Diary of a social work academic

I set up this blog to help in a small way to bridge the gap between social work academia and practice.

One of its aims has been to discuss ongoing research and to disseminate findings via accessible posts which explore the implications of research for social work practice. There is a growing recognition that we need to communicate research findings more effectively than just publishing them in journals and, since I started blogging in 2011, other academic blogs have come along with a similar purpose. I believe that it is not acceptable to only publish social work research in peer-reviewed journals in formats which are inaccessible to practitioners (if they have access to them at all). To have an impact on practice we need to communicate using different media.

Another aim of this blog is to demystify what a social work academic actually does. There is a perception – unfortunately correct in some cases – that academics are too distant from practice to be able to contribute meaningfully to the profession. However, the perception that we all live in ivory towers is not accurate and does not fully appreciate the role of social work academics in the development of the profession. Therefore, I blog about some aspects of my work to open up discussions about important issues on the practice/academy interface.

I don’t think it would be terribly interesting if I were to use this blog as an online diary, providing details of the minutiae of my life. However, this blog lacks a sense of the rhythm of a social work academic’s daily life. Therefore, I am planning to blog each evening this week about the work I do each day to provide an insight into this. I don’t have a typical week, so what may happen this week may not be usual, but it will give an indication as to how my time is spent, what I’m thinking about and what I’m working on. Due to reasons of confidentiality some of the details may be a little hazy, but I hope to convey the important themes of events as they occur.

Diary of a social work academic: Monday

Diary of a social work academic: Tuesday

Diary of a social work academic: Wednesday

Diary of a social work academic: Thursday

Competition time!

If all goes to plan I should blog my 100th post by the end of the week. To celebrate this, let’s have a bit of fun. All you need to do is to guess which are the all-time top three most read posts on this blog. (The list of ‘top posts and pages’ in the right hand column will not help you to answer this question because that only relates to the last 24 hours). You will need to scroll through the archives and guess which three you think have been read the most.

To enter the competition, please post a comment below stating the titles of the top three blogs in their order of popularity. The person who guesses correctly, or is closest to the right answer, will win a signed copy of Reflective Practice in Mental Health. Advanced Psychosocial Practice with Children, Adolescents and Adults. The competition closes at 10pm on Friday 17th May before I make my final post of the week.

Go on, it’s just a bit of fun!