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Multi-Agency Practice Guidance – Professional Curiosity

What is Professional Curiosity?

Professional curiosity, also known as “respectful nosiness” or “helpful scepticism,” is essential in our work. It involves exploring and understanding situations by asking questions and keeping an open mind. It’s about recognizing one’s responsibility in managing risk and safety and knowing when to act, rather than making assumptions or taking things at face value.

When a practitioner explores and proactively tries to understand what is happening within a family or for an individual, rather than making assumptions or taking a single source of information and accepting it at face value, this supports the to “Think the unthinkable, believe the unbelievable.

Applying Professional Curiosity

Professional curiosity can be applied in all relationships, communities, and support networks. It also extends to our relationships with other professionals and ourselves. By appreciating multiple perspectives, we gain a deeper understanding of each other, which enhances our ability to collaborate effectively.

Key practices

  • Ask Questions: Spend time talking and listening to the people you are working with. Ask the ‘second question’ to understand why something is happening.
  • Consider Multiple Perspectives: Look beyond the surface to explore the lives of the people you are working with in more depth. Be aware of unconscious bias based on your own culture and background.
  • Challenge Assumptions: Be able to appropriately challenge thinking and decision-making, whether it is your own or that of others.
  • Respectful Uncertainty: Apply a critical eye to the information given rather than just accepting things on face value.

Barriers to Professional Curiosity

  • Rule of Optimism: Rationalising away new or escalating risks despite clear evidence to the contrary.
  • Accumulating Risk: Responding to each situation or new risk on its own rather than assessing it within the context of the whole person.
  • Normalisation: Ideas and actions becoming taken-for-granted or ‘natural’ in everyday life, stopping them from being questioned.
  • Professional Deference: Deferring to the opinion of a ‘higher status’ professional who has limited contact with the person.

Confirmation Bias: Looking for evidence that supports pre-held views and ignoring information that doesn’t.

What’s the Point:  Being professionally curious can mean taking the time to speak to other’s involved with the children and family; this takes time and can add to practitioner stress.

“I think as a sector, we’ve got to a point now, what’s the point of ringing Social Services? What’s the point of trying to call the GP? What’s the point of even speaking to the school? … All of those organisations are so stretched and so under pressure that, actually, it can add to my stress.”

Professional, Govan – White et al, December 2024

Developing Skills in Professional Curiosity

  • Think the Unthinkable: Maintain an open mind and be willing to think the unthinkable.
  • Look, Ask, Listen, Clarify and Consider: Observe behaviours, ask questions, listen to verbal and non-verbal cues, and seek clarification.

Supporting Professionally Curious Practice

  • Supervision and Professional Discussions: Use these opportunities to question and explore an understanding of the lives of people.
  • Group Supervision: Stimulate debate and curious questioning, allowing practitioners to learn from one another’s experiences.

Professional curiosity is about being open-minded, asking questions, and considering multiple perspectives to understand and support the people we work with better.

Professional Curiosity and culturally competent safeguarding practice

All professionals need to be professionally curious about a child, young person or adult with care and support need’s faith, culture, and nationality, and take personal responsibility for informing their work with sufficient knowledge or seeking advice to support this.

“Prevention is seeing before things happen; it’s feeling; it’s about learning… building relationships with families with young people and learning about how they are, how they act, how they are on are on a daily basis.”

Professional, Grimsby – White et al, December 2024

Practitioners must take personal responsibility for utilising specialist services’ knowledge. Knowing about and using services available locally to provide relevant cultural and faith-related input to prevention, support and rehabilitation services for the child, young people and their families will support practice.

This includes: 

  • Knowing which agencies are available to access 
  • Having contact details to hand 
  • Timing requests for expert support and information appropriately to ensure that assessments, care planning and review are sound and holistic. 

Professional Curiosity in practice

Professional curiosity is where a practitioner explores and proactively tries to understand what is happening within a family or for an individual, rather than making assumptions or taking a single source of information and accepting it at face value. This supports practitioners to ‘think the unthinkable, believe the unbelievable’ using a non-judgemental and restorative approach.

Professional Curiosity: Tips
Including Professional Curiosity from afar

When contacting a child or family member on the phone or by video call, the usual clues that help you detect any issues won’t be available to you, meaning that we need to think of more creative ways to identify how we implement professional curiosity.  It should be recognised that children or parents / carers that cannot talk openly means there may be coercion or controlling behaviour between the family members.

Useful video links

Professional Curiosity Animation
Bitesize Guide: Professional Curiosity on Vimeo – Waltham Forest Council

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