From the Classroom to the Field: Service users' contribution within the learning and assessment of developing practitioners

This 90 minute workshop will explore the contribution and the impact service users make to the learning and assessment of social work students, throughout their pre-qualifying training. From the initial beginnings of classroom based learning where students begin to conceptualize professional knowledge and 'road test' their interpersonal skills to the key milestones of first and final practice learning opportunities. The role of service users, carers and survivors in Northern Ireland is fundamental to shaping social work students understanding of the person centred approach drawing on the Rogerian principle of perceiving the service user as the expert in their own lives.