Social group work and its training within the academic course on methods of social work. Theory, praxis, challenges

Abstract

Social work with a group, as one of three classic methods of social work, is being taught in the course of academic studies in the “Social work” BA programme. In comparison to the other two social work methods (social work with an individual case and community social work), the social group method seems to be least recognized in training and praxis of social work in Poland. The aim of the article is to systemize and to deepen the knowledge on the social work with a group. The first part of the text is dedicated to the review of chosen theoretical and methodological foundations of social work with a group. I refer to “the power of group” and the significance of the group process; I present a small group as a resource and as a tool of social work; I point to the diversity of groups used in the context of social work, and provide a catalogue of personal features, knowledge, skills and tasks of a professional social group worker. The second part of the article is based on my experience as a teacher of methods of social work at the Faculty of Economics and Sociology of the University of Łódź, Poland. I describe training in social work with a group as a shared group experience. In the end I reflect on the influence of Covid-19 pandemic on changes in teaching group work and the group work itself in the light of “work online”.