scholarly journals Approaching uncertainty in social work education, a lesson from COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 561-567
Author(s):  
Rojan Afrouz

COVID-19 pandemic intensified feelings of uncertainty about the future. Although uncertainty is not a new phenomenon for social workers, the uncertainty that has been produced due to COVID-19 pandemic was unprecedented. Hence, there is a further requirement for the integration of uncertainty in social work education and practice. Social work education should play a pivotal part in articulating and developing knowledge to respond to uncertain circumstances. Therefore, social work educators should be prepared to include uncertainty in curriculum development and pedagogical approaches. Also, collective actions should be central in social work efforts to face uncertainty and disruptions that target the most vulnerable people and populations.

2019 ◽  
pp. 83-88
Author(s):  
Spencer James Zeiger

Former social work educators, and social work educators standing on the threshold of The Next Chapter, have wisdom to share regarding the future of social work education. We must pay attention to their ideas; our profession is at stake. Topics covered in this chapter include doctoral preparation (with the growth of social work education programs in the United States and a large wave of social work educators retiring, attracting well-prepared new faculty has never been greater); online concerns (most study participants were reluctant to give online programs a ringing endorsement); and the need for increased content on aging (as baby boomers progress through their lifespan, and as life expectancy increases with medical advances, the number of older adults requiring social services will continue to rise).


2022 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Donata Petružytė ◽  
Violeta Gevorgianienė ◽  
Miroslavas Seniutis ◽  
Mai Yamaguchi ◽  
Eglė Šumskienė ◽  
...  

Somatechnics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-94
Author(s):  
Kristin Smith ◽  
Donna Jeffery ◽  
Kim Collins

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.


Author(s):  
Kwaku Osei-Hwedie ◽  
Doris Akyere Boateng

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.


2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-127
Author(s):  
Annie Pullen Sansfaçon ◽  
Marion Brown

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.


Author(s):  
Gurid Aga Askeland ◽  
Malcolm Payne

The chapter presents a content analysis and discussion of interviews with most of the awardees and of biographies of others who received the Katherine Kendall Award, focused on their views on the future of international social work and its education. Debate on the future role of the International Association of Schools of Social Work is also reviewed. Weaknesses in the representation of the full range of international social work education by the Association and the Award are considered. Ways of strengthening representation through greater involvement from the Global South and better funding of representation are explored.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nasreen Aslam Shah

Social work is a professional and academic discipline that committed to improve the quality and prosperity of individuals, groups, and communities through scientific knowledge, policy, community organizing, direct practice and teaching. Pakistan is very fortunate to have a good start of professional Social Work; the first social work training began in the year 1953. Social work education in universities started in 1954 and its aim is to provide trained social workers equipped with the basic knowledge and skills to assist government and private agencies in the development and implementation of social welfare programs. This study presents an overview of the brief history, current issues and future opportunities of social work education in Pakistan. This study emphasizes some of the significant issues that cause concern, such as the social work education and practice appropriate for Pakistan society, teaching and learning, fieldwork and supervision, certification and licensing for social workers. It’s important to talk about some issues of concern and the direction in which a strong and sound social work education can be developed.


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