How Social Work Managers Can Benefit from Teaching Social Work Students in a University

The UK Department for Education’s Social Work Teaching Partnership initiative (Interface Associates UK Limited, 2020) in England created opportunities for social work practitioners to teach students at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). This paper critically considers the effects of teaching on an experienced social work practitioner, co-author Selina, who is a manager in Local Authority/NHS Adult Social Care. Selina began teaching social work students after 27 years of practice. One could reasonably assume that social work students with little or no social work experience were unlikely to affect how Selina saw her role and the potential for social work practice. This was not the case. Instead, Selina’s story of student classroom encounters locates her as a nomadic learner (Braidotti, 2019) in that she remains open to “becoming” a social work practitioner. Classroom encounters with students aided Selina’s self-reflexivity (Burnham, 2005) as a practitioner, in turn assisting her in recalibrating the potential for social work practice. Furthermore, as Selina had some power in her role as a social work team manager, she drew on this new understanding to develop a High Street initiative to promote dementia awareness.