‘Teaching Hope’

This article provides a brief analysis and evaluation of a one-off cross-placement student group based around the theme ‘advocacy’, and presents the views of both the facilitator and the students who took part. It asks the questions: ‘Are cross-setting student groups useful in terms of development of reflective capacity in social work students?’ ‘Do themes from advocacy provide a good starting place for the discussion of social work values?’ and ‘Can advocacy principles be applied across social work settings, and what are the potential benefits and obstacles?’. Some conclusions and recommendations are offered.