Challenges of Developing an Emotional Resilience Curriculum in social work education in England

Abstract

This paper presents a case study example of supporting students that fail social work placements in England. The author argues that struggling on a social work placement is associated with lack of emotional resilience. Secondly, a case for an emotional resilience or emotional intelligence curriculum is made. There is evidence that current social work educators and education policymakers are vaguely aware of how to develop an emotional resilience curriculum that is relevant to social work practice. This paper aims to stimulate and inform debate about the role of emotional resilience in the training of social workers and the challenges of implementing a curriculum with professional attributes of emotional intelligence.