ABSTRACT In contemporary China, the social work profession faces the dilemma of social work students’ reluctance to enter the field. Therefore, drawing on human resource management theories, this study proposes and tests hypotheses regarding the effect and underlying mechanisms of social work students’ fieldwork satisfaction on their career intention in social work. Data were collected from 494 social work students undergoing or having recently completed fieldwork in two megacities of Southwest China. Statistical analysis reveals that fieldwork satisfaction not only directly influences students’ career intention but also exerts an indirect effect through the mediation of professional identity toward social work. Additionally, a sense of achievement derived from social work moderates the relationship between fieldwork satisfaction and career intention. Based on these findings, the study discusses how social work agencies and higher education institutions can enhance students’ fieldwork satisfaction and help them achieve a sense of work achievement during internships. The discussion provides insights for increasing social work students’ career intentions and promoting the sustainable development of the social work workforce.

ABSTRACT Norwegian social work education traditionally emphasizes individualized service provision within a state-based welfare model, often giving limited attention to collective and community-oriented approaches. This qualitative study examines how 10 bachelor’s-level social work students from a single Norwegian university experienced a five-month international field placement in Australia, Belgium, Cuba, Denmark and Greece. The study focuses on how students engaged with community-based social work practices and local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The findings show that students encountered diverse models of collective advocacy, community mobilization and organizational structures, broadening their understanding of community-based practice and alternative NGO-led welfare responses. Although students identified new professional possibilities through these experiences, they also faced challenges related to cross-cultural communication, contextual differences and limited prior knowledge of community social work. These challenges required students to adapt and develop skills related to cultural competence, flexibility and reflective learning about varied community norms and principles. Additionally, exposure to contrasting welfare systems highlighted the role of NGOs and community organizations as notable actors in social support. The study concludes that better integration of community-based social work and NGOs’ principles into pre-placement education is crucial for preparing students for effective international fieldwork.

ABSTRACT Digital competence is increasingly essential in gerontological social work (GSW), yet most curricula provide little structured preparation. This mixed-methods study examined changes in students’ self-rated digital competence across the duration of the course and explored how they perceived these developments. Thirty-two undergraduate GSW students from a Chinese college participated in this study. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed using statistical and thematic analysis, respectively. Findings from both quantitative and qualitative data indicated an overall improvement in GSW students’ digital competence during the course. DC-US scores increased after the classroom-based phase and remained higher following the service-learning phase. Qualitative reflections validated and elaborated on this improvement by illustrating how students developed competencies across information and data literacy, communication and collaboration, content creation, safety, and problem solving. The study highlights that DigComp 2.2 can be meaningfully embedded into social work curricula to explicitly target digital competence training. The findings also reinforce the value of experiential learning as an instructional approach that contributes to GSW students’ digital competence development. Future research could further explore the application of the DigComp 2.2 framework in diverse social work education contexts and examine its long-term impact on GSW students’ digital competence development.

ABSTRACT Social work education has had to reassess its approach to online teaching and technology in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the consequential normalizing of working from home and flexible work arrangements in some industries. However, despite the potential benefits offered by online placement modalities, there remains deeply held skepticism and concerns about the quality of online learning experiences Utilizing principles of cooperative inquiry, this article examines social work students’ experiences of online placements by drawing from a collaborative model known as the ‘Supporting Placement through online Access and Community Engagement’ (SPACE) Project. Despite students’ initial perceptions of online learning experiences being inferior to face-to-face placement, no significant difference in their capacity to demonstrate the required learning outcomes was found between the two modalities. Students reported that a well-structured placement program, student-informed learning goals, access to good supervision, flexible work arrangements, and focus on creating a diverse peer community were enablers of good placement outcomes, irrespective of whether placement was offered online or face-to-face. The flexibility offered by online placements was seen as positive for those who would otherwise face barriers to participation owing to childcare, work, mental health, or other familial and cultural commitments.

ABSTRACT Critical reflection underpins effective and ethical social work practice. However, mechanisms for embedding critical reflection within practice are not consistent nor clearly established across all fields of social work. This study evaluated the Social Work Online Team Training (SWOTT) toolkit as a mechanism for change from a model and culture of managerial supervision to one rooted to critical reflection within adult social care services in a local government agency in England. A SWOTT toolkit is an integrated team-based resource for Continuous Professional Development (CPD) activity based on a peer learning pedagogy. For the study, a total of 18 study participants were recruited through adult social care services, to participate in focus group discussions, including workforce development leads (n = 3), team managers (n = 5) and social care practitioners (n = 10). Team managers described behavior change as using SWOTT toolkits enabled them to embed critical reflection within their individual and team practices and culture. Practitioners noted the benefits of supervision and learning as a team, both in terms of the learning itself, sharing existing practice knowledge and team-building; collective benefits that could be gleaned for teams in all fields of social work practice.

ABSTRACT Social work programs are increasingly offering trauma education as part of their core and specialized curriculum, but little focus has been given to how students are being taught and evaluated. This co-written article (professor and students) explores the value of assignments that embrace a decolonial approach by offering opportunities for creative exploration, complexity, and self-reflexivity. In particular, we detail one assignment where students create a piece of art in response to an aspect of trauma or way of surviving, coupled with an artistic statement with links to course content. Based on the lack of writing on the topic of arts-based assignments in social work trauma courses, we provide details of the course context, preparing students for the assignment during early classes, assignment instructions, grading, and six student examples of artistic submissions and statement excerpts. The professor and these students then provide reflections on what they learned from the assignment, what helped them in the meaning-making process, and suggestions for the future. The article concludes with areas for future research and pedagogical explorations.

ABSTRACT This study, guided by an intersectional environmental justice theoretical framework, examines how social identities affect social work students’ involvement in and preferences for environmental justice (EJ) advocacy. Pre- and post-program surveys were used to collect data from 146 BSW and MSW students from Adelphi University. Results show Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students tended to prioritize EJ topics that address systemic inequities, bringing attention to issues of social justice and equality in their advocacy efforts. White students demonstrated significant gains in their exposure to EJ concepts (M = 0.34, p < .05). There were increases in students’ comfort discussing EJ (M = 0.71, p < .001) and their exposure to EJ concepts in education (M = 0.32, p < .001). Female students experienced notable improvements, including their comfort discussing EJ (p < .001) and their involvement in university-based EJ activities (p < .001). Additionally, younger students reported higher levels of engagement in community activities (M = 0.39, p < .05). These findings underscore the role of identity in shaping students’ perspectives and involvement in EJ advocacy and highlight the importance of incorporating EJ advocacy into social work curricula to better prepare students to address systemic environmental inequities.

ABSTRACT Gerontological Social Work is committed to a heterogeneous, diverse, inclusive and fair understanding and approach to old age, which may potentially reduce the stigma and discrimination that affect certain social groups. This means that professional training needs to critically question the social dynamics that interact to produce and reproduce inequalities among older adults. In this context, this article reports on the ‘Active Learning Methodologies to Combat Ageism: Application of Positive Education about Aging and Contact Experiences (PEACE) in the Social Work Degree’ teaching innovation project at the Complutense University, Madrid (Spain), which examines physical and cognitive diversity, diversity of territorial and residential environments, sex and gender diversity, and ethnic and cultural diversity. This programme was implemented to train social workers to be aware of discrimination issues related to age and other elements of intersectionality (functionality, territory, gender and ethnicity) that generate more oppression and inequality in old age, so that they are able to develop specific strategies and tools to reduce ageism and promote a diverse view of older people.