Reflexivity and participation in communities CZ

CZ1 Equality of access from users to service providers and vice versa

CZ2 Confirmation of my perception of the issue – participation is situated and fluid matter. Cooperation with service users in the academic environment is a tricky matter. Their standpoint deserves appropriate space and presentation style.

CZ3 To be ?? in communication, collaborate

CZ4: Although it is not always easy and participation can add on some stress (mental, maybe even physical) on the workers, it is worth it. Social work is the place where participation is necessary to reach long-term goals.

CZ5 The program was full of very interesting lectures and case studies, from which I take a lot of new knowledge and new perspectives on the perception of various situations, for which I am very grateful. I get the most experiences from visiting the facility and from the lecture with the participation of clients/participants of the service. I perceive that different people perceive clients' participation and participation rate very differently. I am glad that we have had the opportunity to perceive the subtle nuances of these differences and to become more cautious about participation. Participation is needed not only for the clients themselves but also for the provider towards the service staff. I perceive that we students hold the position of participants in the INORP project. Therefore, I appreciate the opportunity to enter the individual steps in planning the program. However, during the week in Dublin, I noticed a significant degree of uncertainty among students about their position in the program. So, what is expected of them further, what is the plan for the output of the program, etc.? I would welcome to reduce this uncertainty by either the involvement of all students in internal communication or the sending of partial reports on planned procedures for the future.

BG1 The importance of path dependency and dealing with ambiguity

BG2 Opening up participation from the individual, pedagogical level (e.g., relationships with clients and their families) to the structural level (e.g., what do we know about the structural inequalities in relation to the people we work with, the places we work at, e.g., in terms of race, class, gender…) and how we can think about participation on a structural level. The concepts of non-participation, resistance, exit… are crucial to debates about participation. Need for attention to power relations at individual and structural levels. The importance of practising reflexivity on the part of the professional and social work as practice and discipline more collectively.

BG3 The importance of historical awareness for the social work profession in relation to issues of participation, service user involvement and movements.

BG4 The importance of participation but also how this can take on different forms and how non-participation is also valid & important to recognise.

CZ6 I have learned that participation is a process that takes time, requires both individual and team reflection (reflecting on one’s communication with others, what has worked, what not and thus should be modified etc.). It also welcomes a multidisciplinary collaboration and needs to be supported from top to bottom and bottom-up approaches.

CZ7 I realized the importance of understanding people’s needs and the participatory practice knows how to listen and meet them. It provides space and relationships to enable an expression of needs. And it also provides the support to meet them.

PT1 The importance of historical and political contexts for the understanding and development of the concept of participation

PT2&3 During this week everything was a learning experience, the sharing of experiences, the work that is done by professionals in different contexts, different areas, and in different countries. We learned that we should not overlap any professional, but treat each other with respect, strengthen the relational ties to give together the best responses to the various needs. As the main function, the social worker, regardless of the area or the country, must create a relationship with people, and this was very present during the presentations. There was much talk about the importance of service users, particularly in social projects, being more present, integrating them, and involving them in participation. The last visit provided by the project coordinators was without a doubt the confirmation of the previous items, enriching and dignifying the social work. One cannot answer without knowing the problem up close; the problem, which sometimes lies in the way the institution acts, must think more about people and not about the results. A result can only be positive when skills are developed.

IE1 My take home message from the week was about the importance of relationship based research, education and practice. Listening to participants from the Saol project helped to illustrate the importance of involving clients in research and education, not just in a tokenistic sense, but in developing relationships and working together with service users to improve services, and to teach the next generation of social workers the importance of listening and relationship building.

FI1 For me, the key learning was that social work and the level of participation is very different in different countries. This is interesting and I would like to learn more about the differences between countries.

FI 2 The role of a social worker, and the work image, seemed to be quite different between the countries. Also, anticipations about what social work is and how it practically should be performed varied.