Abstract
Within an evolving regulatory context, this paper identifies some of the emergent challenges and opportunities for social care education in Ireland. The paper discusses the potential offered by the Integrative Framework for Practice Teaching to address some of these contextual demands and examines the pedagogy underpinning this approach. A number of educators’ experiences of using this framework are provided, demonstrating how they innovatively integrated the framework with commonly used teaching and assessment strategies within social care education, such as mind-mapping, problem-based learning and the use of creative media. These experiences are offered to other educators who may wish to utilise authentic assessment and create space for integrated thinking within the classroom. Based on the learning gleaned from the above experiences, a number of key points were identified, including: (i) the role of community of practices in supporting innovation within the classroom; (ii) the value of an integrated pedagogical approach in developing core graduate attributes for social care; (iii) opportunities offered by authentic assessment to build, refine and integrate skills and knowledge, and (iv) the importance of self in working reflexively within a dynamic and sometimes challenging environment. This paper contributes to the wider discussion on social care identity formation and explores the possibilities to reframe and reimagine social care education from a practice position.
Recommended Citation
McGarr, Jennifer; Fingleton, Margaret; Molloy, Noel; Larkin, Gillian; Connell, Marian; Jameson, Ailish; and Shier, Anne Marie
(2021)
"Every Day is a School Day: Educators Experiences of Utilising an Integrative Framework within Social Care Education in Ireland,"
Irish Journal of Academic Practice:
Vol. 9:
Iss.
2, Article 9.
doi:https://doi.org/10.21427/4K1Q-2J33
Available at:
https://arrow.tudublin.ie/ijap/vol9/iss2/9
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21427/4K1Q-2J33