- Reflecting on the loss of empathy for a parent in family therapy sessions Taylor, Mark. 2024. Reflecting on the loss of empathy for a parent in family therapy sessions. Ethics and Social Welfare, 18(1), pp. 88-93. ISSN 1749-6535
- How Social Work Managers Can Benefit from Teaching Social Work Students in a University Taylor, Mark and James, Selina. 2023. How Social Work Managers Can Benefit from Teaching Social Work Students in a University. Irish Journal of Academic Practice, 11(1), 5. ISSN 2009-7387
- The Impact on Two Practising Social Workers Who Taught Social Work Students in a University Setting Taylor, Mark; Folarin, Elizabeth and Greenchester, Alex. 2023. The Impact on Two Practising Social Workers Who Taught Social Work Students in a University Setting. International Journal of Practice-based Learning in Health and Social Care, 11(1), pp. 92-100. ISSN 2051-6223
- Understanding stories of professional formation during early childhood education and care practice placements Taylor, Mark. 2018. Understanding stories of professional formation during early childhood education and care practice placements. Irish Educational Studies, 37(2), pp. 227-241. ISSN 0332-3315
- Objects, Places and Stories of Transformative Youth Work Taylor, Mark. 2017. Objects, Places and Stories of Transformative Youth Work. Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies, 17(1), pp. 17-27. ISSN 1393-7022
- Objects and Nurturing Young People’s Storytelling Taylor, Mark. 2017. Objects and Nurturing Young People’s Storytelling. Social Dialogue, 16(1), pp. 19-20. ISSN 2221-352X
- Threshold Concepts in Irish Early Childhood Education and Care Practice Placements Taylor, Mark. 2015. Threshold Concepts in Irish Early Childhood Education and Care Practice Placements. International Journal of Practice-Based Learning in Health and Social Care, 3(1), pp. 46-57. ISSN 2051-6223
- Competence and Irish Social Care Practice: Divergent Policy Narratives Taylor, Mark. 2015. Competence and Irish Social Care Practice: Divergent Policy Narratives. Social Protection of Child/Protectia sociala a copilului, 17(1), pp. 8-18. ISSN 1453-939X
- Review of Social Work Theories and Methods edited by Mel Gray & Stephen Webb Taylor, Mark. 2014. Review of Social Work Theories and Methods edited by Mel Gray & Stephen Webb. The International Journal of Emotional Education, 6(1), pp. 98-99. ISSN 2073-7629
Dr Mark Taylor
Systemic Approaches, AI and Social Work, Social Work Policy, Staff Retention in Social Work, Social Work and Diversity.
Staff details
Position
Senior Lecturer
Department
Social, Therapeutic and Community Studies
M.Taylor (@gold.ac.uk)
A focus is to promote social work as an empathetic profession to support individuals, families and communities to thrive. I try to achieve this by working in warm and authentic collaboration.
Social Justice values remain an important and constant lodestar.
In recent years, systemic psychotherapy training has been personally challenging, illuminating and clinically helpful.
As time passes, compassionate curiosity punctures certainties. Perhaps I'm also becoming more tolerant and playful:)
Umbra Sumus.
Academic qualifications
- MA (Learning and Teaching in Higher Education) (SETU) 2014
- PhD (LSE) 2004
- MSc (LSE) 1994
- BSS (TCD) 1992
Teaching and supervision
Registered as a social worker with Social Work England (SWE), I currently supervise PhD students from Asia and Africa in the following areas: Social Work Policy, Youth Justice, Social Work Practice and Autism.
I lead teaching on the following modules on our qualifying social work programmes.
Social Work and Social Justice.
Social Work Skills and Methods.
Professional Development for Practice.
Research interests
I am currently writing up two research projects funded by the Department for Education.
First, in collaboration with the Royal Borough of Greenwich, we have been investigating why social workers stay or leave social work employment.
Second, in collaboration with practitioners and academics from South-East London, we have been understanding the constraints and opportunities that Global Majority Social Workers experience in terms of career progression.
With Dr. Caroline Frizell (Goldsmiths), Principal Investigator, and a collaborative academic-voluntary sector team, we are researching the effects of austerity in the UK on parents with children with additional learning needs.
Recently, I have also published on how social work practitioners, local authorities and communities have benefited from practitioners teaching social work students in University settings. A theoretical paper, drawing on systemic and social constructivist ideas, outlines how this happens. It was published online in the journal, Social Work Education, in December 2024.
Academic writing, teaching and research - as well as direct practice - experiences have been enriched by recent systemic psychotherapy training. Consequently, I recently published a reflective paper on ethical dimensions of what practitioners can do when they lose empathy for a client. I also hope to publish a systematic review in 2025 on the application of the Social Graces in social professional practice.
I am interested in working with others to research and apply systemic ideas in social work. These ideas include self and relational reflexivity, interrelationships in teams, interrelationships between feelings, embodiment and beliefs, and the evolution of AI and systemic social work approaches.
If you are interested in us collaborating, please drop me an email:)
Featured publications
Publications and research outputs
Book
- Early Childhood Education and Care: An Introduction for Students in Ireland Mhic Mhathuna, Maire and Taylor, Mark. 2012. Early Childhood Education and Care: An Introduction for Students in Ireland. Dublin, Ireland: Gill & Macmillan. ISBN 9780717153244
Edited Journal
- European Journal of Social Education Taylor, Mark, ed. 2015. European Journal of Social Education, European Journal of Social Education, . 1810-4789
Book Section
- Wicked Problems and Social Professional Competence Taylor, Mark. 2016. Wicked Problems and Social Professional Competence. In: Perry Share; Tamsin Cavaliero and Breda McTaggart, eds. Wicked Problems and Young People: Co-creative teaching for the social professions. Sligo, Ireland: Institute of Technology, Sligo, pp. 9-20. ISBN 9781907592058
- The Montessori Approach to Early Childhood Education Taylor, Mark and Mhic Mhathuna, Maire. 2012. The Montessori Approach to Early Childhood Education. In: Maire Mhic Mhathuna and Mark Taylor, eds. Early Childhood Education and Care: An Introduction for Students in Ireland. Dublin, Ireland: Gill & Macmillan. ISBN 9780717153244
- Social Policy Taylor, Mark. 2012. Social Policy. In: Maire Mhic Mhathuna and Mark Taylor, eds. Early Childhood Education & Care: An Introduction for Students in Ireland. Dublin, Ireland: Gill & Macmillan.
Article
- How Practising Social Workers Benefit from Teaching Social Work Students in University Classrooms Taylor, Mark. 2024. How Practising Social Workers Benefit from Teaching Social Work Students in University Classrooms. Social Work Education, ISSN 0261-5479
- A Workforce Development Team’s Reflections on Social Work Retention and Turnover in South-East London, UK Taylor, Mark; Abrol, Shalini; Frieslaar, Sharon and Taylor, Corlea. 2024. A Workforce Development Team’s Reflections on Social Work Retention and Turnover in South-East London, UK. Journal of Social Care, 4, 6.
- Reflections from Members of a Collaborative Social Work Practitioner–Academic Research Team Investigating the Career Progression Experiences of Black Social Workers Moseley, Akilah; Taylor, Mark; Wilson, Sophia; Mazumdar, Salil Meech; Rowaiye, Celestina and Law, Agnes. 2024. Reflections from Members of a Collaborative Social Work Practitioner–Academic Research Team Investigating the Career Progression Experiences of Black Social Workers. Critical and Radical Social Work, ISSN 2049-8608
Conference or Workshop Item
- Bringing the researcher into the room: New materialist entanglements of the research team when analysing 26 interviews exploring the emotional wellbeing of parents of learning-disabled children and young people Frizell, Caroline; Taylor, Mark; Diener, Juliet and Weston, Nicola. 2024. 'Bringing the researcher into the room: New materialist entanglements of the research team when analysing 26 interviews exploring the emotional wellbeing of parents of learning-disabled children and young people'. In: UKCP Conference. Online, United Kingdom 7 - 8 June 2024.
- Social Work Challenges in Uncertain Times Taylor, Mark. 2024. 'Social Work Challenges in Uncertain Times'. In: Transformative Social Work: Mental Health Experience and Outcomes in Uncertain Economic Times. Westminster Hall, Palace of Westminster, United Kingdom 25 March 2024.
- The Emergence of Ethical Opportunities for Social Workers who Teach Social Work Students Taylor, Mark. 2016. 'The Emergence of Ethical Opportunities for Social Workers who Teach Social Work Students'. In: Ethics and Social Welfare in Hard Times. London, United Kingdom 1 - 2 September 2016.
Report
- Exploring the experiences of black ethnic group applicants on social work programmes at Goldsmiths Timariu, Dan; Taylor, Mark and Donnellan, Rebecca. 2024. Exploring the experiences of black ethnic group applicants on social work programmes at Goldsmiths. Project Report. Goldsmiths, University of London, London.
- Knowledge Briefing: Social Policy and Social Workers Taylor, Mark. 2022. Knowledge Briefing: Social Policy and Social Workers. Technical Report. Practice Supervisor Development Programme, Dartington Hall, Totnes.
- Appendix B Teaching Consultant Research Taylor, Mark; Hughes, Rachel; Fairtlough, Anna and Fletcher, Joan. 2018. Appendix B Teaching Consultant Research. Project Report. South East London Teaching Partnership.
Professional projects
HEI advisor to Department for Education on Social Work Teaching Partnerships (2022-23).