Social Work Education in the Shadow of Confederate Statues and the Specter of White Supremacy

Travis Albritton,Allison De Marco,Charity S Watkins,Andrew Heil,Jp Przewoznik

doi:10.18060/24105

Travis Albritton, Allison De Marco + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.18060/24105

Copy DOI

Abstract

Driven by our code of ethics and our call to reckon with our embeddedness within a white supremacist institution in the US South, the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Social Work re-visioned our approach to the MSW curriculum. Using case study methods, we trace our history and on-going work through interviews, document review, and community conversations, centering student voices. Students interviewed spoke about activism prompted by racist events on campus and nationally, and the inadequate response from the administration. Their efforts led to school-wide initiatives including curriculum shifts and accountability and action. The first-year generalist course, Confronting Oppression and Institutional Discrimination was restructured and resituated. Critical Race Theory was infused across the coursework. Two new working groups were created: The Anti-Racism Task Force and Reconciliation Standing Committee. Efforts to address racism and white supremacy in academic spaces require sustained activism to expose how racism is embedded within our institutions. While much work remains in the practice of becoming an antiracist institution, this model can serve as a prototype for others as they work to create programs that are site-specific and universally reflective of the institutional changes we need.

Highlights

IntroductionSince the late 1960s, the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) has used Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) to establish guidelines that ensure students in social work programs receive instruction in nine core competencies (CSWE, 2015)
Background and SignificanceSince the late 1960s, the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) has used Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) to establish guidelines that ensure students in social work programs receive instruction in nine core competencies (CSWE, 2015)
Efforts to address racism and white supremacy in academic spaces require sustained activism that seeks to expose how racism is embedded within the fabric of our institutions

Summary

Introduction

Since the late 1960s, the CSWE has used Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) to establish guidelines that ensure students in social work programs receive instruction in nine core competencies (CSWE, 2015). Jani et al (2011) point out that as the United States has undergone demographic shifts, CSWE has tried with each new iteration of EPAS to ensure that social work programs remain relevant in their attempts to address issues of diversity and ADVANCES IN SOCIAL WORK, Summer 2021, 21(2/3). In 2008 CSWE instituted EPAS Competency 2 which mandates that social work curricula ensure students have opportunities to “engage in diversity and difference in practice” Efforts to fulfill the mandate set forth by EPAS Competency 2 require social work programs to be intentional about instruction in both the explicit and implicit curriculum. The implicit curriculum refers “to the learning environment in which the explicit curriculum is presented” (CSWE, 2015, p. 14)

Objectives

Methods

Conclusion