Social work education: a framework for evaluating feedback on student social workers understanding of child care and protection

A general lack of effective evaluations of social work education and practice has undermined the rigour and validity of some contemporary debates about the future of the profession within Britain. This is particularly acute in the area of child care where a series of child deaths has raised key questions about standards in social work education and how it might best be evaluated. The written feedback given by lecturers to students on a social work qualifying course in relation to child care and protection issues is examined in order to show the complexities involved in evaluating such an important aspect of the learning process. It is suggested that a framework of principles is a useful evaluation tool both for social work and other professional courses, especially in creating a dialogue about feedback. Unless social work is willing to engage in long-term and robust evaluations of education and practice it might struggle to defend and improve standards in the twenty-first century.