ABSTRACT

This article presents data from a focus group study of social workers in the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) and investigates how social workers perceive and experience the relevance of their education in the transition to their work in NAV. The relevance of education to practical fields became more important after the Bologna Process started in 2000. Research shows a discrepancy between what social workers learn during their professional education and the expectations they face when starting to work in welfare systems. Through analysing our data according to Ryle’s concepts of ‘knowing-that’ and ‘knowing-how’ and Lave and Wenger’s theory of situated learning and communities of practice, we discuss the participants’ experiences of the relevance of their education. Although the participants experienced their social work education as being relevant to their work in NAV, they expressed a need to learn more about how to apply theoretical knowledge during their education. The participants indicated work situations where they felt that their studies had insufficiently prepared them. In response to these findings, we discuss implications for social work education.

摘要

本文介绍了挪威劳工和福利管理局 (NAV) 社会工作者焦点小组研究的数据，并调查了社会工作者如何看待和体验他们的教育与他们在 NAV 工作过渡中的相关性。自 2000 年博洛尼亚进程开始后，教育与实际领域的相关性变得更加重要。研究表明，社会工作者在专业教育期间所学的知识与他们开始在福利系统工作时所面临的期望之间存在差异。通过根据 Ryle 的“知道那个”和“知道如何”的概念以及 Lave 和 Wenger 的情境学习和实践社区理论分析我们的数据，我们讨论了参与者对其教育相关性的体验。如何在教育过程中应用理论知识。参与者指出了他们认为他们的学习没有为他们做好充分准备的工作情况。针对这些发现，我们讨论了对社会工作教育的影响。