Teaching Social Work Practice Skills: A Collaborative Autoethnography Identifying Key Practice Skills and Modes of Delivery in the Art of Social Work Practice

Practice skills are essential for social work students. In addition to the practice learning gleaned from field placements, social work students often enrol in a dedicated unit/ course teaching practice skills. These instructors teaching in-class practice skills units/courses are often practitioners with rich experience; however, no formal training on how to teach. Three Australian social work educators examine the process, highlighting best practices for and educators' multiple roles inside in-class instruction/teaching of practice skills. Most importantly, they identify critical skills identified as the art of social work practice. Social work students must advance their social work skills gaining practice competencies. And, whilst practice learning takes place in field education placements, social work students often also enrol in a dedicated unit/ course whereby the teaching of practice skills is facilitated in class. A practice skills class is another learning space to imbue practice wisdom. Adjunct teaching staff are often employed on short-term university contracts to teach social work students in the area of practice skills. Whilst these practitioners can bring a wealth of experience and expertise to the under-graduate classroom, it cannot be assumed that adjunct teaching staff have formal training in curricula development nor pedagogical delivery. The goal of this article is to identify the critical elements of teaching practice skills and to examine the ways in which teaching content is delivered. This article presents the 'teaching the teacher' experience of three social work educators at an Australian university. A collaborative autoethnography identified three themes from the inductive analysis: (i) teaching best practices, (ii) teaching role and (iii) teaching practice skills. Finally, implications for social work are discussed and recommendations shared.