Collaging connection, stitching survival: reflections from an arts-based assignment in a social work trauma course

In this article, “China” refers to “mainland China.” Social work as academic discipline was first introduced to China’s most important universities, such as Yenching University, in the 1920s. However, social work, like other social science disciplines, was labeled as “bourgeois pseudo-science” and removed from Chinese universities in the 1950s, based on the idea that there were no social problems in socialist China, and thus no need for social work education. After the introduction of the Open Door and Economic Reform policy in 1978, social science disciplines were gradually reestablished in universities in mainland China beginning in the late 1980s, after a lapse of over thirty years. China’s rapid social and economic transformation has created different social problems since the late 1970s. As a measure to alleviate emerging social problems, the return of social work programs was advocated by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and by leading academics, who saw the need to develop professional social workers to handle the increasingly complex social problems arising from rapid social and economic transitions. Thus, the Chinese government reintroduced social work education programs to the universities in the late 1980s, for the clear political mission of establishing social stability and a harmonious society. Peking University was the first higher educational institute to launch a social work program at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels in 1988. Gradually, other universities and cadre training colleges in China followed its lead. In China in 2018, there were 348 undergraduate social work programs and 150 master’s of social work (MSW) programs. In China’s specific context, rural social work is one of the major subfields of social work. As social work was developed in the Western urban context, when it was reintroduced to China, some of the Chinese social work educators were aware of the differences in cultural and societal context between China and the West. They emphasized the indigenization of social work in China, and rural social work was regarded as the major component of this effort. They also thought social development and poverty alleviation should be a major factor. For example, Professor Wang Sibin, a leading social work scholar from Peking University, opined that social development and poverty alleviation should be the primary focus of social work education in China, and that individualized practice should only constitute a supplementary and secondary role in the social work curriculum. This is the context and direction of rural social work development in China since it was reconstructed in the 1980s. However, even today, rural social work is underdeveloped in terms of academic research and publication. Most of the bibliographies are in Chinese, and very few academic papers have been published in English in the area of rural social work in China. Nonetheless, in this bibliography, priority will be given to English academic papers. Only important and high-quality Chinese articles will be cited.

Although suicide has been identified as a major public health issue in the United States, social work education has not yet clearly determined its role in suicide prevention. There has been a dearth of research on suicide content and education within social work programs, particularly baccalaureate programs. This teaching note presents the result of a cross-sectional survey of social work practice instructors (N=289) from Bachelor of Social Work (46.7%) and Master of Social Work (53.3%) programs. Almost all participants (87.5%) include suicide content in some of their practice courses. Teaching practices about suicide in suicide education are described, including frequency that topics and competencies are taught, factors affecting the inclusion of suicide content in the classroom, and instructors’ perceptions of student competence on completion of the course. Implications for social work education are identified, including the need to increase continuing education for practice instructors, and to expand coverage of some topics, such as evidence-based practices, and the role of culture in suicide assessment.

ABSTRACTDespite the growing prevalence of online courses and programs, there is a lack of information on and continuing debates about their effectiveness on student learning outcomes in social work education.Purpose: The current study was to examine the status of the evaluation of online courses or programs in social work education.Method: Using comprehensive and rigorous methods, 15 articles were reviewed to examine the effectiveness of social work online courses or programs. All reviewed articles were either quantitative or qualitative studies that used process or outcome evaluation.Results: The major criterion for comparison of the effectiveness between the face-to-face and online course was grades.Discussion: There is an overall disconnect with the concrete value and meaning of assessment within social work programs and universities and schools appear to have placed assessment and student learning outcomes secondary to the financial gains that online courses and programs bring.

Mentoring by an experienced practitioner enhances professional well-being, promotes resilience, and provides a means of addressing poor job satisfaction and high burnout rates among medical social workers. This is a crucial source of support for social workers working in fields with high risk of compassion fatigue and burnout like palliative care. Implementing such a program, however, is hindered by differences in understanding and application of mentoring practice. This narrative review of mentoring practice in social work seeks to identify key elements and common approaches within successful mentoring programs in social work that could be adapted to guide the design of new mentoring programs in medical social work. Methodology and Data Sources: A literature search of mentoring programs in social work between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2015, using Pubmed, CINAHL, OVID, ERIC, Scopus, Cochrane and ScienceDirect databases, involving a senior experienced mentor and undergraduate and/or junior postgraduates, was carried out. A total of 1302 abstracts were retrieved, 22 full-text articles were analyzed, and 8 articles were included. Thematic analysis of the included articles revealed 7 themes pertaining to the mentoring process, outcomes and barriers, and the characteristics of mentoring relationships, mentors, mentees, and host organizations. Common themes in prevailing mentoring practices help identify key elements for the design of an effective mentoring program in medical social work. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of these findings upon clinical practice in palliative care and on sustaining such a program.

This article contributes to the debate on evaluation use by analysing temporary national programmes in Swedish social work. Previous empirical research shows a gloomy picture of evaluation use, thus supporting an evaluation paradox: evaluations are not used for learning and development, but are continually prioritised. The aim of this article is to study, through interviews and document analysis, how evaluations of temporary programmes in social work are designed and used. The results support the paradox and we found that it has two dimensions. First, evaluations are prioritised, but they function as a ritual, characterised by routine and unclear intentions, with limited relevance for professional learning and improvement. The second dimension is about limited use by those commissioning the evaluations, but the evaluators are using data for new purposes and in new contexts. This is, at best, a form of conceptual use, hopefully contributing indirectly to social work practice. The article ends in a discussion on how evaluations could be designed for learning and improvement by focusing on three normative models: utilisation-focused evaluation, responsive evaluation and evidence-based practice approach (EBP).

Social work education is an academic discipline that prepares students to support individual, family, and community wellbeing, and to advance policies for social equity. Despite the increasing use of online education for social work, many social work faculty believe that online Master of Social Work (MSW) programs do not adequately prepare graduates for direct practice (engagement, assessment, intervention, and evaluation) with vulnerable populations. Students from an online MSW program at a midsized urban research university were interviewed to learn (a) how well an online MSW prepared these students for direct practice with individuals, families, and communities; and (b) what instructional approaches best prepared them for direct practice social work. This study finds that online education helps students to become effective social workers. Participants in the study said they benefited from a variety of learning tools and methodologies including live videoconference meetings, virtual office hours, taped lectures, readings, and virtual roleplays with transcribed feedback from instructors. Participants navigated obstacles in their education by extensive contact with their classmates through designed classroom spaces, spontaneous videochats and social media connections. Field placements, which occur face-to-face were essential to student learning. Their learning, however, was limited by the lack of direct practice courses and insufficient access to direct practice electives, since the program specialized in leadership and management. Without direct practice coursework some participants from rural areas had difficulties advancing into leadership positions in their organizations as they had planned. Also, participants in remote locations said they had insufficient support from the social work program to establish strong field placements. Participants spoke of disabilities that they did not report and were not accommodated while they were in the program. The findings of this study support several recommendations for online MSW programs. Social work programs specializing in policy and leadership need to include sufficient foundational courses and electives to prepare graduates for employment in direct practice roles which may be required for social work employment, licensure, and professional advancement after graduation. Since field practicums are a central part of social work education, educational programs need to devote additional resources to establish and maintain high quality field education in a broad range of community sites. Further research is needed on the presence of students with disabilities in online MSW programs, and programs need to provide information and support to accommodate these students.

Given the increasing diversity of the U. S. population and social work clients, retention of students of color in baccalaureate social work programs is a major issue. This article reports on a two-phase exploratory study that looked at the retention efforts of accredited baccalaureate social work (BSW) programs and their respective universities in one state. The first phase of the study addressed the types of retention efforts being made toward students of color and the perceived success of those efforts. The second phase looked at students’ perceptions of the retention efforts made by their university and their BSW program. The findings indicate that retention efforts offered by social work programs are effective in helping retain students of color, although they also indicate that the retention programs are underused. This may indicate the need for social work educators to work to increase awareness of retention efforts in their universities and programs.

The competence profile of teaching staff in social work education programs - a strategic issue for the field of social work In the past four decades, the higher education in social work has expanded greatly in Sweden, but analyses of what this development means for the field of social work are few. No scientific text pays specifically attention to the competence profile of the teaching staff. The aim of this article is to investigate the quality of the education with a focus on the competence profile among teaching staff in social work education programs. The competence profile is analysed by studying the competence on social work as academic discipline (Bachelor of Science in Social Work for non-PhD teaching staff and PhD in social work for staff with doctoral degree) and scientific level (PhD among the teaching staff) based on two quality criteria: two-thirds of the teaching staff with doctoral degree and two-thirds with social work as their main academic discipline. The article has a comparative approach by comparing both the competence profile between higher education institutions with social work programs 2020 and the development between 2008-2020. The article uses quantifiable data that has been collected through a survey with basic facts about the teaching stuff from all institutions with social work programs and statistical data from the Swedish Higher Education Authority. The analyses of the empirical material has led to two main conclusions regarding the competence profile of teaching staff: none of the higher education institution with social work program in Sweden meets both quality criteria and the differences between the institutions risk to develop an stratified higher education with a hierarchy between social work programs with negative consequences for the discipline as well as for the students’, labour market entry after graduation and for clients.

In the past 2 decades, social work education has increasingly advocated for inclusion of trauma-related content in educational programming. Yet, to date, little is known about the current state of trauma education and training in social work programs. The aim of this study is to describe trauma education and training in accredited, North American social work programs. The data are from an online survey of 192 social work educators from 165 universities with accredited social work programs in the United States (n=151) and Canada (n=14). Participants were asked whether trauma-specific education is offered, and if so, to provide the formats used to deliver the content, the type of curriculum used, and evaluation efforts. Most programs (67.9%) reported integrating trauma education into existing courses, with 61.4% of BSW programs and 65.4% of MSW programs offering some form of trauma education. Results suggest that social work educators are recognizing the importance of including trauma education in their programming. However, more evaluation is needed to identify specific trauma content being presented.

Social work educators' role in gatekeeping within BSW and MSW academic programs continues to be a concern and challenge for the profession. Social work programs are the entry point in which students develop the required competencies to practice within the field. The social work literature on gatekeeping is extensive and expansive. The literature reviews and addresses the importance and need for gatekeeping as well as challenges in implementing gatekeeping within social work programs. This paper reviews the literature on gatekeeping in social work programs, discusses the legal issues pertinent to gatekeeping, and identifies the challenges faced by social work programs in implementing gatekeeping procedures. The paper suggests an integrated conceptual framework using the Council on Social Work Education's Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) for competencies in gatekeeping in social work programs.

This article describes the use of an experiential community study project in teaching a macro-practice course with focus on community engagement in an advanced generalist practice Master of Social Work (MSW) programme in the USA. Implemented in stages, this project is designed to provide students an opportunity to develop community practice knowledge and skills. Quantitative and qualitative data collected from students show how this project developed in them the ability to analyse community characteristics and problems as well as helped them become more culturally sensitive. In developing community profiles and assessing community needs, students could also enhance their analytical and critical thinking skills. These experiential projects are very relevant and useful for social work students and programmes which do not have an opportunity for community practice in their field placement as part of their education. The author argues that such initiatives are likely to reduce the marginalisation of macro-practice courses in social work programmes. Pedagogical and practice implications for macro-practice courses and social work education are also discussed.

The profession of social work faces a perfect storm of increasingly complex practice contexts, intensifying demands, and escalating burnout. This crisis requires immediate, critical, and substantive action by social work education. Social work programs function to prepare competent practitioners who can navigate these demands and complexities with efficacy, while sustaining themselves. For too long, practitioner well-being has been significantly neglected. This article promotes a basic tenet: Social work education has a pivotal responsibility and pragmatic role in providing serious, credible attention to the well-being of practitioners. Social work curricula must integrate teaching of self-care as a professional competency. This article provides philosophical rationale and practical strategies for doing so. Through comprehensive attention in implicit and explicit curricula, social work programs can prepare practitioners who can enact social work’s long-standing mission of human rights, social justice, and human well-being. Everyone (e.g., faculty, field supervisors, administrators) has a role and responsibility. The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) has particular effect in setting standards for social work programs, and, by extension, the profession itself. Thus, the article concludes with a call for CSWE to include self-care in the accreditation standards core competencies required by all social work programs. The profession’s future compels taking proactive, preventative action now.

This article examines how structural racism amplified the direct and indirect effects of COVID-19 for African American, Asian/Asian American, and Latino/a/x and Hispanic social work students during the unplanned transition to synchronous and asynchronous education at three social work programs across the United States, creating additional educational barriers. The aim of the article is three-fold. First, centering Critical Race Theory, it discusses the experience of African Americans, Asian/Asian American, and Latino/a/x and Hispanic students at three different institutions across the country. Second, it highlights the structural challenges faced by social work students of historically, racially and ethnically oppressed communities and the lessons learned from the social work programs’ pandemic response. Third, social work faculty lessons learned suggest to better meet the needs of historically, racially and ethnically oppressed social work students; and, the integration of Critical Race Theory to diminish the effects of structural racism in social work programs’ future educational plans in response to COVID-19, or a similar health crisis.

Journal Article Advances and Challenges in Developing Research Capacity in Social Work Get access Jeffrey M. Jenson, PhD, Jeffrey M. Jenson, PhD Winn Professor and associate dean for research Graduate School of Social Work, University of Denver Address correspondence to Jeffrey M. Jenson, Graduate School of Social Work, University of Denver, 2148 South High Street, Denver, CO 80208; email: jjenson@du.edu Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Katharine Briar-Lawson, PhD, Katharine Briar-Lawson, PhD professor and dean in the School of Social Welfare University at Albany, State University of New York Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Jerry P. Flanzer, PhD Jerry P. Flanzer, PhD formerly an extramural officer at the National Institutes of Health, is currently associate dean for research at San Jose State University and a frequent consultant to schools and faculty of social work on topics of research infrastructure Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Social Work Research, Volume 32, Issue 4, December 2008, Pages 197–200, https://doi.org/10.1093/swr/32.4.197 Published: 01 December 2008

This article explored the development of social work education in Malaysia and Australia focusing on three areas; professions, standards and education. The findings indicated that social work programmes and courses should be more entrepreneurial, research-oriented, and more efficient in its teaching methodology. Additionally, social work programmes should emphasise on the development of social work as a profession, strengthen the governance of social work education, and develop programs that focus on the global agenda. In Malaysia, the social work education began in 1975 whereas in Australia, it started in 1940 with the launch of Social Work Degree Program in the University of Sydney. In Australia, social work programmes are accredited by a professional body known as the Australian Association for Social Work (AASW), while in Malaysia, there is no established or authorised professional body to accredit the programmes. Without it, the path for social work profession to develop may be affected or compromised. This could be the contributing factor causing the delay in the development of social work education in Malaysia when compared to Australia.