Our Method

The aim of a Reimagining Social Work workshop or consultation is 

• to give social workers, from front-line to executive level, the opportunity to recover their sense of purpose and vision about the job they do; 
  
• to reclaim their profession from scary headlines and public misunderstandings 
  
• to re-frame social work as a profession on equal terms with teaching and medicine
  
• to enable social workers to return to the world with renewed morale and confidence
  

Usually conducted through workshops of 15-20 workers/managers (but with other kinds of consultations available), our method has four stages, which covers usually four days:

ONE: MEDIA ANALYSIS

Stories in the wider society about social work don't just shape what everyone else thinks about the profession - they deeply affect what those professionals think about themselves too. 

This workshop examines the major narratives about social work from a whole range of media, cultures and art-forms - everything from last week's headlines, through advertising campaigns and soap-opera characters, to drama and movies. 

With active participation and discussion from the participants, we identify the enduring patterns and polarities that frame the most casual reporting or representation of social work. We compare this with the representation of other professions and occupations who find themselves in 'crisis' situations. And we give participants the opportunity to imagine their own 'social work media'. 

Outcome: This workshop makes social workers feel stronger and more articulate - in the face of a largely negative cultural and media environment - about what they do and how they do it. 

[for more background, see 'Resources' page]

TWO: STORYTELLING

In our experience, social workers are brimming with wise, inspiring and cautionary tales about their profession. Yet because of the fearful and negative media climate, these stories rarely get the chance to be articulated amongst workers themselves, never mind communicated to the wider public. 

In RISW, we provide a safe and supportive space and time for workers to tell their definitive stories about social work.  Drawing on the practices of Stephen Denning and John Seely-Brown, we help participants rebuild much needed authenticity and integrity in their profession.

The stories are turned into anonymised pieces of writing by RISW, fully approved by participants. This can become a 'wisdom book' for that group of workers - a personal resource they can draw on to orient them in their daily practice, in both the calm and turbulent times.

Here's an example of the kinds of stories that are generated in this session. 

Outcome: This workshop is an opportunity for all colleagues in the social work situation to appreciate the inner and collective resources they already possess, as professional practitioners, and helps to restore or build confidence in their ability to 'do the job properly'. Preparing for the next two stages, this also provides the basis on which a new and more authentic way of speaking publicly about social work can be built, as opposed to the dominant media definitions.

[for more background, see 'Resources' page]

THREE: PERSONAL/GROUP VISIONING

In this last session, we re-present the experiences generated in the first two sessions 

• a heightened awareness of the public image of social work
• a rich exploration of the internal stories of social workers about themselves. 

We then use them as the platform on which the participants can build a new personal and group vision of themselves as social work professionals. RISW uses a range of visioning tools, based on the consulting and coaching experiences of RISW directors Indra Adnan and Pat Kane (see the original Reimagining Social Work work book [PDF download]  for a more in-depth account of these techniques). 

Outcome: In small groups or as individuals, through this visioning, the participants have a playful experience of ‘mastering’ their profession – ie taking control of the past, present and future of social work that clearly reflects their aspirations for their job, sector, specialism and profession as a whole. They are encouraged to be creative and lateral in their "reimagining", while using agreed tools that make collective sense of their input.

[for more background, see 'Resources' page]

FOUR: THE PROFESSIONAL CHALLENGE

On the final day, the participants address a specific social work challenge that has been identified by the commissioning client (or sometimes, this might arise from the participants' themselves). For example:-

• a new policy initiative from national or local government
• or a particular crisis in recruitment, retention or morale
• or a new cross-sector partnership between different public services
• or the repercussions of a high-profile national or local case. 
• or a new local media strategy for social services

With a much stronger sense of themselves as motivated, self-confident social work professionals, clear about their role and status, the group apply themselves to the intractable or difficult aspects of the challenge. At the end of this day, a 'new framing' of the problem is achieved, and turned into a visual representation that can be easily and usefully referred to in the future.

Outcome: This process of both re-framing and re-authenticating social work will give participants new confidence, as well as a new language with which to describe social work, both to themselves and the public. The visioning exercise will enable them to take greater personal ownership of, and responsibility for, the future of social work. 

[for more background, see 'Resources' page]