Poster Presentations in Social Work Education Assessment: a Case Study

Purpose This paper aims to understand the social work curriculum as perceived by the learners of the master’s degree programme. The study compares the perception as held by students’ originating from the same and different faculties regarding the curricular aspects of social work education in India. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a qualitative approach. It is a case study-based paper whereby the participants were selected using multi-phase sampling, universities were selected using purposive sampling and 106 students were selected using quota sampling. Semi-structured online interviews were taken using an interview guide and transcribed. Inter-coder reliability was tested using Cohen’s kappa. The paper used grounded theory to analyse data. Findings The study suggests a significant difference in the perception of curriculum between those originating from the same discipline and other faculty. It was found that the learners perceive the curriculum to be obsolete in addressing contemporary concerns and needs serious reframing. Research limitations/implications As the study uses the case study method, it has been limited to four universities of Madhya Pradesh state of India to analyse the cases effectively. Further, only the domain of social work has been explored in the study. Thus, the results may lack generalizability. Further studies can also be conducted to test the propositions suggested. Even similar studies can be carried out with other disciplines. Also, the study being cross-sectional leaves scope for future comparative and longitudinal studies. Practical implications The paper presents some interesting perceptions of the student community, which can be used for redesigning and revising the social work curriculum. Such appraisals if done by every educational institute can bring significant reforms in the present education system of India and make it at par with the global standards and responsive to the contemporary needs of the society. Further, with such training, social workers can be true change agents. Social implications The study can play a significant role in the redesigning of social work education in India. Thus, directly or indirectly benefit the entire society. Originality/value The paper addresses the concern to include the current student community in curriculum design to ensure quality curriculum.

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Faculty as a Barrier to Dismantling Racism in Social Work Education

Advances in Social Work ◽

10.18060/24178 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (2/3) ◽

pp. 500-521

Author(s):

Ebony N. Perez

Keyword(s):

Social Work ◽

Critical Race Theory ◽

Social Work Education ◽

Qualitative Case Study ◽

The United States ◽

Race And Racism ◽

Specific Content ◽

Social Work Educators ◽

Work Education

Facilitating learning around race and racism is often uncomfortable for faculty as well as students. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate the experiences of undergraduate social work educators who teach about race and racism in social work programs. I employed a qualitative case study design to understand the lived experience of undergraduate social work educators who teach race specific content. I employed a combination of purposive sampling and snowballing methods to identify nine participants from the Southeast region of the United States. Utilizing a Critical Race Theory (CRT) framework to analyze interviews, several key findings emerged revealing faculty as barriers to facilitating learning around anti-racist content in the classroom. These findings were a) their own racial identity; b) insufficient formal preparation around race and racism; c) lack of faculty comfort with anti-racist content; and d) lack of skill in teaching anti-racist content. Recommendations include the implementation of scaffolded antiracist content throughout social work curricula that would be required by the Council on Social Work Education as part of the accreditation process.

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