Perspectives on Social Care Practice in Romania: Supporting the Development of Professional Learning and Practice
Karin Crawford and Janet Walker are Senior Lecturers at the Hull School of Health and Social Care, University of Lincoln.
Marinela Granescu is a Reader at the Technical University of Cluj, Romania. She has been involved in projects related to social assistance with local non-governmental organizations for the last fifteen years.
Correspondence to Janet Walker, Hull School of Health and Social Care, University of Lincoln, George Street, Hull HU1 3BW, UK. E-mail: jwalker{at}lincoln.ac.uk
The authors met whilst working together on a European Union PHARE funded project within Romania.
This paper examines the authors’ experiences of developing and delivering training for workers in social care services in Romania, through a European Union PHARE1 funded project. The authors use their experiences to draw on the past and current practices of those social workers who were participants in the training and to explore their understanding of the emerging issues and themes for social work in Romania. There is also an exploration of the potential opportunities for the further development of professional social work learning and practice within Romania. The case is made that learning and development of social workers could be supported through the encouragement of participatory networks and ‘communities of practice’.
Keywords: Romania, communities of practice, post-communism, education and training