Dr Marelize Joubert Pof Doc, MBA, MSW, BA(hons)SW, PgDip. SF AHE

About

Marelize qualified as a social worker at the University of the North West in South Africa in 1997, where she completed her Masters in Social Work and Addiction Studies. She is currently working as a deputy head of school - health and social care within the College of Health, Wellbeing and Life Sciences.  She held several leadership roles within the Social Work, Social Care and Community Studies Subject group ( principal lecturer for LTA).  She has experience of being a course leader for the Masters in Social Work, a postgraduate qualifying course and BSC Nursing (learning disability) and Social Work degree.

She has experiences of teaching Interprofessional education provision of the College, and has an interest in Dual Diagnosis, Substance Misuse and Mental Health. She has undertaken research into the effectiveness of aftercare services for service user's experiencing substance misuse problems as well as consultancy work alongside the Nursing Subject Group on Addition Studies for the local NHS Primary Care Trust. Most recently funded research focussing on community of belonging around alcohol within the region.

Marelize completed her Master's in Public Sector Management at Westminster University in 2010 with the focus on change management and transition. Other activities include writing a chapter for Learning Matters alongside colleagues on Introducing International Social Work. Marelize also presented at the JSWEC Conference on her Professional Doctorate Research focusing on social work students perceptions of their readiness for practice. Experience of external examiner duties and peer reviewer for a substance misuse text in 2014-2017. Marelize also submitted abstracts to the International Social Work Practice education conference in South Africa and Social Work Practice Education conference. Recent publications within social work practice learning and social work education during 2020 and 2024 with a focus on CPD and social worker critical reflections.  Marelize is also a member of BASW Specialist interest group for substance misuse and alcohol. She is a school governor and a trustee with a local substance misuse service.

Marelize has a passion for international social work, working with marginalised groups and promote decolonisation of the social work curriculum. She has led on setting up international social work placements within South Africa and Lesotho working alongside 5 HEI's Social Work Departments.

Specialist areas of interest

Marelize is interested in student resilience, organisational management, culture and change as well as student engagement, self-efficacy, dual diagnosis, parental substance misuse, alcohol and mental health and domestic violence. She is also interested in social work professional processes of APIR, interprofessional working and professional identity. In relation to research paradigms Marelize has a keen interest in Mixed Methodology and Realism, Pragmatism in social work.

Teaching

School of Health and Social Care

College of Health, Wellbeing and Life Sciences

Subject area

Social Work, Social Care, Community Studies
School of Health and Social Care

Courses

 - Masters in Social Work
 - BA Social Work
 - BSc Nursing( LD) and Social Work,
 - FDA Health and Social Care top-up
 - HDA in Social Work Practice.

Modules

 - Readiness for social work practice
 - Interprofessional education
 - Substance misuse
 - Research methods for Social Work
 - Leadership and management
 - Parental Mental Health
 - Court room skills
 - Children and Families social work
 - Theories and Methods of Interventions
 - Professional practice

Research

• Health Research Institute

Resilience research exploring children and families social workers retention, emotional intelligence in staying with the employment from November 2020 -November 2021. Confirmation of grant award New Horizons - Communities and sense of belonging research with a research team and practitioners due to commence April 2021 - April 2023. CPD and social work critical reflections funded project with UoS and Department of Education in 2021-2023. 

Featured research projects

Rogers, M., Joubert, M., Cunnington, C., & Bosworth, D. (2023). The Social Work Online Team Training (SWOTT) toolkit: embedding team-based peer learning in continuous professional development. Social Work Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2023.2266467

Bastin, R., & Joubert, M. (2021). Social Work Skills Days–‘Keeping It Real’. Practice. https://doi.org/10.1080/09503153.2021.1954152

Joubert, M., & Smith, K. (2021). PERCEPTIONS OF POVERTY: Exploring the attitudes of Sheffield Hallam University Social Work students to service-user poverty. International Journal of Arts, Humanities & Social Science, 2 (2), 8-13.

Joubert, M. (2020). Social work students’ perceptions of their readiness for practice and to practise. Social Work Education, 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2020.1749587

Reports
Nelson, P., Bastin, R., Joubert, M., & Tabberer, S. (2023). Exploring communities of belonging around drink. alcoholchange.org.uk. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.29804.54400

Collaborators / Sponsors

 - University of Sheffield
 - Horizon UK
 - Social Work England
 - Department of Education"

Publications

Other activities

 External responsibilities

 - External Examiner at an HEI
 - School Governor - primary school
 - Trustee member - charitable organisation
 - Member of International Social Work Association

Postgraduate supervision

Marelize has a strong background in social work, social policy and social work and public health research, particularly in relation to social workers readiness for practice, social work education, practice learning, organisational change management and organisational culture within Health and Social Work Settings. Much of her work involves interactions between social work professionals, voluntary organisations and families or adults. Marelize is an experienced mixed methods researcher and have drawn on a range of innovative methods in her own work, including diaries and drawings. Marelize has supervised Masters in Social Work students dissertation projects since 2008. She is current part of a supervisory team for a PhD student. Marelize also attended the PhD supervisory course at SHU in 2017. Marelize is also an external examiner for PhD viva's with one international university in South Africa and one in the UK.