scholarly journals Social Work Education: A Future Of Strength Or Peril

10.18060/72 ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia M. Watkins ◽  
Dean Pierce
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
Social Work Educators ◽  
The Social ◽  
Scarcity Of Resources ◽  
Work Education ◽  
Changing World

In a dynamically changing world and one in which higher education generally is challenged by a scarcity of resources and the ever present need to justify the results of its mission and purpose, social work education faces an uncertain and perhaps perilous future. But rather than succumbing to pessimism, one should consider the strengths that social work education brings to the academy. The authors suggest the major challenges that face the social work educators in shaping a positive dynamic future within the academy.

Implementing Mastery Learning in the Social Work Classroom

2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-140
Author(s):  
Christopher B. Aviles
Keyword(s):  
Education Research ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Teaching Methods ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
Teaching Method ◽  
Mastery Learning ◽  
Essential Elements ◽  
Social Work Educators ◽  
The Social ◽  
Work Education

This article describes how the essential elements of the teaching method called mastery learning can be structured in the social work classroom. Mastery learning is a behavioral teaching method successfully used in social work education. Research studies on teaching rarely describe teaching methods in enough detail for instructors to discern how the teaching methods were implemented or how they may have been implemented differently. This can give social work educators a limited picture of what a teaching method could look like in their classrooms. The essential elements of mastery learning can be implemented in whole or part and can be structured in either simple or complex ways. Ways in which social work educators can implement mastery learning to better fit their classrooms are presented in this article.

Human Capital and the Case for Undergraduate Social Work Education

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-128
Author(s):  
Mary R. Weeden ◽  
Frederick W. Siegel
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Human Capital ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
Academic Programs ◽  
University Administrators ◽  
Prospective Students ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Work Education

Higher education, from an economic perspective, functions as an investment in human capital. It requires time, effort, and money by the student as an investment with the resulting benefits of acquiring skills, knowledge, and values that promise a stream of future tangible and intangible benefits by earning a living in a chosen field or profession. Education viewed through this lens assists educators to articulate the case for their academic programs to stakeholders, including prospective students and their parents, university administrators, government regulators, benefactors, alumni, and the general public. This perspective has previously not been discussed in the social work education literature and provides new insights into several issues affecting social work education. These include the cost of higher education, the multidimensional benefits of education for the student and society at large, the role of the Council on Social Work Education, and the current challenges to the profession.

scholarly journals The ‘not yet competent’ student

2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 118-134
Author(s):  
Graeme Simpson ◽  
Ani Murr
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
Education Assessment ◽  
The Social ◽  
Or Practice ◽  
Work Education ◽  
Practice Assessment ◽  
Practice Education

The Social Work Reform Board emphasises the need for robust assessment processes and qualified practice educators. Following our analysis of ‘failing – or ‘not yet competent’ students’ - we argue that most students ‘failed’ for reasons other than incompetent practice, which we outline.We conclude by arguing for a robust construction of practice education/assessment, which emphasises doing ‘practice’ in the agency; a return to the notion of a portfolio as a vehicle for assessment, as opposed to the portfolio becoming the assessment; and a greater emphasis upon the practice educator to assess ‘practice, as opposed to shifting the assessment decision to portfolio reading or practice assessment panels Our discussion will contribute to preparations for assessing capability within the new social work degree, and poses challenges to Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) and all involved in social work education.

Internationalizing Social Work Education

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gurid Aga Askeland ◽  
Malcolm Payne
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Development ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
International Association ◽  
Social Work Educators ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Us ◽  
Two Phases ◽  
Work Education

This book explores the aims and priorities of trends to internationalize social work education, in the context of wider processes of economic and cultural globalization. Its analysis draws on interviews with leading social work educators who have been recipients of the Katherine Kendall Award of the International Association of Schools of Social Work, for their contribution to international social work education. Three phases of internationalization are identified: a foundation phase before World War II, an establishment phase until the millennium and a subsequent shift towards international advocacy on issues of concern to the social work profession. Interviews and in three cases biographies illustrate the concerns and internationalizing activities of leading educators during these last two phases. A focus in the 20th century on achieving the adoption of social work education and practice throughout the world led to a concern for practice education and community and social development. An important project in the 1970s involved family planning as a focus of social development. Social justice, political and social conflict and more recently green issues have engaged educators' commitments. Even though women are in a majority in social work, women leaders and leaders from the Global South often faced considerable struggle to assert their research and development priorities. The analysis shows that most Kendall awardees came from Europe and the US, where finance and linguistic and cultural hegemony facilitated educators in playing international roles.

An Early Planning Model for Increasing International Content in Social Work Education

2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Joanne Riebschleger ◽  
DeBrenna LaFa Agbényiga
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Curriculum Planning ◽  
Planning Model ◽  
Social Work Educators ◽  
Planning Approach ◽  
The Social ◽  
Work Education ◽  
Globalized World

Social work educators are challenged to prepare social work students for practice in an increasingly globalized world. They may respond to this situation with a broad-spectrum planning approach, but knowledge is limited about how to begin. This conceptual analysis proposes an early curriculum-planning model that can be used to increase international content within social work education programs. Educators can prepare, scan, and plan for increasing international curriculum content. They can consider student learning opportunities within classrooms and field sites of their institutions, as well as those of international host institutions, as shown in examples drawn from the social work education literature. The model provides a place for social work educators to begin the journey of international curriculum planning and enhancement.

scholarly journals Decentering Whiteness in Social Work Curriculum

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2/3) ◽  
pp. 801-820
Author(s):  
Stephanie Odera ◽  
M. Alex Wagaman ◽  
Ashley Staton ◽  
Aaron Kemmerer
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Critical Thought ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Social Work Educators ◽  
Racial Identities ◽  
The Social ◽  
Work Education

The social work profession has historically been dominated by the presence and perspectives of whiteness. The centering of whiteness in social work education is reflected in course offerings, course content, assignment construction, and inherent racialized assumptions about who clients and social workers will be in practice spaces. Critical race theory (CRT) and liberation theory provide a framework for considering how to make visible the ways in which white supremacy is embedded in social work education, and to identify strategies for disrupting its presence by decentering whiteness. The purpose of this project is to foster critical thought about ways to dismantle racism and white supremacy in social work educational spaces. Using the reflexive methodology of collaborative autoethnography, the four authors - two course instructors and two students - with varying racial identities and positionalities, reflected on the experiences of coming to, being in, and transitioning out of the course. Areas of convergence and divergence in the autoethnographic reflections revealed strategies such as embracing vulnerability, promoting authentic relationships, and normalizing emotional as well as cognitive engagement for decentering whiteness in social work education. Implications and recommendations for social work educators and students committed to engaging in anti-racist practice are also discussed

Critical Pedagogy in Online Social Work Education: Changing Conceptions of Time in the Neoliberal University

Somatechnics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-94
Author(s):  
Kristin Smith ◽  
Donna Jeffery ◽  
Kim Collins
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Critical Pedagogy ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Social Work Educators ◽  
Digital World ◽  
Learning Programs ◽  
Recent Graduates ◽  
Work Education

Neoliberal universities embrace the logic of acceleration where the quickening of daily life for both educators and students is driven by desires for efficient forms of productivity and measurable outcomes of work. From this perspective, time is governed by expanding capacities of the digital world that speed up the pace of work while blurring the boundaries between workplace, home, and leisure. In this article, we draw from findings from qualitative interviews conducted with Canadian social work educators who teach using online-based critical pedagogy as well as recent graduates who completed their social work education in online learning programs to explore the effects of acceleration within these digitalised spaces of higher education. We view these findings alongside French philosopher Henri Bergson's concepts of duration and intuition, forms of temporality that manage to resist fixed, mechanised standards of time. We argue that the digitalisation of time produced through online education technologies can be seen as a thinning of possibilities for deeper and more critically self-reflexive knowledge production and a reduction in opportunities to build on social justice-based practices.

"Do not Worry Your Head": The Impossibility of Indigenising Social Work Education and Practice in Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kwaku Osei-Hwedie ◽  
Doris Akyere Boateng
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Knowledge Base ◽  
North American ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
Culturally Relevant ◽  
Social Work Educators ◽  
The People ◽  
African Context ◽  
Drawing Board ◽  
Work Education

As the discussions and debates rage on about the content and direction of social work in Africa, the challenges associated with weaning the profession off its Western and North American roots become apparent. The desire to indigenise or make the profession culturally relevant is well articulated in the literature. Some efforts have been undertaken toward achieving this desire. However, it is evident that despite the numerous discussions and publications, it appears that efforts at indigenising, localising, or making social work culturally relevant have not made much progress. While what must be achieved is somewhat clear; how to achieve it and by what process remain a conundrum. The article, therefore, revisits the issue of making social work culturally relevant in Africa and its associated challenges. Despite the indictment of current social work education and practice in Africa, it appears that many academics and professionals have accepted that what is Western is global, fashionable, and functional, if not perfect. Given this, perhaps, “we should not worry our heads” about changing it. Instead, social work educators and practitioners in Africa should go back to the drawing board to determine how current social work education and practice can be blended with a traditional African knowledge base, approaches and models to reflect and align with the critical principles and ideals within the African context. This is with the hope of making the profession more relevant to the needs of the people of Africa.

Social work education in action: How studying for the profession facilitates the adaptation of internationally educated social workers in Canada

2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-127
Author(s):  
Annie Pullen Sansfaçon ◽  
Marion Brown
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
Educational Background ◽  
Work Skills ◽  
The Social ◽  
Theory Project ◽  
Work Education ◽  
Adaptation Processes ◽  
Depth Interviews

This article presents the results and theorization of a 4-year Grounded Theory project that sought to understand the processes and dynamics involved in the professional adaptation of internationally educated social workers now practicing in Canada. In-depth interviews with 66 participants, who undertook social work education outside of Canada and have subsequently settled to practice in the country, were conducted. Results highlight that the social work educational background of the professionals not only offers key conceptual, theoretical, and analytical foundations needed to adapt knowledge and skills to practice abroad, but also provides tools to navigate and negotiate professional adaptation processes as a whole. We conclude that ultimately, social workers may adapt well to their new work contexts because of the transferability of social work skills, knowledge, and values to new practice settings, thus facilitating interventions with services users and also their own process of professional adaptation.

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