Community Profiling: Teaching Old Skills to New Students

1
Community Profiling Teaching Old Skills to New
Students

• Dr. Mark Baldwin Dr. Barbra Teater
• University of Bath

2
Aims of this presentation

• Provide some context the teaching of community
  profiling on the Bath programmes
• Research objectives/questions
• Methodology
• Approach
• Analysis
• Learning
• Conclusions

3
The context

• Social Work and Applied Social Studies degree
  programme through University of Bath on 2 sites
  Bath and Swindon
• Run a degree at Bath since 1970s DipSW
  previously embedded
• Long-standing commitment to teaching community
  needs assessment at Bath
• Unit entitled Community profiling community
  needs assessment, groups and teamwork in practice

4
Community profiling community needs assessment,
groups and teamwork in practice

• Taught in first year students work in small
  teams (4/5) on projects from local organisations
• 30 days of practice learning
• Groups supervised by academic staff with link
  person in organisation
• Formative assessment at the end of semester 1
  presentation and feedback
• Group report at end of semester 2 plus individual
  assignment linking to PUs VRs

5
Community profiling community needs assessment,
groups and teamwork in practice

• Community Profiling is learnt through teaching in
  1st 3 weeks of each semester
• Followed by a period of collaborative
  experiential learning
• Semester 1 teaching
• Definitions of community, profiling (Hawtin et al
  1994), needs (Doyal and Gough 1991) etc
• Linking to good social work practice
  needs-led approach, AD and ARP, user involvement,
  hearing voice
• Evaluation/planning services, familiarity with
  community, identifying formal/informal resources

6
Community profiling community needs assessment,
groups and teamwork in practice

• Teaching practical skills
• Seeking information
• Research methods/methodology
• Types of/skills in questioning
• Data analysis
• Data presentation
• Social constructivism as a theoretical foundation
• Links to sociological imagination
• Links to theory of need and autonomy
• Links to the practice of participation
• Links to the values and political nature of
  social work

7
Community profiling community needs assessment,
groups and teamwork in practice

• Semester 2 teaching
• Focus on groups and teamwork
• Group theory and process
• Relating this to their projects use of focus
  groups, evaluating own research team
• Consideration of group theory in relation to
  social work e.g. power, participation,
  negotiation, facilitation etc
• Looking at the importance and implications of
  user involvement in group/team process
• Focus on teams and teamwork purpose,
  leadership, maintenance etc.
• Looking at inter-professional teamwork as
  preparation for future practice

8
Research Objectives

• Describe the purpose of community profiling
  projects
• Explore the process of learning for social work
  students engaged in a community profiling project
• Examine the outcomes of community profiling
  projects (i.e. final product perceived by
  community implementation of project
  recommendations)

9
Research Questions

• What is the relevance of a community profiling
  project on practice learning for first year
  social work students?
• How are community profiling projects perceived by
  the hosting organizations?

10
Methodology

• 1.Relevance of community profiling on practice
  learning
• A series of three focus groups with students
• Held separately for Bath and Swindon students
• 2. Perception of community profiling projects by
  hosting organizations
• Formal interview with one community profiling
  supervisor and ongoing informal communication
  with others.

11
Methodology

• Social Constructivism Framework
• Acknowledge before the interviews that each
  individual will describe their experience through
  their own reality and use the language that is
  common to them to describe these experiences.

12
Methodology

• Solicitation Process
• Voluntary
• Consent Form
• Sample
• Swindon Focus Group 1 10 Focus Group 2 8
  Focus Group 3 9
• Bath Focus Group 1 8 Focus Group 2 8
  Focus Group 3 - 5
• Instrumentation
• Semi-Structured Interview Schedule consisting of
  six questions

13
Semi-Structured Interview Schedule

• What is a community profile?
• What is the importance of a community profile?
• What relevance (or non-relevance) does a
  community profile have for social work?
• How does a community profiling project relate to
  social work Pus and VRs as well as GSCC codes of
  practice?

14
Semi-Structured Interview Schedule

• 5. How do you think a community profile will
  contribute (or not contribute) to your social
  work education?
• 6a. What are your expectations of the community
  profiling project? (first and second groups)
• 6b. Were your expectations met? (third focus
  group)

15
Methodology

• Each focus group, and individual interview,
  lasted between 40-60 minutes.
• All focus groups, and individual interview with
  CP supervisor, were audio taped.
• Each were transcribed for analysis.

16
Data Analysis Relevance on practice learning

• Constructivist Grounded Theory was used to guide
  the analysis (Strauss Corbin, 1990, 1997
  Charmaz, 2005 2000)
• Open coding - Constant comparative method
• Axial coding (causal conditions phenomenon
  strategies context intervening conditions
  action/interaction consequences)
• Selective coding

17
Data Analysis Relevance on practice learning

• Analysis yielded 5 emergent themes
• Importance of service user involvement in
  defining needs
• Ability to challenge ones assumptions
• Enhancement of research skills
• Ability to enhance groupwork/teamwork skills
• Ability to apply lecture material to the real
  world

18
Definition of Community Profiling(First Focus
Group)

• Trying to build a picture of the community
  itself and to see what it needs and what it is
  lacking at the moment, how it is working and how
  its not working.
• It could be a way of certain groups giving their
  opinion, being listened to, it might not
  necessarily mean that anything can be done about
  it, but it is a way for them to give an opinion.

19
Definition of Community Profiling(Third Focus
Group)

• Well one thing that stuck out to me more than
  last time is that its not just an analysis
  of need but also an analysis of resources as
  well. So-things that already exist in the
  community that we are profiling to see if not
  only that they exist in the first place but are
  they adequate for who actually needs them.

20
Importance of Service User Involvement in
defining needs

• it gives people within the communitynot
  somebody else saying this is whats happening
  within the communityits their community.
• we are promoting the views of the service users
  and the carers.
• the active participation of the community was
  important so that they can tell you what that
  need is and its not just you imposing that need
  what you think is the need. They can tell you
  what the need is.

21
Ability to Challenge Ones Assumptions

• important to hear from the individuals or
  community instead of just placing your own ideas
  on to that
• it has also given us a chance to question our
  own stereotypes and our prejudices
• dont take things as face value
• to think more than assume.
• rather than people telling you whats happening
  out there, you can see if for yourself.

22
Enhancement of Research Skills

• but essentially what we are looking at here is
  the practical application of methodologies and of
  social studies so this is a research project, so
  this is practical experience of a research
  project.
• It puts theory into practice as well like
  quantitative and qualitative we have to write
  about it in Core Skills, but when you are stuck
  with a huge spreadsheet with informationyou
  actually know the implications of transcribing
  interviews

23
Ability to enhance groupwork and teamwork skills

• You get more ideas from the group than you would
  by working on your own.
• I would have never selected the childrens group
  if I had to work on my own.
• working with people in a group and they give
  you support and confidence and help you when you
  feel like you dont know what you are doing.
• we help each other and talk to each other, and
  work through it with each other.

24
Ability to apply lecture material to the real
world

• you can apply sociological theories to the CP
  because you are actually going out there and
  seeing it with your own eyes its not
  something that someone just says is happening,
  youre seeing it happeningyou know its
  happening.
• it can actually be so different learning about
  things academically and then putting it into
  practiceI think it gives you a bigger insight
  into how to deal with day to day problems which
  academically may seem pretty easy.

25
Additional Comments From Students

• CP is the way that social work SHOULD be
  practised you know, working with service users
  rather than for them all the time, so its kind
  of showing a new way to social work practice
  really the way it should be.
• When we were told we were going to do a CP, we
  couldnt really realise what that was I was not
  sure at first and it is only now we have come to
  the end that I realise what a difference it can
  make.

26
Outcomes of Community Profiling Projects

• Usefulness to Agencies
• Examples of Community Profiling Projects
• Integration of Community profiling project
  recommendations into the agency.

27
Conclusion

• Students learning about
• Community Action
• Involvement of service users
• Usefulness of Research
• Empowerment both to themselves and to service
  users/communities

28

• Questions???

29
References

• Charmaz, K. (2000). Grounded theory Objectivist
  and constructivist methods. In N.K. Denzin Y.S.
  Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research
  (2nd ed) (pp. 509-535). Thousand Oaks, CA Sage
  Publications.
• Charmaz, K. (2005). Grounded theory in the 21st
  century Applications for advancing social
  justice studies. In N.K. Denzin Y.S. Lincoln
  (Eds.), The Sage handbook of qualitative research
  (3rd ed.) (pp. 507-535). Thousand Oaks, CA Sage
  Publications.
• Doyal, L., Gough, I. (1991). A theory of human
  need. Basingsoke MacMillan.
• Hawtin et al. (1994). Community profiling
  Auditing social needs. Buckingham Open
  University Press.

30
References

• Strauss, A.L., Corbin, J. (1997). Grounded
  theory in practice. London Sage Publications.
• Strauss, A.L., Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of
  qualitative research, grounded theory and
  techniques. London Sage.