Collaborative storytelling in residential social work: revisiting our shared past

In the hope that it may be of use to others, this short article introduces a journey of reflection and discovery that we are currently engaged in, from two very different perspectives. Both of us have first-hand experience of the Edinburgh voluntary organisation, The Guild of Service for Women (later Family Care and now Birthlink), one of us as a former social worker and the other as someone who grew up in residential care. We first met online almost two years ago and, since that time, we have been working together on our shared past in a process of co-inquiry, learning much about social work and childcare from the 1940s onwards. We have also been learning about ourselves and about some of the other people involved in our stories. Our main ‘take-home’ message is that the history of social work and childcare belongs to all of us. Furthermore, there is much to be gained from stepping outside the boxes (real and imagined) that constrain us and beginning to truly listen to each other’s stories.