Career-Long Learning: Important For Social Workers During The 21st Century

The practice of social work encompasses these different functions and values to assist clients in coping with different situations in their lives. While the practice of social work varies due to the different situations, a great part of the work relies on the ability to understand the client’s situation, being empathetic and guiding through the process of change.

Social work professions need to understand the importance of how individuals interact both with other people and their environment, to have an understanding how individuals are affected by these interactions (Rogers, p. 2). According to Rogers (2016), “Social workers are knowledgeable about human behavior across the life course; the range of social systems in which people live; and the ways social systems promote or deter people in maintaining or achieving health and well-being. Social workers apply theories and knowledge from the liberal arts to understand biological, social, cultural, psychological, and spiritual development (p. 2). Their work with clients begins with assessments to evaluations of intervention and is based in and supports of the core value system of the profession.

I was in grade 10 when I thought of becoming a social worker. As social worker practitioner the fields that interest me to work in is domestic violence and child abuse because I want to make change to the society. Also Mahatma Gandhi was my major inspiration through this quote “Be the change that you wish to see in the world”. Than an idea came to me, why not involve my contribution to the wide variety of communities. My communication with school counsellors and social workers has impacted my choice of desiring to study social work. I realised that if I have had a chance of seeing a social worker when I was young, things would have been much easier and less stressful. I want to provide opportunities that I did not encounter to other people. This essay will reflect my past experience, motivation and why I want to be a social worker, values, beliefs and theory of practice.

Social work is a profession, in which the social worker uses the strengths of the client, and necessary resources to enhance the clients’ capacity to problem solve. Contrary to the belief of many, social workers do not solve the problems which the clients present, but rather works efficiently with the client, to assist him/her in identifying the problem and what has caused them not to problem solve effectively prior social work intervention, thereafter assists the client in finding a suitable approach to resolve said issue; client’s right to self determination.

It is clear that social workers play an important role in society; it would therefore make sense to ensure that the working conditions of social workers are kept to a high standard. Without these good working standards it is likely that social workers might be affected by the job related stresses that are inherent to jobs dealing with troubled people. These high job stresses may lead to greater turn over and unwillingness amongst students to become social workers. Consequently the methods by which social workers and their respective employers have been discussed in this essay and include things like being given greater autonomy over their own scheduling and how they choose to deal with clients. Social workers may also be able to improve their

In this paper, the role of a social worker will be addressed. A Human Service professional has, in its hands, the responsibilities in the life of the clients and families they meet. The tremendous and arduous responsibilities they take on include, but are not limited to, the well-being and care of people and their communities. Such roles can be helping others manage the care of a family member, assisting individuals experiencing problems with family relations and conflicts, dealing with changes that come with growing old, aiding those suffering mental illness and or those individuals struggling with addictions. Briefly

During this time, I expect to learn and gain hands-on social work experience in the field. Also, I want to learn how to use and apply social theory into my practice. I want to build and gain the relationship with my field/task supervisors and colleagues. Moreover, I want to gain the opportunity to develop the personal and professional identity. Lastly, I will learn how to use my experience from my practicum setting to practice in the social work field in the future.

Self-reflection and correction in social work practice is important for continued learning and professional development. Without self-awareness, social workers cannot separate their personal feelings, values, and attitudes from their professional. This is important because we need to focus on the needs of the client, not what we think they need. Knowing how to separate our personal feelings and values from our professional feelings and values will prevent us from getting burnout and help us maintain professional boundaries.

Sheafor & Horejsi once said in there 2012 article “Techniques and guidelines for social work practice”, that “patterns of professional drift, or the neglect of a profession’s traditional purpose and functions in favor of activities associated with other professions. This is true because evident that when helping professionals understand their roles as counselors or specialists they seem to lose some alliance with their teaching of their educational

Social workers have to be adaptive to every changing social situation and issues therefore continued personal and professional learning is vital for improvement of social services (Schmidt, 2016). This is reiterated within the HCPC Standard of Proficiency 3.3, as a social work I need to take responsibility for my own learning, implementing a process of carer long learning. I've used my learning from university and from first placement to highlight both my strengths and weaknesses, it also made me realised even though I feel I'm strong in a particular area they is still room for further development.

The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) is a national association of educational programs and individuals that confirms and improves the quality of social work education to become a professional job. CSWE puts in a countless amount of effort to strive for this mission by setting up a bachelor's and master’s degree programs in social work. On the other hand, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is the largest membership organization of professional social workers in the world, with approximately 132,000 members. To be more specific, NASW has a determination to intensify the maturity and developmental process of its members. The main goal is to retain professional standards and to create fair social policies. NASW progresses

As a developing social worker, it is understood that the process of becoming a competent practitioner is endless. Therefore, it is important to engage in methods that extend my learning; preparing me to effectively advocate for clients in the future. The methods that will be important in extending my learning is diversifying my professional activities, researching and gathering information to assess clients’ situations, and seeking personal therapy. Engaging in these activities will not only improve how I advocate for clients but will help me understand the community/environment around me and how it affects myself and others.

The social work profession consists of the six core values of service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence. These core values are portrayed within the roles of this profession by assessing and evaluating client’s needs, advocating for improving community resources, managing crisis situations, providing therapeutic support, and referring client’s to beneficial services. As well as, developing a dual client relationship to strengthen the helping process and treating each client ethically. Social workers are constantly progressing their professional expertise. They do this

Social work practice is involve around service , social justice , dignity , worth of individual , importance of relationships, integrity and competence . The way I will maintain and develop the values throughout my career is to continue my education, conducting research, self-assessments, engage in interventions and participate in giving service on micro, macro and mezzo level.

Career Choices I have discussed the options for the possible career choices in several of my classes while at the University of Southern Mississippi. The most important aspect of these discussions was the variety of choices that a social worker has when it comes to the path of their careers. As well as how important it is to choose a career field that interests you and that you will enjoy working in. By choosing, a field that you have a desire to work with you can better serve the community and he satisfied in your career. Career-Long Learning Career-long learning is a topic that comes up frequently in the field of Social Work and in our social work classes. It highly expressed that good social worker learns throughout their careers so that