Scaffolding critical reflection across the curricula of a social welfare degree

This paper reports the findings of the second phase of a formative peer review into the critical reflection curricula in a Bachelor of Social Welfare course in a university in regional Australia. Despite being interspersed throughout the curriculum of the degree, a review of the critical reflection assessment tasks, the ‘learned’ curricula (English 1978, cited in Spencer, Riddle & Knewstubb 2012), revealed students did not engage with critical reflection to foster personal and social change; rather their utilitarian approach meant that they aspired to demonstrate competence in professional procedures (Authors 2017). To understand how the curricula influenced students’ response, this study investigated the scaffolding of the ‘declared’ critical reflection curricula (English 1978, cited in Spencer, Riddle & Knewstubb 2012). Findings revealed the curricula informed students about reflective processes and associated critical reflection with the development of personal and interpersonal communication skills, cultural safety, ethical practice, empowering practice and, the integration of theory and practice. Rather than introducing information incrementally, comprehensive, complex descriptions were introduced repeatedly from the beginning of the course. Subtle variances between the information provided in the material in each unit were not highlighted. Into the future, a map of the scaffolding of the ‘declared’ critical reflection curricula will be incorporated into the learning materials.