Tools and Training to Support Social Work as an Integrative Science

2019 ◽  
pp. 199-228
Author(s):  
Paula S. Nurius
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Research Training ◽  
Boundary Spanning ◽  
Doctoral Training ◽  
Solid Core ◽  
Doctoral Level ◽  
Social Work Research ◽  
National Trends ◽  
And Training ◽  
Integrative Science

This chapter aims to strengthen social work research training responsive to contemporary forms and expectations of science—in short, to prepare social work researchers for effectiveness “at the tables” of this work. It first describes national trends that increasingly expect science to be cross-disciplinary, multilevel, translational, and community engaged. Following this is explication of T-shaped training approaches that include a solid core of social work expertise, priorities, and identity. This is integrated with boundary-spanning skills and meta-competencies germane to advancing social work collaborative and communication roles. Recommendations are provided for doctoral-level research training, including specification of key meta-competencies. These aims are not solely a doctoral training issue but rather require efforts across school, university, and disciplinary levels to market and sustain social work as a robust collaborative, integrative science.

scholarly journals What do social work students think social work research is?

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-26
Author(s):  
Anita Gibbs
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Work ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Work Values ◽  
Research Training ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Social Work Research ◽  
Social Work Values

In New Zealand, social work students often undertake social work research training as part of their first qualification in social work. The focus of this article is to consider what social work students think social work research is and whether they think social work research should be part of normal, everyday practice or not. Forty-three social work students from Otago University participated in a small research project during 2009 aimed at exploring their constructions of social work research. They emphasised that social work research should be compatible with social work values like empowerment and social justice, and bring about positive change of benefit of service users. 

Social Work Education: Research

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
David E. Biegel ◽  
Susan Yoon
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Research Training ◽  
Federally Funded ◽  
Research Knowledge ◽  
Research Education ◽  
Doctoral Level ◽  
Doctoral Research ◽  
Work Education ◽  
Interest In Research

Research education at the bachelor’s and master’s levels has attempted to address concerns related to students’ purported lack of interest in research courses and graduates’ failure to conduct research as practitioners. Research education at the doctoral level has benefitted from a significant increase in the number of faculty members with federally funded research grants, although the quality of doctoral research training across programs is uneven. A continuum of specific objectives for research curricula at the baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral levels is needed to lead to clearer specifications of research knowledge and skills that should be taught in all schools of social work.

Qualitative Research in the Chinese Social Work Academy: Optimism and Invisible Disadvantages

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (5) ◽  
pp. 1296-1316
Author(s):  
Yanfeng Xu ◽  
Corey Shdaimah ◽  
Fang Zhao ◽  
Deborah Gioia
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Research Training ◽  
Institutional Review Boards ◽  
Early Developmental Stage ◽  
Structural Barriers ◽  
Social Work Research ◽  
Social Work Faculty ◽  
Methodological Challenges ◽  
Institutional Review

Abstract There has been much discussion about the contributions of qualitative research to social work knowledge, but the experiences of social work faculty engaged in qualitative research are rarely discussed. Social work is at the early developmental stage in China, which makes the country a useful laboratory to examine this question. The current study aimed to understand experiences of Chinese qualitative social work faculty and how their methodological orientation affected their career trajectories. Nine semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted and analysed. Thematic data analysis revealed three major themes: suitability, methodological challenges and structural barriers. Findings indicate that qualitative social work research has an optimistic future in China, but methodological challenges and structural barriers create invisible disadvantages. This study highlights the need for rigorous qualitative research training, including apprenticeship; translation of more qualitative learning materials into Chinese; and support for the purchase, training and use of qualitative software packages. The results also point to the need for institutional review boards or other ethical oversight mechanisms. More importantly, there must be greater consensus regarding what constitutes scientific rigour, which projects should be funded, what are evaluative criteria for publication, and whom to hire and promote.

scholarly journals The AGESW Pre-Dissertation Fellows Program: Participants’ Perceptions of Mentorship and Training for Academia

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 549-549
Author(s):  
Noelle Fields ◽  
Allison Gibson ◽  
Stephanie Wladkowski ◽  
Cara Wallace ◽  
Abigail Latimer
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Student Success ◽  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Doctoral Education ◽  
Doctoral Student ◽  
Doctoral Training ◽  
And Training

Abstract Good mentoring is key for doctoral student success. In 2010, AGESW began offering the Pre-Dissertation Fellows Program (PDFP) to enhance social work doctoral students’ professional development and skillset for academia. The purpose of this study was to examine student participants’ perceptions of the PDFP in its role to providing mentorship and training for an academic position. This qualitative study examined eight cohorts (2010-2018) of the AGESW PDFP (N=85). Using thematic analysis, responses identified a number of aspects of professional development gained, gratitude for the training, an appreciation for candid advice received, and areas of professional development they felt they were lacking within their doctoral training. Findings bolster support for structured programs and professional development that supplement doctoral education in a student’s first two years. Implications for doctoral education, mentorship training, and avenues to enhance the AGESW pre-dissertation program will be discussed

scholarly journals Researcher? Social Worker? “Let us be Both”: Exploring the Binaries that Condition Graduate Social Work Research Training

2015 ◽  
Vol 191 ◽  
pp. 2002-2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Morgenshtern ◽  
Nancy Freymond ◽  
Liu Hong ◽  
Todd Adamowich ◽  
Mark A. Duffie
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Worker ◽  
Research Training ◽  
Social Work Research ◽  
Graduate Social Work

Disrupting hegemony in social work doctoral education and research: Using autoethnography to uncover possibilities for radical transformation

2020 ◽  
pp. 147332502097334
Author(s):  
Austin Gerhard Oswald ◽  
Sarah Bussey ◽  
Monica Thompson ◽  
Anna Ortega-Williams
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Doctoral Education ◽  
Research Training ◽  
Personal Narratives ◽  
The United States ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Academic Context ◽  
Social Work Research

Social work has enhanced its profile in the United States by adopting a particular dialect of scientific inquiry wherein positivism and evidence-based practice are considered gold standards of social work research and practice. This ideological shift permeates doctoral education and research training, as well as social work more broadly. Little attention, however, is paid to the pedagogical approaches used to train doctoral students into a “science of social work,” and we know even less about critical methodologies in doctoral education. This collaborative autoethnography weaves together the personal narratives of three doctoral students and one early career faculty member navigating an academic context within a large public university in the United States. We employ a participatory and intersectional approach to analyze narrative data in terms of how our identities interact with the structures relevant to where we study and work. Three themes emerged from our collaborative analysis: becoming disillusioned by disciplinary shortcoming; confronting dissonance with radical solidarity; and making change on the inside using perspectives from the outside. We argue throughout that critical reflexivity is a tool to document, resist, and transform hegemonic discourse that narrowly defines what it means to embody social work research, practice, and education.

scholarly journals Emotional intelligence as a part of critical reflection in social work practice and research

2021 ◽  
pp. 147332502110247
Author(s):  
Mari D Herland
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Emotional Reactions ◽  
Social Work Research ◽  
Emotional Aspects

Social workers often experience higher levels of burnout compared with other healthcare professionals. The capacity to manage one’s own emotional reactions efficiently, frequently in complex care settings, is central to the role of social workers. This article highlights the complexity of emotions in social work research and practice by exploring the perspective of emotional intelligence. The article is both theoretical and empirical, based on reflections from a qualitative longitudinal study interviewing fathers with behavioural and criminal backgrounds, all in their 40 s. The analysis contains an exploration of the researcher position that illuminates the reflective, emotional aspects that took place within this interview process. Three overall themes emerged – first: Recognising emotional complexity; second: Reflecting on emotional themes; and third: Exploring my own prejudices and preconceptions. The findings apply to both theoretical and practical social work, addressing the need to understand emotions as a central part of critical reflection and reflexivity. The argument is that emotions have the potential to expand awareness of one’s own preconceptions, related to normative societal views. This form of analytical awareness entails identifying and paying attention to one’s own, sometimes embodied, emotional triggers.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document