A professional learning ecosystem for social work in Scotland

Social work is an extraordinary job rarely understood by anyone that has not been immersed in it (Ferguson, 2025) and the profession is regularly described as at the cusp of transformation (McCulloch, 2018). There are multiple challenges in supporting social workers to learn, in practice learning arrangements at the pre-qualifying stage and inconsistency in what is offered post-qualifying (Kettle et al, 2016; Gordon et al, 2019; Grant et al, 2022). As 2026 brings the emergence of a new Social Work Partnership and a refreshed Framework for Social Work Education in Scotland, there are new opportunities to imagine the shape of how learning happens and how we support this in Scotland.<br></br><br></br> A recent focused book, <i>The Scottish Social Worker’s Practice Learning Handbook</i> (Ferguson, 2025), could be mistaken to be an individual social worker’s guide. Instead, this takes a journey through our rich tradition of creative approaches, our treasure chest of research and history of authentic partnerships that support social work learning and development. Building on this foundation, the book suggests that reflecting on what we mean by learning environments can help us create a future in which everyone is a learner, an educator and a leader (whether they realise it or not).