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