Benefiting from the Popular Films Integrated into the Curriculum in Boosting the Efficacy of the Social Work Education

Abstract

Benefiting from visuals both in every facet of social sciences in broad terms and in social work education in narrow terms improves students’ learning significantly. It is a known fact that learning a material by hearing, watching and discussing altogether can increase the efficiency of learning up to ninety per cent. Besides, it is aimed that especially the social work students whose curriculum is designed in a way that they can work with people from all aspects of life and with all kinds of problems are provided with different methods together with lectures and practical training. Thus, they graduate as people who are ready to work with different client and problem groups after a four-year-education. From this aspect, the effectiveness of adding both the materials which are specifically prepared for the lessons and the popular films for the general public to the syllabus is indisputable. It is stated in literature that integrating films into curriculum in various fields and providing students with audio and visual materials contributes to the effectiveness of learning outcomes. It is also possible to come across various resources concerning making use of the popular films especially in the fields such as social problems, counseling skills, cultural studies, developmental psychology, clinical psychology and psychiatry. This paper specifically argues how integrating the popular films into the curriculum in the various fields of the social work education would affect the learning outcomes of the prospective social workers positively and supports the thesis with some sample cases and films.