Continuing professional development of registered social workers in New Zealand
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11157/anzswj-vol25iss3id72Keywords:
social work registration, social work registration act, social work registration board, continuing professional development,Abstract
Continuing professional development (CPD) is a significant feature of contemporary practice in most professions. In New Zealand, the Social Workers Registration Board (SWRB) is empowered under legislation to set expectations for CPD. Initially NZ-registered social workers were expected to undertake 150 hours of CPD activities across a three-year period. A random audit undertaken in 2010 found that social workers were not planning their CPD activities in a purposeful way (Duke, 2012), and were struggling to meet the target and as a consequence the requirements were reduced. A content analysis of CPD logs was undertaken in order to provide a snapshot of CPD activities of 84 randomly selected registered social workers. Findings demonstrate that, while a broad range of activities were undertaken by social workers, there was only weak evidence for the enhancement of reflective practice. Engagement in scholarly activity and research was low among the randomly selected group.References
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