Continuing Professional Development: Exploring the lived experiences of Agency Social Workers’ engagement with Continuing Professional Development activities in North East London.

Abstract

The literature on Agency Social workers (ASWs)' Continuing Professional Development (CPD) focuses primarily on the barriers and impediments they face in accessing this crucial element of their professional standards. However, there is a notable lack of research on how ASWs overcome these challenges and successfully engage in CPD activities. CPD is widely recognized as a means of enhancing practitioners' capacity in line with job requirements and building a knowledge base that supports professionalism. It reflects an altruistic commitment to improving service user outcomes and upholding professional integrity. The existing literature highlights the critical role of CPD in ensuring professional competence, but there is a dearth of research specifically addressing ASWs, who face unique obstacles in accessing CPD due to the nature of their employment. This research aims to address this gap in the literature.

In the UK, employment agencies hire social workers and sell their services to local authorities or other social care institutions where they are expected to work. However, the contractual arrangements between ASWs and their host employers often limit their access to training and learning activities. This pose concerns for their CPD and raises serious questions about the quality of outcomes for service users, particularly as the number of ASWs continues to increase.

This study employs a conceptual framework encompassing professionalism, neoliberalism, and social constructivism to explore the lived experiences of ASWs engaging in CPD. The focus is specifically on how they overcome challenges and other factors that impede their engagement with CPD activities in their host employer settings. The research follows a qualitative approach, with in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted with 26 ASWs selected through purposeful sampling in North East London boroughs. The collected data was thematically analysed using NVivo, identifying codes that were collapsed and combined to form categories or focused codes. These categories then emerged as themes that shed light on the complexities of ASWs' lived experiences.

The findings of the study indicate that ASWs still face discrimination in accessing certain CPD activities due to their employment status. This has led to a situation where ASWs have come to accept the existence of limitations and have developed strategies to mitigate these challenges. These strategies include networking outside their employment settings, utilizing social media to form support groups, maximizing employment viability, and managing the stressors associated with agency work. Some ASWs also resort to intermittent permanent employment to gain access to specialist trainings that are typically exclusive to permanent staff. Additionally, practitioners tend to perceive CPD activities as regulatory requirements rather than opportunities for knowledge progression and professional advancement. Consequently, CPD is often viewed as a burdensome task, leading to practitioners being late or failing to record their CPD activities.

To maximize the benefits of CPD for practitioners, it is essential for stakeholders to recognize and articulate the collective responsibility involved. This includes policy makers, host employers, employment agencies, regulatory bodies, and CPD providers. These stakeholders should take into account factors that are beyond the control of ASWs, such as supervision and appraisal, which significantly impact their engagement in CPD. Social Work England plays a crucial role in ensuring that the CPD of social workers is effectively monitored by management and accounted for during quality assurance processes. Moreover, it is important to ensure that practitioners understand the importance and purpose of recording CPD activities.