BA Honours in Social Work OU Starting Advice

danz0l

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Although I'm sure you have contact with social workers and they certainly earn more than you currently do, I'm not sure that most would feel the above statement to be true. I really think that you need to research the role of social workers and come to a fuller undestanding of what they actually do.

Agreed. It was a broad statement that really doesn't read quite as it was meant. I just feel that social work allows me to achieve more with those that i work with than my current position.

clio2008

Hey again,

Ur v. wellcome danz01. With regards to age, you shouldnt worry about that at all. I had many classmates that were in their 40s some in thier 50s...Then again we had students as young as 22, which in my opinion is quite young for the course as the question remains has the person had enough life experiences to have that much authority and 'power/influence' on another persons life?...it was a big debate amongst the lecturers and us students lol

Remember that although you shall have more 'power' to help/enable/empower service users, you are bound/held back by a massive network of bureaucracy, policies, dogmatism and misscommunication amongst multiagencies and multiprofessionals *due to difference in their training, codes of practice and code of ethis* which both directly and indirectly will impede or affect your wish or ability to 'help' a service user in the way you trully want to. And remember in SW, if you make a 'mistake' it is someones life or quality of life that will be affected. I genuinely believe you want to do the best for the service users you work with, but you will soon realise that due to many reasons, including financial backing, will limit your ability to do this...

I agree with Oldernotwiser, you should try and shadow some SW as they work in order to get a slightly better idea of what it entails...I am sure you have some contact with SWs where u work, try and see if you can sort out something with them. I have worked as a Support Worker and as a SW..trust me, they are VERY different roles...

As far as the financial element is concerend, if you truly want to study SW you can, even without the backing of ur current employer as u shall be getting a SW grant in addition to you Student Loan * if u choose to take it*. If u do take out SL u should bare in mind that Unis are looking to increase the fees...I curently am in £23,000 debt for my course, but in sharp contrast the amount not so in the future students wil be owing will be from £30 or £35,000 upwards.

Yes u wil be making the money to pay back in ur wages, but its just plain crazy to be paying back that kind of amount for the rest of ones lifetime...sorry for sounding like a huge pessimist, but ive been wondering if it was such a right choice to make...one can help others in society and earn a decent wage without getting themselves into such a debt..

Anyways il stop here lol just think hard about it. I know getting £23 per hour sounds nice, but theres a whole hell of alot more to it.

danz0l

Thanks clio and you and oldernotwiser are quite correct that i don't understand the SW role as much as i should before committing.

I totally understand when you say that although the position of power is better as a SW than a care officer to help but equally that your hands are still tied with legislation and policy and that these sometimes work against the very reason for being in the role. I guess the drive to help leads us to become a SW as much as it did for me being a care officer. Wage is important important to me also but I could command a better wage in other sectors if this was truly all i cared about.

Your quite right though its the debt to study that truly concerns me. I've worked extremely hard to sort the debt of my youth out and the last thing i truly want is to be committed for the sums you state for the rest of my life. However I also know that i don't want to be, can't afford to be, a care officer for the rest of my life either so the path and choice is never straightforward.

I had thought of age as a deciding factor as stopping in a learning but not earning role till i was 45 seemed a little bit drastic to me. However i'm now starting to see the benefits in doing so and that i would still have a minimum of 20 years work after reaching qualified levels.

I'm honest, uni and the very idea of it scares the hell out of me. I find it ever increasingly difficult these days to keep knowledge in my head and wonder if i'm cut out to retraining in this role. But i do have a passion for the work and really, truly want to help people which would and hopefully should help my drive. I guess what i'm saying is do i risk all and come out of a fairly secure job and try and take my graduate or stay where i am comfortable but not progressing. I guess we all have to look to that as mature students one day and all have to make the same difficult choices.

Oldernotwiser

:eek:

danz0l wrote: »

Your quite right though its the debt to study that truly concerns me. I've worked extremely hard to sort the debt of my youth out and the last thing i truly want is to be committed for the sums you state for the rest of my life. However I also know that i don't want to be, can't afford to be, a care officer for the rest of my life either so the path and choice is never straightforward.

Don't forget that, however much you might owe for your Fee Loan and Maintenance Loan, you never have to pay back more than 9% of any earnings over £15,000, which would mean that, on a starting salary of £20,000, you'd be paying back £40 per month. Also any outstanding balance is erased when you hit 65. Student Loans are totally unlike any other kind of debt and really shouldn't be viewed in the same way.

danz0l

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

:eek:

Don't forget that, however much you might owe for your Fee Loan and Maintenance Loan, you never have to pay back more than 9% of any earnings over £15,000, which would mean that, on a starting salary of £20,000, you'd be paying back £40 per month. Also any outstanding balance is erased when you hit 65. Student Loans are totally unlike any other kind of debt and really shouldn't be viewed in the same way.

Yes your quite right and i need to get my head into that way of thinking. I will do more research into student loans.