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- Denvall, Verner, et al.
(author)
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Supply and Demand : Evaluation Training for Social Work and Social Care in a Swedish Context
- 2008
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In: Social Work Education. - : Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. - 0261-5479 .- 1470-1227. ; 27:1, s. 19-34
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Only during the last two decades has the discourse on evaluation been on the Swedish agenda of social work and social care. One assumption is that a conscious need for evaluation knowledge and evaluation capacity has finally surfaced. This is based on the view that work efforts of social service organizations are regarded as chiefly authority-based and to a lesser degree based upon scientific knowledge. This article addresses two questions: which actors are involved in training evaluators in, and of, social work in Sweden and what kind of knowledge is communicated in training programmes? Further, is the discourse of evidence-based practice incorporated into the training of social workers? A national study in Sweden, conducted in 2002, reveals that only a minority of social work and social care students are exposed to the concept and practice of evaluation throughout their education, and this is in a most rudimentary way. R&D units offer practitioners more training in evaluation and related knowledge development activities. However, this work is not conducted in a focused manner nor is every Swedish municipality necessarily targeted. If evaluation education and training opportunities are viewed in light of a supply-and-demand situation, we may find an explanation of the current curriculum for evaluation in the social work educational system and the corresponding evaluation practice levels in social service organizations
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