Making a difference for the future: The views of educators by experience about their involvement in social work education

The involvement of people with lived experience of social work intervention is a crucial aspect of social work education and is firmly embedded in social work programmes within the UK. The benefit of such involvement by ‘Educators by Experience’ for students is well documented. For example, learning directly from people with lived experience can help students to develop their knowledge and skills. However, the benefit and impact of involvement for Educators by Experience is less well explored. This qualitative project aimed to understand why people with lived experience choose to become involved in social work education and how they felt about their involvement. 12 semi structured interviews were undertaken and analysed using thematic analysis. The findings revealed the motivations for people’s involvement as well as a range of benefits that people experience as a result of this work. The paper highlights the support and ongoing work that is required in order to support the meaningful involvement of Educators by Experience in social work education