Myron’s Maxims – this weeks discovery

Posted on October 4, 2024 by Stephen Mordue

I came across this concept last week – Myron’s Maxims – and thought I’d have a delve into it and do some thinking!

Myron Rogers is an expert in organisational development and systems thinking, known for his work in helping organisations manage change and complexity. He is particularly recognised for his application of systems theory to organisational leadership and change processes. He explores the importance of understanding organisations as complex systems and looks at how change emerges from the interactions and relationships within systems.

He is best known for articulating Myron’s Maxims, a set of principles that guide organisational change and leadership but also tell us a lot about life – and for this article – social work! Here they are….

– People own what they help create

– Real change happens in real work

– Those who do the work, do the change

– Connect the system to more of itself

– Start anywhere, follow everywhere

– The process you use to get to the future is the future you get.

Let’s look at them….

People own what they help create

Here he emphasises the importance of participation and co-creation in achieving lasting change. This resonates for me in life and social work practice. We know co-creation of strategies for change or care planning lead to better outcomes for people and they engage better with self-created options. And we know that in life in general we do better when we do things with other people – or at least doing things with other people is an important component of our well-being. The other being time on our own!?

Real change happens in real work

This suggests that transformation comes from actual, hands-on practice, not from abstract plans. Christine, my wife, is always saying to me, ‘ok then – just do it!’. And she’s right I often procrastinate in the thinking stage. There comes a point where you have done enough thinking and know enough so you then must do something. That’s where the real change takes place. Eileen Munro made this same point in her review of children’s services – you need to figure out when you know enough and then actually do something. I’m not saying that’s easy, but it is essential.

Those who do the work, do the change

This reinforces the idea that people directly involved in the work are best positioned to create meaningful change. We can’t have someone else go to the gym for us. We must go. We can’t do the work for people we are working with. They must do the work. That’s the only way to make true change happen.

Connect the system to more of itself

You need to be focusing on leveraging existing networks and relationships within a system to foster change. The idea is that systems (whether an organisation, community, or even an individual’s life) are made up of interconnected elements. When you strengthen these connections, you enable better communication, collaboration, and shared understanding, which ultimately leads to more sustainable and effective outcomes. In social work, consider a case where a client is facing homelessness, unemployment, and mental health challenges. Instead of addressing each issue in isolation, the social worker connects the client to a network of services—housing support, employment counselling, mental health services, and peer support groups. By linking these different services (parts of the system) and encouraging them to collaborate, the client receives more comprehensive support. This holistic approach, which “connects the system to more of itself,” ensures that the various agencies don’t work in silos but come together to address the client’s needs in a coordinated and integrated manner, leading to better outcomes.

Start anywhere, follow everywhere

This maxim encourages a flexible approach to change, allowing it to emerge from any point within the system. Making a starts the hardest part I’m fond of saying but simply doing something creates momentum and motivation. And then follow where the momentum takes you. Consider a case where a family is referred to a social worker due to concerns about a child’s behaviour at school. The referral might initially focus on helping the child with behavioural interventions. However, as the social worker engages with the family, they might uncover other underlying issues—such as financial stress, parental conflict, or untreated mental health challenges in one of the parents. Rather than rigidly sticking to the initial issue (the child’s behaviour), the social worker “follows everywhere” by addressing the broader context, helping the family with financial resources, referring parents to counselling, and working with school staff to support the child holistically.

The process you use to get to the future is the future you get

This highlights the importance of the methods and processes used in shaping the desired outcome. You fall to the level of your systems rather than rise to the level of your goals. Systems, planning, and routine are everything. What you look for you see. Be careful what you look for and always have a system or plan.

Myron’s Maxims and Living a Good Life

Myron’s Maxims emphasise the importance of ownership, process, and interconnectedness, all of which are key to living a fulfilled and meaningful life. The principles acknowledging that people own what they help create and that real change happens in real work. They highlight the value of personal involvement in shaping your own path. A good life is not just about outcomes but also about the processes we engage in daily—the relationships we build, the systems we connect with, and the ways we contribute. The idea that the process you use to get to the future is the future you get underscores that living intentionally, fostering positive connections, and remaining flexible in adapting to life’s challenges are essential for achieving long-term satisfaction and purpose.

Myron’s Maxims in Social Work Practice

In social work, Myron’s Maxims align perfectly with empowering individuals and communities. People own what they help create speaks directly to participatory practice in social work, where service users are active partners in decision-making, helping them take ownership of their lives and outcomes. Real change happens in real work resonates with the importance of practical, hands-on interventions and ongoing reflection. The maxim those who do the work, do the change highlights that transformation in clients’ lives occurs when they are deeply involved in the process, rather than simply being passive recipients of support. Finally, connecting the system to more of itself and starting anywhere, following everywhere encourage social workers to view their interventions holistically, understanding the client as part of a wider system and recognising that change can begin from any point in a client’s journey. Ethical, collaborative, and systemic. Thanks Myron!

Professional Identity – defining the box.

Posted on October 1, 2024 by Stephen Mordue

Professional identity in social work is complex and multifaceted, encompassing more than just desired traits or competence. It reflects not only the personal sense of self that a practitioner develops through experience and growth, but also a collective identity shared within the profession. This collective identity binds social workers together through common values, ethics, and professional expectations. The process of shaping this identity is ongoing and evolving as individuals navigate the challenges and responsibilities of the field. Given its depth and fluid nature, professional identity in social work is difficult to define, as it is more than simple characteristics and involves the integration of personal, professional, and societal dimensions.

This article looks at this through the lens of the Fran Wiles journal article from 2013 ‘Not Easily Put into a Box’: Constructing Professional Identity, which appeared in Social Work Education: The International Journal

Personal and professional identities differ in several key ways. Personal identity is shaped by an individual’s unique experiences, values, beliefs, and personality traits, which are influenced by factors such as family, culture, and personal history. It represents how a person sees themselves outside of formal roles and in various aspects of life, reflecting their sense of self, relationships, and personal goals.

In contrast, professional identity is the sense of self that is constructed within the context of a profession. It is shaped by the norms, values, ethics, and expectations of a particular field, in this case social work, and reflects how individuals view themselves in their professional role. Professional identity also involves adopting the standards, skills, and competencies necessary for success and credibility in the workplace.

While personal identity is rooted in individuality and personal history, professional identity is shaped by external structures and collective expectations. The two identities can overlap, especially in professions like social work, where personal values often align with professional ethics. However, they do remain distinct, with professional identity being more defined by the responsibilities and behaviours required in a work setting, while personal identity reflects your core self across various contexts – your whole life.

In social work practice, being part of the profession inherently brings an individual’s personal identity and behaviour under scrutiny. This is because social work operates within a framework of high ethical standards, values, and responsibilities that require practitioners to align both their personal and professional identities with the core principles of the field. Social workers are expected to embody qualities such as empathy, integrity, and social justice not only in their professional tasks but also in their personal conduct. This expectation places a spotlight on how personal beliefs, values, and actions intersect with professional responsibilities.

Given the nature of social work, where relationships, trust, and ethical decision-making are central, a social worker’s behaviour in both the personal and professional is continuously evaluated. How we manage our biases, boundaries, and emotional responses can significantly impact our effectiveness in practice. Social work practice often involves complex human interactions, where personal values may come into conflict with professional codes of ethics. In such instances, practitioners are expected to prioritise the values and standards of the profession, ensuring that their behaviour aligns with ethical guidelines.

Being a social worker means accepting that your actions, decisions, and even personal beliefs may be examined to ensure they do not compromise your role or the welfare of service users. This scrutiny underscores the need for ongoing reflection and self-awareness to navigate the complexities of integrating personal identity with professional expectations.

In the article Wiles states that their ‘analysis showed students constructing their professional identity in relation to desired traits, or through developing a sense of shared identity with other social workers; alternatively, it was portrayed as a process of individual development’. Some main themes emerge.

Complexity of Professional Identity

Wiles emphasises that professional identity is not a fixed trait but a dynamic process that evolves throughout an individual’s career. It involves a combination of desired traits, collective identity within the profession, and personal development as a social worker.

Reflection and Identity Work

The article highlights the importance of reflection in the construction of professional identity. Wiles notes that social work students engage in identity work, particularly during their final stages of study, where they reflect on their professional development and prepare for practice.

Support Mechanisms for Development

Wiles suggests that social work educators should provide support mechanisms for students to continue developing their professional identities after qualification. This includes professional supervision, team collaboration, and opportunities for continuing professional development.

Cultural Understandings

Wiles explores how students’ conceptualisations of professional identity reflect broader cultural understandings within the social work community and society, showing that these identities are influenced by various social discourses.

It is evident then that developing a strong professional identity in social work requires cultivating several key traits. Adherence to professional standards, such as those outlined by Social Work England and the Professional Capabilities Framework, is fundamental to ensuring competent and ethical practice. A solid foundation of theoretical knowledge and expertise is essential, enabling social workers to make informed decisions and apply effective interventions. Additionally, a genuine commitment to serving others – maybe grounded in altruism – forms the ethical core of the profession, driving practitioners to prioritise the welfare of individuals and communities. Social workers also enjoy a high degree of autonomy, allowing them to exercise judgment and flexibility in their roles, while being guided by a code of ethics. The use of research and the ability to engage in critical thinking are vital, as they enable professionals to stay informed about best practices and continuously improve their skills.

A shared professional identity in social work is both collective and shaped by the specific settings and specialisms within the field. Social workers have a common professional foundation, but distinct identities can form around specialisms such as child protection, mental health, or adult services. These specialisms allow practitioners to develop expertise and tailor their approach to specific areas of practice while maintaining the core principles of social work. However, working within multidisciplinary teams can sometimes challenge or erode professional identity, as the distinct role of the social worker may become blurred when collaborating with other professionals.

Drawing on Goffman’s ideas of identity work, becoming a social work professional involves a significant transformation of one’s personal identity. Experiences from personal life are reshaped and reframed through education and professional training, as individuals learn to navigate the complexities of social work practice. A key component of this transformation is the “use of self,” where practitioners integrate their personal experiences and qualities with professional skills in a reflective and intentional manner. This process of becoming a social worker requires not only the mastery of theoretical knowledge and practical skills but also the internalisation of a professional identity that aligns with the values, ethics, and standards of the field. Goffman’s concept of identity work underscores the fluid and ongoing nature of this process, as social workers must continually balance their personal identity with the expectations of the profession. As a result, professional identity not only shapes how you perform in the role but also impacts how you view yourself personally. For students, this identity work is critical—they must evolve from learners to professionals by integrating knowledge and embodying the core principles of social work in their practice.

Students need reflective space to actively explore and rehearse their emerging professional identities as social workers. This reflective practice is essential for allowing them to integrate theoretical knowledge with real-world experiences, critically evaluate their actions, and align their personal values with the ethical standards of the profession. In these spaces, which are for the most part their practice placements, students can safely explore different approaches, receive feedback, and refine their understanding of their role within the social work field. Reflective space also helps students navigate the complexities of their identity work, as they process the emotional, intellectual, and ethical challenges they encounter. By engaging in regular reflection, they become more self-aware and better prepared to handle the nuanced demands of social work practice, ultimately shaping a stronger, more confident professional identity.

Biology’s Challenge to Social Work – Embodying the Person-in-Environment Perspective

Posted on September 25, 2024 by Admin

The Body’s Role in Social Work: Integrating the Person-in-Environment Perspective

Dennis Saleeby is a bit of a hero of mine. Particularly his writing about strengths based practice. Definitely worth checking out – and I love the article Biology’s Challenge to Social Work – Embodying the Person-in-Environment Perspective about the importance of the physical body to social work practice so I thought I’d share with you the key points he makes from my notes. In social work, where the aim is to understand and support the individual holistically, there is a lack of attention to the body’s role and this can be problematic. Our physical bodies are more than mere vessels—they are deeply intertwined with how we experience the world and engage in social relationships. Ignoring this aspect in social work practice misses an essential part of what it means to be human. I go further than this and say that our psychology is stacked on our biology and we then take this biology and internally created psychology into the social world to present ourselves and then have ourselves (our psychology and biology) altered by our experiences in a circular relationship. But it all starts and ends with our biology.

The Body as a Social Being

The human body is not just a biological entity; it’s embedded within the social and cultural fabric of our lives. Our physical presence is shaped by, and in turn shapes, the social contexts we find ourselves in. Our relationships, roles, and even our ability to function in institutions are influenced by how we inhabit and understand our bodies. As thinkers like Michael Gazzaniga and others have pointed out, how we exist in society depends greatly on the sense and capabilities of our body, whether we realise it or not.

Survival, both biological and social, are inextricably linked. The types of relationships we have, the ways in which institutions interact with individuals, and even the opportunities available to us often hinge on the condition and perception of our physical selves. Social workers, therefore, must consider the body as part of the broader social environment, not as something separate or secondary to the person’s social experiences.

Unlocking the Wisdom of the Body

Our bodies hold a deep, intuitive wisdom that, when tapped into, can foster healing, transformation, and personal growth. The body isn’t just a passive recipient of care—it actively participates in its own healing. This understanding mirrors ideas from holistic medicine, where a good physician recognises the healer within the patient, acknowledging the patient’s inherent capacity for self-recovery.

In social work, the concept of the body’s wisdom is valuable. When social workers build therapeutic relationships with clients, recognising the body’s role in this process can be profoundly transformative. Whether it’s through somatic practices, or simply acknowledging the physical experiences of trauma, stress, or resilience, social workers can work with clients to activate their own healing potential.

Mind, Body, and Environment: A Complex Relationship

The interaction between mind, body, and environment is dynamic and ongoing. In social work, this interconnectedness forms the basis of the person-in-environment perspective, which emphasises how individuals are shaped by their surroundings and vice versa. This idea resonates with the ecological or life model, which stresses the importance of “goodness of fit” between the person and their environment. The ability to adapt to changing external demands is not only a practical matter but also a moral imperative within this framework.

Adaptation is about more than just survival. It involves growth, development, and the successful navigation of life’s transitions. But adaptation is not just a mental process—it requires the body’s active participation, which we must acknowledge when supporting clients through challenges like illness, aging, or trauma.

Critiquing the Medical Model: Where It Falls Short

The traditional medical model tends to objectify the patient’s body and overlooks the personal knowledge and experiences of the individual. It reduces people to a collection of symptoms, stripping them of agency, autonomy, and responsibility. This model is problematic for us, where the goal is to empower clients rather than pathologise them.

Social workers understand that a person’s body and mind must be integrated, not treated as separate entities. Clients must be seen as more than their illnesses or deficits – the cornerstone of strengths based practice. Empowering clients involves recognising the strength and capacity within their own bodies, rather than assuming that only professionals hold the key to healing.

The Body as a Site of Struggle

Many clients we come into contact with in social work have experienced their bodies as a site of control and oppression, whether through institutional practices, societal ideologies, or interpersonal violence. This loss of control over their bodies can diminish their sense of self-worth, power, and capability. For instance, societal expectations about gender, age, or ethnicity often dictate how people should inhabit and experience their bodies, leaving many feeling disconnected from their physical selves.

For social workers, part of the healing process is helping clients reclaim their sense of agency over their bodies. This may involve confronting issues like body image, disability, or trauma, and helping clients re-establish a positive, empowered relationship with their physical selves.

Reconnecting Mind and Body in Social Work Practice

To fully support clients, social workers must recognise that the body holds significant restorative powers. Healing is not just about resolving psychological issues—it’s about engaging the whole person, including their physical body. Forming an alliance with clients that acknowledges the body’s role in this process can open up new avenues for growth and recovery. This requires a practice model that respects the body’s role in a person’s overall well-being.

This approach doesn’t mean treating the body like a medical object rather, it involves inviting clients to engage with their bodies in a way that fosters healing. Touch, physical presence, and bodily awareness—when used appropriately—can be powerful tools for affirmation, comfort, and emotional connection.

The Strength-Based Approach: Honouring the Body’s Resilience

Social work prides itself on being a strength-based profession, and this applies as much to the body as it does to the mind. The human body is a source of resilience, vitality, and strength. When social workers recognise the body’s potential, they can better support clients in tapping into these resources to navigate life’s challenges.

Whether dealing with illness, trauma, or everyday stress, helping clients understand and reconnect with their bodies can lead to more profound and lasting changes. This holistic approach not only helps clients heal but also enables them to experience the joy, freedom, and empowerment that comes from knowing and inhabiting their bodies fully.

In Conclusion: Embodying Wholeness in Social Work

Ultimately, social work is about fostering wholeness in the individual. This requires an integration of mind, body, and environment. By recognizing the body’s importance in this equation, social workers can deepen their practice, enhance the helping relationship, and more effectively empower their clients. The body is not merely a backdrop to social and psychological issues—it’s an active, dynamic part of the healing process, and when integrated into social work practice, it can open the door to greater transformation and growth.

If you want to read the whole article by Saleeby – here it is

1992 – Biology’s Challenge to Social Work Embodying the Person-in-Environment Perspective Download

Common student questions answered

Posted on July 10, 2024 by Admin

As we come to the end of the academic year and another group of social work students are set to graduate, I’ve been thinking about common questions I’ve been asked over the years. Here are some of my responses.

Diary Management
Paper diary or electronic calendar? Which is best?
By far the best option is electronic. Let’s be honest how many of us don’t have a smartphone these days. If you’re using a paper diary and you put it down somewhere and forget you’ve lost it all, but most electronic calendars are stored in the cloud so you’ve got it wherever you are and you can’t lose it. Add to that functionally. You don’t get something done one day you just move it into the next day. I use the time slots on Google Calendar for time sensitive stuff and the daily entries for stuff I hope to get done in the gaps! Start getting used to diary management now and it will be much easier when you’re in practice.

What should I be looking for in a good diary?

Let’s talk paper diaries first if you want to go in that direction! I don’t think, as a student, you can get away with anything less than a page a day. You’re going to have a lot to keep track of assignments, tutorials and lectures, never mind your social life. ‘Page a day’ means you’ve got space for the things you’re doing and room to make quick to do lists for the day. Maybe even look for something that has a diary page and a note page facing each other. Personally, you can’t go past Molskine for quality and there are similar budget versions available. As for electronic calendars – accessibility is everything. You need something that’s useable on your desktop and on your phone. My personal favourite is Google Calendar.

What sort of things should I be putting in my diary?
Easy answer! Everything! Everything that is demanding your attention should have a diary entry. Most people just use their diary for things that have an actual time attached to them; lectures, seminars – that kind of thing. You should be putting everything else in your diary – allotted time to go to the library, time to draft your assignment, time to write your plan. That way you get a sense of everything you need to do, not just when your appointments are! And I’d suggest you diary longer than you think you’ll need. Invariably we underestimate how long things will take. And when you finish a task early you can start on another one!

Proof Reading
No matter how much I proofread I’m still missing things! Help?
You probably just need to slow down. It’s easy to miss stuff when you’ve written it because you know what it needs to say so you ‘see’ what should be there not what is there. It’s often the small words that cause the problems. ‘It’ and ‘is’ are easy to miss as are missing words. You brain is very clever and will ‘see’ the word even when it’s not there. I always feel that reading it out loud is a good tactic. This makes you actually say what’s there and it’s harder then to automatically fill in the missing bits and gaps. Do you struggle with punctuation? Again reading it out loud might help you figure out where the commas go as you will often naturally pause or take a breath where a comma should be. Reading out loud will also help you spot sentences that are simply too long… you’ll run out of breath!

What’s the best approach to proof reading?
Proof reading isn’t easy and you’ll often miss common errors as your brain fools you into seeing what’s not there. What’s the best option then? Get someone else to proof read it for you. It’s even better if they don’t know much about the subject matter as they can then tell you whether it makes sense to the casual reader. Other people will more easily spot errors, as they don’t know what’s coming so are actually focussed on reading it properly more than you will be when it’s your own work. If you have to proof read yourself slow down or read it out loud.

Time Management
I keep running out of time for everything. What’s going wrong?
You’re probably not planning effectively. People who write about productivity say that you can’t plan and do at the same time. So plan then do! Start your week planning what you need to achieve this week (or even better end the previous week planning the following week) and start each day with considering what you need to achieve that day. Every so often look ahead a month and work backwards from things you need to achieve putting all of the steps into your diary. This is based on the old adage “how do you eat and elephant”? The answer… one bite at a time. When you have big tasks to complete, like an assignment, break it down into achievable steps. For example, “go to the library to get books”, “read the books”, “collate notes”, “write assignment plan”….you see how it goes. And put all of these things in your dairy. This will help you hit the end goal.

How do I manage my time to meet deadlines?
The first thing to do is to set yourself a deadline that is before the actual deadline. That way if you do hit a problem you’ve got built in capacity to give yourself that little more time. This reduces your stress response to the situation. When you are stressed you are less productive – so you need to avoid that. Break the task down into smaller steps and put these in your dairy. Always give yourself more time than you think you’ll need. As humans we have a tendency to overestimate the time small tasks take so we put them off, and underestimate big tasks so always end up running out of time. Apply the two minute rule for small tasks. If it’s going to take less than two minutes just get on and do it. If you need to diary it for later diary up to 50% more time than you think you need.

What’s the best strategy to make the best use of my weekends!?
Plan! And not just your academic or work stuff but also your household and social stuff. There’s sound evidence that if you plan something and put it your calendar you are more likely to do it. If you get up on a Saturday morning without a plan I guarantee you’ll get to Saturday afternoon having achieved nothing. Focus on your home and social life in the same way as you would your study or work life. Make sure there’s something in there for you. You can’t work and study all of the time. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy – as the saying goes.

Effective communication
Should my emails to my tutor be formal or informal?
I would generally err on the side of formal. Also, make sure the email is useful and clearly sets out what you are after. Don’t just email and say, “can I have a tutorial please”. Email and say “Can I have a tutorial please to look at the assignment that’s due in on 17^th December. It would be useful to meet next week and I’m available on…….” With all of that information one email back from the tutor might be enough rather than it taking lots of emails. Your tutor will be busy so anything you can do to help with your request will improve the chances of a helpful response. Start ‘Hello Stephen” and end ‘Thanks Debbie Jones, First Year BA”. This is really helpful as if your course is big the tutor may not know who just ‘Debbie’ is and may well teach into more than one programme. Let clarity be your watchword!

What are the most important things when it comes to communication?
Well, that depends on the communication activity. If we are talking about in writing then brevity and clarity are important. When emailing in a professional context, to your tutor for example, they will have a lot of emails to get through. My guess is they will read the first line or two and then if it’s a long email just scan to the end. So, put the important stuff at the start, but also keep it short, as that will mean there’s more chance of the recipient actually reading to the end! Sometimes if I’m asking for support from someone and I’m not sure if they will have the time to read a lot I give them a brief outline and suggest that I can give them more detail if they feel we can progress things. In face-to-face communication body language is important. Various pieces of research say that it’s the primary way we communicate. So how you present yourself is just as important as what you say. Make time for the face-to-face communication so that you are not distracted. Maybe think through in advance what you want to say so you get the words right and get the tone right.

How to I communicate effectively in emails?
You need to make the email effective for the person on the other end. Be clear about what you are after and offer a solution or a range of options to the person you are sending it to. If you want to meet, tell them what you want to meet about and what timescale you want to work to. Tell people the dates you are available. If you want a response to something from the person that’s time sensitive for you then tell the person when you need a response by. Personally I’d tell them a date a couple of days before you actually need it to account for slippage. Be clear and succinct. No waffle! People get hundreds of emails and often don’t read all the way to the bottom of long emails.

Working in groups
When we work in a group at university one person always dominates. What can I do about it?
I’m assuming you’ve been given a task like a presentation to prepare and deliver as a group. Group work is not easy as personalities are powerful things! I would formulate the group in a formal way with someone acting as Chair who facilitates the group. They are not in charge they just steer things. I’d also have someone taking notes so you know what has been agreed. People who dominate often just want their view validated so it’s helpful to listen and acknowledge what’s been said positively then ask the others to contribute. If it gets difficult start the meeting by saying we’ll go around the group and feedback where we are up to. Or, we’ll go around the group and make suggestions before deciding. This is also a useful tactic for including quiet members.

When we work in groups one person never pulls their weight. What can I do about it?
You can try and tackle this yourself by discussing it with the person but I suspect you’ve already done that! I would alert the module leader of your concerns in a timely fashion. It’s not much use telling the module leader just before you need to present whatever the group have been doing. When working in the group take notes with clear timescales identified. Even if the person not pulling their weight isn’t there identify tasks for them and email the notes and tasks. Ask them to respond to say they’ve got the email. Keep including them because if the module leader is to do anything they will need evidence that you’ve tried to include the person. If the work you are preparing is to be graded as a group you may have to just ‘bite the bullet’ while the module leader deals with the situation, as you don’t want to compromise the group mark.

Struggling academically
How do I make the best use of my tutor?
Make sure you take up all of the tutorials you are entitled to. Prepare for them. Your university will probably have tutor guidance telling you what you can expect from your tutor, so, within those parameters figure out what you might want to ask for guidance on. Always have something to ask so that you engage the tutor or they may think you are not interested and draw the tutorial to a close. If the tutorial is about something specific, like an assignment, then again the important thing is to prepare. Have a list of what you have read, prepare an outline of what you are going to write and have some questions prepared. Be clear about the learning outcomes and if you are unsure make sure you ask.

How do I plan an assignment?
The first thing to do is read! Have you read the set reading? You need to do this to at least have an overview of the subject in question. Make notes as you go. Make sure you note where you have written it down directly from the book or where you have paraphrased so you know how you need to reference it if you use it. Keep a reference list as you go. Then and only then you should start with the learning outcomes and the task. There’ll also be a question to consider probably! Break the question or task down into its parts and consider what you are being asked to do. Consider words like ‘describe’ and ‘critique’ as they require different things. Where you are asked to describe you are simply going to provide an overview or a narrative. Where you are asked to critique you will need to start by explaining one position and offering alternatives, all from academic literature, to show there is more than one opinion. Once you’ve broken down the question consider what you will write and construct a plan. Your plan is probably going to follow the task if the assignment sets one out. Once you’ve created your plan then look at each learning outcome in turn and make sure that there is an element in your plan that covers each learning outcome. If you miss a learning outcome the assignment will not pass so this is a crucial step.

How do I make sure I’m doing what I need to do in assignments?
There are a few things you can do to be sure. Firstly listen in class. Tutors will often guide you to teaching that is relevant to assignments. Then make sure you read the set reading or chapters referenced by the lecturer. Then you need to plan clearly. Make sure your plan addresses the task and the learning outcomes. Make use of tutorials to ensure you are on the right path. Then, stick to your plan. Don’t go off at a tangent and, if the subject matter is emotive or has personal resonance, don’t make it personal. In a sense your view isn’t important. What’s important is that you understand the view, or range of views, in the literature. Penultimately proof read effectively… then proof read it again… then get someone else to proof read it. Then! Go back over the learning outcomes and task and make sure you have absolutely addressed all things!

How much reading is enough!?
Read as much as you can. Then read more. Then read more! You can’t read enough. The reality is that the students that do the best are the students that read the most. Your module guides will direct you as to the key texts but also read around the subject to get different views. Delve into journal articles on your subject matter as this will give you the absolute latest in terms of thinking and research. Use the Internet carefully. Make sure the sources of the information you are using are legitimate and ideally peer reviewed or you risk using sites that have a bias. This is particularly important if you are going to reference it in assignments. Reading widely will improve your vocabulary and therefore your writing.

Social work and Toy Story 4 – Bowlby and Attachment

Posted on February 9, 2023 by Jamie Scorer

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Is Disney and Pixar telling a tale of about children in the care system and showing us how social work should be done? In doing so they provide us with a beautiful near perfect example of Bowlby’s attachment theory. A bold statement I hear you ask or is this writer ridiculous? perhaps both are true but before you dismiss this let’s as they say in through the keyhole look at the evidence.

At the beginning of the film we are introduced to Woody, for those who have lived in a cave for 20 years Woody is a toy, a stuffed cowboy, and the once favourite toy of the previous owner Andy. In Toy Story Three Andy grew up and passed his toys to a new owner Bonnie. In Toy Story Four we are re-introduced to Woody, who, for once appears to be struggling, as he is no longer a favourite toy and as a direct consequence of this, he appears to be constantly looking for positive approval.

This is our first introduction to Bowlby’s attachment theory in this film and there are many more which I will endeavour to explore. Before I go on this may be a good point to point out the basic principles from Bowlby’s attachment theory.

Bowlby’s attachment theory

Attachment is an emotional bond with another person.

Bonds formed by children directly with their parents impacts on them throughout their life. Attachment serves to keep the child close to the parent, therefore increasing the child’s survival chances. (harder to be eaten by a sabre tooth tiger if with mam)
Children have an instinctual drive to form attachments with parents.
Natural selection (had to throw a bit of Charles Darwin in here) increases the chance of survival of the genes of those children who bonded with their parents as they survived to have children of their own, those children who could not make that bond were less likely to reach adult hood. Therefore, those who could form attachments had a much-increased chance of passing their attachment genes on to the next generation.

It could be fair to argue that, for many children, this idea is a little bit obvious. Of course children attach to their parents anyone who has been a child is aware of this? Bowlby’s research, looked at the impact of when this attachment has been damaged, and the effects that can have on the child and the later adult.

Back to Toy Story Four

Woody had a strong attachment to Andy he felt loved and as a result felt he had an important role with the other toys. Woody had made his attachment to his parent figure Andy. He had developed an identity of himself. He was dependable, trustworthy and he felt secure and confident in his affections from Andy. This was despite a few wobbles with the introduction of Buzz light year, the space ranger. In the context of social work we can comfortably say that the introduction of Buzz was representative of an impressive new sibling coming into the household.

So, the Woody we find at the beginning of the Toy Story 4 is a Woody that has lost his family home and he, along with his siblings (the other toys) has been fostered to a new family. Woody is not mistreated or neglected in any way, but he has lost his role as the main toy. Bowlby would then suggest that Woody demonstrates classic behaviour by attempting to form another parental attachment to Bonnie. However, to Bonnie, he is one toy of many, and not a special toy, which is a big contrast to his relationship with his previous owner or ‘parent’ Andy. Woody appears to be able to rationalise this as he appears to be an older ‘child’ and at an age where he is finding his way in world but still needing that parent he attached to. In some ways in the movie, you could say his behaviour is attention seeking and he appears desperate to please and replicate the attachment he had with Andy. Now, put yourself in Woody’s shoes (or cowboy boots!), once loved and doted on, and then rejected and ‘fostered’ out to a new family. Woody is obviously struggling and desperately needs to regain the attachment that he once had.

This leads us to the monumental efforts Woody will go to replicate this attachment. He is unable to lose his previous image of himself and looks to reaffirm this self-view by over increasing his role in this family structure with the vain hope of finding the same attachment that he had with Andy as this is all he has ever known and it has been removed from him. When Bonnie Is anxious about her first day in nursery school Woody grabs an opportunity to justify to himself that he deserves this attachment and he smuggles his way into her backpack. He actually goes a step further to justifies his actions and, as she is feeling low, he gives Bonny rubbish out of the rubbish bin, and she puts some plastic and pipe cleaners together along with other caste away items and creates a toy. This Toy becomes self-aware and Disney introduce us to a fascinating character called Forky (as he is made out of a fork, genius!)

Forky represents a child that is the opposite to Woody in the care system. Woody is fostered to a new family and was loved and well cared for. Forky appears to be have been from a family who would have multiple social problems as he defines himself as ‘rubbish’ and from ‘rubbish’. He is suddenly thrust into a world of shine and Disney sparkle, and, to top it off, he is unconditionally loved by Bonny. Forky has only made an attachment to his lived experience which is cleverly represented here as ‘rubbish’. His attachment is to ‘rubbish’ which is so different to all this wonderful shiny new world where he is loved in only a way Disney can portray. Forky has no attachment to this and his brain is saying to him ‘this ain’t your world mate we have lived all our life in the rubbish and that’s where we are safe.’

Let’s take a step out here and consider how this fits into Bowlby’s theory.

Forky like every child has formed an attachment. This bond is strong and remember, this bond is so strong because it was used as his only way to survive as a baby. If he didn’t create this bond his brain is convinced he is sabre tooth tiger bait. For some reason this bond has been separated. He is thrust into a world where his life, from our perspective, is so much better because he is loved unconditionally. The attachment he has created is in the primitive part of his brain and according to his brain his survival depends on this. So why should we be surprised when he rejects this perfect world that has been created for him? Let’s think about this in the context of social work.

Before I venture further and give you a demonstration of brilliant social work by Disney (that’s a sentence I never thought I would write)

Let’s compare the theory to the two main characters I have written about,

	Woody	Forky
Attachment formed	Yes	Yes
Attachment removed	Yes	Yes
Loved	Yes	Unclear
Neglected	No	Yes
Looking to reaffirm the attachment lost	Yes	Yes

Both characters are behaving in way directly as a response to the loss of their attachment. For Woody it is not a great stretch to form an attachment to the new child Bonnie as the conditions are very similar. Forky comes from a very different background and his new world is alien to him. Forming an attachment in this environment is a very difficult step. So, what does Forky do? Every available opportunity he attempts to run away and back to his old way of being. By doing this he is placing himself in very series danger. He is throwing himself out of moving vehicles and trying all he can to return to how things were. Woody tries to contain him and even restrain him however the more he does this the more Forky fights against this and tries to run away, does this sounds familiar to how we practice. However what other choice do we have, we need to keep the child safe.

This is where Disney shows us what good social work is. When he finally throws himself out of a moving car Woody does not say to his manager, ‘we tried everything, we give him the perfect life and he threw it in our faces, residential care system for this guy, we cannot place him.’ No! Woody did not do this. What he did is talk to him and worked with him and stuck with him. Woody realised that you cannot affect change in this primal part of the brain that has formed an attachment overnight. This work can be intensive, and yes, Woody was continually rejected in his social work role by Forky. However, he kept at it and eventually was able to help Forky and ‘avoid residential care’.

Let’s say Forky was not a toy. Let’s say he was real, taken from his home as a result of serious neglect. He was placed in a world he did not know, he had adults loving him who he had not attached with, he was given everything. However, what was his brain saying to him? “You’re in danger! We do not know situation! Get back to who you attached to and the lifestyle you attached to.” He was shown this sparkly world and when he thinks of his past what does he think? He thinks that this past is him. It is how he identifies himself and this fluffy clean world makes him feel bad about himself. So, he rejects it. He continually runs away and spurns the love he is shown.

As social workers do we say placement breakdown? Or do we stick with him? If we stop the work we are doing and close our involvement what have we done? Reaffirmed to Forky that he is ‘rubbish’ and made him more resilient to the next social worker. And where does this stop when he is in his 40’s perhaps and he has found something that meets the need we have failed to meet? When he has found something he can finally successfully attach too that sadly mat be negative, such as drugs or alcohol and then adult social work is continually rejected by him, because rejection is all he has ever known. Do we stick with him when he is a child and make the difference that Disney showed us?

Jamie Scorer

Jamie has worked in social care for 30 years. He is a qualified social worker, and worked in a local authority as a senior social worker in a MCA/DoLS team. Jamie is now a lecturer at Sunderland University.

Thoughts on ‘Radical Perspectives On Mental Health’

Posted on February 9, 2023 by Stephen Mordue

I had the luxury of a spare Saturday yesterday (12th February 2022) that coincided with an online festival of presentations and discussion on all manner of things from philosophy to science, all the way around culture and back again. It was the Winter Revel brought to us by How The Light Gets In.

I’ve been to one of their online festivals before and loved listening to people who were new to me and people whose books I’d read. They have some ‘heavy hitters’ on the bill.

I was so pleased to listen to Lucy Johnstone’s (left) take on Mental Health…. a radical take, as she put it, in many ways. Lucy is is a UK clinical psychologist, trainer, speaker and writer, and a long-standing critic of biomedical model psychiatry. She has worked in adult mental health settings for many years, alternating with academic posts.

She said a number of interesting things that critique the current professional and public perception of mental health that I am still thinking through for myself but I felt were worthy of getting out there for further exploration. You can comment below or join the chat at our Social Work Shorts Discord server – you’ll need to download the app or desktop version and then follow this link.

So what did she say!?

She started by quoting Dr Allen Francis the chair of the DSM IV Committee (the mental health diagnostic manual) as saying ‘there is no definition of a mental disorder ….it’s bullshit.’ Johnstone was keen to point out in saying this and the other things she said she wasn’t denying the very real and problematic experiences that people have. She was simply suggesting that we are approaching it in the wrong way ….and she did offer a solution which I’ll get to later. She confirmed the view of Francis stating that diagnosis is not scientifically valid saying that diagnosis is circular. You’re hearing voices – you have schizophrenia – how to we know you have schizophrenia – you’re hearing voices etc. This points to the fact that mental health diagnosis is social not medical. The person doesn’t fit with what society perceives as ‘normal’.

She went on to suggest that psychiatry rarely helps people. She wasn’t saying that it sometimes didn’t help but that mostly it doesn’t. In fact she suggested that psychiatry can sometimes reinforce the stigma that goes with having a mental health problem. She suggested also that well intentioned anti-stigma campaigns often do quite the opposite and reinforce the ‘othering’ of people with such ‘problems’. They are based, she feels, on an illness model rather than a model that centres emotional suffering. She noted that the mantra ‘we all have mental health’ elevates the normal range of emotions and feelings to a higher level and problematises or medicalises a range of feelings that sit within a ‘normal’ range. Again she was not saying that people with emotional difficulties should not be supported but rather that the elevation is inappropriate for many. Self diagnosis is unhelpful and also so is the over medicalisation of a range of emotions.

The problem with diagnosis and the diagnostic manual she suggests is that 9 out of 10 of us at some point will meet the criteria for one or other of the ‘mental illnesses’ so eventually it will be 10 out of 10 so then we all are mentally ill and systems get overwhelmed and people that should be at the top of the priority list for support don’t get it. Of course such over diagnosis plays right into the hand of pharmaceutical companies who can offer us medication.

In relation to current treatments she makes the startlingly obvious point that is overlooked that despite such treatments rates of distress across the world are rising. So if what you’re doing isn’t working maybe it’s time to do something different.

First of all what is the problem!?

She suggested that economic conditions brought about by neoliberalism had created job insecurity, reduced welfare services, reduced community ties, excluded some groups and led to materialist values which in turn has led to an increase in mental health problems. It takes me back to a quote from Alvin Toffler that I often use from his book Futureshock written in 1970. He predicted that the change of pace he saw then would continue into the future (our present) and people wouldn’t be unable to keep pace with the change. Add into this Debord’s view in his The Society of the Spectacle that people’s worth will become tied up not in what they ‘are’ but in what they have. This leads to a drive to consume more and more to signal to others our success. This creates a tension that he refers to as an ‘opium war’ that forces people to equate goods with satisfaction. Mental health ‘problems’ are therefore rooted in a social phenomenon that has a psychological impact. This requires us to change the social world to make it a better ‘fit’ with the universal human condition

Johnstone, with Mary Boyle propose in their book ‘A Straight Talking Introduction to the Power Threat Meaning Framework: An alternative to psychiatric diagnosis’ an alternative. The framework mentioned in the title Power Threat Meaning.

The framework haas been developed by a core group of psychologists and service users over a 5 year period laying out the following key principles. The framework builds on trauma informed practice, de-medicalises and de-professionalises mental health intervention, explores how distress makes sense in a context and creates no separate group of the mentally ill.

The framework asks some core questions:

What has happened to you? (How is Power operating in your life?)
How did it affect you? (What kind of Threats does this pose?)
What sense did you make of it? (What is the Meaning of these experiences to you?)
What did you have to do to survive? (What kinds of Threat Response are you using?)
What are your strengths? (What access to Power resources do you have?)
and to draw it all together What is your story?

Johnstone suggests that this framework draws on the importance of the group to the individual, acknowledges our relationship tot he natural world, integrates mind, body, and spirit with that natural world and builds on (among other things) community narratives and values.

Now if like me you’re a social work you’re probably thinking…. that sounds like it aligns with social work practice and values very well to me! What do you think? Hearing Lucy Johnstone talk about this felt like turning a corner and was so refreshing. Check out the book. It’s available here from the publishers web site and all the other usual places.

A Straight Talking Introduction to the Power Threat Meaning Framework: An alternative to Psychiatric diagnosis 9781910919712

Motivational Interviewing – be like Columbo

Posted on February 9, 2023 by Stephen Mordue

Remember the television show Columbo starring Peter Falk?

The fictional Columbo was a detective who solved murder mysteries – hugely popular in the 1970’s. Having recently used this analogy with a group of second year undergraduate students on the social work programme I teach on I realise that some of my cultural references may be a little dated! But I’m going to go with it!

Columbo was a humble and unassuming character who had the ability to get anyone to tell him anything, despite their initial resistance – very disarming. When someone said something to Columbo that was conflicting or inconsistent, he would rub his head and say, “I noticed yesterday you said one thing, and now you are saying something else. I’m confused.” He would say things like, “Could you clarify this?” or “Help me understand.” Columbo did not accuse those he was questioning but rather by taking the responsibility for his confusion, he disarmed the other person who then would slowly feel comfortable telling him the things he needed to know to solve the crime. The Columbo Method is to present the facts that appear to conflict, give the person the benefit of the doubt, and then ask questions for clarification.

Miller and Rollnick in their 1991 book “Motivational Interviewing: Preparing People to Change Addictive Behavior” badge this as ‘developing discrepancies’, showing people that what they said at one point doesn’t correlate with what they are saying now, or what they say they are going to do doesn’t fit with what they say they will do. It’s the gap between where the person has been, or is, and where they want to be. I am minded to talk about my dalliance into Slimming World but won’t because there is indeed a discrepancy between my ‘I must lose weight’ and ‘Oooo Pizza!’

Helping Clients develop discrepancy is “the active ingredient underlying motivational interviewing’s efficacy” say Miller and Rollnick, going on to state that “Motivational Interviewing is an effective, evidence – based approach to overcoming the ambivalence which stops people making desired changes in their lives”. The emphasis though – because of intrinsic motivation as a more effective method of motivation – is on personal choice and responsibility for the future.

Internal (or intrinsic) motivation is motivation that comes from within. Maybe things like ‘I want to feel healthy’, rather than, ‘I want to lose 2 stone’. The latter is an external marker, the former, an internal motivator. Intrinsic motivation is associated with greater long-term change. Research shows people with low internal motivation have worse outcomes and people with higher levels of both internal and external motivation have better outcomes. (Deci and Ryan, 1985, 1987, Curry et al 1991). So, ‘I want to lose 2 stone and I’m doing it because I want to feel healthy’, is perfect.

Motivational Interviewing was developed initially in response to working with client resistance in alcohol treatment in the late 1980’s but is now widely considered as been helpful in many areas where motivation to change is required. Most social work practice involves either supporting someone to consider change and initiate it, or supporting someone to readjust to a change thrust upon them, for example, an older person having a stroke or heart attack. It’s helpful as it can work in relatively ‘brief’ interventions and is a more helpful ‘stance’ in working with high levels of resistance in clients than a confrontational or coercive style.

Motivational interviewing builds on Carl Rogers’ optimistic and humanistic ideas that we all have the capacity to change and become the best version of ourselves – we just need to figure out how. It’s about people’s capabilities for exercising free choice and changing through a process that works towards self-actualization. Essentially, motivational interviewing activates the capability for beneficial change that everyone possesses. Once ‘activated’ some people can continue change on their own, while others require more formal treatment and support over the long journey of recovery or adjustment.

The therapeutic relationship for both Rogerian and motivational interviewers is a democratic partnership. Your goal in motivational interviewing is to elicit self-motivational statements and behavioural change from the client in addition to creating client ‘discrepancy’ (the Columbo Method) to enhance motivation for positive change.

The idea of developing discrepancies originated from cognitive dissonance theory which suggest that there can be an imbalance between the internal and the external values of the individual. This causes a person to feel unbalanced. So, where there is incongruence between what a person feels and does this can cause a dissonance, an imbalance, or a feeling of not being true to oneself. Cognitive dissonance can make people feel uneasy and uncomfortable, particularly if the disparity between their beliefs and behaviours involves something that is central to their sense of self. For example, behaving in ways that are not aligned with their personal values which may result in feelings of discomfort. That uncomfortable feeling can be used positively to initiate motivation and therefore change.

We can ‘develop’ discrepancies by pointing them out sensitively and in doing so you create a gap between where the person has been (or currently is) and where they want to be. The individual can come to a realisation that their current behaviour is not leading them towards their goals, and they become more motivated and open to change. The goal is to resolve that the discrepancy by changing. In doing this you can offer and explore the positives and negatives of change and so ‘roll with resistance’.

The emphasis is on intervention and change not the issue which could lead us to ponder is change sustainable if an underlying problem is not dealt with successfully. Worthy of some reflection and consideration of this idea in relation to the individual you are working with.

This ‘Motivational Interviewing’ approach

Encourages positive engagement
Acknowledges and works with client resistance
Is collaborative, not collusive
Is a blend of different therapeutic approaches, inc. Person-Centred, Solution-Focused and cognitive-behavioural ideas with a process model of change.
It has a belief in the possibility of change
Shows respect for individuals
(Hopefully) achieves empowerment

What doesn’t work to motivate

Persuasion

It’s tempting to try to be helpful by persuading – you might want to draw the persons attention to the importance or urgency of the problem being addressed. Or maybe put to them the benefits of changing a behaviour. These strategies are likely to backfire because you are trying to motivate extrinsically – not intrinsically. It usually only increases client resistance and decreases the probability of change.

Righting reflex

Miller and Rollnick suggest as practitioners we sometimes use our corrective lens. We want to ‘put the client right’. We want to change their behaviour, so we argue or push back. This often simply leads to an impasse with the client standing their ground based on all the reasons not to change.

Strategies to use

Express empathy
Be Non-judgmental
Make sure that the client is being heard and understood.
Develop discrepancy – Help the client see the difference between their core values and their behaviour.
Define the most important goals.
Support self-efficacy – The Client’s must believe in their ability to change. I have a view that our role as social workers is to eradicate the need for social workers. We should work with people in such a way that they eventually don’t need us anymore because they have developed the skills or understanding they need. This is reminiscent of the strengths based approach in social work practice. It can be good to focus on such skills and strengths and on past successes because this….

….promotes self-esteem and builds confidence which moves the client in the direction of change.

The goal is to move the client to what is referred to as change talk rather than sustain talk. They talk about how they will change rather than how they wil

Academic referencing: Durham’s Moon, Nuclear Weapons, Avengers and middle aged man returns to University.

Posted on February 9, 2023 by George Bull

After a 13 year break I have returned to University to complete an Education Masters at Sunderland. This week I have been writing my first essay and returned to the business of academic referencing.

My inner free child has been screaming variously, “why bother” “don’t the lecturers already know all this”. Then my adult subliminal voice replies, “it’s just the academic game just play along like a good boy”.

So is there real value to this referencing malarkey? I’ve got two stories that may persuade you that there is.

On Saturday all the family visited the Moon at Durham Cathedral. I would recommend people go and see and enjoy the beautiful stark but strangely fitting scene of the moon floating about at the front of the cathedral. In a brief conversation with my son about the weight of the Moon (yes I meant mass science nerds) I was roused by a thought about who was buried at the back of the church and the importance to this massive lunar bauble.

As you enter the church the moon, you can’t miss it, is to the left, but to the right is buried one of England’s and the North’s true heroes St Bede the venerable.

Born in Jarra entering the monastery at 12, he is known as the father of English history, a poet, scientist, mathematician, astronomer, statesman and more or less he is the reason why the year is 2021 today and we celebrate Easter when we do.

Bede like all good scientists took the data from previous works , made clear his sources, then verified, improved and reevaluated at each step his findings all with an open and critical mind.

Whilst calculating the dates of the moveable feast that is Easter Bede made a stunning connection,

It is as if [the ocean] were dragged forwards against its will by certain exhalations of the Moon, and when her power ceases, it is poured back again into his proper measure. (Wallis 1999)

Durham is a really small city and it must have more classists, historians and religious thinkers per head than anywhere else in England.

So how have they honoured this amazing connection between Bede who is buried at one side of its cathedral and a massive moon at the other. Well nothing…. no mention no reference no link. Does Bede’s legacy not deserve even a mention? I often wonder if he lived 300/400 years later and studied in Oxford would he be seen on a similar footing to Newton or Darwin, both similarly motivated by religious views of the universe in their works.

To put right this injustice we just need a reference……………

Apart from getting angry about moons and long dead saints this week I also enjoyed an episode of Melvin Bragg’s podcast In Our Time. Quite simply if you’re interested in a topic and you don’t start here you have made a wrong turn.

The episode I listened to was the about the Manhattan project (Bragg, M 2021) , the amazing story of how the nuclear bomb was built, with the most incredible part being that the first experimental paper was wrote in the University of Manchester only in 1939 (Meitner, Lise; Frisch, O. R. (1939)) (detailing the potential of a uranium reaction causing an explosion) and the bomb was built tested and dropped in 1945 (a mere 6 years). No scientific endeavour has ever moved at a faster pace, conflict leading to creation then destruction.

To create the bomb the US army assembled the equivalent of the Avengers of scientists to work secretly in the New Mexico desert (ala Breaking Bad, both near hot dog jumping frog Alberquere, Prefab sprout 1988);

Oppenheimier, The American Prometheus,( Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin (2005)),
Feynman , The Raconteur, surely your joking Mr Feynman, Feynman (1985 )
Bohr, Master of the Atom
Fermi, The pope of physics, The last man who knew everything,Schwart D, }(2017)
Schwartz, David. (2017). The Last Man Who Knew Everything: The Life and Times of Enrico Fermi, Father of the Nuclear Age. Basic Books, December 2017.

N.B The person who formed the ‘Avengers’ despite not actually joining up with them in the research was a certain Albert Einstein, I guess he was somewhere between Dr Strange and Charles Xavier .

However it is not with these amazing characters that the next vignette focuses on its another forgotten hero (like Bede) this unassuming fella Georgy Florov. Never heard of him (I hadn’t) well he may possibly saved us all from a nuclear holocaust.

Georgy was part of the soviet airforce in WW2 and despite them fighting against the Nazi’s along with the Americans they were highly suspicious of their capitalist frenemies and endeavoured to match them step for step in every possible endeavour (the space race to the moon being an example).

Georgy prior to entering the airforce was a scientist in the emerging field of atomic reactions and energy. He left his studies for the war effort at a time of great development in the subject. In 1942 he was summoned for a guest lecture in Kazan. Georgy’s scientific curiosity lead him almost straight to the library after his lecturer to discover how his field had progressed whilst he had been away at his military outpost.

Once in the library he looked for journals and references over the past few years in particle physics, strangely he could find nothing. Not a scrap was published from any of the ‘Avengers’ that I listed above, i.e the greatest minds and experimenters in their field.

How could this fertile rapidly emerging field not produce any papers or any new references in the past few years especially from all these big hitters in the prime of their academic lives. Georgy moved the chess pieces in is head and came to the conclusion that the academic silence meant that the Americans where developing the bomb and they had pulled all the top minds into a secret operation.

Georgy wrote to Stalin in the clearest possible terms,

“We must immediately build the uranium bomb without delay”

Thus began the soviet nuclear programme and the cold war.

Without paining too much over the game theory Hawk v Hawk explanation of how Georgy may of saved us all here is a causal explanation.

Nazi’s surrender may 1945, never developing a nuclear bomb
USA develop the bomb and use it at Hirsohima and Nagaskai August 1945
Eisenhower considers using bomb again in Korean war of 1953 against communist China.
USA decides against using bomb as Communist USSR may retaliate.
In the Cold war and subsequent wars nuclear bombs are not used. MAD (mutually assured destruction) becomes the logical position if super powers use their weapons against one another.

…….. no Georgy no MAD.

So be like Bede and Georgy and not like Durham Cathedral, value the references – the work that has come before. Scaffold your own work on what has come before, pay your academic dues. If you don’t you might also miss something as obvious as a giant 23ft floating Moon right next to the burial site of Bede.

This mature student tried his best in his first essay in 15 years ……..

As a fun task how many of the people mentioned in this essay have chemical elements named after them.

Bibliogrpahy

Bragg, M. (2021) In Our Time: Manhattan project. [Podcast]. 01 November. Available at: [Podcast]. 01 November 2021. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00108h11 November

FEYNMAN, . (1985). “Surely you’re joking, Mr. Feynman!”: adventures of a curious character. New York, W.W. Norton

Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin (2005), American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer. Alfred A. Knopf, 2005

Meitner, Lise; Frisch, O. R. (1939). “Disintegration of Uranium by Neutrons: a New Type of Nuclear Reaction”. Nature. 143 (3615): 239–

Prefab Sprout (1988) “King of Rock and Roll, Album from Langley to Memphis”, Label KitchenWare

Schwartz, David. (2017). The Last Man Who Knew Everything: The Life and Times of Enrico Fermi, Father of the Nuclear Age. Basic Books, December 2017.

Wallis, Faith (1999). Bede: The Reckoning of Time. Liverpool University Press. ISBN 0853236933.

Student zone: Take note(s)… a skilful art!

Posted on February 9, 2023 by Stephen Mordue

People climbing books. isolated on white background. Vector illustration. Eps 10

What is at the root of academic success.

As a lecturer in Social Work at Sunderland University I get to talk to, listen to, and observe students going about their business. I watch them in my lectures writing copious notes generally thinking, ‘my goodness! Don’t write down and rely on anything I say!’ Self deprecating humour is my go to place! Such things lead me to consider note taking and academic success. I myself often take notes and having read the wonderful book ‘How to Take Smart Notes’ by Sonke Ahrens, I realise there’s more to it than meets the eye. My musings here are largely from or driven by that book. Here are some things to consider.

IQ does not drive academic success – what drives academic success is what you do day in day out

In order to learn you must strategise your learning – it’s not something that happens by chance. What leads to success is how you go about your everyday work and what you do day in day out will affect the quality of your assignments, rather than just what you do when you’re writing the assignment.

Success depends on the environment you create externally and internally

Where you work and how you work – and how you feel about work – will dictate the quality of the work. There’s a well researched phenomena which goes that if you work in a cluttered environment you will think in a ‘cluttered’, messy, way. This applies not only to your desk but also to where you store your files, how you structure your folders on your computer, and generally how you go about storing all manner of things that you need to support your success. Your internal environment is also important. How you feel on the inside. Do you feel alert or tired, sluggish or enthusiastic? Have you set an effective approach goal? Approach goals are about setting positive thoughts in motion. Students who set avoidance goals – ‘I just don’t want to fail’ – rather than positive approach goals – ‘I want to do my best’ – actually do worse in assignments research has shown as a consequence of this avoidance thinking. Positive mental attitude isn’t a silver bullet but it sets out a pathway.

Learning is cumulative and connected

When we’re taking notes and reading books and generally going about our business of studying we need to connect our ideas in some sort of system so that we can see what links to what because, as you may have noticed, ideas are connected and build on each other. Theory influences practice, practice helps us consider methods, methods are influenced by theory – and so it goes. If you watch University Challenge you’ll spot that sometimes they know the answer but often they don’t but they work it out from other things they know.

Insight only comes from exposing yourself to volume of material

I often say at induction events and during lectures that those who do the best are those that read the most. You have to expose yourself to a range of ideas and often to the same idea in different places until you hit a light bulb moment. You have to put the graft in. If you wanted to grow bigger biceps you couldn’t get someone else to go to the gym for you and do barbell curls you’d have to go to the gym yourself and you’d have to go more than once!

Notes

When it comes to taking notes there are two key places to consider

In Lectures

When Reading

In Lectures

Firstly, we can’t multitask effectively. If you are trying to write everything down then you risk missing what’s been said. Whatever you do in class or when watching a video lecture be in that moment – phone away and on silent, distractions eliminated. Don’t try to capture everything – capture only the key points. Use bullet points and short phrases to signpost yourself to further reading.

Note down things you didn’t understand (ask questions in class if you can) and then follow up with reading the things you found difficult – you will find things difficult that’s fine!

Do these things:

Arrive in time to be settled
Title and date your notes
Be ready to focus completely – set a positive attitude – a positive approach goal
Develop abbreviations for yourself that you always use to speed things up when note taking
Highlight, underline, and capitalise to add emphasis to key points etc. I use arrows to connect points a lot
Use headings and sub headings. Have one point per line and leave gaps to add things in

Then, crucially, return to your notes

The important thing to do is to go back to them as soon after class as possible and review and re-write them adding in other things you remember and then using the guided reading (where there is some),or relevant texts you find yourself, to embellish and enhance what you have noted down. You should undertake this review within 24 hours – sooner if you can. So plan this time into your calendar. This cements learning. Repetition is everything.

Review your notes periodically. When you type up the next notes look through all of the previous notes – this establishes those connections – write the connections down!

When Reading

Read with pen in hand and note or underline (not on the library books obs! Maybe use post-it notes). Once you’ve done this you must do something with these notes and underlines

Be aware that reading is a skill. Different texts require different approaches, some take longer to read, some can be scanned through, and when reading some you need to go off and look things up that you don’t understand. This is completely normal. Don’t panic.

Write up your notes and underlines
Your on-going understanding is reliant on external scaffolding. If you want to really understand something turn it into your own words. Just copying down quotes can risk stripping them of their context and therefore their meaning (and can risk plagiarism). Always write down the outcome of your thinking. This is about having a meaningful personal dialogue with the text.

Writing down is not a record of your thinking it is your thinking
“I’m never sure what I think until I see what I write” Carol Loomis (American Journalist)

Take notes…. consolidate notes…. read your notes… connect your notes…. tell it to yourself (I do this when I’m walking the dog! In my head not out loud!)

Deliberate practice is the only serious way of becoming better at what we are doing. To be good at writing you don’t just write when you have an assignment to do – you need to practice writing, and you can do that when sorting out your notes into a meaningful system!

Stephen is a Lecturer in Social Work at University of Sunderland. He’s a bit obsessed with self-care, well-being and productivity and writes about those things on here in the productivity section and on our sister site Self Care Shorts

The transition problem – student to practitioner

Posted on February 9, 2023 by Stephen Mordue

In their book ‘The Lost Art of Running’ Shane Benzie and Tim Major talk about research that was undertaken with athletes that sought to explore their running gait and style. The research was conducted indoors on a treadmill so that the researchers could control conditions. They watched the athletes and learnt lots about how they ran and offered suggestions to improve. They runners got better at running.

They then moved outdoors and…. the improvements disappeared. The changes didn’t work the same. Because outdoors – real life if you like – isn’t the same as in the lab. The runners still used what they had learnt but had to re-engineer and, in some cases, relearn some of what they knew. Social Work is the same. What you learn at University and what you learn on placement gets you through the door and you then need to transfer that knowledge into the real world of practice.

Croisdale-Appleby noted this in the 2014 report Re-visioning Social Work Education and said ‘the first year of practice is absolutely vital for social workers as they consolidate the learning from their degree and develop new knowledge and skills in their first employment setting’

Playing the guitar

Let me give you another example. I’m a guitarist and have taught many people over the years to play the basics. If I was to hand someone a guitar they would intuitively know what to do with it…. to a point. They would know not to try and blow into it like it was a wood instrument. They would know it wasn’t something to help them with cooking. They would probably pluck the strings. I’d then teach them a little theory. Which string needs to be tuned to which note and what shapes to place your fingers in on the fret board to make chords to strum. We’d then practice. We’d replay, over and over again, the same shapes and learn to change between them. Over time we’d learn to play a song with the chords we had learnt and invariably the student says I’d like to play ‘song x’. So you look at ‘song x’ and realise that the guitar student knows most of the chords but needs the chord of F to play it all. F is not an easy chord for a beginner. They feel like they are back to square one and their confidence takes a knock. But over time (a long time) they overcome this, learn F, and a whole other set of chords, and they become proficient enough to play with other people and maybe join a band. They have to learn to then play in time with others… this is not as easy at it sounds. Then… someone might ask them to improvise a guitar solo which they’ve never done before so they use their intuition! ….based on the theory they know and the practice they have done Full circle! And the first time they do it it may well be alright but it might not be brilliant but they’ll practice and it will get better

Intuition > Theory > Practice > Time > Intuition (or as we call it Practice Wisdom)

Starting in practice

Evidence from Grant Sheridan and Webb (2017) suggests that newly qualified social workers felt ‘quite well’ or ‘very well prepared’ for practice in general. However, when this is broken down into preparedness for specific tasks, confidence levels drop. Essentially I’d suggest this is because specific tasks are often context specific (the type of social work you are doing and the organisation you are doing it in) and role specific – that is – not generic. You have to reapply the skills from the treadmill on the outdoor running track.

The conclusion of formal social work education is only one layer of the learning experience which is continuous throughout your career (or should be).

They also found that respondents felt most prepared to ‘promote and enable’ (89 per cent) and least prepared to ‘intervene and provide’ (32 per cent). Again because intervene and provide is context specific whereas promote and enable has a more value base feel about it. Respondents in the study reported feeling ready to conduct assessments, build relationships and communicate but less prepared for commissioning services and dealing with IT systems. Well they would because you can’t teach this as it is too organisation specific. They said they felt prepared for applying theory and demonstrating values but not for caseload management. It’s not the face to face work that seems to cause the stress but the ‘office’ function the research tells us.

The Dunning-Kruger effect

There is also something else going on that relates to the Dunning-Kruger effect. There are certain points in our lives where we are likely to overestimate our abilities and feel quite confident. Usually when we have achieved something that has taken great effort. Like completing a degree or securing a promotion or becoming a manger… or becoming a lecturer! The problem occurs when you transition from something where you are at the top of your game and you have to translate that knowledge into something else. This transition tends to undermine your confidence and you feel like an imposter.

Moving from being a student into practice is one such transition. You’ve just graduated and you know loads of stuff. You’ve just had a great placement and a got a good mark for your dissertation and then you have to translate the knowledge you have (which is valuable) into the new practice environment. You are likely to feel immediately out of your depth and like you know nothing and your confidence will take a hit.

At this point you need to remember some things. This feeling is completely normal for us all, to one degree or another, when we transition. You do know loads of stuff you just need to rework that knowledge into a new environment – stay calm. When transitioning it’s essential to stay focussed and organised. You are going to have to ‘lean into’ this for a while and it will take pretty much all of your energy. As in the diagram above your confidence will take a hit but apply the theory, engage in practice, take your time, and you will develop the practice wisdom to climb up that curve again….. and next time you transition you are likely to have to go through the same process again! Joy!

Remember your degree can not completely prepare you. It can only give you what you need to get started. It gets you the key to the door. Like people say about driving a car. You only really learn to drive a car after you’ve passed your driving test. This is the same. You are qualified, you are good enough, you can do this… but… the transition is going to be difficult and now you know that you can prepare for it.

Have growth mindset, a positive attitude, and that will help.
Keep on top of your planning and organisation and take time out for yourself.
Don’t lose yourself in the transition.
Work with your manager and mentor in an honest way and seek out support.

Whenever things are changing those who create as much order as possible do the best.

References:

Newly Qualified Social Workers’ Readiness for Practice in Scotland Scott Grant, Lynn Sheridan and Stephen A. Webb British Journal of Social Work (2017) 47, 487–506

Croisdale-Appleby, D. (2014) Re-Visioning Social Work Education: An Independent Review, London, Department of Health

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Category Archives: Student Zone

Social work and Toy Story 4 – Bowlby and Attachment

This is our first introduction to Bowlby’s attachment theory in this film and there are many more which I will endeavour to explore. Before I go on this may be a good point to point out the basic principles from Bowlby’s attachment theory.

Bowlby’s attachment theory

Back to Toy Story Four

Let’s take a step out here and consider how this fits into Bowlby’s theory.

Thoughts on ‘Radical Perspectives On Mental Health’

So what did she say!?

First of all what is the problem!?

Academic referencing: Durham’s Moon, Nuclear Weapons, Avengers and middle aged man returns to University.

After a 13 year break I have returned to University to complete an Education Masters at Sunderland. This week I have been writing my first essay and returned to the business of academic referencing.

Durham is a really small city and it must have more classists, historians and religious thinkers per head than anywhere else in England.

However it is not with these amazing characters that the next vignette focuses on its another forgotten hero (like Bede) this unassuming fella Georgy Florov. Never heard of him (I hadn’t) well he may possibly saved us all from a nuclear holocaust.

This mature student tried his best in his first essay in 15 years ……..

As a fun task how many of the people mentioned in this essay have chemical elements named after them.

Student zone: Take note(s)… a skilful art!

What is at the root of academic success.

IQ does not drive academic success – what drives academic success is what you do day in day out

Success depends on the environment you create externally and internally

Learning is cumulative and connected

Insight only comes from exposing yourself to volume of material

Notes

When it comes to taking notes there are two key places to consider

In Lectures

When Reading

Writing down is not a record of your thinking it is your thinking
“I’m never sure what I think until I see what I write” Carol Loomis (American Journalist)

I came across this concept last week – Myron’s Maxims – and thought I’d have a delve into it and do some thinking!

People own what they help create

Real change happens in real work

Those who do the work, do the change

Connect the system to more of itself

Start anywhere, follow everywhere

The process you use to get to the future is the future you get

Myron’s Maxims and Living a Good Life

Myron’s Maxims in Social Work Practice

Complexity of Professional Identity

Reflection and Identity Work

Support Mechanisms for Development

Cultural Understandings

The Body’s Role in Social Work: Integrating the Person-in-Environment Perspective

The Body as a Social Being

Unlocking the Wisdom of the Body

Mind, Body, and Environment: A Complex Relationship

Critiquing the Medical Model: Where It Falls Short

The Body as a Site of Struggle

Reconnecting Mind and Body in Social Work Practice

The Strength-Based Approach: Honouring the Body’s Resilience

In Conclusion: Embodying Wholeness in Social Work

If you want to read the whole article by Saleeby – here it is

This is our first introduction to Bowlby’s attachment theory in this film and there are many more which I will endeavour to explore. Before I go on this may be a good point to point out the basic principles from Bowlby’s attachment theory.

Bowlby’s attachment theory

Back to Toy Story Four

Let’s take a step out here and consider how this fits into Bowlby’s theory.

So what did she say!?

First of all what is the problem!?

Remember the television show Columbo starring Peter Falk?

This ‘Motivational Interviewing’ approach

What doesn’t work to motivate

Persuasion

Righting reflex

Strategies to use

….promotes self-esteem and builds confidence which moves the client in the direction of change.

The goal is to move the client to what is referred to as change talk rather than sustain talk. They talk about how they will change rather than how they wil

After a 13 year break I have returned to University to complete an Education Masters at Sunderland. This week I have been writing my first essay and returned to the business of academic referencing.

Durham is a really small city and it must have more classists, historians and religious thinkers per head than anywhere else in England.

However it is not with these amazing characters that the next vignette focuses on its another forgotten hero (like Bede) this unassuming fella Georgy Florov. Never heard of him (I hadn’t) well he may possibly saved us all from a nuclear holocaust.

This mature student tried his best in his first essay in 15 years ……..

As a fun task how many of the people mentioned in this essay have chemical elements named after them.

What is at the root of academic success.

IQ does not drive academic success – what drives academic success is what you do day in day out

Success depends on the environment you create externally and internally

Learning is cumulative and connected

Insight only comes from exposing yourself to volume of material

Notes

When it comes to taking notes there are two key places to consider

In Lectures

When Reading

Writing down is not a record of your thinking it is your thinking“I’m never sure what I think until I see what I write” Carol Loomis (American Journalist)

Playing the guitar

Intuition > Theory > Practice > Time > Intuition (or as we call it Practice Wisdom)

Starting in practice

The conclusion of formal social work education is only one layer of the learning experience which is continuous throughout your career (or should be).

The Dunning-Kruger effect

Whenever things are changing those who create as much order as possible do the best.

Writing down is not a record of your thinking it is your thinking
“I’m never sure what I think until I see what I write” Carol Loomis (American Journalist)