Practising Social Work in Schools: Reflections from Delhi

Abstract

School social work enters its second century as a profession still conflicted about its central mission, roles and tasks. As a progressive and corrective institution of society, there are greater expectations from the school system in the contemporary era to provide a facilitative environment for children to imbibe values and ethics for overall personal development. The irony, however, lies in the role of school social workers who are expected to provide holistic services to the school system and find themselves caught in a web of ambiguity and role confusion amidst the bureaucratic and hierarchical school environment. Are school social work practitioners meant to be the ‘in-house’ clinicians providing services to children in need or are they supposed to become involved in the larger programme development to enhance the social and emotional learning of all students in a school? Attempting to mirror the complexities of school social work in the contemporary scenario, the present paper is based on findings from recent research conducted in government and private schools in Delhi, India. It unveils the roles and tasks taken up by school social workers, explores the opinions of teachers and students about social work intervention in schools and also seeks to critique the scope of school social work in the present context.