SCIE’s work on workforce development - ongoing projects
ELTEP - E-supported Learning and Teaching Enhancement Project (with JISC and SWAP) (Project: 8.09)
Involving service users in social work education - Developing a national forum (Project: 3.10.01)
Working with the national user organisation Shaping Our Lives, this project aims to assist service user and carer organisations to take the lead in building their capacity for involvement in the undergraduate and postgraduate social work degree by developing a national forum of service user and carer organisations in social work education.
Using collaborative methodology to measure the impact of SCIE's resources - Outcomes-focused services for older people (Project: 7.08.05)
SCIE will pilot the collaboratives method to evaluate the effectiveness and usefulness of another SCIE resource - Outcomes-focused services for older people.
Teaching and learning human growth and development in social work education (Project: 3.12)
Understanding the influences on how people develop is a core part of the social work education curriculum. This knowledge review will look at current practices in teaching and learning human growth and development in social work education, with a particular focus on ageing. It will describe what knowledge is available, highlight the evidence that has emerged and draw practice points from the evidence.
Working with social work educators to develop outcomes-based evaluation of teaching and learning (Project: 3.13)
SCIE provides support to the Joint Universities Council Social Work Education Committee for three years to work with members to develop outcomes-based evaluation (jointly with the Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services and the Social Work and Social Policy Subject Centre.) Based on the report 'Evaluating outcomes in social work education', this project will assist social work educators to develop their skills in outcomes-based evaluation.
Ongoing development of the People Management website and People Management Network (Project: 4.04.01)
SCIE will continue to develop the People Management website including ensuring its implementation and reviewing its effectiveness. This work will involve the People Management Network.
Social Care Futures Programme (SCLDI funded) - Evalution (Project: 4.06.01)
SCIE will fund the final intake of the Social Care Futures Programme (formerly the Career Development Programme for Black and Minority Ethnic Managers in Social Services) for black and minority ethnic managers in social care, education, housing and health. This programme is run by the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) and due to finish in mid 2007.
Social Care Leaders Programme (SCLDI funded) - Year 2 (Project: 4.06.02)
SCIE has designed an expanded programme, in conjunction with Birmingham U. Tavistock & Kings Fund. New contracting arrangements direct with SCIE have been agreed with all 3 providers. Three intakes will run from April 2007- Nov 2008
Social Care Leaders Programme (SCLDI funded) - Evaluation (Project: 4.06.04)
As part of the ongoing development of the Social Care Leadership Development Programme SCIE will evaluate its effectiveness and success.
Ongoing development of Social Care Online - National Library for Health (Project: 6.01.03)
SCIE will arrange for content sharing with the National Library for Health
UK Social Care Research Collaboration (Project: 7.12)
Following a consultation on social care research capacity undertaken by SCIE in 2006-07, representatives of central government in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and of the Economic and Social Research Council agreed to establish a group to coordinate social care research across the UK. Representatives of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and of the Nuffield Foundation have also joined the group.
The group's function is to support development within and across the four countries by providing a UK-wide, coordinating framework. This framework will offer opportunities to consider the UK wide implications of research developments funded within countries, and to locate them within a UK-wide strategy for social care research. The group is developing a three year plan of work, including its policy on wider stakeholder involvement
While the group's work will be relevant to each country's strategy for establishing social care research priorities, structures and levels of investment, it will have no power to determine these issues within any country.
PROLIX (Process Oriented e-learning development within the social care sector) (Project: 8.13)
PROLIX (Process-orientated Learning and Information exchange) is a project under the European Union's Framework 6 research and development programme. The objective is to improve business performance by aligning learning with business process needs. In this way it is hoped that organisations will be able to improve the competencies of their employees more quickly as business requirements change. PROLIX has set up test beds in four different fields (banking, telecoms, publishing and social care) to see if the approach works. SCIE is responsible for the social care test-bed and will assess whether PROLIX works, meets users' needs and is capable of general roll out in a public service context.
Staff qualifications and quality of care for older people (Project: 4.13)
SCIE is collaborating with the Institute for Evidence-Based Social Work in Stockholm, Sweden, to identify the research literature on the relationship between staff qualifications and the quality of care for older people. The 'map' of the research will be used to assess whether to commission a review.
Following the Road Ahead (Project: 8.20)
European Care License (Project: 5.27)
SCIE is a partner in this Leonardo-funded European project . The aim of the project is to create a credible licence for care workers moving between countries in Europe. The licence will indicate that the holder has successfully completed the ECL basic learning outcomes and has basic induction and foundation knowledge. The current proposal is that this will be tested by an online multiple choice questionnaire.
SCIE's UK partners are the Association for Real Change (ARC) and Skills for Care (lead partner). The other countries in the partnership are Romania, Portugal, Germany, Austria and Belgium.
Development of Learning Objects – Communication skills (Project: 8.06.04)
In 2003 DH allocated resources to the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) ‘to assist the social care community to make the best use of ICTs for teaching and learning to deliver an improved service to users and carers' (DH E-learning Steering Group 2003).
As part of its e-learning programme, SCIE initiated a programme of e-learning content development work to support teaching of the social work degree at Higher Education (HE) institutions. This e-learning content is freely accessible from the SCIE website by social workers and social care practitioners in general. The first set of learning objects developed by SCIE, on ‘Law and Social Work' , were launched in February 2007 and the second set, on ‘An Introduction to the Mental Health of Older People', were launched in May 2007. The third and fourth sets of learning objects, on Poverty and Social Exclusion and on Interprofessional working skills respectively, are currently in development and will be launched in March 2008 and September 2008 respectively.
This project concerns the fifth set of learning objects, on communication skills, which explore the concepts of communication skills in a range of contexts. A range of media and different interactive devices will be used to produce a series of engaging and enjoyable resources that will support teaching and learning on the Social work degree. Despite the fact that the primary audience for these resources has been defined as HE students/educators, it is hoped that these resources will have appeal in the wider social care community.
Development of Learning Objects – Inter-professional and inter-agency collaboration (Project: 8.06.05)
In 2003 DH allocated resources to the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) ‘to assist the social care community to make the best use of ICTs for teaching and learning to deliver an improved service to users and carers' (DH E-learning Steering Group 2003).
As part of its e-learning programme, SCIE initiated a programme of e-learning content development work to support teaching of the social work degree at Higher Education (HE) institutions. This e-learning content is freely accessible from the SCIE website by social workers and social care practitioners in general. The first set of learning objects developed by SCIE, on ‘Law and Social Work' , were launched in February 2007 and the second set, on ‘An Introduction to the Mental Health of Older People', were launched in May 2007. The third set of learning objects, on Poverty and Social Exclusion, are currently in development and will be launched in March 2008.
This project concerns the fourth set of learning objects, on Interprofessional and inter-agency collaboration, which explore the concepts of interprofessional/inter-agency working skills and collaborative working skills. A range of media and different interactive devices will be used to produce a series of engaging and enjoyable resources that will support teaching and learning on the Social work degree. Despite the fact that the primary audience for these resources has been defined as HE students/educators, it is hoped that these resources will have appeal in the wider social care community.
Number of ongoing projects: 17
