Motivation to Pursue a Career in Social Work

Why do you want to be a social worker?

Social work is a professional discipline which concerns itself with families, communities and individuals to show an effort for enhancing social functioning and well-being of all. This perspective of being able to help all individuals in the society of any nature made me wish to be a social worker. Previously, I faced domestic violence on the cultural grounds in my relationship which made me lose the zeal to live. However, at that time, I was immensely helped by a social worker who assisted me to get out of the circumstance as well as motivated me to live and made me be self-sufficient to be able to nurture and raise my children on my own. This incident made me wish to become a social worker as I felt that through this profession I can be able to make other’s voice be heard and motivate them to live in a better way in the society.

What is your understanding of the role of a social worker?

According to me, the role of the social worker is to assist the client to be able to cope with their transitional stress or problematic situation that has hindered their normal social life. The other role of the social worker is to accelerate the change effort implemented in society by bringing together individuals and lines of communication. They are required to execute this to channel their resources and activities as well as provide the individuals the access to expertise so that facilitative steps can be taken to resolve and manage any raised social problem. They also have the role to assist organisations and people to combine resources for achieving goals of mutual benefit for society. Moreover, I understand that social workers have the role to educate clients regarding the necessary adaptive skills required by them to cope with the social circumstances. I also think they have the role to alert the general individual in the society regarding the social injustices and problems and accordingly gather support to resolve and alleviate the conditions. They also have the role of building coalitions, take legal actions, mobilise resources and lobby for legislation needed to prevent and alleviate any social problems.

What interests you about the step up programme and are there areas you need to develop?

I feel interested in the Step Up program as it is going to help me develop information with hands-on experience regarding the way social work activities are to be executed. Moreover, I have developed strong emotional resilience required in the program through my work activities at the childcare centre and previous experience to cope with domestic violence. I have personally studied about various social work theories which have helped me developed the urge to participate in the program so that I can develop an understanding regarding the way they can be practically applied in a real-life situation to resolve or alleviate social issues. I am well aware of various risks faced by children and young people in the society which has driven me to get interested in the program. This is because through the program I can practically learn about the strategies and skills to b implemented in resolve the risks in the society faced by children and young people I also familiar with Professional Capabilities Framework which made me interested in the program as I wish to know regarding the way the role and responsibilities mentioned in the Framework can be applied.

Provide a reflective and analytical account of experience with a vulnerable child, young people and/or others.

During my two years of work at the Childcare centre, I came across a 10-year-old girl who often reported to face issues learning and reading. This made the carer caring for the girl often acted in an angry way whenever she faced issues with reading activities in the centre. I analysed the situation and perceived that she may be facing any nature of learning difficulty that is hindering her to show such behaviour. I consulted with my manager and asked a psychiatrist to examine her to identify the reason behind her difficulty with reading. The psychiatrist informed that she had dyslexia and informed about the therapies as well as the ways to act with her that could be used to manage her situation. The facts were informed among all the children and carers involved with the girl in the centre which led to show a change in the attitude of the carers towards the girl. This reported showing progress in her ability to read and write than before as well as in socialising. The incident led me to understand that I have the strength of taking right decision and intervention to help individuals. Moreover, I think my previous quality of identifying risk at the right moment and take immediate steps developed during my BA Hons in Childhood Studies helped me in the situation. In the future, I would like to avoid any carer from making such rude behaviour with any child and arrange proper intervention for any vulnerability identified for any child.

Direct experience of working with vulnerable children, young people and/or families/Carers

I am fluent in English, Urdu and Farsi and for the past two years, I am working in a childcare centre where I have the duty to look after children aged from 4months to 11 years. Few months ago, a 5-year-old boy who was new to England and belonged from the Muslim community with limited knowledge of English was enrolled in the centre. It was often seen that the child avoided to play and socialize with other children in the centre as well as often resisted towards caring by other childcare staffs at the centre. My manager asked me to overlook the matter and communicate with the child to engage him socially in the activities in the centre. I initially tried to communicate with the child in Urdu as it was his mother tongue through a board game where I asked him to play what he likes or dislikes. I developed the information that he dislikes he is new to the place and do not know fluent English. However, he likes to play with other kids but fears that his lack of fluency in English would make others fun of him and so he avoids socializing. I assured him I would personally help him to be fluent in English. I also gathered other children in the class and asked who would like to play with him and nearly everyone raised their hands. This helped me to assist the boy to develop confidence to interact and socialize in the centre.

Additional Information:

I also think I am eligible for the program as I have 2 years of experience at the Childcare centre which is more than the minimum requirement of 6 months for the course. I also have achieved at least grade C in Maths, English and Science which is required to be educational criteria to be eligible for the programme. I also have completed my honours in Childcare Studies which make me eligible for the programme as I have theoretical knowledge regarding the way to act with children to help have a better social life.