Abstract

Taking two Dickens’ titles as a starting point is apt for a contemporary consideration of practice teaching in social work education in the UK for a number of reasons. Firstly, the titles themselves demonstrate the potential polarities in what is happening. Secondly, Dickens’ narrative mastery of triumph through adversity resonates with our desire for the underdog, in this case practice teaching in social work, to succeed against all the odds. Thirdly, parts of the narrative of these two books provide us with allusions and metaphors that help us describe the contemporary situation and rail against it.