Reflection In Relation To Social Work Practice

Within this summative I will be discussing the importance of reflection in relation to social work practice. I will also analyse two reflective models, and compare the models in terms of similarities and differences. The models will give their explanation on reflection and how effective it can be in practice. Then finally, I will assess the models values and effectiveness in relation to professional social work assessment. This part will examine how useful reflection can be while carrying out assessments. However, there may be drawbacks to reflection while carrying out assessments, so this is something to consider.

There are numerous definitions for reflection, all with their own meaning of what it actually means. For example, reflection
A reflection in a mirror is an exact replica of what is in front of it. Reflection in professional practice, however gives back not what it is, but what it might be, an improvement on the original, (Maclean, 2010). So as you can see there are various definitions, but all of them in some way refer to reflection as improving or reflecting on actions, which will lead to improvements within practice.

As we know social work has a lot of uncertainty and social workers face many challenges. Social workers are likely to be faced with these challenges on a daily basis. They need a method such as reflection which allows them to analyse these challenges and how they can improve as a professional in the future. Social workers are required to have the knowledge and skills to be able to reflect on their practice, in a difficult situation involving conflicting interests, social workers will often need to refer back to their
one study which was carried out by skills for care, was to test whether a critically reflective practice of action can lead to improved outcomes in certain complex social work situations and equip social workers with new insights and professional capabilities by the following research questions: does a critically reflective action learning (CRAL), help social workers to better resolve their complex or wicked problems? Does CRAL promote the development of a more robust professional identity in social workers, (Skills for care, 2014). The findings were based on the following data sets: 15 case examples taken from accounts written by social workers who participated in an ILM level 5 certificate in action learning facilitation, six groups interview’s with participants of the action learning sets which were facilitated as part of the ILM programme, six case studies developed from interviews with individual participants of these cation learning sets. This data is examined for evidence of learning under four overlapping headings: skills development, learning about self, changes to practice, and fresh insights and new perspectives. All these categories of learning, especially including the last, are relevant to learning about personal and professional identity, and a consideration of identity development leads on to evidence for critical thinking and reflection in