Group Work Camp Research Articles

How Group Work Camp Began

Abstract: This paper describes the origins and evolution of Group Work Camp, an experiential training program sponsored by the International Association for Social Work with Groups (IASWG). The founder’s many experiences with camping and experiential learning had convinced her that experiential learning was essential to groupwork education, and that a camp setting was its ideal environment. Group Work Camp evolved out of a pre-symposium institute at the 2009 International Symposium for Social Work with Groups. This institute was held at George Williams College of Aurora University, a beautiful lakeside campus steeped in groupwork history. This one-time event was received so well that participants advocated for its continuation. The Board of Directors of IASWG agreed to offer the institute again as a pilot program. When it was again successful the organization began to sponsor it biennially. The model was adapted and called Group Work Camp. It has been offered three times in its current form. In 2015 the first European Group Work Camp was held in Lithuania, adapted to local needs. It was also very successful, suggesting the flexibility of the model. It is hoped that in the future there will be many adaptations in different parts of the world.Keywords: Group Work Camp; groupwork education; groupwork training; experiential learning; mentoring; camping.

Beyond Group Work Camp: A bridge to symposia and conference participation via professional presentations

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is twofold - to describe a Group Work Camp workshop that facilitates continued professional involvement beyond the camp experience, and to share the information offered in this session. The workshop provides information about developing peer-reviewed presentations for professional association conferences and addresses the benefits of such presentations. It identifies different presentation formats and describes the abstract preparation, submission and review processes. It addresses the dissemination of supplemental material related to the presentation. Detailed recommendations for navigating the preparation and presentation processes are shared with the hope of easing anxieties for new presenters. By scheduling the workshop near the conclusion of camp, it builds upon the group experience to facilitate continued involvement with the association and its activities. It provides a bridge and a method for further professional groupwork engagement and outlines a path for post-camp connections.Keywords: Group Work Camp; groupwork; International Association for Social Work with Groups (IASWG); professional associations; conference abstract; poster and paper presentations.

Group Work Camp as Nondeliberative Process

ABSTRACTThe article seeks to identify examples of several features of nondeliberative practice within the process of Group Work Camp, an experiential training program. Camp provides an alternative environment for learning, in which novice group workers can effectively deal with their anxiety about facilitating groups. Examples of specific features of nondeliberative process are identified, including “worker of the self” nondeliberative and deliberative process working in tandem, problem solving without awareness of a problem, casting the problem in manageable form, transforming nondeliberative experience into analog, shifting from artful to actional to analogic forms, and worker role.

Going to Camp Together: Lighting the Group Work Fire in a New Generation

This article describes the structure and process of Group Work Camp, an experiential training program sponsored by the International Association for Social Work with Groups (IASWG). The purpose of this 3-day event, which offers workshops and activities in a camp environment, is to transmit the skills, culture, and philosophy of social work with groups to students and new professionals. Camp also aims to connect participants to the group work community through interaction with skilled and enthusiastic professionals and educators. Participants live together as a large group and engage in ever-changing small groups. They learn primarily by experiencing group membership in the present moment, reflecting on this experience, and then discussing its implications. As the Chinese proverb says, “Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I will remember. Involve me and I will understand.” In the course of this experiential learning process participants develop strong connections with peers and mentors and become familiar with IASWG, a resource for support and stimulation that will be invaluable as they pursue group work practice in an environment likely to isolate them from group work peers. The article ends with a discussion of the implications of this model for group work education, supervision, and practice.

Relighting the Campfire: Rediscovering Activity-Based Group Work

Group Work Camp, sponsored by Association for the Advancement of Social Work with Groups (AASWG) and held during the summers of 2009 and 2011 on the campus of George Williams College of Aurora University, provided unique opportunities for educators, practitioners, and students to experience the power of collective action and activity/experience-based groups. The camp reminded participants of the origins of the group work movement and how the prevalence of experientially based group practice has diminished over the past few decades. Further, this camp experience served as an awakening and may have particular import for U.S.-based practitioners to align with emerging trends in global social group work.