Taking active steps towards the competent use of self in social work

Abstract

Good preparation for reflective practice is a challenge for social work educators. Opportunities for facilitated reflection in the placement are often compromised due to field educator focus on 'doing' in the practice context. Equipping students with a tangible set of awareness skills that engages them with a 'being' mode of mind augments their capacity for reflective practice and competent 'use of self' in the field. We report the use of mindfulness as a preplacement teaching intervention designed to facilitate acquisition of awareness skills in a Bachelor of Social Work programme in a New Zealand university. The teaching interventions developed are described, enriched by excerpts from reflective writing undertaken by participation students who consented to inclusion in the study. Notable shifts in student awareness accompanied the method trialled. In arriving at this point, students, progressed from a simple noticing to taking steps toward the initiation of critical consciousness. An emergent model of mindful reflexivity concluded the paper.