scholarly journals Institutionalizing service-learning as a social work pedagogy: experiences, challenges and contributions to acquisition of competencies

Author(s):  
Melody Ambagan

Social Work Education (SWE) in the Philippines is a competency-based academic discipline that focuses on the development of student practice behaviors. The goal of SWE is to demonstrate the integration and application of the competencies in practice with various client systems. This is where the SWE of Southern Christian College (SCC) saw the need to adopt service-learning (SL) as a pedagogy that would aid, assess, and enhance students’ readiness for professional practice. Since it is a combination of academic instruction and community service to address identified community needs, SL is viewed to be an effective vehicle to ensure that students apply what they learn from their classes to address real-world problems in communities. This paper will present the process of how SL had been introduced as an academic framework in one of the social work courses in SCC in 2010 and will particularly highlight the experiences, challenges, gains and learning insights. Experiences of students and faculty revolved around their engagements, challenges encountered, personal and professional learning, and social and psychological gains. Based on the data gathered, an SL framework was developed to reflect the practice of SL in the SCC-SWE. In conclusion, SL as a pedagogy in social work education has contributed to the acquisition and development of basic competencies in terms of knowledge, values and attitudes and skills. The gains which service-learners identified superseded the challenges which they encountered along the various phases.

10.18060/1318 ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Phillips

As social work education moves to a competency-based approach, faculty are increasing their use of pedagogical tools designed to provide students with opportunities, in addition to traditional field placements, to develop practice skills. Faculty are no doubt turning to service-learning, and other forms of experiential education, to provide these opportunities and to offer an additional means for departments to demonstrate and measure student practice behaviors. To help focus the use of service-learning in social work education, this article uses sources from the larger service-learning field and from social work scholarship to examine the nature of service-learning, to review current service-learning trends, to summarize its use in social work education, and to raise questions about its goodness of fit with competency-based education.


2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 100
Author(s):  
Paulette Andrea Henry

<p>The understanding of human rights are important to social work education and practice especially since the global definition of social work highlights the dual role of social work as a practice based profession and academic discipline emphasizing the principles of social justice, human rights, collective responsibility and respect for diversity. Concomitantly, social work education must ensure that students know and understand human rights laws especially since human rights are inherent to all human beings and are often expressed and guaranteed by international law which Governments are expected to uphold. Social workers have a commitment as duty bearers in supporting governments in the upholding of those agreements pertinent to the wellbeing of the people. Using the University of Guyana as a frame of reference this paper examined students’ knowledge on international agreements prior to leaving the University since these laws not only speak to nation states but to universal practices and many social work issues transcend borders. This paper utilized a mixed method approach to ascertain students’ awareness of international human rights laws and their perceptions on the applicability to practice. The findings show that there is limited knowledge amongst social work students on human rights covenants and conventions. This assessment is instructive to social work educators locally and internationally pointing to the need for integration into the curricula. It is imperative that generalist practitioners leave the University with a clear understanding of these laws as many practice issues are transnational. There will be the need for international social work to be a taught course for undergraduates training to become generalist practitioners.</p>


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.


2003 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 37-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael E. King

In order to increase the collaboration between communities and schools of social work, this article urges educators at both the undergraduate and graduate levels to consider the benefits of including service learning in social work curricula. An approach to social work education via service learning places an equal emphasis on meaningful community service and student skill development, in contrast to other forms of experiential learning. An empowering approach to integrating theory and practice, service learning embodies specific social work values, such as respect for diversity, self-determination, collaboration, social justice, a person-in-environment focus, and accountability. Drawing on recent examples from baccalaureate and master's-level programs, empirical evidence supporting the efficacy of service learning in the field of social work is offered.


2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 197-209
Author(s):  
Benjamin Robert Malczyk

The core tenet of competency-based education is a focus on mastery of a skill or ability. The shift in focus in social work education to a competency-based approach can be applied and understood in varying ways. The current research study examined the use of waiver exams as one iteration of competency-based education in social work education. Forty seven of the 496 programs that replied to the survey indicated they offered some form of placement testing or the use of waiver exams. Further examination of program level policies suggests that social work educators continue to focus on policies and practices aligned with traditional seat-time requirements that run contrary to the principles of competency-based education. Results implicate the need for social work education to examine its commitment to competency-based education in all its forms or to at least encourage research in nontraditional approaches aligned with competency-based education including waiver exams and prior learning assessment.


2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 659-671 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meekyung Han ◽  
Diana Nguyen ◽  
Edward Cohen ◽  
Laurie Drabble ◽  
Hoa Nguyen ◽  
...  

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