Kelly Alexander

I joined the University of Brighton in 2022 and am currently the Subject Lead for Social Work. Prior to this, I was part of the social work team at the University of Bedfordshire from 2010-2022. I moved to academic from practice where I worked as a forensic social worker and Approved Mental Health Professional in London. My doctoral research drew on this experience to explore the emotional impact of the risk assessment and management aspects of the role of mental health professionals.

Additionally, I have been involved in research relating to resilience, particularly related to enhancing resilience in social work and healthcare students. Currently, I am involved in a project researching the effect of the use of solution focused approaches in Mental Health Act assessments.

My main areas of interest are mental health practice, risk and resilience.

I am a qualified social worker, Approved Mental Health Professional and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. My teaching practice integrates practice experience, research and pedagogy.

As a social work educator, I think it is essential to adopt teaching
methods that are distinct and enable students to develop their professional identity. Shulman (2005) identifies signature pedagogy as education characterised by core aspects constituting professional knowledge.

Our social work curriculum combines academic and practice-based learning that requires students not only to evidence competence but also to evaluate their ethical understanding of social work as a value-based profession and to develop a professional identity. I understand that a key element of my role as a social work educator is to socialise social work students into the profession, in addition to facilitating the development of knowledge and skills.