The Conference Concept
By Shirley Jenkins

It's common myth that practice makes perfect. The truth is, practicing for decades in the same mode, using the same knowledge base, without experimenting or trying new approaches, may have an opposite effect and can lead to stagnation and repetition. On the other hand, seeking perfection in the technical sense without testing problem-solving techniques in the real world of clients and consumers can also be a sterile effort. One needs a combination of both art and science to be productive. Like two sides of a coin, two faces are involved. Methodologies, problem formulations and statistical techniques all take on different forms in the enterprises of practice and research. To be productive, we need to delve into both.

The theme of this conference is to look at the gaps between practice and research, valid concerns of each, and the ways in which the methodologies of the two can be not integrated but intertwined, to find the kind of answers needed for addressing contemporary problems.

Several specific issues were raised in the conference workshops, such as doctoral training and research utilization. These and other areas are also worth looking at in a different conceptual framework and have their own myths to be challenged. One is the myth that there is more intrinsic worth in one or another kind of professional work being done. Another myth relates to issues of gender.

There is no rule book in social work which gives greater honor to a practitioner or a research professional. The researcher is not to be admired over the practitioner because of presumed search for truth. Nor is the practitioner more to be admired because of a presumed concern for care. Each group makes its own contribution. For example, the recent controversy regarding feminine and masculine traits as between the caretaker and the researcher is spurious. Many factors are involved in making professional choices: genetics, social breeding, childhood influences, and life experiences all come to bear upon the decisions. To identify the woman as the one who cares and serves and the man as the one who searches to develop theory is not a valid perspective.

Skilled caretakers and research scholars are both needed for the advancement of social work. We should not be in a competitive situation, but rather one which demands cooperative functioning. It is not that we speak in different voices, but rather that we say different things and thereby contribute differently to bridging the gap between practice and research.