ABSTRACT
The chapter will explore how social workers strive to promote human rights globally and contribute to the development of socially just societies in their diverse range of employment as practitioners, policy makers, researchers and educators. That critical reflection is considered to be a key attribute/mechanism which contributes to the achievement of social justice as evidenced by its prominence in the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) Practice Standards 2013. Alongside the importance of critical reflective pedagogy there is with increasing attention on the importance of the integration of students’ learning across the academy and the field and vice versa. The meanings of the terms and the underlying assumptions and theoretical approaches prominent in social work will be discussed initially. The main focus of the chapter explores how social workers participating in the OLT project perceive reflection and its importance in contemporary workplaces and Social Work education. The key themes elicited from the Social Work respondents will be outlined and discussed. The purpose of, understandings about, and the organisational culture, connections and processes that support reflective practice identified by the interviewees will be presented. Collaborations that contribute to or inhibit the ongoing development of critical reflection, and ultimately the employability of social work students and staff, will be particularly considered.
