Traversing organisational cultures: Building student capacity to lead conversations about child protection policy reform

Authors : Helen J Mclaren

Pages : 132-144

Doi:10.17275/per.15.spi.1.9

View : 21 | Download : 34

Publication Date : 2015-11-30

Article Type : Research

Abstract :The Australian child protection system is part of a broader complex, fragmented and multi-level approach to welfare governance. In 2009, with a key strategy being to stimulate ‘joined-up thinking’, Australia launched its first national child protection framework. The policy mantra : ‘Protecting Children is Everyone’s Business’ (COAG 2009) advocated the sharing of responsibility for child protection across organisational entities, service sectors, communities and families. Applied action learning with 18 Australian social work students is discussed as a case study of  a participatory education model aimed at liberating student thinking about child protection and at building their capacity to lead conversations about the policy reforms at welfare agencies where they were undertaking a field practicum. Students’ conversations helped to  share the notion that Protecting Children is Everyone’s Business (COAG 2009) and thereby contributed to reform strategies for more ‘joined-up thinking’ across organisational entities. Students challenged, observed, shared and analyzed their own thinking, competing agency philosophies and divergent organizational cultures that inhibited the sharing of responsibility for child protection. Student and teacher reflections indicated high levels of motivation for learning when compared to traditional teaching models previously employed. This was due to student empowerment that respected their knowledge and experience, shared control over the learning process, and participation in learning that was liberating, meaningful and which produced observable outcomes – personally, culturally and politically.
Keywords : Participatory education, adult learning, child protection, policy reform, diffusions of innovation