scholarly journals Students’ Perceptions of Service-Learning in an Advanced Research Course

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 456-473
Author(s):  
Stacy M. Deck ◽  
Laneshia Conner ◽  
Shannon Cambron
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Research Knowledge ◽  
Social Work Research ◽  
Homeless Men ◽  
Pro Bono

Social work students are often anxious, apathetic, or resistant to learning research knowledge and skills. They may view research courses as irrelevant and disconnected from social work practice. Studies suggest that service-learning improves learning outcomes in social work research courses, but less is known about the processes through which these outcomes are achieved. This study explored the perceptions of 70 Masters-level social work students enrolled in an advanced research course that included a pro bono program evaluation of a shelter serving homeless men. Content analysis of students’ narratives revealed three main themes. First, students perceived that they had changed their thinking about homelessness in positive ways. Second, students made connections between their research experience and the social work curriculum. Finally, an unanticipated theme of curriculum integration emerged. Critical reflection about a meaningful experience—an integral aspect of service-learning—supported students in developing metacognitive insight. This helped students to develop and apply social work research skills. The service-learning project supported students’ mastery of other social work competencies and improved their integrated practice abilities. Because this approach is effective in helping students to embrace research and integrate it with social work practice, application and evaluation of service-learning are recommended for social work education.

Bringing the Agency to the Classroom: Using Service-Learning to Teach Research to BSW Students

2006 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen A. Kapp
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Core Curriculum ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Research Knowledge ◽  
Skill Levels ◽  
Social Work Research ◽  
Course Material

Faculty members teaching social work research courses face a variety of challenges: The material is typically viewed by students as outside their interest area; the technical and complex content is not easy to teach to any audience, especially when students vary significantly in skill levels; and the course material is often taught in isolation from core curriculum areas, especially social work practice. This article describes a service-learning approach for teaching research that allows students to apply their research knowledge to the information needs of an agency while they are developing corresponding knowledge and skills. Additionally, this article highlights the unique features of this approach and presents student feedback from a recent section of this course. Finally, it describes the implications of this technique.

Social Work Students Confront Poverty's Impact in the Community: A Service Learning Project

2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 217-232
Author(s):  
Judith Gray ◽  
Marissa O'Neill
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Social Action ◽  
Community Involvement ◽  
Student Outcomes ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Explorative Study ◽  
Student Reflections

This article describes a unique community involvement project that was used to teach BSW students in a Social Work Practice With Groups course about poverty and a qualitative explorative study of student outcomes. The project included a poverty simulation in combination with 25 hours of service learning with people currently experiencing poverty. Very little research has been done on poverty simulations, and none has included a service learning component. Twenty-one college students participated. Student reflections were analyzed, and themes that emerged reflect achievement of course objectives. A content analysis was also completed identifying empathy and social action engagement. All 21 student reflections discussed an increase in empathy surrounding people in poverty. Sixty-seven percent of student reflections indicated social action engagement.

Spanish Language and Cultural Immersion for Social Work Students

2006 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa E. Cox ◽  
Diane S. Falk ◽  
Merydawilda Colón
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Spanish Language ◽  
National Standards ◽  
Cultural Immersion ◽  
Social Work Program

This article describes the pedagogical literature of cross-cultural social work practice, international social work, experiential education, service learning, and study tours, and examines the National Standards for Foreign Language Education. The authors outline the theoretical foundations and program design of one social work undergraduate program's attempt to incorporate traditional didactic classroom-based learning and experiential in-class activities with experiential non-classroom-based learning, in an effort to help students learn Spanish and increase their awareness of and sensitivity to the needs of Hispanic/Latino clients. The article details how one baccalaureate social work program developed and evaluated classes on Spanish language, Spanish culture, and a Spanish immersion study tour to Costa Rica. In addition, the article presents viable objectives, assignments, and reflective, qualitative outcomes evaluations obtained from students who enrolled in the courses and the faculty members who taught the courses.

Mapping Social Work Students' Perceptions of the Research Process: A Qualitative Follow-Up Study

2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-78
Author(s):  
Tina Maschi ◽  
Barbara Probst ◽  
Carolyn Bradley
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Research ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Follow Up Study ◽  
Research Students

The purpose of this qualitative follow-up study was to gain a better understanding of how social work research students' thoughts, feelings, and actions evolve during the course of a 15-week research course. Using a sample of 111 BSW and MSW social work research students and qualitative data collected at two time points concerning their current research experiences, the findings revealed a variation in the temporal process of students' thoughts, feelings, and actions about research. For many students their experience in research culminated in greater confidence, increased knowledge and skills, and appreciation of the value of research for social work practice. Internal and external obstacles and supports affected how well social work students navigated the research process. These findings have important implications for social work education and practice. Effectively engaging students in research can have long-term positive effects on achieving CSWE and NASW initiatives for the integration of research into professional practice.

scholarly journals The New Color is Green: Social Work Practice and Service-Learning

10.18060/1340 ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma T. Lucas-Darby
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Community Practice ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Human Welfare

Attention to saving the environment is gaining momentum daily. Citizens have a fundamental right to protect the environment from harm due to human activities. The profession of social work has a role to play in greening and sustaining the environment. The inclusion of this content in social work courses is a natural fit given the profession’s person-in-environment perspective which emphasizes the relationship between individuals, their behavior and the environment and advocacy for preservation of human welfare and human rights. Participatory environmentalism considers the role of community members in demonstrating their civic responsibility toward preservation of the natural environment and resources. Social work students must be encouraged to accept vital leadership roles that address environmental concerns in addition to serving client populations. A community practice course which includes a service-learning requirement chose “greening” as a theme. Students worked with communities to identify and implement semester-long “green” projects.

Service Learning: The Effect on BSW Student Interest in Aging

2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-43
Author(s):  
Judy Singleton
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Community Outreach ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Cognitively Impaired ◽  
Student Interest ◽  
Adult Day Care

Strategies for developing and putting into practice an experiential aging-rich learning curriculum for baccalaureate social work students are presented. Specific service learning opportunities required of students in class assignments are discussed. Included in these are projects involving micro social work practice skills with cognitively impaired older adults and macro skills used in completing a retirement center's wellness program assessment and an adult day care program's market ing/community outreach plan. The critical component of reflection for both service learning and field practica is analyzed. A continuing need for faculty to network in both the aging and social work communities is explored as a technique for enhancing experiential learning opportunities for students.

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.

Calling Social Work to the Movement for Educational Justice

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annahita Ball
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Youth Development ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Valuable Insight ◽  
Educational Justice ◽  
Social Work Research ◽  
Conditions For Learning ◽  
History Of

Abstract The persistent and systemic inequities within the U.S. public education system have grave implications for children’s and youth’s outcomes, yet these inequities go far beyond academics. Marginalized and vulnerable students experience injustices across the educational system, including disproportionality in school discipline, unequal access to advanced courses, and poor conditions for learning. Social work has a solid history of addressing issues that intersect across families, schools, and communities, but the profession has had little engagement in the recent educational justice movement. As educational scholars advance a movement to address educational inequities, it will be increasingly important for social work researchers to provide valuable insight into the multiple components that make up youth development and support positive well-being for all individuals within a democratic society. This article encourages social work researchers to extend lines of inquiry that investigate educational justice issues by situating social work practice and research within educational justice and suggesting an agenda for future social work research that will advance equity for all students.

Using a Strengths-Based Perspective to Change Perceptions: An Exploratory Study

2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Karen Rice ◽  
Heather Girvin
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Child Welfare ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Change Perceptions ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Negative Perceptions

Child welfare is a field plagued with negative perceptions, which have the potential to influence how caseworkers approach their practice with families. As a result, a child welfare course emphasizing the strengths-based approach to practice with families was developed to better prepare students for engaging families and building a helping alliance. The researchers sought to examine whether this new course exerted a positive influence on undergraduate social work students' perception of the parent/caseworker relationship. Compared to undergraduate students not enrolled in this course, at post-test students enrolled in the Child Welfare course more positively perceived the parent/caseworker relationship than they did at pretest. Implications for social work practice and pedagogy are discussed.

scholarly journals Roles of Positive Psychology for Mental Health in UK Social Work Students: Self-Compassion as a Predictor of Better Mental Health

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (7) ◽  
pp. 2002-2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y Kotera ◽  
P Green ◽  
D Sheffield
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Mental Health Symptoms ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Health Symptoms ◽  
Self Compassion

Abstract Despite high shame about mental health symptoms among UK social work students, positive psychological approaches to their mental health have not been investigated in depth. Emotional resilience has been a core skill in social work practice; however, its relationship with mental health is still unclear. Therefore, the primary purposes of this cross-sectional study were to (i) examine the relationships between mental health and positive psychological constructs, namely resilience, self-compassion, motivation and engagement and (ii) determine predictors of mental health in UK social work students. An opportunity sampling of 116 UK social work students (102 females, 14 males; 96 undergraduates, 20 postgraduates) completed 5 measures about these constructs. Correlation and regression analyses were conducted. Mental health was associated with resilience, self-compassion and engagement. Self-compassion was a negative predictor, and intrinsic motivation was a positive predictor of mental health symptoms. Resilience did not predict mental health symptoms. The findings highlight the importance of self-compassion to the challenging mental health of UK social work students; they caution against the overuse and misunderstanding of resilience in the social work field.

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