Social work is a vocation; it requires dedication and a strong value base – the reward is a wide variety of career paths to choose from. Very few professions have the diversity of roles, challenges and environments that social work offers.
Therefore, you never stop learning as a social worker, where professional development improves practice, and in turn has the impact of improving outcomes for the individuals, families and communities they support.
The nature of social work practice is challenging and complex, therefore it is important to support professional development. So, what does this look like in Northern Ireland?
One of the reasons the Care to chat podcast began was to make content that helps inform, educate and develop social workers and social care practitioners. This episode focusses on social workers and their learning and development and one core tenant of this – the Professional in Practice Framework, otherwise known as the PiP Framework.
This internationally unique Framework has been supporting post-qualifying training for social workers in Northern Ireland for over 20 years and this episode explains what it is and why it is such a major priority for the profession.
Podcast host Dr Wendy Austin MBE is joined by Gillian McAuley, Professional Advisor, Northern Ireland Social Care Council, who helps support the PiP Framework, Annie McAnallen, Probation Officer, Probation Board for Northern Ireland, who has completed a number of PiP programmes and Marita Magennis, Assistant Director, Southern Health and Social Care Trust, a senior experienced social work, and who is passionate about PiP from the employer perspective.
Guests take us through their understanding about the PiP Framework’s management, the importance of an employer’s commitment to making it work, what can support candidates through it and the overall benefits of participating in a PiP programme intended (additional skills and practice development) and not intended (friendship, networking, career long support and increasing resilience).
Marita Magennis believes that the importance of the PiP Framework and social workers engaging in it cannot be underscored for the social work profession.
“The PiP Framework I think is a foundation stone of our profession. I feel really privileged and agree with Annie that it is an opportunity, as it’s a great gift within our profession, to be so flexible and so responsive to the breath of the profession.”
Want to find out more about PiP?
You can access the further information and resources on the Social Care Council’s Learning Zone.
The Social Care Council releases a new episode every fortnight, discussing current topics about social care and social work regulation in Northern Ireland. Download, subscribe and listen to the latest Social Care Council ‘Care to chat?’ podcast episode today here, or by searching ‘Care to chat’ in your podcast player.
Episode 10: Embrace the stretch Professional in Practice (PiP) – Supporting social workers to learn and develop – (31 minutes)
For more information:
As the Care to chat podcasts are designed with the social care and social work workforce in mind, we would like to invite suggestions of topics that our listeners would be interested to hear covered. If you have questions, suggestions or feedback about the podcast, email: comms@niscc.hscni.net.