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New Institute to promote social work education
30/07/2003
The Institute for Excellence in Social Work Education was officially launched today, which will promote best practice between the nine universities offering the new social work honours degree.
The Executive and Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) are each contributing £1.2 million to the Institute for Excellence which will enable it to design, carry out and evaluate three areas of innovative educational development:
- Learning for effective practice - to improve the balance between learning in the workplace and on campus
- Assessment - to ensure testing methods are flexible yet rigorous
- E learning - to develop and promote new learning resources
Launching the new Institute, Deputy Education and Young People Minister Euan Robson said:
"This Institute for Excellence will shape the future of social work education by driving up standards and ensuring we have a social services workforce equipped to meet the needs of our 21 st century society. If we are to attract more people into a career in social work then we need to offer first class training and education.
"We are contributing £1.2 million during the next two years to help the Institute underpin teaching excellence. Universities offering the new social work honours degree will be able to use the Institute's pioneering work to strengthen teaching, support students learning and achieve best practice. This will involve establishing three projects to develop and support learning and best practice.
"The Institute will drive these improvements and build on other important initiatives already underway to improve the recruitment, retention and support of social services staff."
Commenting on the new Institute, David Wann, Deputy Chief Executive of SHEFC said:
"I am pleased to see the commitment from, and collaboration among, the nine universities to transform social work education in Scotland.
"The establishment of the Institute will benefit students in meeting the high standards required to become a registered social worker, as well as social work employers and ultimately people who use social work services."
Carole Wilkinson, Chief Executive of the Scottish Social Services Council, said:
"The Institute will play an important part in the future of social work education and we welcome this new funding. We are looking forward to working with the Institute towards a better qualified workforce and improved protection for the public. It is vital that we work together to raise the professionalism and status of social workers, and encourage more people into social work as a career. As the regulator of education and training and with responsibility for regulating the social service workforce, the SSSC will work closely with the Institute to ensure the new degree is delivered to the highest standards."
The Institute's primary aim is reforming social work education, which is an integral part of the far-reaching changes being put in place to recruit and retain more social workers. It has funding of £3.6 million for two years. The Institute is a three-way initiative with £1.2 million contributions from the Scottish Executive, the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) and, as a group, the participating universities.
The Executive's £1.2 million contribution to the Institute has come from last year's Scottish Budget. The £1.2 million is part of a funding package announced in January ( http://www.scotland.gov.uk/pages/news/2003/01/SEED178.aspx) to increase the number of social workers and drive up standards in social work education. The Institute will receive a share of:
- £500,000 which was targeted for e-learning projects
- Around £2 million over this financial year and next in grants to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), local authorities and voluntary organisations
Nine universities are involved - University of Dundee, University of Edinburgh, University of Glasgow, Glasgow Caledonian University, The Open University in Scotland, the Robert Gordon University, University of Paisley, University of Stirling and University of Strathclyde.
The Institute's administrative headquarters will be at Dundee University and its first director is Dundee University's Professor Bryan Williams. The management committee chairman is South Lanarkshire Social Work Department's executive director, Sandy Cameron.
The first students on the social work honours degree start their courses in 2004.