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Case Studies2
Research and co-working with Ali Gardner / Manchester Metropolitan University
Whose Shoes?® has proved to be a very popular tool with students. Ali Gardner, Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University. Ali was an early champion, using the tool regularly with BA and MA Social Work Students. Gill Phillips has co-facilitated several sessions. Students say that the tool helps them bridge the gap between theory and practice.
Let the participants tell you for themselves…(With special thanks to the film crew from Coventry University)
Overview
Building on this work, Gill and Ali held a Whose Shoes? research / co-production event in Manchester, sponsored by MMU and JIP North-West. They invited people with as many different “real-life” perspectives as possible. In this context, 90% of the learning came from the people around the table; the game just serving as a tool to trigger the “crucial conversations”.
What happened
Workshop participants from across the North west region ‘played’ Whose Shoes? in a fully interactive, whole day event and used the scenarios to debate some of the key challenges to both social work and social work training in relation to the personalisation agenda. The messages encompassed choice versus risk, paternalism versus citizenship, and the challenge for providers of catering for individual preferences after the security of “block contracts”.
The importance of universal services, social capital, early intervention and prevention were highlighted, with many practical examples of the importance of highly developed interpersonal skills and excellent communication at all levels.
On-going research
Gill Phillips and Ali Gardner have enjoyed many opportunities to explore Whose Shoes? together with a wide range of audiences, for example co-presenting workshops at the JSWEC conference in Hatfield and the International Inter-professional conference in Manchester.
They are using Whose Shoes? in innovative ways to explore the theme of ‘Walk a mile in my shoes… the continuing journey to embed the personalisation agenda within social work education’
To win hearts and minds, all stakeholders must feel that they have a voice and that their concerns will be taken seriously”
The images used on the website page backgrounds are based on graphic records
produced in real time during 'Whose Shoes®' events by New Possibilities Ltd.
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