ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the content of the subject area in the qualifying stage of training, (the DipSW). Introduction of DipSW requirements in the early 1990s had implications for both the curriculum and for teaching, learning and assessment, referred to as pedagogical issues. Most handbooks contain a general statement about the philosophy or aims of the programme, and phrases such as ‘preparation for a changing world’; ‘reflective practice’; ‘challenging discrimination’; ‘taking account of the current social, economic and political context’ or ‘resource constraints, or ‘demands for accountability’; and ‘recognising the impact of social divisions’ or ‘the powerful links between the personal and the political’. Core social work teaching about models, methods and approaches used in the practice of social work, goes under many headings; ‘principles and practice of social work’, ‘theory and methods’, ‘practice theories’, ‘social work intervention’. Social work in health settings was evident in a final group of units offered on about half the programmes.
