Promoting Practitioner Research through a Social Work Teaching Partnership

Research is critical for effective and innovative social work practice, yet workers do not always have time to engage with research there are limited accounts of how practitioners can undertake in practical meaningful terms (Mitchell, Lunt, Shaw 2010). Using a reflective, storytelling methodology (Beresford Citation2016), which centres experiential knowledge, we describe one regional teaching partnership nurtured practitioner over three-year period. We introduce regionally administrated ‘hub’, that connected academics supported the development seventeen teams. The studies resulted, focused on range important issues including child protection, young people transition adult services, adults community residential settings, lived experience-led provision, education. In limitations, our reflections descriptive illuminative, rather than critical, findings also representative but reflect snapshot practice. Despite this commentary reveals feasibility value proactively nurturing offers blueprint cultivating similar initiatives other regions.