# Introduction

This free course introduces what is meant by critical social work practice, and its activities will help you to develop the kinds of skills you need as a social work student, or as a qualified social worker. Becoming a critical practitioner is an ongoing process rather than an end point. It is often done in conjunction with others, for example in supervision, through collaboration with people with lived experience and alongside other social work and interprofessional colleagues. In this course, you will look at a theoretical model that explains what it means to be a critical practitioner.

Critical social work practice involves taking time to reflect, read and question before taking ethical action.

This OpenLearn course is an adapted extract from the Open University course K355 Critical thinking in social work practice.

## Sensitive or emotionally challenging content

Material in this course covers issues related to alcohol misuse, domestic abuse and violence that some people might find distressing.

OpenLearn - Exploring critical social work practice
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