This document provides recommendations for developing a permanency planning training framework within the British Columbia Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD). It conducted a literature review on organizational development, permanency planning practice, and adult education. It reviewed MCFD's existing permanency planning curriculum and conducted interviews with experts. It identified gaps in the curriculum around cultural competency, trauma-informed practice, and critical thinking skills. It recommends developing new curriculum content addressing these areas, as well as incorporating blended learning and supporting an organizational culture shift towards prioritizing permanency planning. The goal is to improve competency and outcomes for children and youth in government care.

1. Towards a Permanency
Planning Training System
An intersection of organizational development, permanency
planning child welfare practice and adult education
598 Management Report
Prepared by
Jaime J. Fafard
School of Public Administration
University of Victoria
Supervisor:
Dr. Jim MacGregor
School of Public Administration
Client:
Annemarie Travers
Ministry of Children and Family Development
Province of British Columbia

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to acknowledge all the children and youth whose experiences in the child welfare
system have led up to and informed this project. Your resiliency and strength of spirit, mind and
body is humbling. You have told adults about what you need to realize your potential; we are
listening.
I would like to thank Dr. Jim MacGregor from the University of Victoria and Annemarie Travers
from the Ministry of Children and Family Development for their support through the
conceptualization and development of this project. Your understanding of the realities of multi-
tasking family, career and school responsibilities and your patience with timelines are greatly
appreciated.
I would also like to express my gratitude to all the interview participants for this project. Your
commitment to and passion for creating stability and well-being for vulnerable children and
youth is remarkable and inspiring. It was truly an honour to listen to your perspectives, and I
learned a great deal from your individual and collective wisdom. I hope I was able to bring
forward your hopes in a way that does your dedication justice.
Finally, I would also like to thank my wonderful family for being there to support me through
this journey; my parents and my husband’s parents for always being there to lend a hand; my
husband, who lived the chaos of doing a masters project alongside me; and my young son,
Sandro, who sacrificed many weekends with his mom in the hope that other children may have
better opportunities.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
As a branch within the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD), Learning and
Development is responsible for ministry staff learning and development. The objective of this
project is to produce recommendations for a comprehensive and coordinated permanency
planning educational framework within MCFD in order to support permanency planning
practice and improve outcomes for children and youth in the care of the ministry. The
conceptual framework used to guide this project considers the intersection of three main
subject areas that are foundationally important to the understanding of the issue and therefore
the outcome of the project: organizational development, permanency planning child welfare
practice, and adult education principles.
The table below shows the activities that were completed in order to meet the objective, and
the major findings associated with each activity:
Activity Major Findings
Literature review of organizational
development, permanency planning social
work practice, and adult education
 Practitioners must balance objective and
subjective knowledge, as well as their
rational and intuitive decision-making skills.
 Training systems should contribute to
positive organizational culture and create
opportunities for meaningful learning,
collaboration and innovation.
 Training systems can mitigate the
complexities of the child welfare
environment by using constructive and
humanistic instructional models that
address higher-order learning domains.
 Blended learning offers many benefits.
Review of MCFD permanency planning
training curriculum (Role of the Guardian
and Adoption Worker Training Program)
 Content across the courses was repetitive
and did not align or build upon previously
mentioned content.
 There is missing content regarding new
legal options to support permanency.
 Relational and cultural aspects of
permanency are not meaningfully reflected
and do not support organizational goals.
 Specific topic knowledge is largely absent
from the classroom curriculum.
 Curriculum largely addresses only the
lower-order thinking skills within the
cognitive domains.

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Activity Major Findings
Qualitative interviews with 14 participants
with knowledge and expertise in the areas
of permanency planning child welfare
practice from an organizational, service
delivery or adult education perspective
 Permanency planning within the ministry
requires a shift in organizational culture,
with attention to change management and
strong support from leadership.
 Values of strength-based, compassionate
practice grounded in relationships, openness
and social justice are crucial.
 Knowledge of trauma-informed practice and
child development, as well as cultural
competence and self-awareness, are crucial.
 Skills in communication and critical thinking
are crucial.
 Providing opportunities for cross-disciplinary
and cross sectoral learning is important.
 Instructional designs that offer experiential
and blended learning opportunities are
desirable.
The following recommendations for future curriculum development emerged from the
literature review findings, review of MCFD child welfare training pertaining to permanency
planning, and qualitative interviews:
Recommendation 1: Support a shift in organizational culture
Support new curriculum development by an overall shift in organizational culture that views
permanency planning occurring along a continuum that begins with the initial contact with a
family and takes into consideration the range of out-of-care to in-care permanency options;
recognizes and values the interconnectedness of the relational, cultural, physical and legal
components of permanency; and embeds the importance of permanency planning across all
aspects of the organization’s service delivery.
It is recommended that:
 the organization communicate clearly about priorities for permanency planning,
especially in terms of the definition of permanency and its connection to the greater
child welfare framework
 the ministry conduct further analysis regarding actions to support permanency from a
systems perspective that are separate from yet connected to training

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 permanency planning training communication be strategically aligned with leadership
support, such as an executive sponsor, using positive and inspiring messaging
 permanency planning training development updates be communicated widely to staff,
with clear linkages to other ministry initiatives
 components of permanency planning training be embedded in Child Welfare
Practitioner Interim Training Program and reflected in other province-wide training
within service delivery lines.
Recommendation 2: Develop curriculum content
Develop new curriculum content to reflect the current four dimensions of permanency
(relational, cultural, physical and legal aspects) and concrete areas of practice in a way that
improves a practitioner’s competence in permanency planning practice.
It is recommended that curriculum content address a practitioner’s values, knowledge and skill
by:
 using strength-based, compassionate approaches to practice that value relationship,
connection and belonging
 promoting inclusion and a human rights perspective
 incorporating trauma-informed practice and child development within the context of
permanency planning for children and youth
 incorporating current legislative changes that support the legal aspect of permanency
 addressing concrete topics relevant to the complexities of children and youth in care
 have an evaluative component to consistently and regularly assess the relevancy of
curriculum content to learners and organizational goals.
Recommendation 3: Support culturally safe practice
Develop new curriculum that supports culturally aware, culturally sensitive and culturally
competent practice, especially when supporting Aboriginal children, youth, families and
communities.
It is recommended that curriculum:
 reflect the inclusion of Indigenous views on child development and resiliency

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 address a practitioner’s skill in creating cultural safety in supporting Aboriginal children,
youth, families and communities
 address a practitioner’s skill in cultural planning for Aboriginal children and youth
 be grounded in holistic, collaborative and empowering approaches to permanency
planning practice.
Recommendation 4: Develop a learner-centred approach
Develop new curriculum according to a learner-centred approach, in a way that addresses the
complex child welfare environment.
It is recommended that curriculum:
 be designed and developed using learning models that address a learner’s competency
holistically from a combination of cognitive, affective and psycho-motor perspectives to
best support transformative change
 be designed to address the higher-order of critical thinking and analysis required in
practice in order to address the complexities inherent in child welfare practice
 be designed to provide experiential and collaborative learning activities.
Recommendation 5: Incorporate a blended learning model
Base new curriculum on a blended learning model, with cross-disciplinary and cross-sectoral
training opportunities.
It is recommended that curriculum delivery reflect:
 online learning that allows for a multidisciplinary approach to permanency planning
 local face-to-face delivery
 communities of practices
 alignment with clinical practice support
 opportunities for joint ministry and community learning events.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................................... 2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.................................................................................................................... 3
1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND .......................................................................................... 9
Introduction................................................................................................................................. 9
Background.................................................................................................................................. 9
2. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND OVERALL METHODOLOGY .................................................. 13
Conceptual Framework............................................................................................................. 13
Overall Methodology ................................................................................................................ 14
3. LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................. 16
Organizational Development .................................................................................................... 16
Permanency Planning Child Welfare Practice........................................................................... 17
Values in practice................................................................................................................... 18
Knowledge in practice. .......................................................................................................... 21
Skills in practice. .................................................................................................................... 23
Adult Education......................................................................................................................... 25
Educational and learning theories......................................................................................... 25
Learning models and approaches.......................................................................................... 28
Instructional design approaches. .......................................................................................... 33
Summary of Literature Review.................................................................................................. 36
4. METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................................ 38
Research Design and Objectives ............................................................................................... 38
Research Instruments ............................................................................................................... 38
Review of training.................................................................................................................. 38
Qualitative interviews............................................................................................................ 39
Strengths and weaknesses of the approaches...................................................................... 41
5. FINDINGS................................................................................................................................... 43
Review of Training Findings ...................................................................................................... 43
Catalogue of available curriculum......................................................................................... 43

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Content.................................................................................................................................. 46
Design. ................................................................................................................................... 49
Qualitative Interview Findings .................................................................................................. 52
Organizational development perspective. ............................................................................ 52
Permanency planning child welfare perspective .................................................................. 56
Adult education perspective. ................................................................................................ 62
Discussion.................................................................................................................................. 65
6. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS................................................................................. 68
Recommendation 1: Support a shift in organizational culture................................................. 68
Recommendation 2: Develop curriculum content.................................................................... 69
Recommendation 3: Support culturally safe practice .............................................................. 69
Recommendation 4: Develop a learner-centred approach ...................................................... 70
Recommendation 5: Incorporate a blended learning model ................................................... 70
REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................. 72
APPENDIX A: MCFD Service Delivery Areas.................................................................................. 76
APPENDIX B: Ministry Training Model.......................................................................................... 77
APPENDIX C: Human Research Ethics Board Certificate of Approval........................................... 78
APPENDIX D: Qualitative Interview Invitation.............................................................................. 79
APPENDIX E: Free and Informed Consent..................................................................................... 81
APPENDIX F: Qualitative Interview Questions.............................................................................. 85

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1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
Introduction
The mandate of the British Columbia Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) is to
promote and develop the capacity of families and communities to care for and protect
vulnerable children and youth and support healthy child and family development to maximize
the potential of every child in B.C. (MCFD, 2011). As a branch within MCFD, Learning and
Development is responsible for the learning and development of staff within the ministry. In
order to provide the best practice and services to citizens, curriculum development for training
practitioners must simultaneously reflect: current child welfare developments to ensure that
educational content is up to date; adult learning practices to ensure that the content and
methods of training are appropriate; and an organization development strategy to ensure that
the content and methods of training are aligned with organizational goals.
This project’s objective is to produce recommendations for a comprehensive and coordinated
permanency planning educational framework within MCFD. For the purposes of this report,
permanency refers to supporting the stability and well-being of children and youth who are
either in government care or at risk of being in government care, while permanency planning
refers to the planning process intended to achieve permanency for children and youth through
family reunification, kinship care or adoption. Recommendations will be based on the following
reviews and analyses:
 literature review regarding the intersection of organizational development, permanency
planning child welfare practice and adult education
 review of MCFD child welfare training pertaining to permanency planning
 qualitative interviews with participants within MCFD and post-secondary institutions
who have knowledge and expertise in the areas of permanency planning child welfare
practice from an organizational, service delivery or adult education perspective.
Background
In order to begin this project, it was crucial to review the overall social context of the issue,
including internal and external drivers, in order to determine the scope.
The Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) provides services to children, families
and communities organized across six service lines:
 Early Childhood Development and Child Care Services

10. 10
 Children and Youth with Special Needs Services
 Child Safety, Family Support and Children in Care Services
 Adoption Services
 Child and Youth Mental Health Services
 Youth Justice Services.
Across the province, service delivery is organized across 13 Service Delivery Areas (SDAs) and a
further 47 Local Service Areas (LSAs) (Appendix A).
Services provided to children and youth at times involves them coming into government care
and custody. In March 2012, 8,049 children and youth were in the care and custody of the
province: 44.5% were in temporary care and the remaining 56.5% were in permanent care
(Representative for Children and Youth, 2013, p. 2). While the overall number of children in
care in B.C. has declined from 9,237 in March 2008 to 8,049 in March 2012 (Representative for
Children and Youth, 2013, p. 12), the percentage of children in permanent care has remained
relatively stable at 57%, which indicates a struggle to achieve permanency for children in the
provision of children welfare services. In addition, 52% of children in care are Aboriginal,
despite representing only approximately 8% of the total child and youth population of B.C.
(Representative for Children and Youth, 2013b). Children and youth in care have distinctly
unique needs in relation to children and youth in the general population, which makes service
delivery that much more complex: they are more likely to have come from socially and
economically disadvantaged circumstances and to have experienced abuse and/or neglect
(British Columbia, 2006). As a result, children and youth in care are at a higher risk of poorer
outcomes. Permanency planning is crucial in mitigating those complexities and improving the
long-term outcomes for children and youth in care.
Several key reports released since 2012 have influenced and directed the permanency platform.
In May 2012, MCFD released the Operational and Strategic Directional Plan 2012/13–2014/15
(MCFD, 2012), which outlines the ministry’s approach and strategic direction for a three year
period. Included in the plan are the overarching organizational mission and value statements
(MCFD, 2012, p. 5):

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Table 1: Ministry of Children and Family Development Mission and Values
Mission
The Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD)
supports healthy child and family development through its
commitment to a collaborative professional practice delivered
across a range of quality services that strive to maximize the
potential of children and youth through achieving meaningful
outcomes for children, youth and families related to their
needs.
Values
The Ministry of Children and Family Development will deliver
these services in a respectful, compassionate, strengths-based
and culturally appropriate way and fully engage Aboriginal
and non-Aboriginal children, youth and families in successfully
meeting their developmental needs and goals.
A key focus of the Operational and Strategic Plan aligns with the Residential Review Project
Phase One Findings Report from June 2011. The Residential Review Project, the full and final
report of which was released in June 2012, was a joint review undertaken by MCFD and the
Federation of Community Social Services of BC to review residential care services provided by
MCFD with the desired outcome of identifying “opportunities to improve the experience and
life outcomes of children and youth who, for some reason, must live for a period of time in
MCFD operated or funded residential care placements” (Federation of Community Social
Services of BC and MCFD, 2012, p. 6). The report focused on MCFD’s role in shifting the
paradigm of child welfare from one that is purely focused on safety to one that expands to
include permanency as the most important planning goal when working with children, youth,
and families. Through comprehensive consultations with stakeholders and a literature review
on residential services for children and youth, the report revealed that achieving permanency
for children and youth needed to be made a priority by “integrating a ‘permanency mindset’
into assessments, planning processes, clinical supervision, training, etc” (Federation of
Community Social Services in BC & MCFD, p. 1).
The report recommends that in order to achieve permanency for children and youth, “MCFD
should enhance knowledge and understanding about permanency pathways and options”
(Federation of Community Social Services in BC & MCFD, 2012, p. 36). More specifically, the
report suggests that “staff, service providers, caregivers, community partners and family
members all need to be assisted to understand the many facets of permanency and how to

12. 12
achieve it in practice” and recommends action for a system-wide, cross-disciplinary /cross-
sectoral professional development permanency training program (p. 36).
In 2011 and 2012, MCFD led legislative and policy changes to strengthen a permanency
perspective. First, in 2011, amendments were made to the Child, Family and Community Service
Act, with the addition of section 54.01, which allows the ministry to apply for the permanent
transfer of custody of a child to a person other than the parent if the child is already under the
care of that person under a section 8 agreement or a temporary custody order. This
amendment allows the ministry to directly transfer permanent custody of a child, whereas the
ministry would have previously had to apply for a continuing custody order for the child,
thereby bringing the child into the permanent care of the ministry. Secondly, in 2012, the
ministry introduced new policy and procedures that provide more organizational expectations
for staff to be practising with both safety and permanency in mind.
Building on the momentum to improve outcomes for children and youth in MCFD care, the
Representative for Children and Youth released the report Much More than Paperwork: Proper
Planning Essential to Better Lives for B.C.’s Children in Care (Representative for Children and
Youth, 2013), which examined the lives of 100 children and youth in long-term MCFD care. The
report found “evidence of a lack of understanding about the importance and purpose of
comprehensive and regular planning and intervention for vulnerable children and youth” (RCY,
p. 3) and states that MCFD “must ensure that social workers receive training on how to conduct
proper assessment and planning, so that they understand the importance of developing
meaningful, relevant and accountable plans for the children and youth in their care” (p. 5).
In February 2013, the ministry’s Learning and Development department released its Learning
and Development Plan 2012/13–2014/15. As part of the department’s plan, a needs analysis of
training priorities was undertaken in consultation with ministry executives, directors, practice
consultants, and policy teams; permanency planning and kinship care was identified as a top
priority. A Ministry Training Model (Appendix B) was also presented, which provides a
conceptual framework for training in relation to experience and the associated core,
foundational, functional and advanced competencies both cross-ministry and discipline specific.
This scope and context sets the foundation for this project.

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2. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND OVERALL METHODOLOGY
Conceptual Framework
Non-profit organizations and public service organizations have not been immune to the current
state of the economy; they have been increasingly required to be both effective and efficient
and to do more with less. While being effective and efficient has historically focused on
financial systems and balanced budgets, public service organizations are also accountable for
providing services that are of increasing value for citizens as clients. It is therefore important
that there be a reflection on how the ministry creates value in the provision of services,
especially in relation to training for permanency planning. This ideal defined the conceptual
framework for this project, set the foundation, and directed the collection and analysis of data.
The conceptual framework therefore outlines the three main subject areas that are important
to the project: organizational development, permanency planning child welfare practice, and
adult education. These three areas are foundationally important to the understanding of the
issue and therefore the outcome of the project. It is the intersection of these three areas that
were the focus of the project.
Figure 1: Conceptual Framework
Organizational
development
Permanency
planning
child welfare
practice
Adult
education

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Overall Methodology
Institutional ethnography and grounded theory methodological approaches were used
throughout the development of this project. As a methodological approach, institutional
ethnography focuses attention on social relationships (Campbell & Gregor, 2002), the data
collected “is used to discover and illuminate linkages within and across boundaries of settings”
(Campbell & Gregor, 2002, p. 79), and analysis “is about making particular meaning from the
data” (p. 86). Meanwhile, a grounded theory method “emphasizes the process of analysis and
the development of theoretical categories, rather than focusing solely on the results of the
inquiry” (Charmaz, 2008, p. 155) by minimizing preconceived ideas about the research problem
and data and remaining open to the exploration of varied explanations or understandings of
the data (Charmaz, 2008). In terms of the conceptual framework of the intersection of
organizational development, permanency planning child welfare practice, and adult education,
institutional ethnography and grounded theory presented approaches that could highlight the
exploration of linkages or relationships between the three themes.
In addition, institutional ethnography and grounded theory methodological approaches capture
the unique position of the researcher. Instead of presenting the researcher as separate and
disconnected from the subject of inquiry, institutional ethnography identifies the researcher’s
ways of knowing as crucial to the inquiry and connects the researcher to the relationships
needed to make an ethical inquiry.1
In grounded theory methodology, a systematic inductive,
comparative and interactive approach and process of analysis keeps researchers interacting
with their data and emerging analyses (Charmaz, 2008). The validation and acceptance of these
complexities framed the way in which this project’s researcher approached the inquiry and
searched for potential solutions.
The methodology for this project included a literature review, review of MCFD permanency
planning training, and qualitative interviews with internal and external stakeholders. The
literature review is based on academic and grey literature on organization development,
permanency planning child welfare practice, and adult education. Searches were conducted
through the University of Victoria’s online library and the Internet. The search words included
1
As a researcher, I cannot stand apart from what I know, my own experiences, and what I have learned about the
world. My experiences and knowledge, both in social work theory and frontline child welfare practice, as well as
my exposure to training programs, public administration and organization development while at the provincial
office of the Ministry of Children and Family Development highlight for me the complexities involved. My past
educational experiences include a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in sociology, and a Bachelor of Social Work with a
child welfare specialization. My past professional experiences include various child welfare roles such as an intake
and investigation worker, a family services worker, and a guardianship worker. My current education experience
consists of coursework towards a Master in Public Administration. My current professional experience includes a
role as a provincial learning consultant, primarily in the areas of permanency planning and Indigenous cultural
competency.

15. 15
topics that were focused on the intersection of organization development, child welfare and
permanency planning, and adult education.
The review of MCFD training is based on information that was provided by the Ministry of
Children and Family Development regarding its in-house training programs. Because of the
limited scope of this project, and at the request of the client, an in-depth review on content and
design was reserved solely for two training programs: Role of the Guardian and the Adoption
Worker Training Program.
Qualitative interviews were conducted with 14 participants who have organizational
development, permanency planning child welfare practice service delivery and/or adult
education experience and expertise.2
A decision was made to conduct interviews in order to
gain more insight into the direct experiences from a variety of different perspectives from those
who are working within the child welfare system and to illuminate connections and
disconnections within the broader setting of the permanency planning/child welfare
environment.
2
A more detailed description of interview participants is located in the Methodology section of Chapter 4.

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3. LITERATURE REVIEW
Organizational Development
Organizational development is a “system wide process of planned change aimed toward
improving overall organization effectiveness by way of enhanced congruence of such key
organization dimensions as external environment, mission, strategy, leadership, culture,
structure, information and reward systems, and work policies and procedures” (Bradford &
Burke, 2005, p. 12). In order to sustain and improve organizational development, Lowe (2010)
makes a compelling case that the “future prosperity [of an organization] will be powered by a
healthy, energized, and capable workforce” (2010, p. xiii). Lowe explains that positive
organizational culture and inclusive leadership are the building blocks that strengthen the link
between people and performance, creating a work environment where trust is generated and
employees feel valued and inspired. In order to foster inspired employees, organizations must
create “opportunities [for employees] to learn, collaborate and contribute” (Lowe, 2010, p. 33):
fostering a learning culture is a central component of the inspired employee and critical to an
organization’s success and sustainability (Gill, 2010, p. xi).
However, in terms of organizational development, individual learning is not the end goal;
learning must transcend the individual and take on a collaborative quality where teams
generate and share new knowledge, engage in critical thinking that is system focused, and
promote innovation on an organizational level (Gill, 2010). It is this important link between
individual and team learning that fosters overall organizational learning and drives
organizational improvements and transformation; all learning should be intentional and
consistent with organizational strategic planning (Gill, 2010; Buckley & Caple, 2004; Collins et
al., 2007).
The greatest challenge in fostering organizational learning may be in identifying the
opportunities and barriers for learning and training within the complexity of the child welfare
environment, the climate of organizational change, and ongoing fiscal constraints. Morrison
(1997) discusses the child welfare environment, highlighting the anxiety which permeates from
the individual experience (both to practitioners, and clients), to professional networks, to the
organizational level which can result in emotional defensiveness, polarization of attitudes, and
struggles for dominance and control. In turn, these processes impact the learning environment,
with the risk of creating a dysfunctional learning environment which concentrates on what
people must do, rather than a focus on the importance of process and reflective insight into
how and why work should be done (Morrison, 1997). In a dysfunctional learning environment,
the effects on learners can result in ambivalence or hostility to training, negative projections

17. 17
about authority, lack of personal safety, reduced optimism about being able to apply learning
back to the workplace and an overall lack of engagement (Morrison, 1997).
The current organizational context of child welfare practice also presents opportunities for
learning and improvement. Central to this improvement is generating creative opportunities for
meaning-making and understanding, both on individual, team, and organizational levels by “re-
examining our assumptions and practices, the relationship between our internal and external
worlds, in ways that can enable new insights and connections to be made about our knowledge,
strengths, resources and sense of self efficacy” (Morrison, 1997, p. 27). In the current
environment of fluctuations and transformation, “training has a key role to play in the
management of change” (Morrison, 1997, p. 28), so long as it can balance the tension between
service users’ needs, contribute towards achieving organizational goals, and meet the
development needs of staff.
In order to ensure an organization’s success, organizations must create opportunities for
employees to learn, collaborate and contribute. Fostering an inspirational learning culture and
providing training that bridges individual learning to broader team learning and ultimately
overall organizational learning can present a meaningful venue for both creating and managing
change. However, as mentioned, learning in an organizational context must balance the needs
of those receiving services as well as the learners and be intentional and consistent with
organizational goals and planning.
Permanency Planning Child Welfare Practice
For the purposes of this report, permanency planning practice refers to process by which
permanency, or stability and well-being, is achieved for children and youth through family
preservation, kinship care or adoption. Permanency planning practice is also a component of
child welfare practice, which is associated with general social work practice.3
As such, this
report makes reference to social work practice, especially within the literature review.
According to the Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW), social work and social work
practice can be defined as:
3
While child welfare is predominantly associated with social work practice, MCFD also employs a variety of other
professional backgrounds for child welfare practice positions: Bachelor or Masters degrees in Social Work,
Bachelor degree in Child and Youth Care, Masters degree in Clinical Psychology, and Masters degree in Education
Counselling. However, since literature aligns social work practice with child welfare, this report will use social work
practice concepts. This is not meant to overlook other professions, but is rather a reflection of the limited scope of
this project.

18. 18
A profession concerned with helping individuals, families, groups and
communities to enhance their individual and collective well-being. It aims to help
people develop their skills and their ability to use their own resources and those
of the community to resolve problems. Social work is concerned with individual
and personal problems but also with broader social issues such as poverty,
unemployment and domestic violence. The uniqueness of social work practice is
in the blend of some particular values, knowledge and skills, including the use of
relationship as the basis of all interventions and respect for the client’s choice
and involvement (CASW, 2013).
Given this description, it is crucial to provide attention to the different components of practice -
the values, knowledge, and skills- in order to fully understand practice. The sections below will
address each of these components in greater detail, with a specific focus on their application to
permanency planning for children and youth.
Values in practice.
Values can be described as desirable principles, qualities, and ideals that strengthen
professional practice. The CASW (2005) also outlines a series of core values and associated
principles as a foundation for social work practice, shown in Table 2.
Table 2: Canadian Association of Social Workers Core Values and Principles for Professional
Practice
Value Principles
1 Respect for Inherent Dignity and Worth
of Persons
Human rights
self-determination
respect for diversity
2 Pursuit of Social Justice  Advocacy for fair and equitable access to
services
3 Service to Humanity Use of power and authority in responsible ways that
service the needs of clients and the promotion of
social justice
4 Integrity of Professional Practice Honesty
Reliability
Impartiality
Diligence
Openness and transparency

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Table 2: Canadian Association of Social Workers Core Values and Principles for Professional
Practice (Continued)
Value Principles
5 Confidentiality in Professional Practice TrustRespect
Transparency
6 Competence in Professional Practice High quality service
Maintain and increase professional knowledge and
skill
Due care
Practice values aim to uphold the human rights of individuals and groups. These values have
also been influenced and impacted by the value positions of normative standards cited in
legislation and international agreements such as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
(1982) and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948).
In 1990, Canada signed the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child, a formal
recognition that children and youth are entitled to human rights. The Convention defines the
basic human rights of all children through 54 articles, organized in the following main
categories: guiding principles, survival and development rights, protection rights, and
participation rights. While all of the articles are important, there are some that are particularly
salient when considering permanency planning social work practice:
 Best interest of the child (article 3)
 Right to preservation of identity (article 8)
 Respect for the view of the child (article 12)
 Freedom of thought, conscience and religion (article 14)
 Right to learn about and practice their own culture, language and religion for Indigenous
or minority children (article 30)
 The importance of restoring the health, self-respect and dignity of children who have
been neglected, abused or exploited (article 39).
When it comes to children in the care of the province of British Columbia, values in social work
practice are also bound by the section 70 of the Child, Family, and Community Service Act which
states that children in care have the following rights:

20. 20
 to be fed, clothed and nurtured according to community standards and to be given the
same quality of care as other children in the placement
 to be informed about their plans of care
 to be consulted and to express their views, according to their abilities, about significant
decisions affecting them
 to reasonable privacy and to possession of their personal belongings
 to be free from corporal punishment
 to be informed of the standard of behaviour expected by their caregivers and of the
consequences of not meeting their caregivers' expectations
 to receive medical and dental care when required
 to participate in social and recreational activities if available and appropriate and
according to their abilities and interests
 to receive the religious instruction and to participate in the religious activities of their
choice
 to receive guidance and encouragement to maintain their cultural heritage
 to be provided with an interpreter if language or disability is a barrier to consulting with
them on decisions affecting their custody or care
 to privacy during discussions with members of their families, subject to subsection (2)
 to privacy during discussions with a lawyer, the representative or a person employed or
retained by the representative under the Representative for Children and Youth Act, the
Ombudsperson, a member of the Legislative Assembly or a member of Parliament
 to be informed about and to be assisted in contacting the representative under the
Representative for Children and Youth Act, or the Ombudsperson
 to be informed of their rights, and the procedures available for enforcing their rights,
under this Act, or the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
Values act as the foundation of social work practice and are guides used in decision making
processes (Clayton, 2013). Respecting the dignity of others, pursuing social justice, and
practicing with integrity, confidentiality and competence have been identified as desirable
principles and ideals in social work practice. Advocating and upholding human rights is of
inherent importance, especially when working with vulnerable individuals and groups; this is
particularly important when considering working with vulnerable children and youth.

21. 21
Knowledge in practice.
Knowledge can be described as the information, awareness or understanding that one receives
from experience or education. Knowledge in the human sciences is dynamic; as human kind
experiences, reflects and responds to the ever-changing social environment, as do theories,
philosophies, models and concepts. Practice in permanency planning is no different, with an
incredible amount of research which has influenced practice over the past few decades.
In the past, permanency planning has dealt primarily with the concept of legal permanence.
However, the current concept of permanency also addresses the relational and physical
concepts of permanency (Residential Review Phase One, Federation of BC Youth in Care
Network, 2010) where relational permanency requires strong, lasting connections with people
and organizations that provide positive commitment to children and youth, and where physical
safety involves creating a safe, stable, healthy and lasting living arrangement. A fourth concept
of cultural permanency has also been incorporated which highlights the importance of a
continuous connection to family, tradition, race, ethnicity, culture, language and religion.
Through an extensive community consultation process and literature review, the Residential
Review Phase One Findings Report (2011) identified three crucial knowledge areas that are
important to support the permanency for children and youth. Firstly, practice must be able to
identify opportunities for permanency throughout the child welfare process from assessment
to placement planning through effective: information sharing with family and community;
placement matching; transition planning; plans of care; and concurrent placement. Secondly,
practice must be based in knowledge that supports children and youth through specific topics
such as: child development; mental health; substance abuse; dual diagnosis; health concerns;
supporting learning disabilities and developmental delays; sexual exploitation; impact of
domestic violence; supporting teenage mothers; youth agreements; family support and
connection; life skills; and preparation for adulthood. Thirdly, practice must be grounded in
relational specific topics: inclusionary participation for children, youth and families; cultural
competency; trauma; attachment; working collaboratively; and advocacy.
The Representative for Children and Youth (RCY) also highlights the need for higher service
delivery outcomes for Aboriginal children in care (2013). The RCY notes that “extensive training
is required for workers to be able to write effective cultural plans and develop strategies that
help preserve the child’s unique identity and maintain cultural connections to their community”
(p. 54) with the necessity that “Aboriginal communities be actively involved with cultural
planning” (p. 55).

22. 22
Carrière (2007, 2010, and 2011) also emphasizes the inconsistent approach to cultural planning
and the lack of training or educational support in knowing how to develop and maintain a
cultural plan for Aboriginal children. Carrière states that “cultural planning starts at the time a
child comes into care, not at the time of adoption” (2011, p. 27) and that “in adoption, [cultural
planning] is a critical component of recruitment and training of adoptive families” (2011, p. 22).
Carrière has provided recommendations for permanency planning for Indigenous children and
youth: the ministry and Aboriginal agencies need to coordinate to provide cultural outreach to
non-Aboriginal adoptive families on a more personal basis than what currently exists (2007);
there is a need for increased connection between workers, families and Aboriginal communities
(2010) ; and stability, recovering identity, connection to birth family and cultural planning are
important to Indigenous children and youth in the child welfare system (2011).
Aboriginal Elders in Indigenous communities also emphasize the importance of developing
appropriate cultural planning and permanency planning for Aboriginal children and youth who
are either in care or at risk of coming into care. The Sasamans Society on the northern end of
Vancouver Island has held several Elders Gatherings and has summarized the Elders’ key
teachings on traditional family law and parenting children: identity, pride, togetherness, history
and stories, food and medicine gathering, discipline and equality (2012, 2013). The Elders
shared suggestions for the ministry to ensure children’s safety and care such as the importance
of cross-cultural training, connection with family and communities, participation in traditional
practices, and removal of barriers for Aboriginal communities to be involved as leaders in the
care of their children.
Brendtro, Brokenleg & Van Bockern (2002) introduced The Circle of Courage model based on
traditional Native American child rearing philosophies and the work on self-concept in
childhood by Stanley Coopersmith. The Circle of Courage proposes the concepts of belonging,
mastery, independence, and generosity as the central values in creating positive outcomes for
children and youth. Belonging is related to the worldview of community where all belong to
one another and focuses on relationships whether by family, kinship, community and expressed
across generations and roles. Mastery is concerned with developing cognitive, physical, social
and spiritual competence through listening, observing, creativity and acknowledgement of the
skills of others. Independence is related to be value of individual freedom and internal
discipline, guided by the principle of guidance without interference; Elders teach values and
provide models and the child is given increasing opportunities to learn to make choices without
coercion. Generosity is concerned with the core value of sharing and community responsibility
through all aspects of life. While the model is of cultural significance to Indigenous people,
Brendtro et al. suggest that the values are also “a cultural birthright for all the world’s children”
(2002, p. 45) and therefore relevant for all children and youth regardless of culture or ethnicity.

23. 23
Knowledge is the information, awareness or understanding that one receives from education or
experience. The literature review revealed key knowledge areas that are important to
permanency planning practice: knowledge on how to identify opportunities for permanency
within the child welfare process; knowledge on specific topics that support children and youth;
knowledge on using relational practice to support permanency planning; and knowledge of
cultural planning, especially in terms supporting Aboriginal children and youth.
Skills in practice.
A skill can be considered to be the ability to perform an activity and is driven and influenced by
the combination of values and knowledge unique to each individual. In terms of skills necessary
in practice, the research and discussion is considerable and varied. Therefore, due to the
limited scope of this project, this section will be limited to the skills identified by the Ministry of
Children and Family Development as well as emerging focus on critical thinking skills.
The Ministry of Children and Family Development uses the Helping Relationships model (British
Columbia, 2013) which is informed by a large and growing body of research on common
features of helping relationships in psychotherapy and counselling relationships. The premise of
the Helping Relationship is to identify the necessary interpersonal skills which enable the
worker to engage meaningfully with the client, since communication skills are fundamental to
practice (Forrester et al, 2008). The model identifies the following skills and actions to establish
a foundation for trust as well as physical, emotional and cultural safety:
 friendliness, warmth, concern, empathy, positive regard, genuineness and patience
when engaging with children, youth, families, and community
 client-focused practice of asking about values, beliefs, worldview
 focusing on strength-based, solution-oriented, collaborative practice
 validating and celebrating a client’s efforts towards change.
Critical thinking skills have also become a focus in practice and are considered to be an integral
component in effective decision making (Gibbons & Gray, 2004; Lietz, 2009; Carey & McCardle,
2011; Alter & Egan, 1997; Mumm & Kersting, 1997). The notion of critical thinking skills in child
welfare practice is particularly important as practitioners deal with a myriad of different
contextual factors which influence decision making. Clayton (2013) explains the complexities
inherent in child welfare practice:

24. 24
Decisions in the field of child welfare are complex and filled with emotion. To
work in this field, individuals must be committed to advocating for their clients
and enter into relationships without judgement. Social workers struggle to
maintain this focus within the bureaucracy where they work. The issues of
workload, budgets, and lack of resources force social workers to be creative and
imaginative in their work to keep children safe and families intact. Workers
struggle with their fears for the children and families, and for themselves. They
are asked to assess and focus on risk, though their mandate is to protect children
and keep families together. With more experience, they can slow things down
and be creative; however, an emotional toll can threaten to overwhelm them (p.
129).
As Gibbons and Gray note, “when we encourage students to think critically, we are inviting
them to think creatively, to come up with new ideas and innovative ways of solving problems
and we are preparing them for the ambiguities and complexities of social work practice” (2004,
p. 22). In her influential report The Munro Review of Child Protection, Munro (2011)
underscores the “unavoidable degree of uncertainty involved in making child protection
decision making, and the impossibility of eradicating
that uncertainty” (p. 15). Morrison (1997) highlights
the need for an organizational culture in which
“thinking and feeling, and not just ‘doing’ are
legitimized and used in the organization’s whole
approach to problem-solving” (p. 33). Stokes (2011)
also highlights the need to balance objective and
subjective knowledge in order to avoid discounting
the uniqueness of each situation and ignoring the
“emotional complexity of people’s lives and the use
of self in practice” (p. 4). Stokes continues to develop
this insight by reflecting that “our behaviour is not
simply driven by our cognitive, intellectual processes;
our behaviour is a result of a complex interaction of the ‘doing’ behaviour, our ‘thinking’ at the
time, our ‘feeling’ or emotional reaction, and our ‘physiological’ experiences” (p. 7). Current
research findings into decision making among child welfare practitioners reinforces this theory
where it was revealed that child welfare practitioners in British Columbia use a combination of
rational and intuitive decision making for both crisis and non-crisis situations (Clayton, 2013).
The Representative for Children and Youth (RCY), in their report “Much More than Paperwork;
Proper Planning Essential to Better Lives for B.C.’s Children in Care” (2013) recommended that
Our behaviour is a result of a
complex interaction of the
‘doing’ behaviour, our
‘thinking’ at the time, our
‘feeling’ or emotional
reaction, and our
‘physiological’ experiences
(Stokes, 2011).

25. 25
practitioners “receive training on how to conduct proper assessments and planning, so that
they understand the importance of developing meaningful, relevant and accountable plans for
the children and youth in their care” (p. 5). In particular, the RCY pointed out that that plans of
care are intended to be an assessment and planning tool where the information should be
analyzed, with appropriate written measurable outcomes attached to goals and objectives;
without these crucial pieces of work, a plan of care “is simply a status report” (p. 83). In
addition, the RCY noted that through their focus groups with youth in care, youth suggested
that practitioners should: ask youth to be more involved; be more open-minded to ideas the
youth have; ask youth who they want to invite to share in their planning; and most significantly,
highlight a youth’s strengths since “youth were interested to know what people saw in them
than they couldn’t see for themselves” (p. 72). The RCY summarized the above points by stating
that “good planning should help catch issues fairly early, find suitable supports and monitor
progress through a meaningful relationship with a child who has a voice in his or her own life
circumstances” (p. 87). This is an example of the importance of the need for the simultaneous
use of relational skills and critical thinking skills in practice with children and youth.
Skills are considered to be the ability to perform an activity and are driven and influenced by
the combination of values and knowledge unique to each individual. The literature review
revealed two important skills which are crucial in permanency planning practice: relational skills
and critical thinking skills. Relational skills are the interpersonal communication skills that
establish a foundation for trust as well as physical, emotional and cultural safety and enable a
practitioner to engage meaningfully with others. Critical thinking skills are the ability to balance
objective or rational knowledge and the subjective or intuitive knowledge in the process of
planning and decision making. The use of relation skills and critical thinking skills simultaneously
is seen as critical when practitioners are making meaningful and relevant plans for, and with,
children and youth.
Adult Education
Educational and learning theories.
Theories can be understood as the general principles or ideas that relate to a particular subject
(merriam-webster.com, 2013). With regards to adult education, andragogy4
has emerged as a
relatively new theoretical model and in contrast to the traditional theoretical model of
pedagogy (based on the meaning “leading children”). Knowles (1970) identified that the
educational theory of andragogy is based on four crucial assumptions about the characteristics
4
Andragogy refers to the methods or techniques used to teach adults.

26. 26
of adult learners that are different from the assumption on which traditional pedagogy is
based:
1. That as they mature, their self-concept moves from one of being a dependent
personality toward being a self-directed human being
2. That they accumulate a growing reservoir of experience that becomes an increasingly
rich resource for learning
3. Their readiness to learn becomes oriented increasingly to the developmental tasks of
their social roles, and
4. Their time perspective changes from one of postponed application of knowledge to
immediacy of application and accordingly, their orientation toward learning shifts from
one of subject-centredness to one of performance-centredness (p. 44–45).
In terms of education, learning theories have also evolved throughout the ages, with the
development of four main learning theories: behaviourist learning theory; cognitive learning
theory; constructive theory of learning; and humanistic learning theory. In behaviourist learning
theory, based on the works by Thorndike, Watson and Skinner, learning is based on “stimulus-
response” connections where the learner is passive and responding to the environmental
stimuli. Learning systems centred on behaviourist theories are based on the analysis of the task
and the establishment of clear and specific learning objectives (Knowles, 1970).
Cognitive theories of learning, based on the works of Bruner and Gagne, took the behaviourist
learning theories one step further, viewing the learner as an active participant in the processing
of information. In cognitive theories of learning, learning systems also incorporate the learner’s
cognitive abilities and internal mental processes, with the goal of building objective knowledge
and overall cognitive development.
Constructive theories of learning, based on the works of Vygotsky, Piaget and Dewey, view
learning as an active, constructive process where learners are actively building their knowledge
through prior knowledge which has both objective and subjective qualities. In constructivism,
learning must be connected to the student and reflect a connection to an actual life problem
and this connection “can only be achieved through experimentation, real problem solving, and
construction of solutions through learner activities” (Garrison, Neubert & Reich, 2012, p. 12). In
addition, in order for learning to occur, students must be actively engaged in the learning
process in a way that provides for a meaningful experience: “One of the most important
principles of educational psychology is that teachers cannot simply give students knowledge.
Students must construct knowledge in their own minds” (Slavin, 2006, p. 243 as cited in
Garrison, Neibert & Reich, 2012, p. 18).

27. 27
Humanistic learning theories, based on the works of Maslow, Rogers and Knowles, are based on
the assumption that learning is a personal act to fulfill one’s own potential where learning is
meant to enhance human development, well-being, and dignity (Aloni, 2011). Humanistic
learning theories view learners in a holistic sense and recognize the role of both cognitive and
affective learning. MacKeracher (2004) has also referred to the subjective, intuitive experiences
as the “spirit and soul in learning” where “the experience of soul is inward looking and allows
the individual to find inner completeness […and…] the experience of spirit is outward looking
and allows the individual to connect to relationships and realities beyond the immediacy of
body and mind” (p. 172). This philosophy is similar to the traditional Aboriginal teachings where
the person is made up of four parts: the spirit, the heart, the mind, and the body and where the
four parts help the person to see, feel, know, and do (BC Aboriginal Child Care Society, 2010). It
is within these holistic perspectives that connectedness is emphasized and where
transformative or transformational learning originates. Dirkx (1997 as quoted in Collins et al.,
2007) also describes transformational learning as “learning through soul” with a “focus on the
interface where the socio-emotional and the intellectual world meet, where the inner and
outer worlds converge” (p. 80). Transformative learning is also seen as set apart from other
forms of learning in its focus on modifying the way people see themselves and their world and
not just on the acquisition of knowledge or skills (Collins et al, 2007).
Mezirow (2000, as quoted in Collins et al., 2007) found several key factors of the learning
environment which were critical to fostering transformational learning: awareness,
understanding, and analysis of one’s own frame of reference; experiencing a disorienting
dilemma; critical reflection; and dialogue with others. In addition, Taylor (2000 as quoted in
(Collins et al., 2007) reviewed forty-six studies examining transformational learning, the results
of which are summarized in Table 3.
Table 3: Key Influencing Factors for Fostering Transformational Learning
Instructional methods and
skills
Specific learner needs Learning activities
Instructional methods that
support a learner-centred
approach
Encouraging learner
autonomy, participation, and
collaboration
Activities that encourage
exploration of alternative
personal perspectives via
problem solving and critical
reflection

28. 28
Table 3: Key Influencing Factors for Fostering Transformational Learning (Continued)
Cranton and King (2003) suggested practical strategies for integrating transformational
learning into the training environment: the use of intriguing cases and starting questions to
help learners debate the philosophical and practical aspects of their role, probe unspoken
assumptions, and analyze consequences of decisions; have learners apply learned materials to
their work while still in the learning environment; and engage learners in critical theory
discussions to build critical thinking skills.
While learning theories have evolved, constructive and humanistic learning theories align with
the learning necessary for the complex environment of child welfare and permanency planning.
Within the constructive and humanistic theories, learning is understood to be an active,
constructive process that recognizes the role of both cognitive and affective learning while also
emphasizing the impact of transformation learning. Furthermore, attention to instructional
methods and skills, learner needs, and learning activities are crucial to foster transformational
learning.
Learning models and approaches.
Learning models and approaches are both numerous and varied. No single model or approach
will likely fit the complex environment of learning and education for child welfare workers.
However, there are some models that appear to fit the philosophical base of the social work
profession more than others. Due to the limited scope of this project, this report focuses on
Bloom’s Taxonomy or Learning Domains, the ANISA Model of Education and Learner-Centred
approaches.
Bloom’s taxonomy of learning domains.
Bloom’s Taxonomy (Bloom et al., 1956) and Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy (Anderson et al., 2001)
are well known for identifying three learning domains that are important in terms of individual
Instructional methods and
skills
Specific learner needs Learning activities
Instructors who promote a
sense of safety, openness and
trust
Having an opportunity to
discuss and work through
emotions prior to moving
onto critical reflection
Providing learners with
experiential, hands on
learning activities
Instructors who demonstrate
a high level of integrity
Having dissonance and
conflict addressed in the
learning group
Feedback to learners and
opportunities for learner self-
assessment

29. 29
learning: the cognitive domain (knowing and thinking); the affective domain (feeling and
attitudes); and the psychomotor domain (doing and skills).
Bloom’s Taxonomy was chosen as a focus due to its alignment with the constructive learning
theory where learning is a product of a building of knowledge, and humanistic learning theory
which emphasizes the important role of both cognitive and affective learning. In Bloom’s
Taxonomy, the cognitive and affective domains have associated skills which are intended to
occur along a hierarchy (much like the underlying the theory of constructive learning discussed
in the previous section). For cognitive skills, Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy (Anderson & Krathwohl,
2001) orders the following skills on a progressive, hierarchical level from: remembering,
understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating. The affective domain orders the
skills on a progressive, hierarchical level from: receiving (awareness), responding
(demonstrating new behaviour), valuing (demonstrating commitment), organizing (integrating a
new value), and characterization by value (acting consistently with the new value). The
psychomotor domain describes the progressive skills of physically manipulating a tool or
instrument: perception (awareness); set (readiness to act); guided response (imitation);
mechanism (intermediate skill- habitual); complex overt response (skillful- complex); adaptation
(modification); origination (creating). Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy is summarized in Table 4.
Table 4: Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy of Learning Domains
Increasing skill
Origination
Creating Adaptation
Evaluating Characterization
(acting consistently)
Complex overt
response
Analyzing Organizing
(integrating)
Mechanism
Applying Valuing (committing_ Guided response
Understanding Responding Set
Remembering Receiving (awareness) Perception
(awareness)
Cognitive domain Affective domain Psychomotor domain
While the cognitive domain is the most well-known, since education typically stresses the
acquisition of intellectual skills, the affective domains are equally important (Brown, 1999, p. 1).
Essentially, as individuals progress through their learning through both cognitive and affection

30. 30
domains, “knowledge and skills are not simply learned, but acquire personal meaning” (Brown,
1999, p. 4).
Anisa model.
The Anisa model, based on the works of Jordan and Streets, is an educational philosophy
“derived from theory of development which [...] defines development as the process of
translating potentiality into actuality and designates interaction with the environment as the
means by which the process is sustained” (Jordan and Streets, 1973, p. 297). The Anisa model
includes five categories of human potential, defined in terms of competencies:
1. Psycho-motor competence: the capacity to coordinate, control and direct the
movement and position of the voluntary muscles
2. Perceptual competence: the capacity to differentiate sensory information and then
integrate that information into generalizable patterns which constitute interpretations
of reality that enable meaningful decisions and actions
3. Cognitive competence: the ability to differentiate aspects of thought, integrate them
into logical patterns, and generalize them to solve problems, form concepts or generate
new ideas
4. Affective competence: the ability to organize one’s emotions and feelings that energize
the system and support in a positive manner the release of further potentiality
5. Volitional competence: the ability to develop a sense of purpose that provides criteria
for making choices among a variety of possibilities and enables one to achieve an
intrinsic motivation of the will (Jordan & Streets, 1973).
Brown (2004) positioned the five competencies to represent a holistic model in Figure 2, where
volitional competence is centred in the middle and can be interpreted as the will or self-
determination that makes a person who they are. While all the competencies are
interconnected, volitional competence plays a key role in determining the potentiality of the
other surrounding competencies.

31. 31
Figure 2: Brown’s holistic model of learner competencies
The development of affective competencies is a very important aspect of the Anisa model
where “emotions are a feedback system that evaluates the expression of energy toward
viability” (Brown, 2004, p. 68). By expressing and organizing emotion, values are developed and
over time reinforced to predispose one to respond in a particular way to aspects of the
environment.
The Anisa model represents a holistic educational philosophy that aligns with the theory of
humanistic learning. In addition, it aligns itself well with the components of organizational
development and permanency planning child welfare practice discussed in previous sections,
where the perceptual, affective, cognitive and psychomotor competencies align with the
values, knowledge and skills of social work practice and the volitional competence aligns with
the importance of creating opportunities that trigger inspiration and transformative change,
both for the individual, team and organization.
Learner-centred.
There has been a fundamental shift in educational theories and instructional approaches over
the past twenty years, from one that is instructor-centred to one that is learner-centred. While
instructor-centred teaching focuses on one-way transfer of information where the instructor is
the source of learning, the learner-centred approach focuses on the student’s needs, abilities
and learning styles while emphasizing “the student as the main agent of learning” (Hansen &
Volitional
Competence
(Self-
Determination)
Cognitive
Competence
(Mental)
Perceptual
Competence
(Spiritual)
Affective
Competence
(Emotional)
Psycho-
motor
Competence
(Physical)

32. 32
Stephen, 2000, p. 41). In learner-centred approaches, the traditional role of the teacher as an
instructor gives way to a facilitative and collaborative role with students in the learning process.
In 1997, the American Psychological Association’s Board of Educational Affairs released a list of
14 learner-centred psychological principles as a response to research advances that show that
“our understanding of thinking, memory, and motivational processes can contribute directly to
improvement in teaching, learning, and the whole enterprise of schooling” (American
Psychological Association, 1997, p. 1).
1. The learning of complex subject matter is most effective when it is an intentional
process of constructing meaning from information and experience.
2. The successful learner, over time and with support and instructional guidance, can
create meaningful, coherent representations of knowledge.
3. The successful learner can link new information with existing knowledge in meaningful
ways.
4. The successful learner can create and use a repertoire of thinking and reasoning
strategies to achieve complex learning goals.
5. Higher order strategies for selecting and monitoring mental operations facilitate
creative and critical thinking.
6. Learning is influenced by environmental factors, including culture, technology, and
instructional practices.
7. What and how much is learned is influenced by motivation.
8. The learner’s creativity, higher order thinking, and natural curiosity all contribute to
motivation to learn.
9. Acquisition of complex knowledge and skills requires extended learner effort and guided
practice.
10. As individuals develop, there are different opportunities and constraints for learning.
11. Learning is influenced by social interactions, interpersonal relations, and communication
with others.
12. Learners have different strategies, approaches, and capacities for learning that are a
function of prior experience and heredity.
13. Learning is most effective when differences in learners’ linguistic, cultural, and social
backgrounds are taken into account.

33. 33
14. Setting appropriately high and challenging standards and assessing the learner as well
learning progress are integral parts of the learning process.
Learner-centred approaches are well aligned with constructive and humanistic learning
theories, as well as with the Anisa educational model. Learners remain at the centre, and their
own volition or motivation is crucial in the learning process. Since the learner’s needs, abilities
and learning styles are the focus, other elements take on a supportive, facilitative role. These
other elements, such as instructional practices, technology, and culture directly influence the
learner and should be positioned to encourage, guide, and support creative and critical thinking
and construct meaning from each learner’s experience. The next section highlights how
instructional design approaches can facilitate a learner-centred approach.
Instructional design approaches.
Instructional design is the practice of creating instructional experiences which make the
acquisition of knowledge and skill more efficient, effective and appealing for learners. The most
common instructional design model is the ADDIE model, which outlines five phases involved in
instructional design:
1. Analyze: Gather information, understand the big picture and the project’s overall goals.
2. Design: Identify learning objectives, key components of the course content, and key
work tasks.
3. Develop: Create content and learning activities.
4. Implement: Deliver course to intended audience.
5. Evaluate: An iterative process of instructional design involved throughout the previous
four stages to assess the project and make revisions as necessary.
While the ADDIE model represents a development model for instructional design, blended
learning has also been introduced as design approach that addresses the ways in which course
content can be delivered through a combination of face-to-face and online delivery
methodologies to optimize learning experiences. Through the combined and thoughtful use of
face-to-face and online learning delivery methodologies, blended learning represents “a
fundamental redesign that transforms the structure of, and approach to, teaching and learning”
(Garrison & Vaughan, 2008, p. 5). Garrison and Vaughan (2008) note three key assumptions of
well designed blended learning model: thoughtfully integrating face-to-face and online leaning;
fundamentally rethinking the course design to optimize student engagement; and restructuring
and replacing traditional class contact hours. These three key statements distinctly reinforce
that blended learning is most effective when the combination of classroom and online delivery

34. 34
methodologies, are united in a way that “can significantly
enhance the learning experience” (Garrison & Vaughan,
2008, p. 3).
Blended learning approaches and the use of technology
provide several advantages for learners. Garrison and
Anderson (2003) note that online learning can: (1) facilitate
critical discourse and meaningful learning experiences in a
convenient and cost-effective manner; (2) provide the
connectivity and reflective freedom essential for critical
and creative thinking and learning; and (3) provide a
dynamic and sustained community of learners engaged in
actively constructing meaning and confirming knowledge.
The advantages of a blended learning design are
particularly salient when it comes to continuing education courses that are not easily accessible
to working professionals due to time and geographic barriers.
At the same time, Garrison and Vaughan (2008) remark that “online learning cannot easily
replace the advantages and the need of learners to connect verbally in real time and in
contiguous space” (p. 163). Therefore, Garrison & Vaughan (2008) have recommended a
Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework that addresses three core and interdependent
components to enhance the effectiveness of blended learning: social presence, cognitive
presence, and teaching presence. Social presence reflects the learner’s need to establish
personal relationships and sense of belonging to the learning community through open and
meaningful communication, cohesive responses and affective/personal connections (Garrison &
Vaughan, 2008) built on trust and the creation of purposeful relationships.
Cognitive presence “is a recursive process that encompasses states of puzzlement, information
exchange, connection of ideas, creation of concepts, and the testing of viability of solutions”
(Garrison & Vaughan, 2008, p. 22). In addition, Garrison & Vaughan (2008) remark that in order
to ensure cognitive presence, learners must have opportunities for personal reflection and
group collaboration. This is the major advantage of a blended learning community of inquiry
framework; the combination of face-to-face learning where learners collaborate, coupled with
online learning that offers more time for personal reflection provides an improved learning
environment to achieve higher-order learning outcomes (Garrison & Vaughan, 2008).
The final element of a CoI to support effective blended learning is teaching presence which is
essential to connecting the social and cognitive presence elements and ensuring productivity.
Through the combined and
thoughtful use of face-to-face
and online learning delivery
methodologies, blended
learning represents a
fundamental redesign that
transforms the structure of
and approach to teaching and
learning (Garrison and
Vaughan, 2008).

35. 35
Teaching presence confirms the curriculum as well as moderates, guides and focuses
discussions and tasks. In addition, teaching presence establishes, manages and sustains
collaborative relationships through strong leadership and modelling as well as ensures that
learner inquiry moves to resolution and metacognitive awareness (Garrison & Vaughan, 2008;
Garrison & Anderson, 2003).
In blended learning, the question remains as to how to determine when to use and how to
balance the use of face-to-face versus online methodologies. When designing collaborative and
reflective blended learning experiences, Garrison & Vaughan (2008) report that it is the
educational design that “guides the selection of appropriate strategies and tools” (p. 105). They
recommend key guidelines such as reconceptualising and redesigning an entire course through
discarding ineffective and inefficient practices and adopting a critical rethinking of what we do
and why. Secondly, they recommend managing the volume of content in order to create space
and time to process and reflect since “too much content becomes a barrier to deep and
meaningful learning” (p. 106). Thirdly, they recommend creating a community of inquiry to
engage learners and provide feedback to assess critical thinking.
In order to begin a redesign process, Garrison & Vaughan (2008) recommend reflecting on a
series of key questions:
1. What do you want your students to know when they have completed your blended
learning course?
2. What types of learning activities will you design that integrate face-to-face and online
components?
3. What means will you use to assess these integrated learning activities?
4. How will information and communication technologies be used to support blended
learning?
These, and other key questions, can be easily incorporated into the ADDIE model phases of
analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation.
While ADDIE represents a structured framework for curriculum development, blended learning
introduces innovative thinking about ways in which the delivery of course content through the
combination of face-to-face and online methodologies can optimize learning experiences. In
order to realize the potential of blended learning, being mindful about blended learning and
strategically positioning how to balance and align the different methodologies throughout the
ADDIE process is critical.

36. 36
Summary of Literature Review
Child welfare social work practice is inherently complex. Practitioners must constantly manage
the connection between their values, knowledge and skills in a complex environment that is rife
with ambiguity and uncertainty. To do so, practitioners must have confidence in their own
values of respect, social justice, integrity, confidentiality and competence. These values are
intrinsically important in social work practice and are often the guides used in decision-making
processes (Clayton, 2013). In addition, practitioners must have the key cognitive knowledge
necessary to inform and guide their practice, such as being able to recognize opportunities for
permanency, as well as knowledge of specific practice-related and relational-specific topics in
order to fully support children and youth in the child welfare system. Practitioners must then
put their value and knowledge framework into practice through fine-tuned interpersonal and
critical thinking skills. This is no easy task when faced with the uniqueness of each case, and
requires practitioners to balance objective and subjective knowledge, as well as their rational
and intuitive decision-making skills.
Organizational development and learning are crucial in supporting organizational success and
sustainability through competent social work practice and inspired employees. In an
organizational environment where complexity, change and fiscal restraint are constants,
organizational learning through effective and efficient training has a key role to play in
supporting organizational outcomes so long as it can balance the tension between client, staff
and organizational needs. Ultimately, training systems should contribute to positive
organizational culture and create opportunities for meaningful learning, collaboration and
innovation.
While the child welfare environment is complex, training systems can help practitioners
manage the complexities by using learning and
instructional theories and models that align with the
needs of permanency planning child welfare practice. By
applying constructive and humanistic theories of
learning, training systems can be better prepared to
attend to both the objective and subjective knowledge
required in practice, as well as the values of human
development, well-being and dignity that are inherently
important to current social work practice. Central to this
need is the ability to provide learner-centred
approaches that view learners holistically and attend to
both cognitive and affective learning, since in
professional practice in social work one “must be
“We must be continually
engaged in the journey from
the head to the heart if we
are to be effective,
compassionate and respectful
practitioners”
(Strega & Carrière, 2009, p.
17).

37. 37
continually engaged in the journey from the head to the heart if we are to be effective,
compassionate and respectful practitioners” (Strega & Carrière, 2009, p. 17). In addition, in
order to address the complexities inherent in the child welfare environment, it is equally
important to address higher-order learning domains in training curriculum, especially with
regards to cognitive and affective learning domains. To do so will encourage not only higher-
order learning, but transformative learning as well.
In order to create learning opportunities that attend to improving both organizational
development and social work practice, it is crucial to deploy a strategic approach to
instructional design. Applying a blended learning design approach to the ADDIE model may
provide such a strategic methodology. Creative ways of addressing the effectiveness of learning
opportunities and efficiency with regards to time and money can be realized through
effectively-combined classroom and online learning, offering both opportunities for
collaboration in classroom settings and personal reflection in online learning.

38. 38
4. METHODOLOGY
Research Design and Objectives
The purpose of this project was to produce recommendations for a comprehensive and
coordinated permanency planning educational framework within the Ministry of Children and
Family Development. The client requested a review of its current permanency planning courses
in order to gain a fuller understanding of strengths and challenges of the current course
offerings, from both a social work and adult learning perspective. In order to do so, a review of
content was conducted, as well as an analysis of the learning domains present throughout the
courses. In addition, qualitative interviews with participants in MCFD and post-secondary
institutions were conducted in order to gain a clearer picture of the organizational, practice and
adult learning context for permanency planning.
Research Instruments
A combination of qualitative data collection methods was used, including a review of
permanency planning training courses as well as qualitative semi-structured interviews. This
approach had the advantage of providing a clear foundational understanding of current
courses, which could then be compared to the current organizational, permanency planning
child welfare practice and adult learning desired outcomes brought forward through the
qualitative interview process.
Review of training.
The ministry provides core training along the four service delivery lines of Child and Youth
Mental Health, Child and Family Services, Adoption, and Youth Justice. However, the scope of
this project was to review the training along the service delivery lines of Child Safety, Family
Support and Children in Care Services and Adoption in order to:
 identify a comprehensive list of curriculum for Child Safety, Family Support and Children
in Care Services and Adoption Services, and
 review the content and design of training courses for Guardianship (Role of the
Guardian) and Adoptions (Adoption WorkerTraining Program) positions.
A list of curriculum for Child Safety, Family Support and Children in Care Services and Adoption
Services was gathered through access to the Health and Human Services website, which houses
the entire text-based curriculum, and through coordination with the Justice Institute of British
Columbia, which is contracted to administer face-to-face courses such as the Child Welfare
Practitioner Interim Training Program, Role of the Guardian, and Adoption Worker Training
Program.

39. 39
The review of content for the Role of the Guardian and Adoption Worker Training Program was
intended to:
 highlight existing resources
 identify repetitiveness, and
 draw attention to any potential learning gaps.
The review of course design for the Role of the Guardian and Adoption Worker Training
Program was intended to examine the effectiveness of the content in its presentation to
learners by:
 analyzing learning domains associated with content, using Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy,
and
 assessing delivery methodology in relation to adult education principles.
Qualitative interviews.
Qualitative Interviews were conducted with approval from the University of Victoria’s Human
Research Ethics Board (Appendix C). In addition, the Ministry of Children and Family
Development’s Modelling, Analysis and Information Management Branch granted privacy
approval to conduct interviews with MCFD staff.
Sampling.
For the purpose of selecting the qualitative interview participants, the client provided a list of
potential qualified ministry participants who have knowledge and expertise in the areas of
permanency planning child welfare practice from an organizational, service delivery or learning
perspective. Email invitations to participate were sent to those ministry employees (Appendix
D). Participants from post-secondary institutions were also sought through an identical email
sent by the client to a Deans and Directors distribution list for post-secondary institutions
offering social work and/or child and youth care degree programs. Participation was non-
random, self-selected and voluntary; interested participants contacted the researcher directly
and signed free and informed consent forms (Appendix E) in order to participate.
The cohort for the qualitative interviews consisted of 14 participants: 6 participants from
ministry upper-level management/executive positions; 4 participants from ministry social work
practice consultant or team leader positions; and 4 participants from post-secondary
institutions who had both social work practice and adult education experience. Participants
were from locations across British Columbia.

40. 40
Interviews.
Telephone and face-to-face interviews were conducted. Having personal contact was a
deliberate choice, given the potentially sensitive nature of the topic. Whenever possible, face-
to-face interviews were used and when that was not possible because of geographical
restraints, telephone interviews were conducted. If participants and the researcher were in the
same geographical location, participants had a choice of meeting face-to-face or over the
telephone. On average, the interviews lasted one hour; however, a few interviews were one
and a half hours.
An appreciative inquiry approach was taken when designing the interview questions and
conducting interviews. This approach allowed for an opportunity for rich discussion, which was
meant to elicit more meaningful, candid dialogue and derive more meaning-making from the
interview process. Interview questions (Appendix F) were designed to reflect the conceptual
framework of the project, specifically targeting information relevant to organizational
development, permanency planning child welfare practice and adult education principles as it
pertains to permanency planning. All interview questions were open-ended in order to promote
open discussion and dialogue and were given to the participants in advance of the interview. All
interviews were audio-taped (with permission from participants) to ensure that all information
was captured correctly.
Following each interview, participants were provided with a type-written account of their
responses for approval to ensure accuracy and provide an opportunity for participants to
correct inaccuracies or further elaborate on responses. In addition, all participants were offered
a follow-up interview if they felt it was necessary.
Methods of analysis.
A qualitative content analysis methodology was used for analysis of the qualitative, semi-
structured interviews. The content analysis method is a flexible approach for analyzing data,
where analysis goes beyond merely counting words to providing knowledge and understanding
of the phenomenon under study (Hesieh & Shannon, 2005; Downe-Wambolt, 1992). Qualitative
content analysis can be defined as a “research method for the subjective interpretation of the
content of text data through the systemic classification process of coding and identifying
themes or patterns” (Hesieh & Shannon, 2005, p. 1278). For the purpose of this study, a
combination of conventional content analysis and summative content analysis techniques was
used. For example, when responses were varied with no theme in specific words or language, a
conventional content analysis was used and themes were derived from the data. This approach
was used for Question 1 of the interview responses. However, when key words were identified
repeatedly in responses, a summative approach was used to count the occurrences of key

41. 41
words and further analyze patterns and meaning. This approach was used for Questions 2–8 of
the interview responses.
To prepare for the analysis, each participant was assigned to a group based on their
employment position. For example, participants in higher level management or executive
positions were assigned to Group 1 (Organizational Perspective); participants in social work
practice consultant or leader positions were assigned to Group 2 (Permanency Planning Child
Welfare Practice Perspective); and participants from adult education/post-secondary
institutions were assigned to Group 3 (Adult Education Perspective). Despite being assigned to
a specific group, both the researcher and participants had a general understanding of the
natural overlap of the groups.
Following the interviews, the participant-approved typewritten responses were analyzed by
group, and question by question. Themes or patterns emerged and the emphasis of the pattern
was reflected in the number of participants who responded similarly. After each group was
analyzed independently, responses for each question were then compared to other groups to
compare the similarities (overarching themes) and differences (group-specific themes) between
the groups. Where differences or group-specific themes arose, those differences were
reflected. Some questions and responses that were not relevant to the conceptual framework
or did not have a high response rate or fit within themes were omitted. When a summative
approach was used, the responses were captured both numerically, to show the number of
responses within each group, and percentage-wise, as a reflection of the total participant
cohort.
Strengths and weaknesses of the approaches.
Regarding the review of the training documents pertaining to permanency planning, the
potential strength of the analysis can be seen through the structured and detailed approach in
which documents were analyzed by content and learning domain, which provides an accurate
account of the methodology involved. The potential weakness of the approach can be the
subjective nature of the analysis of the learning domains, which are based solely on documents
and not on the observation of class instruction, where learning domains may have been
impacted by the instructors.
With regard to the strengths and weaknesses of the qualitative interviews, 14 participants
participated in the semi-structured interview process. Potential strengths of the approach were
that the participants were committed to and passionate about sharing their thoughts and
experiences and this contributed to the depth of the responses and resulting themes and
patterns. All participants were invited to participate anonymously based on their knowledge of

42. 42
and expertise in the topic. The direct contact between interviewer and interviewee also
provided a personal approach that elicited a trusting, understanding environment in which
participants could voice their concerns, which were sensitive and at times political in nature.
The semi-structured interview process, using open-ended questions, promoted an opportunity
for rich discussion and deepened meaning-making. Another strength was the verification of
individual responses and group themes with participants, thereby ensuring that the data used
for analysis were correct and used as intended by participants.
A potential weakness of the qualitative interview approach was the small sample size, which
was a result of resource and time constraints. The smaller sample size may have affected the
anonymity of participants and their willingness to be candid. In addition, the smaller sample
size may have impacted the theoretical saturation of the data. With more available time and
resources, a larger sample size could have been sought, which might have been more reflective
of the permanency planning community (by including community partners, service recipients
and Aboriginal communities) and uncovered additional themes and patterns. This could prove
to be an opportunity for future research.
Another potential weakness of the qualitative interview approach was the subjectivity involved
in the analysis of the data, which may impact validity. While the institutional ethnography and
grounded theory approaches emphasize the process of analysis in the discovery of themes and
patterns, it is possible that a different researcher might uncover different results from the same
sample and data.
At all times throughout the duration of this report, the researcher also sought to be responsive
to both the organizational needs of the client and the interests of the participants. These
strategies were used to improve the reliability and validity of the report, and to mitigate any
potential weaknesses.

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5. FINDINGS
Review of Training Findings
The review of training findings reports a catalogue of available curriculum for Child Safety,
Family Support and Children in Care and Adoption service lines, then further analyzes the Role
of the Guardian course (Child Safety, Family Support and Children in Care service line) and the
Adoption Worker Training Program (Adoption service line). The analysis will focus on the
content of the curriculum by highlighting existing resources, identifying any repetitiveness
across courses, and drawing attention to potential learning gaps. The analysis also focuses on
curriculum design through examining learning domains within the courses, and assesses
delivery methodologies.
Catalogue of available curriculum.
This section provides a summary of available curriculum that the Ministry of Children and
Family Development provides for child welfare practitioners. The catalogue of curriculum is
divided into the service delivery lines of Child Safety, Family Support and Children in Care
Services and Adoption Services.
Child Safety, Family Support and Children in Care Services.
The ministry provides the Child Welfare Practitioner Interim Training Program to all employees
entering into the field of child safety practice. The training program is based on a blended
learning model that incorporates the use of an individual learning plan, competency
assessment guide, field mentorship, and online and classroom curriculum. In 2012, the Child
Welfare Practitioner Interim Training Program was assessed in terms of learner-centredness.
Through a literature review and survey methodology, Miller-Cholette (2012) found that overall,
the training program “met its intent to become a learner-centred training program based on
adult education principles” (p. 4). The intent of this section, therefore, is not to assess training
according to adult education best practices, but to assess the training from an organizational
development perspective in relation to permanency planning goals and outcomes.
The individualized learning plan (ILP) and competency assessment guide (CAG) are the first
components of the program and are intended to be used simultaneously to support employees
to plan their learning and address key competency areas required for child welfare practice.
The ILP and CAG intend to provide new employees an opportunity to analyze and reflect on
their own learning needs in relation to the foundational, core and specialized competencies
required for child welfare practice. These competencies reflect the knowledge and skills
required of all child welfare practitioners and cover both the objective, cognitive requirements
(such as knowledge of legislation and policy) as well as the subjective, reflective components