Generating Practice Knowledge for Social Work Education: A Teacher's Experience in Hong Kong

Abstract

An under‐explored area in social work is the development of theories of social work education. The author has made use of her own teaching practice in Hong Kong, systematically experimenting with some of the experiential learning theories developed since the early 1990s, to generate practice knowledge. This paper presents two major findings of one of the author's action research experiences that shed light on the process by which learners who are experts in a particular approach to practice gain new practice knowledge. The first finding contributes to the theoretical understanding of one of the factors that can prevent learners from acquiring substantive knowledge. In particular, the distinct frames that both teachers and learners bring to their teaching–learning experience determine how well learners gain new substantive knowledge. The second finding contributes to the development of practice knowledge, revealing how ineffective teaching and learning can change so that learners can adopt new, more effective frames.