice

3. Advance Human Rights and Social, Economic, and Environmental Justice

4. Engage In Practice-­ informed Research and Research-informed Practice

5. Engage in Policy Practice

6. Engage with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities.

Associated behaviors * Make ethical decisions by applying the standards of the NASW Code of Ethics, relevant laws and regulations, models for ethical decision-making, ethical conduct of research, and additional codes of ethics as appropriate to context * Use reflection and self-regulation to manage personal values and maintain professionalism in practice situations * Demonstrate professional demeanor in behavior; appearance; and oral, written, and electronic communication * Use technology ethically and appropriately to facilitate practice outcomes * Use supervision and consultation to guide professional judgment and behavior * Apply and communicate understanding of the importance of diversity and difference in shaping life experiences in practice at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels * Present themselves as learners and engage clients and constituencies as experts of their own experiences * Apply self-awareness and self-regulation to manage the influence of personal biases and values in working with diverse clients and constituencies * Apply their understanding of social, economic, and environmental justice to advocate for human rights at the individual and system levels * Engage in practices that advance social, economic, and environmental justice * Use practice experience and theory to inform scientific inquiry and research * Apply critical thinking to engage in analysis of quantitative and qualitative research methods and research findings * Use and translate research evidence to inform and improve practice, policy, and service delivery * Identify social policy at the local, state, and federal level that impacts well-being, service delivery, and access to social services * Assess how social welfare and economic policies impact the delivery of and access to social services * Apply critical thinking to analyze, formulate, and advocate for policies that advance human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice * Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment, person-in-environment, and other multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks to engage with clients and constituencies * Use empathy, reflection, and interpersonal skills to effectively engage diverse clients and constituencies (continued)

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Table 7.1 (continued) Competency 7. Assess Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities

8. Intervene with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities.

9. Evaluate Practice with Individuals, Families, Groups, Organizations, and Communities.

Associated behaviors * Collect and organize data, and apply critical thinking to interpret information from clients and constituencies * Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment, person-in-environment, and other multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks in the analysis of assessment data from clients and constituencies * Develop mutually agreed-on intervention goals and objectives based on the critical assessment of strengths, needs, and challenges within clients and constituencies * Select appropriate intervention strategies based on the assessment, research knowledge, and values and preferences of clients and constituents * Critically choose and implement interventions to achieve practice goals and enhance capacities of clients and constituencies * Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment, person-in-environment, and other multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks in interventions with clients and constituencies * Use interprofessional collaboration as appropriate to achieve beneficial practice outcomes * Negotiate, mediate, and advocate with and on behalf of diverse clients and constituencies * Facilitate effective transitions and endings that advance mutually agreed-on goals * Select and use appropriate methods for evaluation of outcomes * Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environment, person-in-environment, and other multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks in the evaluation of outcomes * Critically analyze, monitor, and evaluate intervention and program processes and outcomes * Apply evaluation findings to improve practice effectiveness at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels

Source: The text in the table is reprinted with permission of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE Commission on Educational Policy and CSWE Commission on Accreditation, 2015, pp. 7–9)

skills, and cognitive and affective processes” (CSWE, 2015, p. 6). This requirement, while viewing learning as a comprehensive and complex process, has actually added a layer of specificity to assessment of social work education curriculum, in that each of these dimensions of competencies must be evaluated separately. Stone (2014) highlights the difference between evaluating performance-related educational outcomes and evaluating educational outcomes that capture competencies such as critical thinking. Outcome assessment is particularly challenging when educational goals are holistic and somewhat esoteric, such as professional capability and

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maturity, representing professional competencies that extend beyond mastery of course content (Stone, 2014). In recent years, social work education has expanded its mode of delivery to include online, blended, face-to-face instruction, or combination thereof (Robbins et  al., 2016). Educational outcome assessment must take into consideration how technology, as a mode of delivering and processing knowledge, interacts with learning. Additional challenges in social work education outcome assessment involve encompassing learning that takes place in the classroom and in the field placement, with sufficient differentiation among knowledge, skills, and values that students acquire in each instruction modality. Social work education programs must consider how to measure each of these learning dimensions separately, while also evaluating how these modalities of learning contribute to students’ overall capacity for social work practice (Stone, 2014). Because much of the learning in social work programs takes place outside of the traditional classroom, that is, in the field, outcome assessment plans must consider how to achieve valid and reliable results from measures completed by field instructors (Matthieu et al., 2016). As interprofessional education becomes more prevalent, social work competencies mastery must be differentiated from other outcomes when evaluating learning in curriculum areas that are shared with other disciplines (Wharton & Burg, 2017). For example, social work programs that prepare students for collaboration with other disciplines (e.g., nursing) must evaluate how well their students have developed collaborative work skills, above and beyond the social work competencies delineated by 2015 CSWE EPAS. CSWE explicitly requires that outcome assessment incorporate multidimensional methods (CSWE, 2015, p. 19). Encompassing the full breadth and scope of social work education learning outcomes can be a confusing and a daunting task for evaluators and burdensome to students. Faculty, program directors, and chairpersons may feel overwhelmed in that they are required to evaluate everything but the kitchen sink, targeting specific components of the program while formulating a cohesive assessment plan. In this chapter, I discuss challenges in outcome assessment of social work education, and offer tools and strategies for evaluating various components of social work education reliably and validly.

7.3 Conducting the Outcome Assessment: First Step: Setting the Goals of the Assessment Social work education accrediting body, CSWE, focuses on outcome assessment for the purpose of guiding learning and improving curriculum effectiveness (CSWE, 2015, p. 19). Toward that end, social work education programs must not only choose assessment tools that are relevant to the curriculum content, but must also develop a data analysis plan that will inform which curriculum areas may need improvement. A comparative analysis of outcome assessment results may involve utilizing assessment tools that yield normative data, comparing students’ learning across programs.

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Learning outcomes assessment data help to set benchmarks within a program to identify what percentage of students achieve the desired level of educational mastery, or employing a strengths and weakness perspective, through comparing data sets within the same outcome assessment procedure (Suskie, 2009). Each of these data analysis approaches provides information on what students learn and how well they learn it. More specifically, in the case of social work education, outcome assessment data analyses help to determine competencies students develop and how well they develop these competencies. Thus, when designing an educational outcome assessment plan, a program must choose the appropriate tools to evaluate relevant curriculum areas, and design data analysis procedures that will best help to meet the assessment goals.

7.4 Conducting the Outcome Assessment: Second Step: Choosing Outcome Assessment Tools The choice of learning outcome measurement tools is informed by the goals of the assessment. To address the goals set by CSWE in 2015, social work program in the United States must choose tools that evaluate mastery of the nine competencies (see Table 7.1) on a programmatic level.

7.4.1 Evaluating Course Outcomes vs. Programmatic Outcomes: Curriculum Mapping as a Programmatic Evaluation Tool CSWE (2015) requires that social work educational outcome assessment take place on a programmatic level, evaluating how well students have mastered the nine competencies throughout their educational experiences in the program. This poses challenges for many programs. Most programs, for example, do not infuse social work research content through multiple courses across the curriculum (Fish, 2015). Instead, many programs evaluate learning outcomes on a course or a learning-­ module level. A program may incorporate instruction that targets specific competencies within specific course or modules, and thus design an outcome assessment plan that targets the course or the learning-module to evaluate mastery of these competencies (Fish, 2015; Iovu & Roth, 2017). For example, Lim et  al. (2017) describe how analyzing results of an assignment in a social policy class can help to evaluate students’ sense of personal social growth. Multiple measures (e.g., surveys, journal reflections) were utilized to assess learning outcomes of a policy course assignment. Data from these measures helped to analyze changes in students’ knowledge of social policy, values of the profession, and research skills (Lim et al., 2017), thus addressing the CSWE mandate to evaluate learning that takes place

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along multiple dimensions. Hohman et al. (2015) describe how a course dedicated to motivational interviewing (MI) techniques informed assessment of students’ interpersonal communication skills. This involved designing specific assignments that required students to review client case vignette and respond in ways that reflect MI principles. While such assessment methods are creative and can effectively evaluate learning of social work curriculum areas in a specific component of a program (e.g., a course or a field experience), using data from these courses or learning activities to inform assessment at the programmatic level remains challenging. Both Lim et al. (2017) and Hohman et al. (2015) were able to infer achievement of holistic competencies (e.g., engaging in policy practice – competency #5, and interpersonal communication  – a behavior associated with Competency # 1, respectively) from analysis of learning outcomes at the course level. However, to create a valid contextual link between assessment at the course level and the programmatic level, course content must be aligned with program competencies (Suskie, 2009). Moreover, learning objectives for various course activities or assignments must be aligned with programmatic competencies. The process of curriculum mapping helps to inform how learning outcomes on distinct courses, modules or assignments, reflect achievement of the more holistic programmatic competencies. Cheung et al. (2019) describe how mapping the curriculum of an MSW program helps to ensure contextual linkages between course content and design (including course assignments), program goals, and the educational standard set by the CSWE. Ultimately, outcomes of respective course assignments inform achievement of program goals and educational standards with which such course assignments are aligned. Curriculum mapping involves multiple steps, starting with a curriculum design. Each course in a program should be designed so that its learning objectives align with the program’s goals, which are aligned with CSWE 2015 competencies. Each course assignment must be designed to reflect at least one of the course’s learning objectives. This multilayer approach to curriculum design subsequently allows for assessment of learning outcomes at different levels that are interconnected. Schutte et  al. (2018) distinguish between macromapping and micromapping. The former involves setting, and ultimately assessing, course learning objectives that align with the program’s goals or competencies. The latter involves designing, and ultimately assessing, learning activities within each course that align with the course learning objectives. Thus, curriculum mapping may begin with curriculum design that progresses from the general to the particular (learning objectives or competencies at the program level, course level, and assignment level, respectively) whereas assessment progress from the specific to the general, evaluating outcomes at the assignment’s level, which informs achievement of the respectively aligned course and program competencies. Sterz et al. (2019) further distinguish between designing curriculum content (what is taught, how, and when) and between designing assessment tools to measure the extent to which students have mastered the curriculum content. Figures 7.1 and 7.2 depict the process of curriculum mapping. Social work curriculum mapping features a unique challenge for learning outcomes assessment in that social work education must teach relevant practical skills,

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Program-Level Learning

Course-Level

Competencies

Competencies

Learning

Assignment/ Module-Level Learning Competencies

Fig. 7.1  Curriculum mapping, step 1: curriculum design

Measures of Assignment/ Module-Level Learning Outcomes

Measures of Course-Level Learning Outcomes

Measures of Program-Level Learning Outcomes

Fig. 7.2  Curriculum mapping, step 2: learning outcomes assessment

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theoretical knowledge, and values. Thus, curriculum mapping–based outcome assessment must employ strategies that clearly distinguish among these three elements of learning (Cheung et al., 2019). Moreover, CSWE educational standards (CSWE, 2015) require assessment of student’s cognitive and affective processes, obliging social work education programs to design, and evaluate, outcomes of learning activities that target learning beyond mastery of content and development of appropriate professional behaviors. Ultimately, a meaningful assessment of social work education outcomes has to address the manner by which students engage in cognitive processes such as “critical thinking, problems solving, and analytical capabilities” (Stone, 2014, p. 48) to inform application of theatrical knowledge, ethical decisions, and practical skills. Social work education programs must adopt a holistic approach to outcome assessment, in which students have opportunities to demonstrate skills that reflect their mastery of social work knowledge and values on the one hand, and that affords the evaluator an opportunity to assess underlying cognitive and emotional processes that contribute to learning, on the other hand (Stone, 2014). To capture assessment of knowledge, values, skills, and cognitive and affective processes in social work education via curriculum mapping, several steps need to take place. 1. Beginning with a curriculum design, faculty should formulate course learning objectives to include development of knowledge, skills, values, and the capacity to engage in cognitive and affective processes throughout learning. This can be achieved by writing objectives that are action oriented to capture skills (e.g., “practice”), knowledge (e.g., “describe”), values (e.g., “respect”), and cognitive and affective processes (e.g., “reflect on”). These action words can be applied in the context of any of the required nine social work education competencies. CSWE (2015) provides examples of specific behaviors that are associated with each competency (see Table 7.1). 2. Proceeding with course instructional design, faculty should create learning modules or activities that clearly address skills, knowledge, values, and cognitive and affective process. Learning modules may be designed to capture one or more of these learning dimensions. For example, a short reflection paper based on assigned readings promotes development of content mastery (knowledge) as well as critical thinking (cognitive processes). 3. Progressing toward aligning course learning objectives with program, and ultimately with CSWE competencies, faculty should consider, and clearly indicate, how course content, reflecting the process of learning as describe in the steps above, applies to mastery of relevant competencies as per the EPAS (CSWE, 2015). Not every course fits well with each of the nine competencies. Learning objectives in a research course are likely to align well with competency 4 (engage in practice-informed research and research-informed practice), but less so with competency 6 (engage with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities). However, some competencies lend themselves to several curricular areas. For example, competency 1 (demonstrate ethical and professional behavior) is likely to be reflected in almost any course in the program. For the

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EPAS Competency 2: Engage Diversity and Difference in Pracce

Psychopathology Outcome Measure: Grades on homework assignment: The Culture Sensive Interview (APA, 2013) [K,S,V,C&A]

Psychopathology Course Competency Analyze the psychological, social, cultural, polical, behavioral, and economic impact of having and being diagnosed with major psychiatric disorders on social funconing.

Psychopathology Learning Module: Mulculturalism in the DSM-5

K = Knowledge; S = Skills; V = Values; C&A = Cognitive and Affective processes. Fig. 7.3  Curriculum mapping to measure EPAS Competency 2  in a graduate psychopathology course. K Knowledge, S Skills, V Values, C&A Cognitive and Affective processes

purpose of a comprehensive outcome assessment, it is useful to measure, where possible, achievement of competencies across the curriculum. 4. Culminating in outcome assessment, faculty can utilize curriculum mapping to indicate achievement of learning competencies based on students’ performance at the course level. Figures 7.3 and 7.4 illustrate curriculum mapping used to evaluate learning outcomes related to competency 2 (engaging diversity and difference in practice) in two second-year MSW courses: Psychopathology and Advanced Research. Data from the respective outcome measures employed in different courses inform students’ achievement of a single competency. The advantage of

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EPAS Competency 2: Engage Diversity and Difference in Pracce

Advanced Research Methods Course competency: Consider relevant diversity-sensive issues when designing a research study

Psychopathology Outcome Measure: Wring a culturally sensive informed consent

Advanced Research Methods Learning Module: Ethics in Research

K = Knowledge; S = Skills; V = Values; C&A = Cognitive and Affective processes.

Fig. 7.4  Curriculum mapping to measure EPAS Competency 2 in a graduate advanced research methods curse. K Knowledge, S Skills, V Values, C&A Cognitive and Affective processes

this method is that it links assessment of CSWE competencies attainment directly to students’ performance in specific elements of the program, at the course level. Keeping in mind one of the goals of outcome assessment, namely, improvement in curriculum development (Suskie, 2009), data from these outcome measures connect directly to curriculum components that may require revisions to improve learning outcomes. Mapping the learning processes associated with each learning module and outcome measure underscores the multidimensional levels of learning students engage in to achieve respective competencies.

7.4.2 Evaluating Outcomes at the Programmatic Level: Standardized Measures CSWE offers standardized tools for assessment of social work education competencies across the curriculum through the Social Work Education Assessment Project (SWEAP, 2015). The standardized measures, available to participating programs for

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a fee, include multiple tools, each evaluating achievement of the nine competencies, along a particular dimension of learning. The Foundation Curriculum Assessment Instrument (FCAI; SWEAP, 2015) evaluates students’ knowledge of content area associated with mastery of each competency. It is an online multiple-choice exam that students typically take shortly before they graduate from the program. Because the instrument is not linked to a particular course or learning module, the results (scores on the exam) reflect students’ knowledge level across all elements of the program. The Field Placement/Practicum Assessment Instrument (FPPAI) is geared toward assessing practical skills related to each of the nine competencies. It is completed by the student’s field instructor based on observation of the student’s performance in the field. Like the FCAI, it can be administered online and is divided into sections, each corresponding with one of the nine competencies. The FPPAI is broader in its scope than the FCAI, in that it taps into multiple learning dimensions. The field supervisor who completes the FPPAI is able to observe, and rate, the student’s practical skills, adherence to the social work profession core values, and the ability to engage in critical thinking and affective reaction when working with, or on behalf of, a client. The FPPAI utilizes a 5-point rating scale ranging from 1 (lacking performance) to 5 (mastered performance). The field supervisor ranks the student on multiple behaviors, grouped by competency. For mapping of the FPPAI components with the learning dimensions in relations to each of the nine CSWE competencies, see https://www.sweapinstruments.org/?page_id=5125 Because the FPPAI, like other SWEAP (2015) tools, has been tested for validity and reliability, it addresses some of the challenges associated with evaluating students’ competency mastery through a by-stander method. Nevertheless, an effective use of this tool requires training of field instructors to ensure uniformity in understanding the differences among levels of ranking (e.g., what does a competent mastery of a particular behavior look like, and how it is different from demonstrating a superior level of mastery for the same behavior?). Holding focus groups comprised of the field supervisors in the program can help to achieve unity in ranking standards. More research is needed to further ascertain the degree to which field supervisors can use the FPPAI effectively. The Area Concentration Achievement Tests (ACAT) are another set of standardized measures, available for a fee, evaluating content mastery in a variety of educational disciplines (Pike, 2015). The ACAT in the area of social work has been updated to assess knowledge of CSWE competencies (2015) through a multiple-­ choice exam that can be administered in a paper-and pencil version, secure and nonsecure online environment (Pike, 2015). Scores on the exam are calculated for each competency, allowing for a comparison of achievement among areas of the social work education curriculum as represented by CSWE competencies. Because this is a standardized tool, scores on the exam can be compared across schools that utilize this exam as a component of their outcome assessment process. For additional information on the use of the ACAT in a comprehensive social work education outcome assessment, see Calderon (2013).

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7.4.3 Evaluating Outcomes at the Course Level: The Role of Rubrics Rubrics are scoring instruments we can use for evaluating performance on a specific assignment or a learning module (Stevens & Levi, 2005). They are useful as an assessment tool because they involve uniform criteria for a consistent and accurate evaluation of students’ learning (Suskie, 2009). Rubrics are particularly useful for evaluating outcomes of learning that takes place along a continuum. Unlike examinations, which typically assess binary learning (either the students know the right answers to the test questions or they do not), rubrics are suitable for evaluating outcomes on a continuum of learning, demonstrated through performance on papers, presentations etc. The use of rubrics as an outcome assessment tool broadens the scope of the evaluation as they can be designed to evaluate students’ performance on a variety of assignments (e.g., papers, oral presentations, class participation etc.) across the curriculum (Stevens & Levi, 2005), thus enhancing a multidimensional approach to outcome assessment. By definition, rubrics afford much flexibility in their design and application. The type of rubric a program might choose to assess students’ learning outcomes depends on the desired outcome and on the nature of the learning assignment or module. At the most simplistic level, rubrics can be designed as checklists (Suskie, 2009), evaluating students’ performance on a particular assignment based on presence, or lack thereof, of specific content, or on a binary demonstration of a specific skill. Rating scale rubrics are appropriate for evaluating degree of learning along a particular dimension (Suskie, 2009). In other words, while checklists assess the presence of a learning outcome (evidence that students mastered content related to a particular competency, for example), rating scales evaluate how well the student has mastered the desired outcome (e.g., rating a student’s content knowledge as outstanding, very good, adequate, etc., Suskie, 2009, p. 141). Descriptive rubrics are a more detailed version of rating scales and provide a description of performance that is associated with each rating level (Suskie, 2009, p. 142). Descriptive rubrics provide an explicit description of what learning looks like at each rating level. To maximize the utility of rubrics as learning outcomes assessment tools, certain steps should be followed, regardless of the type of rubric or the assignment it is designed to evaluate. Stevens and Levi (2005) describe four steps in the construction of effective rubrics: task description, choosing an evaluation scale, defining the evaluation dimensions, and describing the evaluation dimensions. While rubrics are usually utilized in assessment of learning within a course or a learning module, combining rubrics with curriculum mapping helps to expand the assessment to the programmatic level (Lancaster, 2015). Figure  7.5 illustrates how these steps can inform the use of rubrics in the outcome assessment of social work education. Sections 7.4.4, 7.4.5 and 7.4.6, respectively, provide three applied examples of rubrics to evaluate cognitive and affective processes, learning that is unique to the online environment, and attainment of interprofessional collaboration knowledge.

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Task Description

Evaluation Scale

Learning Dimensions

Description of the Dimensions

• The assignment's objectives • Curriculum mapping to align with one or more CSWE competencies

• Checklist; Rating Scale; Descriptive Scale • Evaluating the level of students' achievement of the assignment's objectives • Assigning a numerical value to each level of achievement

• Defining components of learning: One or more of the following: • Knowledge, Values, Skills, Cognitive and Affective Processes

• Description of students' performance within each dimension through: • Description of output associated with each level of the evaluation scale • Curriculum mapping to align students' performance on each dimension with behaviors linked to relevant CSWE competencies

Fig. 7.5  Utilization of rubrics as evaluation tools in social work education outcome assessment

7.4.4 Evaluating Knowledge, Skills, Values, Cognitive and Affective Processes, Respectively: Standardized and Nonstandardized Tools One of the challenges in social work education outcome assessment is evaluating the process of learning students employ as they progress through the curriculum. Evaluating students’ mastery of content relating to the nine CSWE competencies

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(knowledge) is relatively easy as it involves an objective assessment of students’ factual knowledge. Likewise, evaluating skills, while somewhat more ambiguous, as it depends on  the subjective interpretation of the evaluator, is tied to specific observable behaviors the students demonstrate. However, assessment of values and cognitive and affective processes is more elusive. In respect to assessing values specifically, separation of ethical conduct from knowledge and skills is difficult to achieve. If we assess students’ familiarity with the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics (NASW, 2017), we essentially evaluate knowledge about ethics, not necessarily ethical conduct. If we evaluate students’ behaviors in relationship to the NASW ethical standards, we probably are assessing skills. The challenge remains of how to evaluate internal processes such as developing ethical awareness, and employing cognitive and affective processes in learning. Evaluating Values  Both the FCAI and the FPPAI (SWEAP, 2015) include sections that specifically address students’ mastery of competency 1- Demonstrate Ethical and Professional Behavior. However, the FCAI measures students’ knowledge of social work ethics, and does not address values or cognitive and affective processes. The curriculum mapping of the FPPAI (SWEAP, 2015) suggests that evaluating behaviors associated with the first competency does tap into assessment of values in cognitive and affective processes. However, given the nature of this instrument (e.g., focusing on evaluating observable behaviors of the students), it is questionable whether it is useful in evaluating internal processes such as ethical development and utilization of cognitive and affective processes in learning. In evaluating educational outcomes related to values, it may be useful to utilize instruments that are specifically designed for the measurement of ethical development in social work students. The Social Work Values Inventory (SWVI, Pike, 1996) measures students’ adherence social work values. Students respond to case vignettes and indicate how the clients in the vignettes should be treated. Thus, the instrument is useful in measuring students’ familiarity with social work values (knowledge), and their ability to, at least theoretically, apply their knowledge of social work ethical values to practice (skills). The SWVI focuses on three values: confidentiality, self-determination, and social justice (Pike, 1996). Therefore, results from this measure can inform learning outcomes related to competency 1 (demonstrate ethical and professional behavior) as well as to competency 3 (advance human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice). Moreover, the instrument can effectively detect differences in levels of adherence to social work values “between social work students at varying levels of education” (Pike, 1996, p. 339). Thus, the SWVI is useful in tracking students’ ethical growth as they progress along the program, providing additional useful outcome data. For a discussion of the SWVI validity and reliability, see Pike (1996). Nathanson et al. (2011) developed an instrument to measure students’ ability to solve hypothetical ethical dilemmas. The Nathanson and Giffords Ethics Scale (NGES, Nathanson et al., 2011) is comprised of items that depict practice scenarios involving competing, and at times, conflicting, social work values. The underlying assumption of this instrument is that ethical social work practice, while always

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following the ethical standards of the profession as delineated in the NASW Code of Ethics, does not mean absolute choices in application of these values. Rather, the choice of the appropriate value a social worker must follow is informed by situational context (Nathanson et al., 2011, p. 136). The respondent to the NGES has to choose the best course of ethical conduct in each case scenario, based on the unique circumstances of the client system described in the item. When used to evaluate learning outcomes, the instrument measures familiarity with values of the social work profession (knowledge and values), ability to apply professional values in various practice scenarios (skills and values), and capacity for critical thinking and decision-making (cognitive, and possibly affective, processes). Like the SWVI (Pike 1996), the NGES (Nathanson et al., 2011) can be administered at different points along the educational path of social work students to measure their progress in developing knowledge, values, skills and cognitive and affective processes in relationship to a task that requires ethical decision-making. For a discussion of the psychometric properties of the NGES please see Nathanson et al. (2011). Evaluating Cognitive and Affective Processes  Assessing learning along the dimension of cognitive and affective processes is particularly challenging, because these aspects of learning are not usually captured in learning assignments. We can capture students’ knowledge of the competency-relevant content through tests, for example, but usually these do not reveal the process of critical thinking the students employ in order to correctly answer the questions on the exam. Similarly, we can evaluate students’ mastery of practice skills in relationship to the respective CSWE competencies through observing and rating their interactions with clients in the field placement. But external and observable behaviors do not offer objective information on the decision-making process, cognitive or affective, that guides these practice behaviors. One approach to assessing the cognitive and affective reaction dimension of learning is to develop an evaluation tool that targets this specific dimension, and apply it, utilizing a curriculum mapping strategy, to the assessment of various competencies at the course level. For example, Calderon and Sood (2018) developed a rubric to assess learning dimensions that emerge from students’ responses to a blackboard discussion thread in various social work courses. While the original purpose of the instrument was to evaluate learning that occurs in the online environment, some aspects of the instrument can be applied to assessment of cognitive and affective processes. The rubric emerged from a qualitative inductive analysis of students’ responses to an asynchronous group discussion assignment in a graduate social work psychopathology course (Calderon & Sood, 2018, p. 11). The assignment required students to read a weekly case study and respond to a prompt by the instructor, incorporating content from the assigned respective weekly reading in their response. Students were also required to respond to each other’s posts. Analysis of responses from three cohorts (over three consecutive academic years) yielded three learning dimensions that were evident in students’ responses. Contextual communication reflects aspects of students’ responses that address content from the assigned readings or the case study. Inter-personal communication reflects the

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quality of peer-to-peer communication. Meta-learning includes content that “extended beyond the parameters of the assignment and that involved refection of the assignment and/or on the learning process” (Calderon & Sood, 2018, p.  17). Following guidelines for rubric construction (Stevens & Levi, 2005), students’ responses were coded to reflect a continuum of proficiency in each learning dimension. Ultimately, the rubric included four levels of performance for each of the three learning dimensions, ranging from below expected level of learning to advanced level of learning. Within the meta-learning dimension, students’ responses ranged from no reflection on the learning experience, to reflection on their own professional or personal growth in relationship to the assignment. This rubric has since been adapted for grading group discussion assignments in other social work graduate courses such as introduction to research and advanced research methods. When used in conjunction with curriculum mapping, students’ scores on this dimension of the rubric can inform cognitive and affective reaction to the material, in relationship to respective competencies.

7.4.5 Evaluating Outcomes in the E-Learning Environment In recent years, social work education saw increased number of undergraduate and graduate programs that offer at least some of the curriculum in an online modality, often referred to as E-learning (Phelan, 2015). The use of digital technology to distribute information and to communicate gives rise to educational models that vary based on the “the relative percentage of a course that is taught face-to-face compared to online delivery” (Calderon & Sood, 2018, p.  3). Pedagogical strategies likewise vary, depending on the modality of course delivery, with an emphasis on increased students’ involvement in online learning activities (Calderon & Sood, 2018). Learning outcome assessment must take into consideration the context of learning and its potential impact on learning outcomes. Studies show that students in the online and traditional in-person environments, respectively, demonstrate comparable level of learning outcomes achievement (Phelan, 2015). However, there remains the challenge of evaluating outcomes of learning that are unique to the online environment. In other words, how do we isolate, and measure, aspects of learning that are unique to the E-learning environment, and that do not occur in the in-person learning environment? This challenge is particularly relevant now when so many schools have shifted to remote, or at least blended, modality of instruction due to COVID-19. A discussion of the literature on learning dimensions that are unique to the online or blended environment is beyond the scope of this chapter. The interested reader is referred to the works of Charles Dziuban, Randy Garrison, Norman Vaughan, to name just a few experts in this area. For the purpose of this chapter, I focus on assessment of learning that is associated with the social presence element of the online learning environment (Garrison et al., 2010, cited in Calderon & Sood, 2018). From the pedagogical perspective, E-Learning allows for designing and incorporating course-learning activities, such as asynchronous online group

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discussion assignments, which promote peer-to-peer interaction among students. Research suggests that interpersonal interaction in asynchronous online discussions enhances exchange of ideas and feedback and increases course content retention (Rovai et al., 2004). From the assessment perspective, it is useful to measure the quality of such interactions in order to evaluate learning that takes place in the context of the online environment, and that is less likely to occur in the more didactic in-person instruction environment. Toward that goal, Calderon and Sood (2018) developed a rubric to assess students’ performance on an asynchronous online group discussion assignment (see description of the assignment and instrument above). The second dimension of the rubric, interpersonal communication, captures the quality and proficiency of the students’ interpersonal interaction. Within this dimension, students’ posts on the discussion board thread are rated, using a Likert scale, on a continuum of learning, ranging from absence of joining in peer-to-peer communication (but engaging in communication with the instructor) to demonstrating leadership in the interaction. When used in conjunction with curriculum mapping, students’ scores on this dimension of the rubric can inform their ability to engage in asynchronous peer-to-­ peer learning, in relationship to respective competencies.

7.4.6 Evaluating Interdisciplinary Practice Learning Outcomes Social workers often work in host settings (Fast, 2003) such as schools, hospitals, nursing home, etc. Social work education programs must teach, and assesse, students’ readiness for practice in collaboration with other professional disciplines. Green and Mathiesen (2016) note that university training programs preparing students for interdisciplinary practice must infuse their curricula with interdisciplinary skills training in clinical setting. The CSWE EPAS (2015) briefly mention incorporation of interprofessional collaboration and multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks when engaging, assessing, intervening with, and evaluating diverse client systems. The emphasis on incorporating interdisciplinary, or interprofessional, education in social work curriculum was underscored in 2016, when the CSWE joined the Inter-professional Education Collaborative (IPEC; Wharton & Burg, 2017). As a result, social work education programs that embrace an interprofessional approach to the practice of social work incorporate additional competencies in their curriculum. The core four IPEC competencies focus on working and communicating with other professionals, differentiating between one’s own professional role and that of other professionals, and developing skills and values necessary to function in teams comprised of various professionals (IPEC, 2016). Research suggests that successful assessment of students’ response to interprofessional healthcare can be achieved through experiential and simulation learning that involves collaboration between social work students and students from other health professions. Wharton and Burg

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(2017) describe assessment of students’ beliefs about interprofessional health-care attitudes about interprofessional teamwork before and after a simulation activity with medical and pharmacy students. Hitchcock et al. (2019) describe how simulation of Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBRIT) activity for social work and nursing students, respectively, informed assessment of students’ self-reported confidence, perceived competence, and readiness to engage in interprofessional practice. A more direct assessment of interprofessional competencies can be achieved through tools designed to evaluate students learning outcome in a specialized content area dedicated to interprofessional practice. For example, the LIU Collaborative MSW Program whose goals include “Prepare(ing) social workers for successful interdisciplinary collaboration” (Long Island University Collaborative MSW Program, 2018, p. 4) added a tenth learning competency to its specialization-year curriculum. The goal targets “Promote(ing) the interdisciplinary practice of social work in specialized practice areas” (p. 40). During the last semester of the program, students are required to produce a research paper on the topic of role theory principles in the context of interdisciplinary collaboration within the field of social work. A team of faculty members designed a rubric to evaluate students’ performance in this assignment and the program incorporated it into its annual outcome assessment procedure. The rubric involves ratings of 1–5 for each of the 10 competencies. Table  7.2 depicts the portion of the rubric that assesses students’ achievement of knowledge in the area of interdisciplinary collaboration.

7.5 Conducting the Outcome Assessment: Third Step: Data Analysis and Interpretation A well-designed and executed outcome assessment is likely to yield rich data, which may present an interpretation challenge. What do these data tell us about the students’ success in mastering the desired learning outcomes or about the program’s success in teaching? To make sense out of the data, interpretation should occur in the context of the assessment’s purpose. However, by themselves, data may not provide the information we are seeking. For example, if the purpose of the assessment is to identify the degree to which students achieve the required competencies, data need to be considered in relationship to a desired standard of achievement. If the goal of the assessment is to identify areas in the program that require improvement, we need to decide ahead of time what level of learning outcome constitutes a strength or a weakness, respectively. EPAS (CSWE, 2015) guidelines require that assessment methods consider the complex multidimensional nature of social work practice and that data interpretation employ an integrated approach. How, then, do we establish relationship among sets of data from multiple measures and draw a comprehensive and meaningful conclusion about the findings? The discussion about benchmarks below addresses this question.

CSWE competency 10: Promote the Interdisciplinary practice of social work in specialized practice areas

Program’s competency definition excerpt or behavior Social workers in clinical practice demonstrate knowledge of the value of inter-­ disciplinary practice in promoting the well-being of their clients and collaborate with other professionals to better address the holistic needs of their clients

No evidence of competence 1 point The paper does not address the value of interdisciplinary practice in promoting the well-being of clients, nor the value of collaboration with other professionals

Below expected level of competence 2 points The paper minimally addresses the value of interdisciplinary practice in promoting the well-being of clients, and/or the value of collaboration with other professionals

Table 7.2  Liu Collaborative MSW Program Capstone Project Rubric Approaching competence 3 points The paper addresses the value of interdisciplinary practice in promoting the well-being of clients, and/or the value of collaboration with other professionals but does not draw a clear linkage to the findings from this study

Achieved competence 4 points The paper addresses the value of interdisciplinary practice in promoting the well-being of clients AND the value of collaboration with other professionals with links to the current study

Exceeded competence 5 points The paper addresses the value of interdisciplinary practice in promoting the well-being clients, AND the value of collaboration with other professionals while clearly articulating a linkage to the findings from this study

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7.5.1 The Importance of Benchmarks A benchmark is a standard, usually defined by a quantitative value, that serves as a basis for data comparison (Ewell, 2011). By themselves, data from learning outcome assessment are not very helpful, unless we interpret them in the context of a specific standard. For example, CSWE (2015) outcome assessment guidelines dictate that social work education programs evaluate whether their students demonstrate the level of competence necessary to enter a professional practice. However, how does a program identify that level of competence? Should there be a universal level of acceptable competency across all social work education programs, or should each program set its own standard? Moreover, why not use grades, at a course or even at an assignment level, as a basis for comparison? If we recognize that data are only useful when interpreted in comparison to a certain standard, we can see the importance of setting standards of competency that are common across all programs of social work education. Toward that end, it is not sufficient to utilize students’ grades as a basis for a benchmark. While most schools utilize the same grade schema (e.g., 95 and above = A; 90–94 = A-; etc.), the course assignments and the criteria educators use to grade the assignments or to assign a course grade, differ from program to program, and sometimes from one professor to another within the same program. Thus, for a benchmark to be useful, it is important to use standardized tools or methods of assessment. Recognizing this challenge, CSWE (2015) requires that assessment procedures involve setting of standardized benchmarks and explaining the rationale for such benchmarks (CSWE, 2015, p. 19). The challenge for evaluators of educational outcomes is to define the expected level of competency. While CSWE allows programs a discretion in setting benchmarks, the EPAS 2015 does require programs to articulate the rationale for the benchmark (Sullivan et al., 2020). Learning outcomes data can be compared to a previously defined benchmark to determine whether students have achieved the desired learning outcome. Suskie (2009) describes multiple types of benchmarks, depending on the type of data collected and on the purpose of the evaluation. Here I address three types of benchmarks that I believe are particularly relevant to social work education outcome assessment. External Peer Benchmark  External benchmarks help to compare the learning outcomes of our students to that of students from other programs. To utilize this type of benchmark, data must be collected via outcome assessment measures that are standardized and are widely used across programs of social work education. The standard, or benchmark, is set by an external agency, such as the CSWE, and applies to all programs on the relevant measure. Benchmarks that are utilized in educational outcome assessment involve two stages. First, a benchmark is set to determine competency levels of individual students on various components of knowledge and practice behaviors. Second, a benchmark is set in the aggregate, in order to identify the percentage of students in a program who have achieved the expected level of competency (Sullivan et al., 2020). For the FCAI, SWEAP standards (CSWE, 2015) recommend a basic benchmark, for each student, of responding to at least 50% of

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the items in a given competency area. Sullivan et al. (2020) explain this benchmark is set based on item difficulty analysis of the FCAI, showing that students tend to respond correctly to 50–70% of the items on the instrument. Thus, the 50% benchmark represents a basic threshold. For the FPPAI, SWEAP standards (CSWE, 2015) recommend a basic benchmark rating of at least 3 on each practice behavior in a given competency. Using a 5-pont Likert scale, the score of 3 on the FPPAI represents “competent performance,” thus lending itself to a threshold of competence for individual students (Sullivan et al., 2020). Social work education programs have a discretion to increase or decrease this benchmark. Additionally, programs have a discretion establishing the aggregate percentage of their students achieving a benchmark. Sullivan et al. (2020) recommend using 80% as a benchmark for percentage of students responding correctly to 50% of the FCAI questions, and receiving a rating of at least a 3 on each competency measured by the FPPAI. Value-Added (Demonstrated Progress) Benchmark  Outcome assessment may focus on evaluating students’ improvement, comparing performance of the same cohort of students on a particular measure through data that are collected at certain intervals. This involves measuring certain aspects of learning at different instances during the students’ time in the program. The difference in the results between assessment periods represents the amount of progress students are demonstrating. In this strategy, the amount of progress, rather than the level of actual learning displayed at each assessment interval, is compared to the benchmark. For example, an added-value benchmark can be set as a 50% increase in students’ scores on a particular outcome measure, regardless of the actual score during the first or subsequent times of assessment. The added-value benchmark is useful for evaluating dimensions of learning that occur on a continuum, such as developing practice skills or professional values. The FPPAI, for example, can be administered at the end of each semester, tracking students’ progress in developing practice skills as they advance through the field education component of the program. The change in ­students’ average scores on the assessment measure demonstrates students’ progress in developing practice skills associated each CSWE competency. Progress in the ability to solve ethical dilemmas utilizing NASW values as per the Code of Ethics (NASW, 2017) can be measured by administering the NGES (Nathanson et al., 2011) to students as they enter the social work program and again as they are about to graduate from the program. The average change in scores on the instrument between the first and second time of administration is represented as a percentage and compared to a predetermined percentage level that signifies the desired level of improvement (e.g., 25%; 33%; 50%, etc.). The benchmark for improvement can also be defined as a statistically significant difference between students’ average score on the NGES at first and second time of administration (see Nathanson et al., 2011). Because this is an evaluation that focuses on learning outcomes progress within the program, there is discretion in terms of establishing the benchmark. However, the benchmark should be set ahead of time, before data are collected, and should be reasonable. The degree of change, whether represented in percentage improvement or as a statistically significant difference between average of scores,

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should be neither too small as to be meaningless nor too large as to be unattainable. Statistical significance is usually acceptable at the .05 level or below, meaning that there is only 5% chance or less that the difference in scores occurred due to chance (Salkind, 2016). Establishing a reasonable benchmark in terms of percentage of change is less precise and may depend on the assessment goals of the particular program. Strengths-and-Weakness Benchmark  CSWE (2015) requires that learning outcome assessment identify strengths-and-weaknesses in students’ learning as well as areas in the program that require improvement. The strengths-and-weakness benchmark is useful when analyzing data in response to these assessment goals. These data analyses and interpretation procedures involve comparing a set of data about one component of the assessment to another set of data about a different component of the assessment, in order to identify relative strengths and weaknesses. As in the case of the value-added benchmark, the comparison standard is the degree of difference between sets of scores. When the difference between scores on outcome assessment measures is equal to, or exceeds, the strengths-and-weaknesses benchmark value, we can draw conclusions about the relative strengths or weakness these scores represent. The learning dimension of the component that is represented by the data with the greater value can be considered a strength compared to the component of learning that is represented by the data with the lower value. The challenges in defining the strengths-and-weaknesses benchmark are similar to the challenges associated with defining the value-added benchmark. Because the comparison involves two sets of data, most likely from different measures, not every assessment tool is appropriate for this type of analysis and interpretation. For example, if we want to compare students learning outcomes in terms of values and knowledge, respectively, we may measure these with the NGES (Nathanson et  al., 2011) and the FCCAI (CSWE, 2015), respectively. However, these measures use different scoring scales and so it will be difficult to conduct a meaningful comparison of the scores yielded by these instruments. It is possible, of course, to convert most sets of scores to standardized scores for the purpose of comparative analysis. An explanation of the statistical procedure is beyond the scope of this chapter. The interested reader is referred to the works of authors such as AbuBader, Cohen, Salkind, or Yuen, to name a few. A simpler way to evaluate relative strength and weaknesses in social work students learning outcomes is to compare students’ scores on the FCAI in relationship to one competency to their scores on the FPPAI in relationship to the same competency. For example, a program’s cohort’s scores on the FCAI section that assesses competency 1 (demonstrating ethical and professional behaviors) may be greater than the program same cohort’s scores on the FPPAI section that measures the same competency. If the difference in scores is larger than the predetermined strengths-­ and-­weaknesses benchmark value, we can conclude that the students demonstrate better knowledge of ethical and professional behaviors compared to their ability to actually behave ethically and professionally with clients in their field placement. This also has implications for assessing learning that takes place in the classroom

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versus learning that occurs in the field. Based on such data, it would appear that students show a relative strength in mastering classroom content and a relative weakness in the field setting learning. The use of rubrics to measure various components of learning also lends itself to analysis of strengths and weaknesses. Scores on one section of the rubric, representing one aspect of learning, can be compared to scores on another section of the rubric, representing another aspect of learning. For example, the rubric Calderon and Sood (2018) designed for evaluating learning in an online environment measure learning outcomes along three different dimensions, all utilizing the same scoring system. Thus, a comparison of students’ scores between two dimensions of learning is practical as well as useful. Let’s say that at the end of the semester, students’ average score on the rubric dimension that measures contextual knowledge is higher than their average score on the rubric dimension that measures meta-learning, and the difference is greater than the strengths-and-weaknesses benchmark value. We can conclude that students’ knowledge of the assignment’ contentmatter is a strength compared to their ability to reflect on their learning process. This informs differences between the respective learning dimensions of knowledge and cognitive and affective process. Note that this rubric can be used for multiple types of assignments, because it does not reflect the grade on the assignment per se. Regardless of the nature of the assignment, the rubric measures the same aspects of learning, and thus can be used for standardized comparison.

7.6 Conducting the Outcome Assessment – Fourth Step: Closing the Loop In selecting an analysis approach, a program may choose any, or a combination, of the above described strategies. The rationale for the choice is defined by the type of measures used to collect data and by the objective of each outcome assessment data analysis. Yet, the global goals of the social work education learning outcome assessment remain the same: We aim to assess our students’ level of competence and to identify areas in the program that require improvement. Ultimately, interpretation of the data should address these goals and guide decisions about program improvements. When the data suggest that students achieve better outcomes in knowledge acquisition through classroom instruction compared to developing practice skills in their field placements, a program may want to consider how to improve learning opportunities in the field. Data showing that students’ learning outcomes lag behind that of their peers in other programs may suggest a need for comprehensive changes across the curriculum. When data indicate that students in the program achieve better than their peers in other programs, it is important to identify factors that contribute to students’ success so that these can continue to be implemented for the benefit of future cohorts and the program’s ongoing success.

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Purpose of the Assessment 1. Do students demonstrate the level of competence necessary to enter professional practice? 2. How can the educational program be improved?

Closing the Loop: What do the data say about students' level of competence? What do the data say about areas of program improvement?

Assessment Measures Social Work Education Outcome Assessment

A multidimensional approach: Assessment of knowledge, values, skills, and cognitive and affective

Data Analysis and Interpretation: Benchmarks

Fig. 7.6  Steps in a comprehensive social work education learning outcome assessment

A meaningful social work education outcome assessment should strive to close the loop. Data collection should be guided by questions about patterns of students’ learning and program improvement, and should, in turn, inform decisions about future improvement strategies. Figure 7.6 depicts the steps involved in a comprehensive social work education outcome assessment. These steps include: Defining the purpose of the assessment; choosing or designing appropriate instruments that target multiple dimensions and processes of learning; establishing benchmarks and engaging in meaningful data analysis and interpretation that promote a multidimensional perspective and informs the purpose the evaluation.

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7.7 Concluding Thoughts Social work education learning outcomes assessment is a complex process. It starts with a pedagogically informed curriculum planning and instruction design geared toward imparting knowledge and promoting social work practice competence in our students. Assessment proceeds with strategies to collect, analyze, and interpret data about what, and how, students actually learn in the program. Every step of the assessment procedure builds on the previous one and leads to the next, requiring careful planning and consideration. Social work education learning outcomes assessment is also a never-ending endeavor. The seemingly final step, data analysis and interpretation, is not the last step at all. Fulfilling the purpose of the learning outcomes assessment, namely, to work toward program improvement, requires further assessment to evaluate the efficacy of program improvement strategies. Thus, completing the outcome assessment process actually launches a new cycle. Proficiency in learning outcome assessment does not mean a successful completion of a finite, if an intricate, task. Rather, it is an ongoing engagement in a perpetually evolving process. This chapter offers assessment strategies and tools that are based on CSWE’s educational standards in the United States. It is likely that educational standards in other countries will vary. Future work should focus on comparing social work education standards and outcome assessment practices on the international level to identify areas of similarities and differences in professional training and assessment of professional competencies attainment across countries. In the meanwhile, the steps outlined in this chapter, and depicted in Fig. 7.6, can be applied to assessment of learning outcomes and professional competencies achievement in any social work education program, with the relevant modification of measurement tools and benchmarks, according to the standards of the local accrediting body.

References Calderon, O. (2013). Direct and indirect assessment of learning outcomes: What do we actually measure? Journal of Social Work Education, 49(3), 408–419. https://doi.org/10.1080/1043779 7.2013.796767 Calderon, O., & Sood, C. (2018). Evaluating learning outcomes of an asynchronous online discussion assignment: A post-priori content analysis. Interactive Learning Environment. https:// www.tandfonline.com/eprint/CSuZmcHIfMGYRwvYnZUI/full Cheung, M., Zhou, Z., Narendorf, S. C., & Mauldin, R. L. (2019). Curriculum mapping in a social work program within the 2015 educational policy and accreditation standards. Journal of Social Work Education, 55(1), 23–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2018.1508392 CSWE Commission on Accreditation. (2016). EPAS handbook. Council on Social Work Education. CSWE Commission on Educational Policy and CSWE Commission on Accreditation. (2015). Educational policy and accreditation standards for Baccalaureate and Master’s Social Work Programs. https://cswe.org/getattachment/Accreditation/Standards-­and-­Policies/2015-­ EPAS/2015EPASandGlossary.pdf

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Ewell, P. T. (2011). Accountability and institutional effectiveness in the community college. New Directions for Community Colleges, 153, 23–36. https://doi.org/10.1002/cc.434 Fast, J. (2003). An in-law comes to stay: Examination of the interdisciplinary conflict in a school-­ based health center. Social Work, 48(1), 45–50. https://doi.org/10.1002/cc.434 Fish, J. (2015). Investigating approaches to the teaching of research on undergraduate social work programs: A research note. British Journal of Social Work, 45(3), 1060–1067. https://doi. org/10.1093/njsw/bcu132 Green, T. D., & Mathiesen, S. G. (2016). Who CARES? Interprofessional competencies for meeting the complex needs of culturally and linguistically diverse foster youth with disabilities. Advances in Social Work, 17(2), 166–186. https://doi.org/10.18060/18337 Hitchcock, L.  I., King, D.  M., Johnson, K., Cohen, H., & McPherson, T.  L. (2019). Learning outcomes for adolescent SBIRT simulation training in social work and nursing education. Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions, 19(1–2), 47–56. https://doi.org/10.108 0/1533256X.2019.1591781 Hohman, M., Pierce, P., & Barnett, E. (2015). Motivational interviewing: A evidence-based practice for improving student practice skills. Journal of Social Work Education, 51(2), 287–297. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2015.1012925 Interprofessional Education Collaborative. (2016). Core competencies for interpofessional collaborative practice: 2016 update. https://hsc.unm.edu/ipe/resources/ipec-­2016-­core-­ competencies.pdf Iovu, M. B., & Roth, M. (2017). Assessing students learning in higher education. Specificities of the European mater program in children’s rights. Revista de Asistenta Sociala, 16(2), 61–73. Lancaster, J. S. (2015). Rubric-based mapping for institutional curriculum development projects. Assessment Update, 27(1), 8–12. https://doi.org/10.1002/au.30011. Retrieved from https://0-­ onlinelibrary-­wiley-­com.liucat.lib.liu.edu/doi/epdf/10.1002/au.30011 Lim, Y., Maccio, E. M., Bickham, T., & Dabney, W. F. (2017). Research-based service-learning: Outcomes of a social policy course. Social Work Education, 36(7), 809–822. https://doi.org/1 0.1080/02615479.2017.1350639 Long Island University Collaborative MSW Program. (2018). Self-study. Matthieu, M. M., Carter, L., Casner, R. W., & Edmond, T. E. (2016). Training outcomes of field instructors in the evidence-based practice process model. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 36(5), 477–489. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841233.2016.1242524 Nathanson, I., Giffords, E. D., & Calderon, O. (2011). Expanding awareness: Issues in the development of an ethics scale for the social work profession. Journal of Social Work Education, 47(1), 133–149. https://doi.org/10.5175/JSWE.2011.200900026 National Association of Social Workers. (2017). Code of ethics. https://socialwork.sdsu.edu/wp-­ content/uploads/2011/09/NASW-­Code-­of-­Ethics2017.pdf Phelan, J. E. (2015). The use of E-learning in social work education. Social Work, 60(3), 257–264. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swv010 Pike, C. K. (1996). Development and initial validation of the social work values inventory. Research on Social Work Practice, 6(3), 337–352. https://doi.org/10.1177/104973159600600305 Pike, G. R. (2015). The area concentration achievement tests (ACAT). Assessment Update, 27(1), 10–11. https://doi.org/10.1002/au.30012 Robbins, S., Regan, J. A., Williams, J., Smyth, N., & Bogo, M. (2016). From the editor – The future of social work education. Journal of Social Work Education, 52(4), 1–11. https://doi. org/10.1080/10437797.2016.1218222 Rovai, A.  P., Wighting, M.  J., & Lucking, R. (2004). The classroom and school community inventory: Development, refinement, and validation of a self-report measure for education research. The Internet and Higher Education, 7(4), 263–280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. iheduc.2004.09.001 Salkind, N. J. (2016). Statistics for people who (think they) hate statistics (6th ed.). Sage.

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Schutte, K., Line, D., & McCullick, C. (2018). Using curriculum mapping and visualization to maximize effective change. Administrative Issues Journal: Connecting Education, Practice, and Research, 8(2), 81–93. https://doi.org/10.5929/2019/1.14.6 Social Work Education Assessment Project (SWEAP). (2015). https://www.sweapinstruments.org/# Sterz, J., Hoefer, S.  H., Janko, M., Bender, B., Adili, F., Schreckenbach, T., Siefert, L.  B., & Ruesseler, M. (2019). Do they teach what they need to? An analysis if the impact of curriculum mapping on the learning objectives taught in a lecture series in surgery. Medical Teacher, 41(4), 417–421. https://doi.org/10.1080/0142159X.2018.1481282 Stevens, D. D., & Levi, A. J. (2005). Introduction to rubrics. Stylus. Stone, C. (2014). Competence units or holistic assessment: The language may be different but the challenges continue. Journal of Teaching and Learning, 13(1), 44–56. https://doi. org/10.1921/11302130102 Sullivan, D. J., Krase, K., Hamilton, T. D., Harris-Jackson, T., Christenson, B., Danhoff, K., & Gerritsen-McKane, R. (2020). Setting appropriate competency benchmarks to support successful social work program assessment. Social Work Education: The International Journal, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2020.1845644 Suskie, L. (2009). Assessing student learning: A common sense guide (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass. Wharton, T., & Burg, M. A. (2017). A mixed-methods evaluation of social work learning outcomes in interprofessional training with medicine and pharmacy students. Journal of Social Work Education, 53(sup1). https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2017.1288592

Chapter 8

The Evaluation Self-Efficacy Scale – III Gary Holden, Kathleen Barker, and Sofie Kuppens

Social work faculty are engaged in the study of a wide variety of subjects throughout the world. Even within a single educational institution, the topics studied by social work faculty will vary. Regardless of their varied research interests, however, social work faculty in most institutions will have certain common needs to fulfill in their role as academics such as (a) the need to harvest assessment data in order to assess both student progress and hone their teaching and (b) the need to provide higher-level outcome indicators regarding institutional effectiveness in the delivery of instruction. In order to achieve these related goals, psychometrically sound measures are indispensable. These needs of social work faculty are embedded in two larger higher education issues: the evaluation of teaching and accreditation. Regarding teaching evaluation, we think that most, if not all, faculty are motivated to improve as educators. Making decisions about improvement clearly requires adequate measures of performance. In most universities, there is a required end of the class student evaluation of teaching (SET). Although pervasive, researchers have routinely criticized SETs as inadequate for the purposes for which they are employed (e.g., Hornstein & Law, 2017; cf., Spooren et al., 2013). Aside from classroom observations, commonly accepted alternatives to SETs have not emerged. And, even classroom observations are prone G. Holden (*) Silver School of Social Work, New York University, New York, NY, USA e-mail: [email protected] K. Barker Medgar Evers College – The City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY, USA e-mail: [email protected] S. Kuppens Centre for Sociological Research, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 A. Opačić (ed.), Social Work in the Frame of a Professional Competencies Approach, European Social Work Education and Practice, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13528-6_8

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to poor interrater reliability (Lawrence, 2018). The second arena of evaluation concerns the requirements for meeting accreditation standards. For social work in the United States, accreditation is conducted by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Both undergraduate and graduate programs must demonstrate that they comply with CSWE’s Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS). More specifically Accreditation Standard 4.0.1: The program presents its plan for ongoing assessment of student outcomes for all identified competencies in the generalist level of practice (baccalaureate social work programs) and the generalist and specialized levels of practice (master’s social work programs) (Council on Social Work Education [CSWE], 2015, Appendix D).

Should currently promoted outcomes, such as graduation rates, time to graduation, time to hire, or salary, be the sole focus of higher education outcomes? Or are there alternative measures to assess student progress and teaching effectiveness so as to contribute to program evaluation in order to meet accreditation standards?

8.1 Self-Efficacy Our attempts over the past three decades to meet these needs have relied on Albert Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory construct of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977, 1982, 1986, 1997, 2004, 2006b). As Bandura noted: Among the mechanisms of human agency, none is more central or pervasive than belief of personal efficacy … This core belief is the foundation of human agency. Unless people believe they can produce desired effects by their actions, they have little incentive to act, or to persevere in the face of difficulties. Whatever other factors serve as guides and motivators, they are rooted in the core belief that one has the power to effect changes by one’s actions… Many meta-analyses of the effects of efficacy beliefs have been conducted. They have included both laboratory and field studies of diverse spheres of functioning, with diverse populations of varying ages and sociodemographic characteristics, and in different cultural milieus … The evidence from these meta-analyses shows that efficacy beliefs contribute significantly to level of motivation, emotional well-being, and performance accomplishments … Research testifies to the cross-cultural generalizability of self-efficacy theory. The factor structure of self-efficacy beliefs is essentially the same in different cultural systems … Not only is the structure of self-efficacy beliefs comparable cross-culturally, but so are their functional properties. Regardless of whether the culture is American, Italian, Korean, or Chinese, the stronger the perceived self-efficacy, the higher the performance attainments (Bandura, 2006b, pp. 170, 171, 175).

A recent search demonstrated that self-efficacy is a widely used construct that frequently appears in the scholarly literature. A search of the relatively restricted Web of Science Core Collection (Clarivate Analytics, 2020) on January 1, 2020, yielded 63,800 unique citations for the construct. Searching for ‘meta-analysis OR “systematic review”’ within those results produced 1622 unique entries. Self-efficacy has been used in social work in North America and the United Kingdom (e.g., Carpenter et  al., 2013; Collins, 2015; Maxwell et  al., 2012;

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McDonald, 2007; Morton & Montgomery, 2012; Parker, 2005, 2006; Parker et al., 2006–2007; Platt, 2011; Quinney & Parker, 2010; Scourfield et  al., 2012, 2015; Tompsett et al., 2017).

8.2 Our Research Program The following are published applications by this research team utilizing self-­efficacy relevant to the current study. The terms Foundation and Advanced Concentration are typically used in the United States to refer to the first and second years of a two-­ year MSW program. Theoretical Basis • Self-efficacy predicts future outcomes for children and adolescents | k1 = 26 (Holden et al. 1990). • Self-efficacy predicts future health-related outcomes | k = 56 (Holden, 1991). Overall MSW Program • Over MSW program stat sig2 gains in self-efficacy | SWSE3: N4 = 215 (Holden et al., 2002). • Over MSW program stat sig gains in self-efficacy | SERSWCS: N  =  204 (Holden et al., 2017a5). Foundation • Over one semester stat sig gains in self-efficacy | RSE: N  =  71 (Holden et al., 1999). • Over foundation year stat sig gains in self-efficacy | FPSE: N = 190 (Holden et al., 2003). • Over foundation year stat sig gains in self-efficacy | FPSE: N = 220 (Holden et al., 2005). • Over foundation year stat sig gains in self-efficacy | SERSWCS: N  =  238 (Holden et al., 2017a). • Over foundation year stat sig gains in self-efficacy for 16 month students6 | SERSWCS: N = 108 (Holden et al., 2017a).

 k = the number of studies in a meta-analysis  Stat sig = statistically significant 3  The acronym preceding the N is the scale used in the study. 4  N = sample size of study 5  Holden et al. (2017a) appears three times because a series of three separate studies were included in that single paper. 6  16-month students are a group that does a more time compressed MSW program. 1 2

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Advanced Concentration • Over one semester stat sig gains in self-efficacy | ESE: N  =  85 (Holden et al., 2007). • Over one semester stat sig gains in self-efficacy | ESE: N  =  111 (Holden et al., 2008). • Over one semester stat sig gains in self-efficacy | ESE-II: N = 168 (Holden et al., 2017b). • Current Study: Over one semester stat sig gains in self-efficacy | ESE-III: N = 113. Field Instruction • Fieldwork rotations appear equal to a single 9-month long placement. Stat sig gains in self-efficacy | HSWSE: N = 26 (Cuzzi et al., 1996). • Fieldwork rotations appear equal to a single 9-month long placement. Stat sig gains in self-efficacy | HSWSE: N = 23 (Cuzzi et al., 1997). • Related descriptions of psychometric analyses of HSWSE (Holden et  al., 1996, 1997a, b). Over the past 20  years, and 1610 students (the current study increases that to N = 1723), we have consistently observed statistically significant increases in students’ self-efficacy across varying time intervals (4–20 months) while attending the Silver School of Social Work at New York University. The foci of these assessments have ranged from individual courses on research or evaluation, to the entire first year of the master’s program (Foundation), to the overall Master’s program. This work has supported the accreditation-related research efforts of the school (i.e., CSWE, 2008, 2015). The scales that were developed over the course of this research program have been requested by a substantial number of faculty from other schools in the USA and Europe and employed in published research. Over the course of conducting this research program, we began to follow Cronbach’s (1963) suggestion to examine individual item as well as total scale score outcomes. Despite all of our scale development studies being pretest-posttest designs, they were completed anonymously (to reduce the press for socially desirable responding). This approach led us to develop an anonymous identification method (Hogben numbers; cf., Honig, 1995; Yurek et al., 2008), which has been serviceable. In addition, we have explored the role of response shift bias and its potential impact on the interpretation of results in a number of these studies (e.g., Howard & Dailey, 1979; Schwartz & Sprangers, 1999; Sprangers & Schwartz, 1999). Throughout these studies, we employed conservative approaches to analyses such as nonparametric statistical analyses and Bonferroni adjusted alpha level (Cliff, 1987), in addition to effect size reporting in line with Journal Article Reporting Standards from the American Psychological Association requirements (APA, 2020). More recently, we have explored incorporating the New Statistics approach developed by Cumming and colleagues (Cumming, 2012, 2015; Cumming & Calin-Jageman, 2017) and recommended by Psychological Science (Eich, 2014).

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The work reported in this chapter flows from the original study introducing the ESE (Holden et al., 2007), the direct replication of that study (Holden et al., 2008) and the replication and extension study, which detailed the ESE-II (Holden et al., 2017b). In terms of the content validity of the ESE-III, the same rationale described in previous papers applies here despite the ongoing evolution of the scale and the course over time. All versions of the ESE were created to systematically cover the evaluation skills that would typically be taught in a graduate level course on evaluation. In fact, the ESE-III items are the current course objectives in the course in which the scale was used.

8.3 The Current Study The purpose of the current study was to continue the development of this scale designed to assess outcomes of a typical Advanced Concentration social work course in evaluation. In other words, we seek to provide a measurement alternative for accreditation-related needs as well as an option for more general research on social work education. The following research questions and predictions were considered: 1. What is the factor structure of the ESE-III? 2. Does the ESE-III have Cronbach alphas similar to those observed with the ESE (range α = .94 – .96 in the original study and direct replication), and the ESE-II (α = .95 on both measurement occasions)? We predicted similar results in the current study. 3. Convergent construct validity of the ESE-III was assessed at pretest by a correlation between the ESE-III and the Social Worker Empowerment Scale (SWE; Frans, 1993). Despite the modifications in the ESE-III, we predicted that the correlation would be similar to those found in studies using previous versions of the ESE (r = .18; r = .25) and ESE-II (r = .33). 4. Given that the ESE and ESE-II (as well as our other self-efficacy scales) have demonstrated sensitivity to change, we predicted that the ESE-III would as well. In other words, the 95% confidence intervals for the individual item and total scale change scores would not contain zero.

8.3.1 Method 8.3.1.1 Study Design and Participants This convenience sample was drawn from the first author’s Social Work Research – II (evaluation) course sections from the fall of 2015 through the fall of 2019. This evaluation course is a requirement (usually during a student’s second year) at the Silver School of Social Work at NYU.

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Data were available for 152 and 117 respondents at pre- and posttest respectively, with a total of 113 complete usable sets at both assessment points (i.e., no data were imputed; each respondent completed both pretest and posttest). The set of studies was approved as exempt by the University Institutional Review Board. Given participant anonymity, no demographic data were collected. 8.3.1.2 Measures Social Worker Empowerment Scale (SWE). As others have conceptually linked self-efficacy and empowerment (e.g., Evans, 1992; Gutiérrez, 1991; Gutiérrez & Lewis, 1999; Gutiérrez et  al., 1998), we chose to again use the 34-item SWE to assess the convergent construct validity of the ESE-III. Internal reliability estimates for this scale have ranged from .74 to .88 (Holden et al., 2007, 2008, 2017a, b; Van Voorhis & Hostetter, 2006). In the current study, the Cronbach’s alpha for the SWE was moderately high (α = .85, n = 158). Evaluation Self-Efficacy III (ESE-III). The ESE-III is a revised version of the two prior ESE scales. More detailed background can be found in these articles (Holden et al., 2008, 2017b). The 16 items from the ESE-III are detailed in Table 8.1 along with the 11-point response format. The total scale score is the mean of these 16 items. The primary changes to subsequent versions of the ESE have been to the wording of scale items. These have focused on creating a better fit with the content of the course and making the behavioral performance descriptions more explicit. 8.3.1.3 Procedure The surveys were administered in the Social Work Research – II course taught by the first author. In terms of administration, students were given the opportunity to participate at both pretest and posttest. The pretest was always in the second class of the semester, while the posttest was always in the next to last class of the semester. This was usually the thirteenth week except for two semesters that were 15 weeks long and therefore the posttest was in the fourteenth week. The scale instructions including the voluntary and anonymous nature of the survey were explained. Next, the instructor left the room after answering any questions and students either did or did not complete the survey. No form of incentive for participation was provided. No demographic variables were assessed as this was an anonymous administration intended to further reduce socially desirable responding (Paulhus, 1991). Greater detail regarding the overall methodology employed in these studies and justification for it are available from the first author.

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Table 8.1  Item-level means and standard deviations for pre- and posttests for the Evaluation Self-­ Efficacy-­III Scale (ESE-III) ESE-III item stem: How confident are you that you can… Create and carry out an effective search strategy for academic databases and related resources to obtain the scholarly literature necessary to design your evaluation of social work practice? Critically examine and accurately summarize the variety of infographics used to convey evaluation data visually? Critically review a particular area of social science theory and research, and write a balanced, comprehensive literature review? Critically examine and accurately describe the findings of basic systematic reviews and meta-analyses? Create a program logic model that clearly communicates the key factors and processes of a social work program or program component? Create and carry out a sampling strategy for an evaluation of social work practice?

Pretest M (SD)a 61.964d (23.49)

Posttest M (SD)b 76.97 (20.28)

47.72 (24.73)

74.71 (19.65)

57.91 (23.06)

73.42 (19.51)

50.25 (23.91)

68.83 (20.30)

33.29 (23.47)

64.87 (23.06)

46.37 (25.77)

71.17 (21.78)

Create and carry out a measurement approach for an evaluation of social work practice?

42.80 (26.57)

69.17 (20.23)

Create and carry out a qualitative evaluation of social work practice?

49.68 (26.14)

71.50 (21.49)

Create and carry out a mixed methods evaluation of social work practice?

40.64 (24.70)

65.63 (20.86)

Create and carry out a study regarding the implementation or processes of a social work program (e.g., needs assessment, formative evaluation, program description, program monitoring, quality assurance)? Create and carry out a single system design to evaluate the outcomes of social work practice?

45.64 (24.29)

68.57 (20.39)

45.26 (24.38)

70.67 (21.14)

Create and carry out a group research design to evaluate the outcomes of social work practice?

45.06 (24.43)

67.63 (20.24)

Create and carry out an evaluation of social work practice that incorporates social work values and ethics (e.g., protects the participants in the evaluation)?

57.18 (25.77)

75.13 (19.65)

Pre-post change M (95% CI)c 11.51 (6.62– 16.40) 24.13 (19.73– 28.52) 14.67 (10.40– 18.93) 16.50 (11.84– 21.16) 30.46 (25.70– 35.22) 25.08 (20.21– 29.95) 25.21 (19.92– 30.50) 21.25 (15.82– 26.68) 24.66 (19.61– 29.71) 21.27 (16.65– 25.89)

25.25 (20.44– 30.07) 22.14 (17.51– 26.77) 16.61 (11.76– 21.46)

Cohen’s dc 0.68

1.21

0.73

0.84

1.36

1.04

1.12

0.91

1.09

1.02

1.11

1.01

0.78

(continued)

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Table 8.1 (continued) ESE-III item stem: How confident are you that you can… Create and carry out an evaluation of social work practice, while resisting political pressures from stakeholders that could bias the results or the evaluation report? Create and carry out a descriptive data analysis plan (including data entry and management) for an evaluation of social work practice? Create and carry out an inferential data analysis plan for an evaluation of social work practice?

Pretest M (SD)a 52.12 (27.07)

Posttest M (SD)b 70.92 (20.67)

38.80 (25.83)

64.62 (20.45)

30.26 (23.96)

58.57 (21.08)

Pre-post change M (95% CI)c 16.53 (11.36– 21.69) 24.66 (19.61– 29.70) 27.12 (22.19– 32.05)

Cohen’s dc 0.78

1.11

1.25

Higher scores indicate higher levels of self-efficacy a Pretest ESE-III n’s ranged from 154 to 158 due to missing data b Posttest ESE-III n’s ranged from 118 to 120 due to missing data c Pre-post change scores and Cohen’s d n’s were for the 113 complete cases d Highest and lowest means, as well as highest and lowest pre-post changes, are bolded

8.3.1.4 Data Analysis Strategy The 16 items of the ESE-III were examined using exploratory factor analysis with principal axis factoring for both the pretest (n = 152) and the posttest (n = 117) data. The minimally adequate cut-off, Cronbach’s alpha of .70, was employed in the current study (Nunnally & Bernstein, 1994). Individual item- and scale-level change scores (pretest-posttest) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were examined. Similarly, standardized mean differences (d) for dependent groups were computed. Small, medium, and large differences were operationalized as d-values of .30, .50, and .80 (Cohen, 1988). Analyses were conducted using SPSS 26.0 and ESCI software (Cumming, 2012).

8.4 Results 8.4.1 Descriptive Statistics Descriptive statistics were obtained using all available data (Ns ranged from 118 to 158; see footnote Table 8.1). Both individual ESE-III items and total scale scores were considered (Cronbach, 1963). These statistics are detailed in Table 8.1. At pretest, students’ average ESE-III item ratings were lowest (30.26) for item #16 [Create and carry out an inferential data analysis plan for an evaluation of social work practice] and highest (61.96) for item #1 [Create and carry out an effective search strategy for academic databases and related resources to obtain the scholarly literature necessary to design your evaluation of social work practice]. Similarly, at

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posttest students’ average item ratings were again lowest (58.57) for #16 and highest (76.97) for item #1.

8.4.2 Factor Structure Preliminary analyses supported the suitability of the data at both assessment points, as demonstrated by a KMO-value of .93 and .94 at pre- and posttest respectively (>.60) and a significant (p