Blue Smoke and Mirrors: The Continuum in Social Work Education

Abstract

The continuum between generalist and specialist is not as useful an organizing concept for social work education as its supporters believe. Instead, less ambiguous central organizing constructs are needed for baccalaureate and master's education. Instead of a continuum, the authors suggest that the two programs be conceived as independent entities. The baccalaureate degree should focus on the training of case managers in public service agencies. The master's degree should prepare graduates with specific skills and knowledge that represent genuinely advanced practice. This formulation calls into question the notion of a common professional foundation and eliminates the practice of granting advanced standing.     

Social Work Field Education as Social Development

SUMMARY

This article will discuss social development models and their application to the establishment of social work field education in Lithuania. A model of field education as social development is presented and discussed, with reference to promoting core social work knowledge, values and skills, establishing relationships between educational and social welfare institutions, and identifying the impact of field education programs on community well-being. Examples from the authors' experience in educational program development and implementation are presented, along with implications for international social work education.     

Quality Assurance in Social Work Education: A Comparison of Outcome Assessments across the Continuum

Abstract

Although assessing program outcomes has become increasingly important in higher education, no systematic research has been undertaken to determine the outcome measurement systems used across the entire continuum of social work education. This study, based on a 1992 survey of more than 150 baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral social work education programs, is the first to provide substantive data about the types of assessment systems in place at all three levels. It describes the frequency of use of various systems, makes comparisons across the levels of education, and discusses the implications for social work education at each level.     

Structure of University Education and Education for Social Work in Italy

The single-case design, with its potential integration of practice and research roles, has roots extending back to the “scientific charity” movement of the late 1800s. While the goals of “scientific charity” were never realized, the new research technology bears promise of achieving them. This background, together with the related experiences of behavioral psychology and of medicine, is briefly highlighted and the prospects, pitfalls, and challenges involved are discussed.     

Social Work in the University

Abstract

This article asserts that social work is failing to fulfill its professional obligations to people in need, in part because its academic institutions are failing to perform their basic intellectual functions. The author presents evidence that false reports of the effectiveness of the nation's social welfare services exaggerate the degree to which social therapeutics and professional techniques have been successful, which has in turn prevented an accurate approach to resolving social problems and has diminished the claims of people in need. The author asserts that a reinvigorated role for academic social work requires credible research, a shift in curricular emphases, and a supportive constituency drawn from populations at risk and their organizations.     

The Institutional Development of Social Work Education

This overview traces the institutional development of social work education through its first century of existence, covering antecedents, early training schools, disparate philosophies, and repeated expansion. The discussion focuses on factors that have shaped the development of social work education, among them external funding, the career goals of students, and various internal tensions resulting from conflicting visions.     

Sustainable Social Work: An Environmental Justice Framework for Social Work Education

Environmental degradation is not experienced by all populations equally; hazardous and toxic waste sites, resource contamination (e.g., exposure to pesticides), air pollution, and numerous other forms of environmental degradation disproportionately affect low income and minority communities. The communities most affected by environmental injustices are often the same communities where social workers are entrenched in service provision at the individual, family, and community level. In this article, we use a global social work paradigm to describe practical ways in which environmental justice content can be infused in the training and education of social workers across contexts in order to prepare professionals with the skills to respond to ever-increasing global environmental degradation. We discuss ways for social work educators to integrate and frame environmental concerns and their consequences for vulnerable populations using existing social work models and perspectives to improve the social work profession's ability to respond to environmental injustices. There are significant social work implications; social workers need to adapt and respond to contexts that shape our practice, including environmental concerns that impact the vulnerable and oppressed populations that we serve.     

Social Work in the Engaged University

This article identifies the importance of educating social work students and enlisting social work faculty to embrace the university–community engagement arena as a critical subfield of community practice. Through the lens of social work knowledge, values, and skills, the authors present three case studies of social workers who are working in the university–community field. The authors offer some directions for social work education.     

The Role of Social Work Education in Advancing Social Development in the English-speaking Caribbean

This article presents a discussion of the role of professional social work education in advancing social development in the countries of the English-speaking Caribbean. It addresses issues around the development of the profession in the region, student enrolment, curriculum expansion and programme delivery by the institutions which offer social work education. The events which contributed to the emergence of social work education in the region during the fourth decade of the twentieth century and social work education's continued contribution to regional development are discussed. The prospective use of the new Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development to advance the profession in the region in the twenty-first century is noted. The article concludes by highlighting the many challenges that currently impact social work education in the Caribbean and the fact that the development of social work education in the region is inextricably linked to the region's social development needs. Social work education as delivered through the University of the West Indies is used as the case in point for discussion.     

Social Justice in the Social Work Classroom: Applying a Professional Value to Social Work Education

Social justice is a primary value of social work and therefore has a place in discussions of social work education pedagogy. This is especially true for conversations pertaining to students who are underprepared, due to educational inequalities, for successful completion of writing assignments at the undergraduate level. If underprepared students are treated as equals to prepared students, then the social inequalities that contributed to or caused a student to be underprepared are perpetuated rather than challenged. The authors explore responses to underprepared students that are consistent with social work's professional value of social justice.     

Social Development and Minimum Standards in Social Work Education in South Africa

This paper evaluates how well South African minimum standards for social work education, known as Exit Level Outcomes, are aligned to a social development paradigm. Developmental social work is a relatively new approach in social work education internationally, and this article can therefore provide lessons for other countries using this paradigm in an education model based on national minimum standards.

The complexities and difficulties of using a minimum standards approach in education are discussed and the policy context for the development of these standards in South Africa is explained. The use of a social development framework for the analysis is motivated in relation to its relevance to the social context. Nine criteria for a social development perspective were drawn from the literature to form an analytical framework. A content analysis using this framework was done on the minimum standards.

The results show that the minimum standards are generally aligned with social development principles that drive national priorities, but a few significant gaps exist, which are outlined and discussed. This article attempts to grapple with the complexities of using these minimum standards to drive both curricula related and extra curricula activities in social work education in South Africa     

Inbreeding in Social Work Education: An Empirical Examination

Academic inbreeding frequently has been asserted to be detrimental to the quality of educational institutions. Prior empirical studies, however, have been equivocal in supporting this position and sizeable proportions of inbreeding have been noted in high-prestige institutions. This study found inbreeding to be quite prevalent in graduate schools of social work, but not related to an institution's ranking on measures of prestige, scholarly and professional productivity, and teaching quality. Similarly, the academic nativity of individual faculty members across schools was not related to their scholarly productivity. It was concluded that inbreeding alone is not predictive of institutional or individual calibre.     

An Experiment in Curriculum Innovation in Graduate Social Work Education

This paper reports on the results of an experiment in student-centered learning. Students were randomly assigned to one of nine groups and one faculty member was assigned to each group for a six-week term. A case example served as a point of reference for selecting seminar content. Evaluation of the experience centered on the extent of student learning and the degree to which students and faculty met their objectives. The students showed evidence of learning but future efforts in this area should concentrate on the clear explication of objectives as well as the faculty facilitator's role.     

A Model for Social Work in Private Practice

These Practice Notes explore some of the consultant services a social worker in private practice can offer to voluntary organisations and community groups. Some of the advantages and disadvantages of private practice are shared.     

Internationalism in Social Work Education

Internationalism is the study of social work programs and philosophies in other countries. It promotes a broad concept of generic social work that enables the social worker to function as a humanist with skills rather than as a specialist with humanistic inclinations. Knowledge of social work in other cultures provides valuable insight into dealing with cross-cultural and ethnic relationships in one's own country. It also suggests common linkages between diverse kinds of social work practices. International experience provides case examples and evidence of new kinds of skills that social workers need in a culturally pluralistic society.     

Microcomputers in Social Work Education

Microcomputer use has increased dramatically in the last five years. Use of this technology has expanded rapidly in social work education, but less rapidly in clinical practice. Trends in educational and practice uses of this technology are explored along with the limitations of and myths about computers in education and practice. Educational curriculum issues are identified and an outline for planning computers as transient information or enduring knowledge are covered. Concerns about availability of equipment and supports are raised.     

Surprise in Social Work Education

Training is commonly seen as the most viable way of ensuring good quality care in residential homes for elderly people. The literature on training has focused on a shift in emphasis from traditional 'professional' social work training for staff at a senior level to training which is to be provided for junior level staff. To this end, Scottish/National Vocational Qualifications have been introduced which, through workplace assessment of competence, have been proclaimed to be the means by which to raise the status and career prospects of a social care workforce. This article argues that task-based competence is increasingly being seen as relevant for a 'para-professional' social care workforce such as that found in the residential care sector. In the light of this, research was undertaken to establish whether residents preferred 'trained' staff, holding formal qualifications and/or NVQs, to 'untrained' staff with no recognised qualifications. The research concluded that residents want kind, understanding and experienced staff, and when length of time in post was taken into account, the effect of training was negligible. The study concluded that homes need to select staff for their good personal qualities and encourage them to stay. Staff need training that integrates skill with understanding and above all, assessment should reflect this perspective. Moreover, residents need to be involved in the assessment process.     

Collaborative Education in a Radical Social Work Course

Abstract

This paper explores the use of social group work in a graduate MSW course on Progressive Social Work Practice co-taught by Jan, a faculty member, Stacy, a current graduate student, and the students enrolled in the course.     

An Agenda for the Future: Student Portfolios in Social Work Education

Portfolios have been used in a variety of academic settings for outcomes measures and to present students' best work. This article introduces the idea of electronic portfolios to be used with social work majors both in the graduate and undergraduate curriculums. The literature around portfolios, an explanation of our process and the points to consider regarding pursuing an electronic portfolios process are addressed.