Social Work Education in China: A Brief History and Contemporary Developments

Abstract

Social work and social work education have gone through a rough and bumpy road after it was first introduced into China in the early twentieth century. This paper reviews the four phases of historical development of social work education in China, and its rapid development in the recent ten years. The author introduces Chinese government’s policies and strategies to expand social work services and social work education in recent years, and .also argues that social work education in China is still in a weak position and there are a number of potential problems and challenges standing in the way, but professional training and education are likely to be consolidated, increased, and improved.