Workshop Report: The differing relevance to social work education of secular virtue ethics; and of spirituality, faith and religion: Are these two conflicting perspectives?

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 97-114
Author(s):  
Peter Wright ◽  
Paul Webster
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
Workshop Report ◽  
Work Education

scholarly journals Workshop Report

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 97-114
Author(s):  
Peter Wright ◽  
Paul Webster
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Worker ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Workshop Report ◽  
Virtue Ethicist ◽  
Asking Questions ◽  
Work Education

Virtue ethics challenges standard ethical paradigms about what constitutes social work as a morally right and good enterprise, locating the source of all morality in a person’s character. It posits that a virtuous (caring, compassionate, just and generous), social worker is one whose authenticity derives from what it is to be a true human being exercising such virtues. What it is to be a true human being is for many connected essentially with spirituality, faith and religion. The idea of characteristic virtue as a human defining feature is to be found in most religions and faiths. Virtue ethics locates this authenticity through a primarily secular philosophical perspective.Both perspectives speak to what it is to be a good social worker but are they reconcilable? Does the secular challenge of virtue ethics to standard social work ethical paradigms also challenge the place of spirituality, faith and religion in social work education?This report presents a conversation between two social workers about these issues, one a committed secular virtue ethicist and one personally committed to the importance of spirituality, faith and religion in social work education. The audience were invited to participate in asking questions as the conversation explored the complexities.

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.

Social Work and Indigenisation: A South African Perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lobelo David Mogorosi ◽  
Dumisani Gaylord Thabede
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Work ◽  
South African ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
World View ◽  
Joint Decision ◽  
Scant Attention ◽  
Global North ◽  
Work Education

For relevance to societal reality and challenges, countries should structure their social work education to deal with specific conditions and cultures. From its global North (i.e. Western Europe and North America) origins, social work has contributed to the expansion of the discipline and profession to the developing world, including South Africa. During the three decades (from the mid-1980s until the present day) during which they have taught social work in South Africa, the authors have witnessed half-hearted efforts to really integrate indigenous knowledge into the curricula. In writings and professional gatherings, scant attention was paid to curricula transformation imperatives enriching practice. To its credit, the Association of South African Social Work Education Institutions (ASASWEI) advocates for decolonisation and indigenisation of social work education. Discussing decolonisation and indigenisation in social work curricula, the paper critiques assumptions of global North ideas, cloaked as if universally applicable. An example is about some principles of social casework – a method of choice in South Africa – which mostly disregards cultural nuances of clientele with a communal collective world view that relies on joint decision-making. A culturally sensitive approach is adopted as theoretical framework for this paper. The paper concludes with recommendations that should help ensure that social work curricula strive towards being indigenous, contextualised and culturally appropriate.

"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.

scholarly journals The perplexities of a pandemic: A black Canadian scholar’s perspective

2020 ◽  
pp. 147332502097329
Author(s):  
Akin Taiwo
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Liberal Arts College ◽  
Black Canadian ◽  
Work Education

Covid-19 presented an existential and ontological threat to a Black professor of Social Work at a liberal arts college in Canada. This paper is a reflective account of the tremendous shift in gear regarding his pedagogy and vulnerabilities and their implication for social work education and the resilience of his students.

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