Critical Thinking & Professional Judgement for Social Work
Critical Thinking & Professional Judgement for Social Work
5th Edition
Learning Matters
An imprint of SAGE Publications Ltd
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Lynne Rutter and Keith Brown, 2020
First published in 2006
Second edition published in 2008
Third edition published in 2012 (Previously published as Critical Thinking for Social Work.)
Fourth edition published in 2015
Fifth Edition published 2020
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2019944359
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-5264-6695-2
ISBN 978-1-5264-6696-9 (pbk)
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National Centre for Post-Qualifying Social Work and Professional Practice at Bournemouth University
Welcome to one of our publications to support students undertaking post-qualifying learning.
The various books have been specifically designed and written to support students and we hope you find them of value to both your study and practice of social work.
The texts have been written by experienced practitioners and are therefore up to date with issues for social work practice.
Professor Keith Brown
Director of the National Centre for Post-Qualifying Social Work and Professional Practice, Bournemouth University
Foreword: a series to support post-qualifying social work
This text, Critical Thinking and Professional Judgement for Social Work, is one of a series of texts written by experienced social work educators and practitioners, some of whom are working at the National Centre for Post-Qualifying Social Work and Professional Practice at Bournemouth University.
All the texts are written with the specific aim of supporting social workers who are undertaking post-qualifying studies in their chosen field of practice/specialism. However, many social work students and their educators on qualifying programmes have also found the text useful, as have post-registration health professionals working within the integrated health and social care agenda.
As members of the National Centre for Post-Qualifying Social Work and Professional Practice, we all work with the aim of promoting the best health and social work practice for the sake of all service users, patients and their carers.
I trust that you will find this text of real value in your career.
Professor Keith Brown
Director of the National Centre for Post-Qualifying Social Work and Professional Practice
About the authors
Dr Lynne Rutterspecialises in professional educational development within post-qualifying (PQ) and continuing professional development (CPD) programmes at the National Centre for Post-Qualifying Social Work and Professional Practice at Bournemouth University. Here she has helped design and develop a number of units for both health and social care markets. She facilitates learning about professional reasoning and judgement, leadership topics, and service improvement methodology. Lynnes professional and research interests focus on the nature and development of professional reasoning and judgement, and her Professional Doctorate has helped create a unique set of assessment criteria for their development and evaluation within academic written work.Professor Keith Brownholds professional qualifications in nursing, social work and teaching, and academic qualifications in nursing, social work and management. He has worked in the education and training field for over 30 years, working for three universities and three local authority social work departments. Currently, he is the Director of the National Centre for Post-Qualifying Social Work and Professional Practice at Bournemouth University and the Director of the Centre for Leadership Impact and Management at Bournemouth. In 2005 he was awarded the Linda Ammon Memorial Award, sponsored by the then Department for Education and Skills, a prize awarded to the individual making the greatest contribution to training and education in the UK. His main academic interest lies in the fusion of academia and professional practice to help improve professional thinking and practice.
Preface to the fifth edition
We have been delighted with the responses to the first four editions of this text and especially to hear that a wide range of students and practitioners have found it valuable in their studies and with reflection on their practice. We would like to thank all those who have offered comments and suggestions to us, and where appropriate we have included them in our revision of the content. This fifth edition has been updated throughout to include some more recent ideas about critical thinking, reflection and professional judgement.
A new social work regulatory body, Social Work England (SWE), began its work in Spring 2019. This will be the specialist regulator for all child, family and adult social workers in England taking over responsibility from the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) as a non-departmental public body. It will set standards for social work courses, fitness to practice and registration requirements. At the time of writing, SWE has not provided specific details of any changes or updates but we obviously recommend social work practitioners and students to check any materials mentioned in the text for updates and changes, e.g. The Knowledge and Skills Statements; the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF).
