Teaching Research in Social Work: Capacity and Challenge

This paper presents the findings of an audit of research teaching in UK-qualifying social work education. The audit was part of a wider ESRC-funded study that provides baseline data for setting progress objectives towards building research capacity in the discipline and profession. This paper offers observations from the audit, based on a survey of undergraduate and postgraduate (Masters) qualifying social work programmes across all four countries, with in-depth enquiry into a smaller sample from each. The survey examined what research methods were taught, how, where, when and by whom. Most importantly, it considered why these choices were made, and the challenges and possibilities were presented for building research capacity and research-mindedness at qualifying level. The audit highlighted a range of factors that contributed to the marginalisation of research teaching. These included not only lack of time, staff skill and resource, but also more fundamental reservations and resistance on the part of educators, students and practitioners towards engaging with research. It is suggested that at the heart of such ambivalence lies a fundamental debate about the nature of the social work discipline, and the relationship between research and practice.