Social Work: A Critical Approach to Practice

Jan Fook initially trained as a social worker but has been an academic for over 35 years. She has worked in Australia, Canada, Norway and the UK, ad has held academic positions in social work, continuing professional development, interprofessional working and also education. She is currently Professor of Higher Education Pedagogy at Leeds Trinity University in the UK. Her ongoing interest is in professional education and research on professional practice. Over the last 20 years she has focused on developing critical reflection, and has conducted many workshops with professionals around the world. She is probably most well known for her work on critical social work and critical reflection. Her research work involves the empirical research of professional practice, and developing better methods for representing the complexity of this. In particular, she is currently engaged in developing critical reflection as a method for researching experience. She has published approximately 100 book chapters and articles. Her 14 books include: Radical Casework (Allen & Unwin); Professional Expertise (with Martin Ryan & Linette Hawkins, Whiting & Birch); Social Work: Critical Theory and Practice (Sage), Practising Critical Reflection (with Fiona Gardner, Open University Press) and Researching Critical Reflection (with Val Collington, Fiona Ross, Gillian Ruch and Linden West, Routledge).