ABSTRACT
In this chapter we illustrate the main aspects of the model which have been referred to in previous chapters, through extracts from candidates’ portfolios. The choice of material has not been easy. To begin with, the work is so varied that it is difficult to take a few examples as ‘representative’. Secondly, it is difficult to find a section from a portfolio which is short enough to be accessible to a general reader and yet intelligible without reference to other sections, dealing with other elements of competence. Thirdly, much of the material presented in many of the social work portfolios is highly confidential, and even to ask for its release might have caused distress to clients. Most of the work included in this chapter is drawn from the Social Work Programme, since the Ford Programme is still at a relatively early stage, and as yet rather few portfolios have been submitted, assessed, and verified by external examiners. The work presented below is among ‘the best’ submitted, since our purpose is to attempt to demonstrate that the ASSET model can generate student work of an impressive honours degree standard. Some portfolios, of course, fall short of this standard in a number of ways, while remaining ‘good enough’ (see Chapter 6). It might have been interesting for readers if we had included such work, but this would have been potentially misleading unless we had made explicit our reservations, and we did not consider it ethical to expose a candidate to public criticism in this way.
