The use of experiential learning to help social work students assess their attitudes towards practice with older people

Many social work students are reluctant to consider entering into practice with older people because of negative attitudes towards older people and old age. Within social work education such negative views are frequently seen as the consequence of ageism, and thus in need of challenging. An understanding of the ageism within society is clearly important. However, there are risks inherent in adopting an ‘anti-ageist’ approach which is predominantly cognitive and impersonal, and which may label students' own feelings as unacceptable. Students may then be unlikely to express or explore their true feelings, and therefore not helped towards changing these attitudes. Experiential and learner-centred formats provide more effective methods for attitude change. Such methods focus on helping students to examine their existing understanding of old age and older people, and the impact these attitudes have on their practice. Two strategies are presented which can assist students in this self-assessment: a repertory grid, and a biographical approach. Their use with a group of first year social work students is discussed.