SWIPA founders

Dr Gillian Ferguson

Gillian is a Lecturer in Social Work at The Open University. She is an educational researcher and interested in professional learning, practice and workplace learning. She has worked in a broad variety of settings including direct practice, workforce development, advisory and regulatory roles, including as a social worker, community learning worker and academic. A primary research interest is the nature of workplace learning for social workers, the subject of Gillian’s original doctoral thesis “When David Bowie Created Ziggy Stardust” The Lived Experiences of Social Workers Learning Through Work, and subsequent publications. Gillian currently leads the impact phase of a Writing in Social Work Practice project. She is also involved in research into social workers responsibility for action on the climate ecological emergency.

Gillian Ferguson at The Open University

Professor Sarah Vicary

Sarah is Professor of Social Work and Mental Health at The Open University. Her research interests lie in the generation, dissemination and application of legal roles in Mental Health Social Work (MHSW) and are at the forefront of explorations of regulatory practices that restrict human behaviour. Underpinned by professional registration as a social worker, Sarah provides sustained authorship of field-leading outputs offering MHSW expertise and guidance impacting on government, regulatory policy makers and practitioners. Sarah is co-investigator on Interpreters For Mental Health Act Assessments.

Sarah Vicary at The Open University

For more information about the network and to join our mailing list please email us (swiparesearch@open.ac.uk)