Political Social Work: An Essential Component of the Profession

2021 ◽  
pp. 359-381
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Knowledge And Skills ◽  
Social Work Faculty ◽  
Field Placements ◽  
High Level ◽  
Work Education ◽  
Work Knowledge ◽  
Initial Results

Social workers have played a key role in political settings from the profession’s historic roots to present day. Their knowledge, skills and values position social workers to practice in political settings. Social work faculty and students were interviewed to assess a) how field placements in legislative offices and participation in Campaign School and NASW-sponsored Legislative Education and Advocacy Day (LEAD) impacted students’ professional development and perspectives on political social work, and b) social work faculties’ perception of these activities in students’ social work education and necessary political social work knowledge and skills. Initial results demonstrate a high level of support for these activities among faculty and students with opportunities to further include them in the explicit and implicit social work curriculum.

scholarly journals Practising social work

Social Work ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 97-114
Author(s):  
Guy Shennan
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Science Knowledge ◽  
The Social ◽  
Research Interviews ◽  
Work Education ◽  
Work Knowledge

The chapter considers changes and developments in the content of social work education under the three headings of social science disciplines, understanding human development and relationships, and theories, approaches and methods for practice. At the start of the period under review, social science knowledge (primarily from sociology and social policy) and human development theories predominated, but as their research base and published literature have expanded, theories and methods for practice have become more prominent. The contribution to knowledge from research conducted by social workers themselves is acknowledged, as is the contribution made by experts by experience, both directly and through research interviews. The prominence of sequences on law for social workers is noted. The chapter concludes by asserting that the broad partnership of interests which should determine the content of the social work knowledge base is threatened by Government's much-expanded role, but that most social work programmes continue to ensure a balanced curriculum.

The Unsettling Feminism(s) Unconference

Affilia ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 357-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bharati Sethi
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
Doctoral Student ◽  
Multiple Identities ◽  
Education Practice ◽  
Work Education ◽  
Intellectual Creativity ◽  
Academic Conferences

In this article, the author shares her experiences as a doctoral student at the Unsettling Feminism(s) conference in Chicago. She argues that this unconference forced her to question how the academy conceives of “academic conferences” as venues of student–professional development. From the perspective of a racialized woman, an immigrant, a scholar, and a person with a disability, such professional gatherings that honor social workers’ and researchers’ multiple identities and offer valued spaces for marginalized stories to be told and heard can be personally and professionally transformative. The author uses the metaphor of an elephant in the room to argue that even though it may be unsettling, the academy must be willing to risk uncomfortable dialogues to advance social work education, practice, and research and to enhance students’ intellectual creativity.

scholarly journals Best Practices in Promoting Disability Inclusion Within Canadian Schools of Social Work

2008 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Dunn ◽  
Roy Hanes ◽  
Susan Hardie ◽  
Donald Leslie ◽  
Judy MacDonald
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Field Placements ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
History Of ◽  
Work Education ◽  
Schools Of Social Work ◽  
Work Knowledge

The profession of social work has a long history of work with "clients" with disabilities, but unfortunately, this history often has not included strong advocacy for their rights and creating a place as colleagues within Schools of Social Work (Dunn, Hanes and MacDonald, 2003). From a critical disability perspective and a view of disability as being socially constructed, the profession and its educational institutions need to rethink their approach to students, faculty and staff with disabilities (May & Raske, 2005). Best practices in accessibility, accommodation and inclusivity will be explored within Canadian Schools of Social Work. Knowledge shared in this article was derived from a critical review of the literature, a survey of Schools of Social Work in Canada (Dunn, Hanes, Hardie, and MacDonald, 2006), and a National Best Practices conference (Dunn, Hanes, Hardie, Leslie, and MacDonald, J, 2004). Disability inclusion within Schools of Social Work is explored in five main areas: 1) recruitment and admissions; 2) accommodation; 3) curriculum; 4) field placements; and 5) retention, graduation and meaningful employment. While the specific focus is on social work education the principles and practices can be applied to other disciplines within the academy and beyond.

Social Work in Islam, Socio-Religious Revelations, and Conflicts

2020 ◽  
pp. 187-200
Author(s):  
Naila Iqbal Khan
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Cultural Groups ◽  
Client Characteristics ◽  
The Social ◽  
Muslim Communities ◽  
Work Education ◽  
Work Knowledge

To provide effective social services to different cultural groups requires cultural understanding which is often missed in recent social work education programs and textbooks. The use of fundamentally different social work knowledge and a different approach in every different cultural group is the key to effective social work in different areas. How to adopt social work in working with Muslim communities is an unresolved question so far. It can be done only by focusing on possible client characteristics, understanding the level of difficulties, and requirements from the perspective of the social workers. Issues of spirituality, different levels of understanding and working knowledge of working professionals, and understanding expectations of clients are relevant. All the educational institutions, agencies, and social workers must put up coordinated efforts to achieve the objective of localized social work for Muslim clients.

scholarly journals Ethical dilemmas in field placements: The experiences of social work students in Norway and possible implications for social work education

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. SA85-SA111
Author(s):  
Heidi Lie Eriksen ◽  
Mikhail Gradovski
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Knowledge And Skills ◽  
Dialogical Approach ◽  
Field Placements ◽  
Work Education

The study reported in this paper focuses on social work students’ experiences of ethical challenges, including dilemmas, during their field placements. Moreover, drawing on dialogical approach and the results of the thematic analysis, the authors discuss what ethical dilemmas the students experience during their in-field practice, and what implications the handling of these ethical dilemmas can have for the organization of social work education. The findings that are reported in this article are the results of the analysis of six sets of data collected with the help of interviews. The interpretive framework used in this study is a dialogical approach. The research strategy has been a qualitative approach, and the data collection has taken place in semi-natural settings. The thematic analysis of the data lead to four major themes of ethical challenges that the students experienced in their field placements. The first theme concerns structural conditions on a macro level that the students were confronted with when in practice. The second theme is about ethical challenges due to the students´ lack of knowledge and experience in the field. The third theme presents challenges in direct work with service users related to the students´ awareness of values and perspectives. The fourth theme concerns ethical challenges that occurred when students interacted with others in the organizations where the field placements took place. We argue that due to the fact that the authorial agency of any learner consists of personal attitudes, goals, values, knowledge, competences, and skills, it is important to organize supervision activities in a way that allows discussions in free and fearless environments so that the student could learn and unlearn knowledge and skills. This means that in-field placements should be viewed as learning arenas for various types of knowledge and skills, including knowledge on themselves, and not just places where the students can gain only strictly professional practical knowledge and try out their theoretical knowledge.

International students’ views about transferability in social work education and practice

2010 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blake Beecher ◽  
John Reeves ◽  
Lars Eggertsen ◽  
Sharlene Furuto
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
International Students ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Social Work Education ◽  
Specific Knowledge ◽  
Knowledge And Skills ◽  
Asian Pacific ◽  
Work Education ◽  
Work Knowledge

This qualitative study explored international students’ views of US social work education and Asian-Pacific indigenous practices. Some students recognized indigenous practices, strongly valued multiculturalism and regretted not having agency-specific knowledge and skills. While some social work knowledge and skills seemed to be universal, others were western-influenced.

Training Second-Year MSW Students to Improve Cultural and Linguistic Competence

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 392-398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan L. Neely-Barnes ◽  
Brittany G. Kirk ◽  
Susan Elizabeth Elswick ◽  
Laura C. Taylor ◽  
Elena Delavega ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Training Program ◽  
Health Resources ◽  
Linguistic Competence ◽  
Master Of Social Work ◽  
Field Placements ◽  
Msw Students ◽  
Second Year ◽  
Work Education ◽  
Cultural And Linguistic Competence

Purpose: Cultural competency is a critical construct in social work education. This study investigated whether a grant-funded training program completed in tandem with second-year field placement and second-year Master of Social Work (MSW) curriculum could improve the cultural competence of MSW students. Method: Ninety-nine trainees completed the program over the 3-year grant period funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration. Cultural and linguistic competence was measured at the beginning and end of the training program for each cohort using a preexperimental design. Results: Findings suggest that MSW students saw improvement in their communication, values, and attitudes with respect to cultural and linguistic competence. Trainees did not report improvement on the Physical Environment subscale portion of the measure. Discussion: Results suggest that training can improve knowledge, values, and skills on cultural and linguistic competence. However, trainees may not have adequate authority to make an impact on the environment of their field placements.

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