Armaity S. Desai, 1992

This chapter contains a brief biography and transcript of an interview with Armaity S. Desai, a leader in Indian social work education, who was awarded the Katherine Kendall Award of the International Association of Schools of Social Work in 1992, for her contribution to international social work education. After social work training and practice experience in India and the USA, she held leadership roles at the Nirmala Niketan College of Social Work, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and the Indian University Grants Commission. Areas of social work important in her career included adoption, practice education, integrated practice in social work, using a range of modalities, using social work ideas to inform leadership roles and social development. She saw international social work as giving breadth of perspective, and saw lack of funding and indigenous literature as obstacles to development in social work education. Activism, standing up against the state, is seen as important in social work.

Katherine A. Kendall (1910-2010): a brief biography

Katherine Kendall was an important executive, fulfilling leadership roles in the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) for nearly 60 years. She experienced migration to the USA, the disruption of war, family disability and her own disability in her early life. As a young woman, she travelled in Europe with her husband in the 1930s, taking up social work training on their return. During World War II, she took up US government international liaison posts. Later, she researched international social work education for the United Nations, contributing to her PhD. Taking up executive posts in the US Council on Social Work Education, she became honorary, then executive secretary of IASSW, fulfilling consultancies and international visits, particularly in Latin America. She led a significant international social development project on family planning, and completed publications on issues in social work education and international social work, including historical overviews and biographical tributes to leaders in these fields, drawing on her experience.

Issues for the future of international social work education

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.

The changing contexts for international social work education

This chapter identifies three phases of internationalization in social work education. It documents foundation dates of social work courses in a representative range of countries. The foundation phase from the 1920s to 1945 brought together early social work schools in a committee under the leadership of Alice Salomon, the German feminist and social worker. From 1945 to 2000, the establishment phase achieved the adoption of social work education virtually universally, with Katherine Kendall playing an important executive role promoting coordination through the International Association of Schools of Social Work. The end of the Cold War in the 1990s led to the consolidation of the policy and social development work in these earlier phases into an issues-based phase when the Association sought to develop influence on global policy issues of social justice, social conflict and social development. Debates about the nature of international or global social work are explored.

Lynne Healy, 2014

This chapter contains a brief biography and transcript of an interview with Lynne Healy, a leader in American social work education, who was awarded the Katherine Kendall Award of the International Association of Schools of Social Work in 2014, for her contribution to international social work education. Her writings and teaching on international social work, emphasising human rights, are significant. Experience included child welfare, work for the social work professional association and the Council on Social Work Education. Later international work includes work with the United Nations with policy advocacy and the Global social development Agenda. Professional licensing requirements for social workers in the USA emphasise mental health clinical practice, with poor support for wider concerns such as international work in the USA. Academization, with a declining emphasis on professional teaching and activities in academic social work is also unfortunate. Much of her work on human rights focuses particularly on gender issues. In the future, she would like to see social work retrieve a balance between preparing social workers, knowledge development and professional and community activity.

John Maxwell, 2002

This chapter contains a brief biography and transcript of an interview with John Maxwell, a leader in Caribbean social work education who was awarded the Katherine Kendall Award of the International Association of Schools of Social Work in 2002, for his contribution to international social work education. For 35 years, he led social work education at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, in Jamaica, following an early career in youthwork and community development. Seeking to improve the academic and professional standing of social work, he was involved in significant curriculum development, concerned to shift it from a clinical to a community focus and established practice education firmly with good agency supervision. Lack of indigenous literature led him to play a role in the creation of the Caribbean Journal of Social Work. International links expanded the horizons of social work in the Caribbean.

Abye Tasse, 2016

This chapter contains a brief biography and transcript of an interview with Abye Tasse, a leader in African social work education, who was awarded the Katherine Kendall Award of the International Association of Schools of Social Work in 2016, for his contribution to international social work education. A refugee from Ethiopia, he trained and worked as a social worker with migrants in marginalized communities in France. He was involved in developing practice education in Romania and social work education in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Mauritius and Comoros. In Ethiopia, masters and doctoral education supported the development of staff to contribute to bachelor-level education. Research and practice in work with migrants have been important in his career. In the future, social work needs to focus on brotherhood as an important element of liberty and greater equality. The Global social development Agenda is an important basis for future progress in social work.

Harriet Jakobsson, 2000

This chapter contains a biography of Harriet Jakobsson, a leader in Swedish social work education, who was awarded the Katherine Kendall Award of the International Association of Schools of Social Work in 2000, for her contribution to international social work education. She fulfilled roles in social work education in Lund and Örebro universities and worked with refugees and with children in Africa and Asia, including leadership roles with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, and the Swedish International Development Commission. She contributed to the development of social work education in Lebanon as a professor of social. Her work with children reflected a strong focus on the rights and voice of children, promoting the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child.

María del Carmen Mendoza Rangel (Mariacarmen Mendoza), 1998

This chapter contains a brief biography and transcript of an interview with Mariacarmen Mendoza, a leader in Mexican social work education, who was awarded the Katherine Kendall Award of the International Association of Schools of Social Work in 1998, for her contribution to international social work education. In addition to her professorship at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mendoza has contributed to adult education, community work, civil society organisations, the development of public administration in Mexico and throughout Latin America. She has also undertaken disaster relief work and been concerned with the impact of environmental issues on poor communities. International work extended her opportunities for contributing on many of these important social issues. In social work education, she helped to develop collective education where subject and practice educators work together to develop curricula that include skills training and sought opportunities for indigenous publications.

Robin Huws Jones, 1996

This chapter contains a biography of Robin Huws Jones, a leader in British social work education, who was awarded the Katherine Kendall Award of the International Association of Schools of Social Work in 1996, for his contribution to international social work education. After early academic posts in adult education and social studies, he became first Director of the National Institute for Social Work Education (UK) and later Associate Director, Joseph Rowntree Memorial Trust. For several years, he organised courses in England for African social welfare administrators. He led a major social development project in the valleys of south Wales and courses for social welfare administrators in third world countries. Contributing to the development of groupwork and community work in the UK, he was a successful fundraiser for many ventures, also achieving influence on social policy in a range of fields.