The Internationalisation of English Social Work: the Migration of German Social Work Practitioners and Ideas to England

The internationalisation of social work is a positive and dynamic aspect of contemporary practice. In England, the study of internationalisation has focused on migration from Anglophone countries to the UK. However, less attention has been paid to the migration of social work practitioners and ideas from other European Union (EU) countries.
Germany has been one of the main sources of professional migrants from other parts of Europe. It has also been a source of influential ideas, particularly social pedagogy, with many German social workers actively recruited to English authorities to introduce social pedagogic practices.
The study reports the findings from a qualitative study examining the experiences of German social workers working in England. The study was primarily concerned with what the perspectives and experiences of these practitioners can tell us about similarities and differences in practice between the two countries.