Aisha Howells

Course Leader BA (Hons) Social Work & Senior Lecturer. Joint Course Leader (PgC in Social Work Practice Education)

Email
a .howells@uos.ac.uk
School/Directorate
School of Social Sciences and Humanities
Aisha Howells ORCID
View Orchid Profile

Aisha is an enthusiastic and friendly member of the academic team who embraces change and whose love for social work is rooted in people’s stories – both the told and untold stories.  She is a registered Social Worker interested in understanding the world through a critical lens and believes in the importance of relationship-based practice. Aisha is passionate about carrying out research that creates change for the Suffolk community and beyond, with a particular focus towards children and family social work, abuse, students, lived experience and practice education.  I teach across all undergraduate levels and at Masters Level, and deliver training in several social work-related areas.

Areas Taught 

Research Dissertation (Level 6)
Independent Project (Level 6)
Social Work Research (Level 5)
Social Change and Social Justice in Social Work (Level 4)
Personal Academic Coach and Placement Tutor

Research interests 
•    Creative & Relationship-based Social Work 
•    Child Sexual Abuse (CSA), Domestic Abuse & Trauma
•    Practice Education 
•    Student & Lived Experience involvement in Social Work Education
•    Narrative & Storytelling 

Current projects 
•    Research Project Team (2023-current) – Evaluation of Restitute
•    Research Project Team (2022-current) – Retaining practice educators in Suffolk and Norfolk: Supporting continuity and     developing expertise and confidence in practice education 
•    Research Project Team (2021 - current) - ‘Influential Others’ – supporting leadership capabilities in health and social care 
•    PhD Student (2019-current) - Exploring narratives of mothers whose children have experienced sexual abuse in and around the     family
 
Research skills  
•    Narrative Approaches 
•    Qualitative Research 
•    Research Methods 
•    Feminist Theory 
•    Ethics 

Publications  
Selected publications (see ORCID ID: 0000-0003-4226-8339 for full listing)

Books 
Dix, H. and Howells, A. (2022) Creative Approaches to Social Work Practice Learning. St Albans: Critical Publishing. 

Chapters 
Howells, A. (2022) Restorying Trauma in Clark, J., Richards, S. and Vine, T. (ed.) Stories, Storytellers and Storytelling. London: Palgrave Macmillan. 
Dix, H. and Howells, A. (2022) Purpose, Position, Power and Rights in Dix, H. and Howells, A. (ed.) Creative Approaches to Social Work Practice Learning. St Albans: Critical Publishing. 
Howells, A. (2019) IDEAS, Domestic Abuse & Social Work in Dix, H, Hollinrake, S. and Meade, J. (ed.) Relationship-based Social Work with Adults. St Albans: Critical Publishing Ltd. 

Articles 
Howells, A., Walters, S., Duckett, N., Barker, S., Clarke-Emmerson, S., Darke, J., Johnson, J., Meggs, C. and Reeve, S. (2022) ‘Is Gold Dust to My Mind’: Exploring Lived Experience in Social Work Education, The British Journal of Social Work, doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcac218 (Open Access) https://academic.oup.com/bjsw/advance-article/doi/10.1093/bjsw/bcac218/6858610
Howells, A. and Bald, C. (2020) “'This is my oasis’: an exploration of student hub support for social work students’ wellbeing". Social Work Education. DOI: 10.1080/02615479.2020.1861242. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2020.1861242 
Bald, C. and Howells, A. (2019) Professionalising social work education without losing our soul: A critical reflection on the role and purpose of practice placements in the context of Teaching Partnerships, Journal of Practice Teaching and Learning, 15 (3). 

Conferences 
Howells, A. and SWV (2023) Presenting Lived Experience in Social Work education: ‘Is Gold Dust to My Mind’, The Joint Social Work Education and Research Conference (JSWEC), University of Strathclyde, 14-16.6.2023.
Howells, A. (2021) Rights, not ‘gifts’ of support in statutory social work, European Conference on Domestic Violence, Slovenia, 13.9.21-15.9.21.
Bald, C. and Howells, A. (2020) The 4 Cs Model of Wellbeing Education: Exploring support for social work students’ wellbeing and development of professional resilience, The Joint Social Work Education and Research Conference (JSWEC), Online, 9.7.21-10.7.21. 
Howells, A. (2019) Domestic Abuse and Social Work – a Relationship-Based Framework for Practice, ASYE County Day Developing relationship-based social work practice. Ipswich, 19 November 2019. 
Howells, A. (2019) Student Hubs: an evaluation of the support for social work students’ well-being and development of professional resilience in a Teaching Partnership, Learning and Teaching Day. University of Suffolk, 22 May 2019. 
Howells, A. and Bald, C. (2019) “This is my Oasis”: personal and collective approaches to developing professional resilience using mindfulness and the student hubs model (Presentation), Guild HE Wellbeing in Higher Education Symposium. Woburn House, Euston, 21 May 2019. 

CPD 
•    Delivery of On-site Supervisor Training
•    Delivery of Recognising & Responding to Domestic Abuse (Victim/Survivor-led) CPD/Training

Interests & Skills 
•    Practice Education & On-site Supervisor Consultancy & Training 
•    Domestic Abuse Consultancy & Training 
•    CSA Consultancy & Training 
•    Community Research with children, families and individuals 

Activities 
•    Social Media Champion for Social Work 
•    Domestic Abuse Champion 
•    Mental Health First Aider

International Engagement
•    Peer reviewer for internationally recognised social work journals and books
•    Research publications have reach and impact nationally and internationally

Professional Bodies and Membership
•    Higher Education Academy Senior Fellow (SFHEA) 
•    Social Work England (SWE) 
•    British Association of Social Workers (BASW)