Social work education is confronting unprecedented socio-economic and political challenges result... more Social work education is confronting unprecedented socio-economic and political challenges resulting from globalisation, demographic and cultural transformation combined with technological advances. How it prepares students by keeping to the true spirit of an empowering and emancipatory yet a robust and fit-for-purpose approach to education, demands a creative approach. Our own endeavours as educators from the UK in searching for novel approaches, has led us to experiment with the arts as a means of enriching social work pedagogy (Hafford-Letchfield et al, 2012). Social work epistemology has traditionally been founded on social science theoretical frameworks so borrowing methods from the arts seems to naturally build on this interdisciplinary approach. However, the need for accountability led us to conduct a wider exploration of what is involved in arts-based learning and to look for potential new methods for research and evaluation which bring us closer to understanding why arts-ba...
The shift towards interest in the arts in healthcare has been concurrent with what we know about ... more The shift towards interest in the arts in healthcare has been concurrent with what we know about the social determinants of health. There are many different ways in which this work is described (arts in health, arts for health, arts and health). Active engagement in the arts is not just restricted to benefits for patients and service users but has also been shown to improve care environments with benefits for staff retention and continuing professional development. Eisner (2004), an educationalist, asserts that the arts have the power to stimulate creative and intuitive thinking beyond text and talk given how we experience the environment through our sensory system during the lifecourse. This helps individuals to articulate their experiences, to reflect on ambiguities and uncertainties in life and often to challenge and transform long-held feelings and attitudes. In this chapter we discuss how arts-based pedagogies facilitates the integrative and social model of health, and has open...
A comic strip illustrating one of the arts-based approaches we have used in teaching students in ... more A comic strip illustrating one of the arts-based approaches we have used in teaching students in health and social care because they are powerful in addressing an emotional or affective level of learning that counterbalances the mechanistic and technical-rational teaching so prevalent in the professions. Cheese or Ham was reproduced as a comic strip handout for students on the topic of communication in services for people with demential. It has showne the potential for an effective and economic learning-aid in mental health and related issues. In fact, it was a simplification from one of a series of digital story films on that topic., following the idea that, for any subject, key concepts need first to be identified and simplified in order to communicate them.
The shift towards interest in the arts in healthcare has been concurrent with what we know about ... more The shift towards interest in the arts in healthcare has been concurrent with what we know about the social determinants of health. There are many different ways in which this work is described (arts in health, arts for health, arts and health). Active engagement in the arts is not just restricted to benefits for patients and service users but has also been shown to improve care environments with benefits for staff retention and continuing professional development. Eisner (2004), an educationalist, asserts that the arts have the power to stimulate creative and intuitive thinking beyond text and talk given how we experience the environment through our sensory system during the lifecourse. This helps individuals to articulate their experiences, to reflect on ambiguities and uncertainties in life and often to challenge and transform long-held feelings and attitudes. In this chapter we discuss how arts-based pedagogies facilitates the integrative and social model of health, and has opened the space for creative arts activities in healthcare education. We consider and discuss the potential for introducing and engaging with the ABP in nurse education. Writing from the perspective of our own knowledge and experiences as educators from the UK where we have been utilising novel approaches to education for nursing and social work. This has led us to experiment with the arts as a means of enriching and achieving more critical and activist pedagogies that impact on professional practice (Hafford-Letchfield et al., 2012; Leonard et al., 2016, 2018). Having conducted and evaluated a number of approaches, we will share our own learning and offer the ARTE (activate, research, teach, evaluate) framework. This framework has emerged from our enquiries and helps to conceptualise learning methods which address affective and cognitive domains within holistic approaches. The framework is put forward for potential use in managing the increasing complexity and uncertainty of practice alongside the acquisition of technical knowledge and skills in social work and nursing.
Theories transmitted to students about professional practice in health and social care come tradi... more Theories transmitted to students about professional practice in health and social care come traditionally from the perspective of practitioners, often as a heroic narrative, inevitably casting the service‐user in a passive role (Wiltshire, 2006). Post‐modern theorists like Foucault (1973) call this the authoritative 'gaze' that objectifies the user of public services, generating a power relationship between the professional and the service user. New perspectives are needed to redress this imbalance, drawing on the narratives of the service‐users themselves (Greenhalgh, 2006). Since 2007, a project led by service‐users at London South Bank University has been experimenting with new approaches to developing learning and teaching materials for social work education using opportunities afforded by the recent accreditation of awards within the General Social Care Council’s new Post Qualifying Framework. This paper outlines some of our experiences to date of experimenting with cre...
Literature on the care of people with dementia is still sparse and this is reflected in the profe... more Literature on the care of people with dementia is still sparse and this is reflected in the professional education curriculum such as social work, nursing and other health care professionals (Marshall and Tibbs 2006). As life expectancy and the likelihood of dementia increases, the transition from the third to the fourth age is marked by a loss of control of the body through dementia. Its effects on the person constitutes what Gilleard and Higgs(2000) term a ‘loss of social agency’; a social death that is characterised by an exclusion from the social world and services that objectify and dehumanise the individual (Foucault 1973). Extensive research by Kitwood (1997) centred on engagement through intense interaction with individuals with dementia and promoted the concept of ‘personhood’ bringing to the forefront more person-centred and citizen approaches to dementia care (Kitwood, 1997, Marshall and Tibbs, 2006). This approach has also connected with a number of arts based methods in...
Evidence on the effectiveness of arts-based approaches in professional education has been gatheri... more Evidence on the effectiveness of arts-based approaches in professional education has been gathering momentum in the last decade embracing disciplines such as medicine, the allied professions, social work and social care. Key texts have emerged promoting the use of the arts in professional education and there have been some attempts to capture empirical evidence on its value. This paper reports on a systematic review of the current body of knowledge on the impact of the arts in social work education. We introduce the rationale for undertaking a systematic review and the methodology and approach used. We then discuss the three significant themes from our synthesis of the evidence reviewed. These were positioning social work practice through linking micro and macro thinking, the cultivation of leadership beyond verbal reasoning and art as pedagogy. The findings are discussed in the context of what the arts can offer challenges in social work education.
This paper presents findings from a systematic review of the impact of the arts in social work ed... more This paper presents findings from a systematic review of the impact of the arts in social work education (Leonard et al, 2018). The literature on the use of arts-based pedagogies in professional education has been gathering momentum in social work, medical education, nursing, and allied professions. Unprecedented political and socio-economic challenges, an increasingly austere market, and an individually focused micro context have impacted on the way in which contemporary social work education prepares professionals and this has potentially undermined the autonomy and creativity of the academy. The arts are thought to offer a transformative or critical epistemology for social work in its use of activist pedagogies. We will discuss the three significant themes from our synthesis of the evidence reviewed. These were; positioning social work practice through linking micro and macro thinking; the cultivation of leadership beyond verbal reasoning and art as pedagogy. The findings are dis...
Literature on the care of people with dementia is still sparse and this is reflected in the profe... more Literature on the care of people with dementia is still sparse and this is reflected in the professional education curriculum such as social work, nursing and other health care professionals (Marshall and Tibbs 2006). As life expectancy and the likelihood of dementia increases, the transition from the third to the fourth age is marked by a loss of control of the body through dementia. Its effects on the person constitutes what Gilleard and Higgs(2000) term a ‘loss of social agency’; a social death that is characterised by an exclusion from the social world and services that objectify and dehumanise the individual (Foucault 1973). Extensive research by Kitwood (1997) centred on engagement through intense interaction with individuals with dementia and promoted the concept of ‘personhood’ bringing to the forefront more person-centred and citizen approaches to dementia care (Kitwood, 1997, Marshall and Tibbs, 2006). This approach has also connected with a number of arts based methods in...
Social work education is confronting unprecedented socio-economic and political challenges result... more Social work education is confronting unprecedented socio-economic and political challenges resulting from globalisation, demographic and cultural transformation combined with technological advances. How it prepares students by keeping to the true spirit of an empowering and emancipatory yet a robust and fit-for-purpose approach to education, demands a creative approach. Our own endeavours as educators from the UK in searching for novel approaches, has led us to experiment with the arts as a means of enriching social work pedagogy (Hafford-Letchfield et al, 2012). Social work epistemology has traditionally been founded on social science theoretical frameworks so borrowing methods from the arts seems to naturally build on this interdisciplinary approach. However, the need for accountability led us to conduct a wider exploration of what is involved in arts-based learning and to look for potential new methods for research and evaluation which bring us closer to understanding why arts-ba...
The shift towards interest in the arts in healthcare has been concurrent with what we know about ... more The shift towards interest in the arts in healthcare has been concurrent with what we know about the social determinants of health. There are many different ways in which this work is described (arts in health, arts for health, arts and health). Active engagement in the arts is not just restricted to benefits for patients and service users but has also been shown to improve care environments with benefits for staff retention and continuing professional development. Eisner (2004), an educationalist, asserts that the arts have the power to stimulate creative and intuitive thinking beyond text and talk given how we experience the environment through our sensory system during the lifecourse. This helps individuals to articulate their experiences, to reflect on ambiguities and uncertainties in life and often to challenge and transform long-held feelings and attitudes. In this chapter we discuss how arts-based pedagogies facilitates the integrative and social model of health, and has open...
A comic strip illustrating one of the arts-based approaches we have used in teaching students in ... more A comic strip illustrating one of the arts-based approaches we have used in teaching students in health and social care because they are powerful in addressing an emotional or affective level of learning that counterbalances the mechanistic and technical-rational teaching so prevalent in the professions. Cheese or Ham was reproduced as a comic strip handout for students on the topic of communication in services for people with demential. It has showne the potential for an effective and economic learning-aid in mental health and related issues. In fact, it was a simplification from one of a series of digital story films on that topic., following the idea that, for any subject, key concepts need first to be identified and simplified in order to communicate them.
The shift towards interest in the arts in healthcare has been concurrent with what we know about ... more The shift towards interest in the arts in healthcare has been concurrent with what we know about the social determinants of health. There are many different ways in which this work is described (arts in health, arts for health, arts and health). Active engagement in the arts is not just restricted to benefits for patients and service users but has also been shown to improve care environments with benefits for staff retention and continuing professional development. Eisner (2004), an educationalist, asserts that the arts have the power to stimulate creative and intuitive thinking beyond text and talk given how we experience the environment through our sensory system during the lifecourse. This helps individuals to articulate their experiences, to reflect on ambiguities and uncertainties in life and often to challenge and transform long-held feelings and attitudes. In this chapter we discuss how arts-based pedagogies facilitates the integrative and social model of health, and has opened the space for creative arts activities in healthcare education. We consider and discuss the potential for introducing and engaging with the ABP in nurse education. Writing from the perspective of our own knowledge and experiences as educators from the UK where we have been utilising novel approaches to education for nursing and social work. This has led us to experiment with the arts as a means of enriching and achieving more critical and activist pedagogies that impact on professional practice (Hafford-Letchfield et al., 2012; Leonard et al., 2016, 2018). Having conducted and evaluated a number of approaches, we will share our own learning and offer the ARTE (activate, research, teach, evaluate) framework. This framework has emerged from our enquiries and helps to conceptualise learning methods which address affective and cognitive domains within holistic approaches. The framework is put forward for potential use in managing the increasing complexity and uncertainty of practice alongside the acquisition of technical knowledge and skills in social work and nursing.
Theories transmitted to students about professional practice in health and social care come tradi... more Theories transmitted to students about professional practice in health and social care come traditionally from the perspective of practitioners, often as a heroic narrative, inevitably casting the service‐user in a passive role (Wiltshire, 2006). Post‐modern theorists like Foucault (1973) call this the authoritative 'gaze' that objectifies the user of public services, generating a power relationship between the professional and the service user. New perspectives are needed to redress this imbalance, drawing on the narratives of the service‐users themselves (Greenhalgh, 2006). Since 2007, a project led by service‐users at London South Bank University has been experimenting with new approaches to developing learning and teaching materials for social work education using opportunities afforded by the recent accreditation of awards within the General Social Care Council’s new Post Qualifying Framework. This paper outlines some of our experiences to date of experimenting with cre...
Literature on the care of people with dementia is still sparse and this is reflected in the profe... more Literature on the care of people with dementia is still sparse and this is reflected in the professional education curriculum such as social work, nursing and other health care professionals (Marshall and Tibbs 2006). As life expectancy and the likelihood of dementia increases, the transition from the third to the fourth age is marked by a loss of control of the body through dementia. Its effects on the person constitutes what Gilleard and Higgs(2000) term a ‘loss of social agency’; a social death that is characterised by an exclusion from the social world and services that objectify and dehumanise the individual (Foucault 1973). Extensive research by Kitwood (1997) centred on engagement through intense interaction with individuals with dementia and promoted the concept of ‘personhood’ bringing to the forefront more person-centred and citizen approaches to dementia care (Kitwood, 1997, Marshall and Tibbs, 2006). This approach has also connected with a number of arts based methods in...
Evidence on the effectiveness of arts-based approaches in professional education has been gatheri... more Evidence on the effectiveness of arts-based approaches in professional education has been gathering momentum in the last decade embracing disciplines such as medicine, the allied professions, social work and social care. Key texts have emerged promoting the use of the arts in professional education and there have been some attempts to capture empirical evidence on its value. This paper reports on a systematic review of the current body of knowledge on the impact of the arts in social work education. We introduce the rationale for undertaking a systematic review and the methodology and approach used. We then discuss the three significant themes from our synthesis of the evidence reviewed. These were positioning social work practice through linking micro and macro thinking, the cultivation of leadership beyond verbal reasoning and art as pedagogy. The findings are discussed in the context of what the arts can offer challenges in social work education.
This paper presents findings from a systematic review of the impact of the arts in social work ed... more This paper presents findings from a systematic review of the impact of the arts in social work education (Leonard et al, 2018). The literature on the use of arts-based pedagogies in professional education has been gathering momentum in social work, medical education, nursing, and allied professions. Unprecedented political and socio-economic challenges, an increasingly austere market, and an individually focused micro context have impacted on the way in which contemporary social work education prepares professionals and this has potentially undermined the autonomy and creativity of the academy. The arts are thought to offer a transformative or critical epistemology for social work in its use of activist pedagogies. We will discuss the three significant themes from our synthesis of the evidence reviewed. These were; positioning social work practice through linking micro and macro thinking; the cultivation of leadership beyond verbal reasoning and art as pedagogy. The findings are dis...
Literature on the care of people with dementia is still sparse and this is reflected in the profe... more Literature on the care of people with dementia is still sparse and this is reflected in the professional education curriculum such as social work, nursing and other health care professionals (Marshall and Tibbs 2006). As life expectancy and the likelihood of dementia increases, the transition from the third to the fourth age is marked by a loss of control of the body through dementia. Its effects on the person constitutes what Gilleard and Higgs(2000) term a ‘loss of social agency’; a social death that is characterised by an exclusion from the social world and services that objectify and dehumanise the individual (Foucault 1973). Extensive research by Kitwood (1997) centred on engagement through intense interaction with individuals with dementia and promoted the concept of ‘personhood’ bringing to the forefront more person-centred and citizen approaches to dementia care (Kitwood, 1997, Marshall and Tibbs, 2006). This approach has also connected with a number of arts based methods in...
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