Abstract

This is a comprehensive guide to integrating assessment, learning and practice, reflecting current concerns in health and social care. The authors - an academic, a training officer and a practitioner - present complementary perspectives to bring theory and practice closer together.

Arguing that a holistic approach to learning can fit with a competency approach to assessment, the authors show how this promotes both efficiency and creativity in evidence-based professional practice. They also demonstrate how their combined assessment and learning tool, the 'signposted portfolio' can work in practice. This portfolio forms both a summary of what the social work student or health care practitioner has learnt and the foundation of an assessment document.

This practical and thoughtful resource is essential reading for trainers, practitioners, managers and students in health and social care who are seeking to provide the best service to their clients.

The book brings together an unusual partnership of an academic, a training officer and a practitioner as writers. Together they have developed an experimental tool for combining learning and assessment in professional practice...Having spent many years working with the portfolio as a method of assessment in pre, post and qualifying social work education. I can see great strengths in this model...I would urge all those considering assessment of practice in the new social work degree to read this book before designing assessment schedules. I am left thinking there is life in the portfolio method yet.
Newsletter of National Organisation for Practice Teaching.
The volume marks a fruitful collaboration between two authorities on practice learning. Doel and Sawdon, and Morrison, who provides her portfolio for a post-qualifying award as an example.
Community Care
Mark Doel is Research Professor of Social Work in the Centre for Health and Social Care Research at Sheffield Hallam University. He was a social worker for almost twenty years, is an experienced trainer and has published widely in the fields of practice teaching, groupwork and task-centred practice, with five of his books in foreign translations. He is the academic lead on a project to develop social work education in the republic of Georgia. Catherine Sawdon is a training officer at Wakefield Social Services Department. In addition to groupwork, her interests include practice teaching and learning, counselling, anti-oppressive practice and neurolinguistic programming. Diane Morrison is a recently qualified social work practitioner. She currently practises groupwork in the drug and alcohol field, as a trainer, counsellor and outreach worker.