EXPERIENCES OF SERVICE USER INVOLVEMENT IN SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION IN ENGLAND AND SLOVENIA

Abstract

In this article we discuss the nature of service user involvement in Higher Education (HE) social work programmes in both England and Slovenia. This discussion is based on our experiences of supporting such programmes alongside evidence derived from the literature. Firstly, we present a discussion of the effective development of service user involvement in the respective HEIs in our two countries. Secondly, we explore how the involvement of experts-by-experience in HEIs benefits the learning of social work students. Thirdly, we investigate how the emergence of Covid-19 has influenced the delivery of social work education and the involvement of service users in our respective social work programmes. We conclude by noting that our social work programmes have been forced to adapt to the needs of students in an online community and have embraced inclusive education. As a result of this, we suggest that the needs of experts-by-experience should inform the development of social work education and that they should be consulted on how they choose to be involved in educational practice. Key words experiential knowledge, expertise-by-experience, service user involvement, England, Slovenia