Transformative Disruptions and Collective Knowledge Building: Social Work Professors Building Anti-oppressive Ethical Frameworks for Research, Teaching, Practice and Activism

Abstract

ABSTRACT Starting from the idea that many social work professors exceed the traditionally defined ‘service’ requirements of their university and are actively involved in social change and justice initiatives, this article aims at critically reflecting upon our own experiences as three social work educators. In the article, we address the question of how social engagement may influence the development of our social work ethical consciousness. If a growing body of literature is available around social work education, teaching and ethical learning and decision-making of social work students, little is yet known about how educators articulate those processes in the context of their work. To achieve this task, we have each undertaken an autoethnographic reflection where we describe one of the most significant situations in the development of our ethical consciousness and examine how they contributed to challenging our pre-existing ethical frameworks in social work. We conclude by discussing how to develop adaptive and pluralistic anti-oppressive ethical frameworks for social work research, teaching, practice and activism.