Social Work Education Programs Research Articles

RESTRUCTURING SOCIAL WORK FIELD EDUCATION IN 21ST CENTURY CANADA

Social work field education in Canada is in a state of crisis. For over two decades field education has faced increasing challenges and barriers within neoliberal contexts in higher education and the health and social services sector. These challenges have been magnified by an unprecedented growth in social work education programs and student enrolments, which has increased demand for field placements to an unsustainable level. Although some strategies for restructuring social work field education have been developed, to date little work has been done to formally identify, evaluate, and share information about these strategies across Canadian social work education programs. This article explores the current state of crisis from a solution-focused lens and describes three inter-related strategies to address critical problems with current models, practices, and processes. The strategies are presented as a Sustainability Model for Field Education. The results of a two-year study that sought to identify alternative delivery mechanisms for social work field education and promote sharing of information across social work education programs are discussed. A key recommendation is to restructure and move away from a crisis management approach by implementing strategies for enhancing the sustainability of field education.

Branch Campuses: Extending the Reach of Social Work Education

ABSTRACTThe study explored the characteristics and experiences of branch campus social work education programs and educators in the United States. Eighty-one branch campus social work educators in 26 states completed an online survey. Findings revealed that undergraduate and graduate branch campus social work education was primarily delivered face-to-face to nontraditional students. Half of these programs were recently established, and the majority were expected to grow. However, teaching these students was not necessarily viewed as a shared responsibility. Although some branch campus faculty reported higher workloads and limited connections to parent campus colleagues, faculty generally reported great satisfaction teaching branch campus students. Practical implications are provided.

Racial microaggressions and black social work students: a call to social work educators for proactive models informed by social justice

ABSTRACTWith efforts to create and sustain racial diversity and inclusive practices at institutions of higher education, a corollary emphasis on proactive implementations to support students of color in these environments is essential. Informed by a commitment to social justice, there are rich opportunities for social work to take leadership in strategizing new ways of approaching and prioritizing the wellness and success of students of color. This paper serves to explore the impact of racism specific to Black students by applying the theoretical lens of Racial Battle Fatigue (RBF) to challenge social work education in confronting racialized experiences within their programs. A modified, context-specific framework is proposed that (1) defines microaggressions in social work education programs, 2) prompts critically informed dialogue to enhance how social work as a profession understands the prevalence and role of microaggressions in social work educational contexts, and (3) explores considerations for the unique needs and challenges of Black social work students in an effort to inform strategies to most effectively recruit, retain, support and empower.

Teaching cultural humility for social workers serving LGBTQI Aboriginal communities in Australia

ABSTRACTIt is well documented that colonization and subsequent repressive policies have wrought devastating changes in the lives of Aboriginal people in Australia. Social workers are an essential group for improving social justice and self-determination for Australian Aboriginal people. The Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) acknowledges that Aboriginal people make a unique contribution to the life of the nation and mandates that social work educational programs provide culturally responsive content that acknowledges the value and contributions of Aboriginal people. Social work educators need to embed this content without reinforcing stereotypes or being tokenistic. This is a challenge when teaching about intersecting identities, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and intersex (LGBTQI) Aboriginal people. We outline the terms used in this space and propose that cultural humility is an acceptable framework to consider. We introduce key conceptual terms used in LGBTQI Aboriginal communities. Finally, we provide recommendations for engaging with LGBTQI Aboriginal peoples.

Learning Through Teaching: A Study of Social Work PhD Students in Their Roles as Educators and Learners of Research

ABSTRACTPhD social work education programs train students to become effective researchers. Less recognized are the potential opportunities for PhD students to develop in their role as educators and the possible benefits of honing doctoral students’ knowledge of research through their role as educators. This study explored these opportunities for social work PhD students who taught an introductory research methods course to MSW students. Findings suggest that potential strong, mutual benefits for PhD and MSW students exist, and institutional supports improved PhD students’ confidence as educators and researchers. Finally, integration of Kolb’s experiential learning theory and Feynman’s mental model in the doctoral social work curriculum may enhance the profession’s development of future leaders.

Shifting the Ground in Nepali Social Work

Nepali social work has Western liberal roots and traditions that impose cultural imperialism, professional sectarianism, and political colonization. There is a mismatch between what is taught in social work education programs in Nepal and Nepali culture. Further, this borrowed social work concept is out of step with the structural problems that Nepali people face on a daily basis, such as casteism, ethnocentrism, poverty, and exclusion. In this study, being inclined to critical pedagogy and decolonization discourse, I argue that Nepali social workers should emphasize and engage in decolonizing social work practice in Nepal. It must listen to the voice of the people at the grassroots and engage in ‘people-centred development’ to address structural problems perpetuating injustice and inequality in Nepal.

Reflective practice and learning from mistakes in social work student placement

ABSTRACTStudent placement is a fundamental component of social work education and an important space where to build critically self-reflective practitioners. Students learn from their reflection on their experience and their mistakes are a powerful opportunity to go behind the surface of events and understand the essence of the profession. This article will present some results from the analysis carried out on the reflective writing of a group of social work students who describe and reflect on the most significant mistakes they made in their field practice using a reflective framework developed for errors and failures. The main results of this experience are illustrated with special focus on the impact and on the emotions, the relationships with service users and the assessment of the cases. Students are often so concentrated on looking at their responsibility that they become almost blind to the systems and interactions that contribute to the negative outcomes of their actions. Social work education programs should emphasize the importance of structured reflective habits and promote the culture of responsibility instead of the ‘blame culture’, that is probably the strongest obstacle to learning from mistakes and preventing their repetition in the future.

Meeting health, mental health, and housing needs of older adults: A case review of the congregational social work education initiative

ABSTRACTThis article presents results from an innovative social work field education program, which prepares BSW and MSW students to work in interdisciplinary teams with congregational nurses as they serve persons age 55+ or older. The Congregational Social Work Education Initiative is a field education project based on an applied interdisciplinary model, whereby social work students at the graduate and undergraduate level partner with congregational nurses to serve at-risk members of congregations and religious affiliated organizations (RAOs). Students and nurses provide free health, mental health, and wellness services to address individual, family, group, and community health, mental health, and housing issues. Funded by community health foundations, it trains BSW and MSW students for professional practice in congregational and community religious affiliated settings through interdisciplinary and collaborative methods. Information on the development of the model and case illustrations are provided so other social work educational programs and congregational nurse programs might duplicate its success.

A Post-Colonial Autoethnography of Transnational Adoption

This paper brings together an autoethnographic account of adoption with post-colonial theoretical insights to propose a different approach to education programmes for prospective adoptive parents. By examining the adoption-migration nexus as one encounter within a broader history of global migrations, a post-colonial lens foregrounds the importance of race in the governance of (trans)national adoption and blurs the boundaries between forced and voluntary adoption. Preparing the adoptive parent community to understand the extent to which migration and adoption are implicated in racialising practices is critical if they are to support their non-white children in a context of rising nationalism and xenophobia. It is argued that social work education programmes must take up a more radical pedagogical agenda that questions normative understandings of class, race, ethnicity, gender and nation. This means developing an awareness that contemporary transnational adoption practices are entwined with the silent residues of an 'illiberal' past. Loving and caring familial relations, while crucially important for the emotional well-being of adoptees, cannot, by themselves, be a substitute for respect and belonging in the public sphere. A more politicised subjectivity of adoptive parents is called for.

Screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) curriculum integration and sustainability: Social work and nursing faculty perspectives

ABSTRACTBackground. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has funded grants to universities to provide training and conduct research on the dissemination of Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) to health care professionals. However, when it comes to integrating SBIRT content into an existing curriculum, difficulties can arise. When there is so much content already in the curriculum, adding more can be challenging. Additionally, some faculty believe that course curricula should be driven by the expertise and knowledge of faculty, not by opportunities afforded because of grant funding. Methods. Using qualitative semi-structured faculty interviews and thematic data analysis, this study explored the process and content issues surrounding the integration of SBIRT content into the Masters of Social Work (MSW) and Masters of Science in Nursing (MSN) curricula at one university. Results. Guidelines for the successful integration of SBIRT content into MSW and MSN curricula fall into two thematic areas: 1. Encourage buy-in and ownership of SBIRT curriculum development by current faculty. 2. Use a scaffolded approach. SBIRT includes several unique content areas which should be integrated per competencies addressed in each course. SBIRT content areas lend themselves to integration into a range of courses, employing an array of learning techniques and teaching materials. Scaffolding content requires creativity, which serves as the basis of the six subthemes that guide a scaffolded SBIRT integration approach. Conclusions. SBIRT offers an evidence based intervention that uses a public health approach to reduce harm from substance use. As such, professional nursing and social work education programs should teach SBIRT to their master's level practitioners. This paper proposes guidelines for integrating that content into existing curricula.

Slowing things down: taming time in the neoliberal university using social work distance education

The neoliberal university is described as a space where there is an ever-present ‘scarcity of time’ as faculty face increasingly high-paced demands for efficiencies and productivity. By this logic, students are produced as self-enterprising individuals, steeped in the values of competition, and solely invested in enhancing their human capital. Within this context, online education has gained prominence as an alternative to on campus, face-to-face post-secondary education. In this article, we draw on findings from qualitative interviews conducted with social work educators who teach using online-based pedagogy as well as recent graduates who completed their social work education in distance learning programmes. Our research explores how distance education shapes the pace of knowledge production in Canadian Schools of Social Work where a mandate to promote social justice-based professional practices coincides with time constraints associated with neoliberalism. Building on conceptualizations of temporality, we found that when mobilized as a time-saving measure, online programmes can exacerbate the intensified workload for both teachers and students, and they can also limit potential for equity and inclusion in the university. However, when mobilized as a ‘time-taming’ measure, adequately resourced distance social work education programmes offer possibilities of resistance to pressures faced in post-secondary institutions.

Cutting the Distance in Distance Education: Reflections on the Use of E-Technologies in a New Zealand Social Work Program

ABSTRACTThe development of new e-technologies and an increased focus on developing distance social work education programs has created the impetus for social work educators to consider the tools they can employ in delivering distance courses. This article reflects on an action learning research project involving the development of an online toolbox of e-technologies to support social work educators in the delivery of distance courses. It highlights the opportunities and challenges when considering the integration of e-technologies as part of social work education.

Strengthening Competency in Policy Practice: An Experiential Model for Student Learning

Competence in micro and macro practice is required by the Council on Social Work Education because it is essential for skilled practice by helping professionals. Social work educators have historically struggled to identify learning opportunities for students in policy practice that are interesting and help reinforce its relevance to direct helping. It is imperative that new methods of policy engagement be implemented in social work curricula. This article describes an innovative model, based on an experiential statewide collaborative of all undergraduate social work education programs, to develop and assess student competency in policy practice. Evaluation results indicate that students found this model more effective in teaching about the importance of policy practice than traditional policy courses and in conveying the importance of policy to their work in the field.

Field education in crisis: experiences of field education coordinators in Canada

Significant multi-layered challenges with delivering quality practicum experiences to social work students have led field education coordinators to release a joint statement that social work field education in Canada is in a state of crisis. This article presents the results of a two-year mixed methods study that sought to investigate and describe the challenges in order to enhance understanding of the crisis from the perspective of Canadian social work field education coordinators. The results indicate that social work education programs in Canada face four key challenges in regard to field education that can be further divided into two sections: (a) the social work practice field and (b) social work field education administration. The two key challenges associated with the social work practice field are: (a) social work practice contexts and realities and (b) practicum shortages and saturation. The two key challenges associated with social work field education administration are: (a) practicum procurement and field instructor recruitment and retention; and (b) expectations and workloads of field education coordinators. To address these challenges, collaborative development of a multi-level strategy aimed at moving beyond the current state of crisis toward a sustainable model of social work field education in Canada is recommended.

Social work education in Arab universities and educators’ perceptions

This paper concerns an under-explored dimension of international social work and social work’s relationship to religious belief. The paper reports a descriptive and analytical study that sought to assess the perceptions of social work educators relating to the standards of social work education programs across national borders in the Arab universities of the Middle East, Arab Gulf States, and North Africa (MENA). The four dimensions used to define standards were: the programs’ relationship with professional practice institutions, societal recognition of the profession, quality of social work graduates, and the interaction of profession with social issues. A survey was conducted using a non-probability purposive sample of faculty members (n = 178), who were geographically distributed among faculties and departments of social work at 22 universities in eight Arab countries: These are Palestine, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen, Egypt, Libya, and Morocco and are collectively referred to as MENA countries.

Ethical Integration of Faith and Practice in Social Work Field Education: A Multi-Year Exploration in One Program

The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) prescribes competencies and professional behaviors for social work educational programs. Respective, individual programs may add program competencies and practice behaviors specific to their schools and universities. The study examines one program’s field education measurement of the additional competency: The ethical integration of faith and practice and behaviors related to clients, students, and practicum sites. More than 600 BSW and MSW students’ final field evaluations over a five-year period were examined for grades and for evidence of each of the faith and practice behaviors. Findings include students’ emphasis on their own ethics including use of supervision and honoring clients’ faith perspectives, students’ recognition of faith as strength and resource for clients; and students’ recording of the importance of agency context policies in the integration of faith and practice. Grades on the faith and practice competency were essentially equivalent to final field evaluation overall grades.

A Guided Review of Top-10 Rated Social Work Education Program Websites: Diversity in the Digital Age

Increasingly, higher education is a competitive industry, with students considering numerous schools through which to obtain their college degrees. Many prospective students rely on the programs’ websites to inform their decisions. The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) accredits schools of social work based on standards set forth in its Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) for bachelor- and master-level education. The EPAS document sets forth specific directives for programs’ missions and goals, and explicit and implicit curriculum and assessment. The goal of this study was to conduct a content analysis of the websites of top-rated social work education programs with special attention to their diversity content. Analysis of diversity content is crucial to increase the utility of the websites for potential applicants. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Personal reflection and experience of a Fulbright Scholar: teaching a mental health course in Vietnam’s changing culture

This paper documents the experience of developing and teaching a course on mental health for undergraduate social worker students during a semester in Vietnam. Social work is a profession at the early stages of development in Vietnam, requiring much curriculum development. There are over 40 universities with undergraduate social work education programs, but few of the faculty have had training or experience in practicing social work. The paper will summarize the main reasons for developing such a course given the current state of mental health need and services in a changing culture, as well as the current state of professional social work education and the newly established profession of social work. The author describes the contexts underlying the course—the status of social work and social work education in Vietnam, the context of mental health and mental illness in Vietnam, and curriculum adaptation to the cultural context. From this experience, the lessons learned about the role of cross-cultural critical thinking, cultural knowledge, and other strategies will be discussed about teaching a subject like mental health internationally.

Practical Application of Critical Race Theory: A Social Justice Course Design

ABSTRACTSocial work education aims to prepare students to effectively engage with diverse people and groups. This article presents a practical application of critical race theory (CRT) toward that end. It describes a brief history of curricular approaches to teaching diversity and social justice and examines a few of the challenges with current curricular approaches that CRT has the potential to mitigate. I provide an overview of CRT and discusses the utility of applying CRT to the design of a diversity and social justice course in a social work education program. A logic model, which illustrates the application of CRT and a social justice approach, is presented and discussed. The model includes strategies, course methods, student outcomes, and influential factors.

Developing social work students’ professional identity: the role of England’s Professional Capabilities Framework

ABSTRACTDeveloping professional identity is a key aim of social work education. This paper argues that the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF) – a holistic, capability approach to student assessment used in England’s social work education programmes – is ideally placed to promote the development of students’ professional identities. The paper discusses two research studies, each of which was stimulated by significant policy changes in England’s social work profession. The author draws out the implications of both studies for supporting social work students to develop their professional identities. It is concluded that the PCF is valued by practice educators as an assessment and teaching tool, while acknowledging that its future is uncertain due to the lack of continuity impacting on England’s social work profession. This paper is equally of relevance for social work educators outside the UK who may be developing and evaluating their assessment approaches and also for those experiencing the impact of rapid policy changes in their own countries.