Kingston University’s launch of refreshed PEPS
Last Month, Kingston University and the Teaching Partnership’s Practice Education Team welcomed Practice Educators, Supervisors and Workforce Development Leads from across the region to an introduction to BASW’s refreshed Practice Educator Professional Standards (PEPS). The time was used to explore the PEPS refresh and potential implications for practice.
For those unable to attend the headline messages are:
- The focus has shifted to highlight the Values within which all Practice Educators function and, to signify this, the Values domain now has primary position at the start of the document. The four domains statements themselves have been written in more straightforward language and are more streamlined, but fundamentally remain the same.
- One of the most significant changes, however, is to the staged assessment of capability in relation to the domains. According to the previous framework, Domain D, Effective Continuing Performance as a PE, was NOT required to be demonstrated or assessed in order to achieve Stage 1 of the Standards. Going forwards this will not be the case, and all four capability domains, and Values, will need to be demonstrated and formally assessed at BOTH Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the framework. This is a welcome change and one which will not have major implications for our course at Kingston University, at present, as Domain D has always been assessed at both Stages.
- In addition, there is a very helpful Glossary of Terms with which we need to become familiar and explicit guidance for employers about:
- Supporting trainee and qualified Practice Educators and OnSite Supervisors;
- Ensuring CPD opportunities for those staff;
- Enabling the wider use of the Practice Educator skills in supporting other learners, such as Newly Qualified Social Workers.
We also used the day to share ideas and best practice on exercises and tools Practice Educators and Supervisors can use with students to support learning and to evidence how students are meeting the PCF domains. A range of exercises and tools were shared and discussed including some created by trainee Practice Educators as part of their PEPS portfolio and assessment.
The Teaching Partnership has a range of exercises in their ‘PCF Toolkit’ which you can find here and they are keen to develop this further, to include the many excellent exercises and tools created by Practice Educators and Supervisors across the Partnership. We want to be able to create a resource hub or even a publication to showcase the work being completed by Practice Educators and Supervisors, where ideas and best practice can be shared, so please send your creations to admin@developingtogetherswtp.org.uk
Resources from the launch are available below:
