Critical Thinking for Social Work: Second Edition

81 Pages·2008·3.785 MB·English

by  Keith Brown, Lynne Rutter

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Critical Thinking for Social Work
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Other titles in the series
The Approved Social Worker’s Guide to Mental Health Law ISBN: 978 1 84445 062 6
Law and the Social Work Practitioner ISBN: 978 1 84445 059 7
Vulnerable Adults and Community Care ISBN: 978 1 84445 061 9

The Social Worker’s Guide to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 ISBN: 978 1 84445 129 6
The Approved Social Worker’s Guide to Psychiatry
and Medication ISBN: 978 1 84445 089 3
Practising Quality Assurance in Social Care ISBN: 978 1 84445 084 8
Managing with Plans and Budgets in Health and Social Care ISBN: 978 1 84445 134 0
Social Work Practice with Older Lesbians and Gay Men ISBN: 978 1 84445 182 1
The Integration of Mental Health Social Work and the NHS ISBN: 978 1 84445 150 0
Practice Education in Social Work ISBN: 978 1 84445 105 0
To order, please contact our distributor: BEBC Distribution, Albion Close, Parkstone, Poole,
BH12 3LL. Telephone: [phone], email: [email protected] can also
find more information on each of these titles and our other learning resources at
www.learningmatters.co.uk
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Critical Thinking
for Social Work
Second Edition
KEITH BROWN
LYNNE RUTTER

Series Editor: Keith Brown
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First published in 2006 by Learning Matters Ltd.
Second Edition published in 2008
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without prior permission in writing from Learning Matters.
© Keith Brown and Lynne Rutter
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978 1 84445 157 9
Cover and text design by Code 5 Design Associates Ltd
Project Management by Deer Park Productions, Tavistock, Devon
Typeset by Pantek Arts Ltd, Maidstone, Kent
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Bell & Bain Ltd, Glasgow
Learning Matters Ltd
33 Southernhay East
Exeter EX1 1NX
Tel: [phone]
[email protected]
www.learningmatters.co.uk
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Contents
About the authors vii
Foreword to the Post-Qualifying Social Work Series ix
Preface to the second edition xi
Introduction xiii
1
Who is this handbook for? 1
2
Critical thinking 4
3
Learning – applying new knowledge to practice 16
4
Critical reflection 21
5
Writing reflective academic assignments 28

6
Developing critical practice 41
7
Continuing learning – a critical approach 48
8
Summary 55
References 57
Appendix – Harvard referencing 61
Index 65
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About the authors
Keith Brown
Keith holds professional qualifications in nursing, social work and teaching; and academic
qualifications in nursing, social work and management. He has worked in the education
and training field for over 25 years, working for three universities and three local authority
social work departments. Currently he is the Director of the Centre for Post-Qualifying
Social Work at Bournemouth University. In 2005 he was awarded the Linda Ammon
Memorial Award, sponsored by the then Department for Education and Skills, a prize
awarded to the individual making the greatest contribution to training and education in
the UK.
Lynne Rutter
Lynne holds academic and professional qualifications in librarianship and education.
Currently she teaches ‘enabling work-based learning’ and ‘critical thinking’ units, and
offers academic support via tutorials and printed teaching materials. Lynne has an MA in
academic practice and is continuing to research professional education and learning
within a professional doctorate programme.

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Foreword to Post-Qualifying Social Work Series
This text, Critical Thinking for Social Work, is one of a series of texts written by
experienced social work educators and practitioners, some of whom are working the
Centre for Post-Qualifying Social Work at Bournemouth University.
All the texts are written with the specific aim of supporting social workers who are
studying for the Post-Qualifying Awards in their chosen field of practice/specialism.
However, much of the content of each text is also valuable to students on qualifying social
work programmes.
As members of the Centre for Post-Qualifying Social Work, we all work with the aim of
promoting the best social work practice for the sake of all service users and their carers.
I think that you will find this text of good value in your social work career.
Keith Brown
Series Editor
Centre for Post-Qualifying Social Work

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