The power of IPA: Ziggy Stardust, extraordinary jobs and a professional learning ecosystem

Ferguson, Gillian (2024). The power of IPA: Ziggy Stardust, extraordinary jobs and a professional learning ecosystem. In: Social Work IPA Research Network (SWIPA Inaugural Symposium), 11 Oct 2024, The Open University, Online.

Abstract

This presentation uses an example of IPA research to illustrate the importance of quality in research design and having an eye on future impact. Using a holistic model (Vicary and Ferguson, 2024) creating new knowledge and making a difference in social work are central. The aims and focus of the study relate to the potential outcomes and difference that will be made in social work. While there are critiques of IPA as a methodology (e.g. Paley 2017), and of course all forms of phenomenology, the presentation argues that attention to the essential elements of the IPA approach, and the connection between these can lead to robust studies that offer extraordinary insights that can have a powerful influence, impact and in fact an essential contribution to social work.
The presentation draws on what we have found out from the lived experiences of social workers learning in a Scottish study (Ferguson, 2023) and explores how we can think about professional learning as part of social work as a professional ecosystem in Scotland. The research findings sit at the intersection of different fields of knowledge and of course social work always draws from different forms of knowledge – but we also create it. We know a lot about learning, we know a lot about how individuals learn, we know about organisational learning theory and developing learning cultures – we also know a lot about promoting learning in social work – reflective learning, practice learning. There is a whole swathe of theory about workplace learning specifically – and my interests remains right at the heart of these. I wanted to revisit what the nature of learning as a social worker through undertaking work tasks. What is this like? What does this mean for social workers?
Ferguson, G (2023) “When David Bowie created Ziggy Stardust” Reconceptualising workplace learning for social workers The Journal of Practice Teaching and Learning, 20(1)
Paley, J (2017) Phenomenology as Qualitative Research: A Critical Analysis of Meaning Attribution, Routledge.
Vicary, S and Ferguson, G (2024) Social Work Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis: A Methodological Approach for Practice and Research Open University Press

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