Ms Lesley La-Croix
Lecturer (Education) in Social Work

Summary

After working with other Universities in various roles, Lesley joined Brunel as a full-time academic/Lecturer (Education) in September 2023.

Lesley has over 30 years of experience working in different social care settings with children and families and adult services. For the last 15 years, she has predominately worked in the independent foster care setting as a Supervising Social Worker, Manager, Designated Safeguarding lead and Registered Manager.

Lesley has a passion for learning and is very much inspired by Bell Hooks (1994), which promotes facilitated discussions, creating space for learning and teaching as an engaged pedagogy. Working as a Lecturer allows Lesley to coach, mentor and advocate for learners using her skills and fieldwork experience through a participatory, research informed lens supporting growth, resilience and continued reflective practice for self and others.

Qualifications

Lesley is a qualified registered social worker, therapeutic counsellor, practice educator and assessor.

Formal qualifications include DipSW, Dip in Counselling, MA in Education and Training, PEPs 1 & 2 (Practice Education) and Lesley has recently completed a Diploma in Leadership for Health & Social Care and Children and young people's award.

Also completed awards this year is the PG Cert Clinical Education award and the Advanced HE fellowship recogntion award.

Lesley is a 5th year Doctoral candidate in the College of Business, Arts and Social Sciences, commencing in 2021. Her thesis focuses on the perceptions of newly qualfied social workers as they move from qualification into more autonomous practice.

Responsibility

In the last couple of years, Lesley has transitioned into academia by supporting modules such as practice education, readiness for direct practice/experiential learning, end-point assessment of students on the Social work apprenticeship programme, Life Course and Law modules and supervisied and mentored MA students with their dissertations. Lesley enjoys being part of the journey for student social workers and newly qualified workers as they navigate the sector in their early careers.

Lesley is a member and Assessor of the Social Work Education Board, reviewing and providing feedback on unpublished journal submissions.

Lesley is currently responsible for:

• Legislation and Social Justice Module (SW5630)
• Practice Education - Developing Professional Practice Stage 1 A (SW3611)

Lesley's personal interests include reading, yoga and Pilates, mindfulness and on completion of her docterate plans to complete a semi-autobiographical novel.