Thinking Like a Social Worker: Examining the Meaning of Critical Thinking in Social Work

This article proposes a model for interprofessional collaboration within the context and process of field experiences in public schools. The model evolved out of a collaborative venture between the schools of social work and education at Boston College. The placement of pairs of social work and education interns in urban schools provided an opportunity to identify the nature of collaboration that is transdisciplinary and not parallel practice. This transdisciplinary practice model is based on a common goal, discipline-specific objectives, and co-facilitated activities. The discussion includes issues of project design and implementation as well as the advantages and challenges of interprofessional field work.     

Lessons from American Social Work Education: Caution Ahead

Abstract

Similar trends are occurring in Australian and US social work education, as universities increasingly adopt a rigid market orientation to tertiary education. This marketisation shapes social work education in manifold ways, including the pressure to increase revenues (and effect greater efficiencies) by expanding the size of social work programs. The unregulated growth in social work programs leads to lowered admission standards, as programs are forced to compete for students. An oversupply of social workers will also drive salaries downwards as supply eclipses demand. These issues are examined in the context of a “big” versus a “small” (fewer but more highly trained social workers) model of social work. Emphasis is placed on the lessons that Australian social work educators can learn from the challenges facing US social work education.     

Intimate Partner Violence

This article presents a developmental vulnerability/resilience and risk/safety framework to educate social work students about intimate partner violence. The framework adopts a multidimensional perspective to understanding development (a) among individuals who are violent toward intimate partners, (b) among those toward whom they are violent, and (c) within family systems; it also covers prevailing socio-environmental contexts. The utility of this framework for Human Behavior in the Social Environment (HBSE) education is discussed.     

Social Work Practice in Higher Education

This article examines two cases of social work practice in higher education within the context of identifying a model of social practice for use in postsecondary educational settings. The case studies provide insight into a model of social work practice that reflects both the traditional clinical model, which focuses on individual change, and the school-community-pupil relations model, which focuses on system change. The author also discusses implications for social work educators who see college/university counseling centers as an arena for social work practice.     

MICRO- OR MACRO-ORIENTATION? ISRAELI STUDENTS' CAREER INTERESTS IN AN ANTISOCIAL ERA

The growing interest in social work education in Israel over the past 5 years, despite its current social and political context, was the impetus for this study, which attempted to identify the practice orientations of 119 incoming BSW students in an antisocial era. Two distinct, equal-size clusters were found. Half of the students were micropractice oriented, indicating greater interest in working with individuals, couples, and families. The other half were macropractice oriented, more interested in working with communities and in policy-practice and social change activities. Conclusions and implications for social work education are discussed.     

Bridging the Gap Between Micro and Macro Practice

The bifurcated structure of social work education, micro and macro, is often unwarranted and restrictive. This split forces a premature and unnecessarily narrow focus in study and practice. In order to adequately pursue social justice and deal with issues of power and oppression in a clinical context, this bifurcated structure of social work must somehow be unified. A narrative–deconstructive model of practice, nested in the postmodern–poststructuralist paradigm and embodied in the work of White and Epston offers a resolution to this dilemma. The authors provide a conceptual base for understanding this model, highlight those socio-political elements of the model that integrate clinical practice with social change, present examples, and discuss implications for social work education.     

‘Health in all Placements’ as a Curriculum Strategy in Social Work Education

The convergence of health and social perspectives that aim to improve the quality of life of individuals, groups and communities through advancing the social determinants of health provides an important context for social work education. The adaptation of global initiatives such as Health in All Policies (HiAP) to a `health in all placements' approach in social work education is suggested as a curriculum initiative to support learning about health inequalities and enable students to locate their practice in the social, political, environmental and economic context of health and wellbeing. The integration of this approach with principles of social justice, social inclusion and the theoretical framework of transformative learning in field education is also discussed. It is argued that the approach supports the inclusion of global and local perspectives in social work curricula and pedagogical imperatives in higher education.     

An integrated and experience-based approach to social work education: The Newcastle model

This paper describes a unique social work education model developed by a group of social work practitioners, all but one of whom were new to academia. The University of Newcastle, in New South Wales, pioneered problem-based learning (PBL) in Australia. The social work programme adopted PBL and gave it a strengths focus, making experience and experiential learning central to its approach. Newcastle's model is based on the belief that learning to be good social workers is best achieved through learning by doing, working with students' experiences, integrating theory and practice, using a collaborative or small group approach, and locating these elements in a strong social justice context. The Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree is relatively new. Introduced in 1991, its first graduates entered the workforce in 1995. The Newcastle model provides a unique example of experience-based learning and an integrated approach to social work education.     

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     

Project for Return and Opportunity in Veterans Education (PROVE): An Innovative Clinical Social Work Field Education Model

Veterans transitioning from the military to college life and the unique issues impacting them are an area of clinical social work that has yet to be fully explored in the literature. Project for Return and Opportunity in Veterans Education (PROVE) is an innovative social work field education model that trains first year graduate interns to serve student veterans on college campuses in a non-traditional, milieu setting. PROVE uses a strengths-based, resiliency focus to emphasize the unique characteristics of the student veteran. The model affords the intern a clinical skill set applicable to working with veterans in various social work agencies. This article will discuss the history, framework and implementation of the PROVE model, use of Veteran-Affirmative Counseling (VAC) and the unique milieu setting. The article will conclude with implications for clinical social work practice field education settings and recommendations for replicability of the PROVE model.     

Conceptualizing anxiety among social work students: implications for social work education

Student anxiety is frequently discussed within social work education. Due to its potentially devastating impacts, social work educators need to have a full understanding of anxiety in this context, in order to determine the best way to support students. Research on student anxiety from a broad body of literature provides implications for social work classrooms and field education. Key underlying concepts from previous social work and related research on student anxiety inform a conceptual model to help educators develop a more complex understanding of student anxiety. Implications for further research and important next steps in the development of support strategies for social work students are identified.     

Anti-Oppressive Social Work Research: Reflections on Power in the Creation of Knowledge

This paper is based on the development of a framework that conceptualises forms of power in social work research. Its aim is to encourage readers to critically reflect on potentially oppressive manifestations of power in social work research. The article draws on Lukes' model of power and Gould's subsequent framework which contributed to anti-racist teaching in social work education. Gould's framework is reinterpreted and applied to a differing context: social work research. The field of social work research is explored through this framework, highlighting potentially oppressive manifestations of power and suggesting anti-oppressive strategies. The model is then applied to social work education and specifically the teaching of research methods. The paper concludes by suggesting curriculum guidelines that promote the teaching of anti-oppressive social work research methods.     

Owning (up to) Reflective Writing in Social Work Education

Reflective learning has an established place within social work education but there has been little debate around the nature and purpose of reflective writing as a distinct genre in the context of written academic assessment. Where writing has been discussed in relation to reflection it has been for the purposes of supporting learning rather than academic assessment. This paper draws upon research undertaken with a group of social work students and tutors at The Open University UK together with the work of Watson, both of which identify student difficulties with reflective writing. Research from the field of academic literacies is presented to open up a debate within social work education about the place of reflective writing as a tool for learning and assessment. In doing so, it shares the experiences of one institution, The Open University UK, of working towards greater clarity in the teaching and assessment of reflective practice through writing.     

Ethical and Legal Issues in Field Education

The social work student, field instructor, and field education staff create a series of complex relationships with multiple tasks, responsibilities, and liabilities. All too often, it is unclear how and in what capacity all of these individuals should interact. The authors highlight key issues in field education: professional boundaries, ethical responsibility, and legal liability for students, field instructors, and the school’s field staff. The authors also provide examples to illustrate potential liability in the context of each relationship involved in the field education experience. In addition, they make specific recommendations to help reduce the risk of making mistakes and to improve the quality of social work field education.     

Constructions of ‘vulnerability’ in comparative perspective: Scottish protection policies and the trouble with ‘adults at risk’

This paper places Scottish adult support and protection (ASP) policy in the context of debates about the nature of ‘vulnerability’ and its usefulness as a defining concept in law and social policy. It examines the construction of ‘adults at risk’ in ASP policy, using a comparison with the construction of children in Scottish child protection policy, on the one hand, and women in Scottish domestic abuse policy, on the other, to illuminate the nature of the vulnerability that ASP considers itself to be addressing. It then problematises this construction, drawing both on the social model of disability and on an ethic of care. It concludes that current ASP policy remains underpinned by unhelpful assumptions about disabled people, older people and people with mental or physical health problems. A more inclusive understanding of vulnerability would be more empowering to these people and others, in policies concerned with mistreatment and abuse.     

Going social: Championing a holistic model of mental distress within professional education

Within the context of current debates as to how to raise the profile of social perspectives within mental health social work education, this paper seeks to assemble various elements that might belong within a social (or psychosocial) model of mental health practice. A clarification of what may actually be meant by a social model would be helpful in starting to set the parameters of future social work curricula, both at qualification and post-qualification levels, in terms of an appropriate value base and theoretical orientation. This may be seen to be important if social workers are to be properly prepared for taking on some form of leadership around the promotion of social approaches within the practice of multi-disciplinary teams.     

Confronting Uncertainty: Lessons from Rural Social Work

Abstract

Communities in Australia and internationally are experiencing massive change. Climate variability is an aspect of change that social workers in Australia, particularly in rural areas, are grappling with. Vulnerable populations will be at increased risk as extreme weather events increase in frequency. Communities will be facing social challenges hitherto unknown. The experience of uncertainty and fragmentation as characteristics of postmodernism has exposed the ambiguous and contested nature of much of social work practice and contributed to a crisis of confidence for the social work profession. The move towards rationality and linear approaches in the postwelfare state is often at odds with the complexity and uncertainty of human situations that has always been social work terrain. It can be argued that social work, with its ethical base, person-in-environment approach, expertise in ambiguity and complexity, and recognition of context, is well-placed to manage postmodern uncertainty. Using the 2009 Victorian bushfire example, I argue that an uncertain future is an opportunity for social workers, those working in rural areas in particular, to reassert social work's moral purpose in working with communities facing change. Implications for social work policy, practice, and education are briefly explored.     

Book Review

The prevalence of suicide suggests social workers will encounter clients at risk for suicide, but research shows social workers receive little to no training on suicide and suicide prevention and feel unprepared to work effectively with clients at risk. Baseline results from a randomized intervention study of the Question, Persuade, and Refer suicide prevention gatekeeper training with 73 advanced master’s of social work student interns show suicide knowledge was average, attitudes about suicide prevention were generally neutral, and use of suicide prevention practice skills was low. These results indicate an opportunity for enhancing student outcomes through training and inform social work education regarding necessary preparation for student interns and new graduates to identify and respond effectively to client suicide risk.     

Strategies for enhancing online teaching in social work education

ABSTRACT

In response to the growing importance of online education in social work education, this article describes the context of online teaching and learning in social work education. Online teaching and learning are further discussed in the context of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). We emphasize the importance and need for trained faculty to teach in an online environment, particularly in HBCUs; offer an example of how the University of the District of Columbia, an HBCU, prepares its faculty to teach online; and conclude with specific strategies for online teaching and social work faculty. Finally, we provide recommendations for social work education.     

Continuing professional development after qualification--partnerships,pitfalls and potential

Social work educators, employers and policy-makers have increasingly recognised the importance of continuing professional development. The UK social work qualification (DipSW) provides a broad base of practice skills, knowledge and values. However, increasingly complex work, frequent legislative and policy changes, research findings and challenges of working in a societal context of increasing change and diversity all contribute to the necessity of developing strategies for continuing professional development which adequately equip social workers. Such education cannot be alienated from social workers' employment context, and thus needs to remain mindful of employers' needs while concurrently maintaining academic rigour. This paper explores the development and delivery of a year-long post-qualifying training course run collaboratively between West Sussex Social and Caring Services and University College Chichester. It places some of the experiences of tutors, candidates and Training and Development Officers within the wider context of social work education, training and the delivery of social care. In exploring some of the contradictions and tensions experienced it seeks to further understand the challenge of delivering effective training in an increasingly complex and fragmented arena. Finally, it considers possible future developments, mindful of future changes in UK social work education.