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.     

Student isolation: the experience of distance on an international field placement

In an era of global awareness of the impact of social, political and environmental impact, the international field placement has become a feature of many social work programmes throughout Australia. A theoretical framework of international social work principles allows for a guiding platform for teaching and learning; however, the experience of the social work student is often one of cultural isolation and emotional vulnerabilities. Whilst cross-cultural learning is a core practice goal of the placement, the ability to engage with this learning is affected by the impact of distance on the student. In turn, the university responsibility for the student is heightened by the distance involved, creating an increased sense of risk for both the student and the social work educator. This article draws on a mixed-methods study, with data sourced from both questionnaires and in-depth interviews with university field education staff, former social work students, and field educators. Five lenses of distance are explored in the aim of increasing understanding of the student experience: geographical distance, cultural distance, emotional distance, pedagogical distance and technological distance. In doing so, the social work educators’ ability to monitor and support remote students is enhanced, and the capacity for the student to engage in a positive teaching and learning environment is increased.     

Maximizing Student Learning: A Case Example of Applying Teaching and Learning Theory in Social Work Education

Social work is a practising profession and when students undergo a social work undergraduate course they are expected to learn and apply the knowledge, skills and values necessary for their future social work career. As an educator, the challenge exists in determining whether students have learnt the material and are prepared to implement the knowledge, skills and values into practice. Current theories on teaching and learning are useful tools to educators who want to ensure that course units are maximizing students' learning potential. This paper focuses on the application of three established teaching and learning theories implemented in a social work module. The paper begins with an overview of Biggs' theory of Constructive Alignment, Biggs' four levels of understanding/Bloom's Taxonomy, and Race's five factors that underpin successful learning. The paper describes the integration of the theories to a social work undergraduate module through the following four-step process: (1) revisit learning outcomes; (2) determine teaching methods and learning activities; (3) design assessment; and (4) receive feedback/evaluate. The students' learning experiences were positively reflected through their personal learning outcomes, formative feedback and summative feedback, which demonstrated the ability to maximize student learning through the incorporation of teaching and learning theory.     

Courage to Teach for Social Work Educators

Teaching social work is a science, an art form and a passion. Within that context, the purpose of this article is to explore teaching as a science/art, and to integrate the work of Parker Palmer into the scholarship of teaching and learning for social work education. Using the narratives of two ‘still learning’ social work educators, Palmer's work will be described and its application experiences shared. The article concludes by making a link between Palmer's ideas and social work education.     

Innovating adult social work practice—learning from the Named Social Worker for adults with learning disabilities pilots

In 2016, following the publication of the vision for adult social work in England, the Chief Social Worker for Adults at the Department of Health in England announced the intention to pilot a new social work role—that being a Named Social Worker supporting people with learning disabilities. Phase 1 of the pilot has tested a reframing of the social work role as a relational practitioner with an expertise in human rights, freed from transacting the management of care. Phase 2 is now underway testing key knowledge and skills requirements for post-qualifying practice in the field of social work supporting adults with learning disabilities. Heuristic approaches are capturing outcomes from generative learning processes throughout the pilot. The insight emerging from this national pilot is that at its heart, named social work is about qualifying and on-going post-qualifying social work education which promotes and maintains practitioner reflexivity and connection to their social work values. We are finding that self-advocates may be a critical influencing factor, positively affecting the sources of resistance through making explicit the connection between social work values and lived experience of practice from the people social workers are there to serve.     

Action Learning in the Indian Village as an Alternative to the Traditional Field Practicum in the Foundation Year of the MSW

This paper captures the experiences of the faculty members of a relatively new graduate social work program situated in the largely rural state of Haryana India in reframing the foundation year practicum through community-based and engaged action learning in small villages. Located within Bhagat Phool Singh Vishwavidyalaya (BPSMV), north India's first all women public university, the mission of which is to enhance women's engagement in the greater society through post-secondary, professional and character education, the department is educating social workers for community engagement in social development and in the development of women as an empowered group in society, particularly at the village level. Over a three-year period, the faculty has successfully launched and sustained action learning as an alternative to the traditional practicum in social work education, enhanced civic engagement among students and faculty in three rural villages, and further developed community social work as a principal focus of social work education in India. The paper offers a rationale for action learning in the graduate social work curriculum, describes and documents the department's strategy of action learning, and lays out lessons learned from action learning as a central focus of pedagogy, research, and service within BPSMV Department of Social Work and the rural villages it serves.     

Beyond PowerPoint™: Using Learning Objects to Enhance Social Work Courses

Faculty use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in social work courses has the potential to transform social work education, including increasing student engagement and accommodating different learning styles. Learning objects are reusable digital resources with a pedagogical purpose that may be used in online, hybrid, or face-to-face social work courses to achieve these and other pedagogical benefits. This article defines and provides an overview of the concept “learning objects.” Guidelines for locating and incorporating existing learning objects and for creating learning objects for use in social work courses are detailed. Finally, examples are provided.     

Learning Style Preferences of Undergraduate Social Work Students

It has been identified that undergraduate social work students have distinctive learning needs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the learning style preferences of a group of undergraduate social work students enrolled at a large Australian university. The Kolb Learning Style Inventory, Index of Learning Styles and Success Types Learning Style Type Indicator was distributed to 606 students enrolled in an undergraduate social work degree at one metropolitan Australian university. A total of 116 questionnaires were returned, providing a response rate of 19.14%. The results indicated that converging and assimilating, intuitive and sensing, thinking, judging and perceiving learning styles were favoured by this group of social work students. It is recommended that educators understand and take into consideration the learning style preferences of undergraduate social work students when developing curricula and evaluating teaching approaches, especially when planning and implementing education initiatives. This will help create effective learning environments, appropriate learning opportunities and a contemporary curriculum for social work students.     

Clicking Toward Better Grades: The Use of Student Response Systems in Social Work Education

Faculty members at universities are increasingly shifting their pedagogical focus from traditional lectures to active learning by integrating academic technology such as clickers (i.e., student response systems) into classrooms. However, few studies have examined the effect of clickers on learning outcomes such as test grades, and even fewer studies have evaluated this technology in social work education. This study examined the effect of clickers on learning outcomes in an undergraduate social work course. Findings indicated that frequency of clicker use significantly contributed to increased test scores after controlling for important covariates, suggesting that clickers may be an effective tool in actively engaging social work students and promoting learning. Instructors guidelines for integrating technology into future social work courses are discussed.     

Preparing for Practice: An Evaluation of an Undergraduate Social Work ‘Preparation for Practice’ Module

The requirement for social work students to undergo assessed preparation prior to undertaking their first practice placement raises key questions about the type of knowledge and experience that is needed for those at the start of their training. This paper shows the need for social work educators to become re‐engaged in debates about the practice–theory relationship and to explore what is meant by an incremental approach to learning. A Preparation for Practice Learning module which was delivered to a cohort of Level 1 undergraduate social work students at a London university is described and evaluated. The paper highlights the key themes which emerged from the evaluation; these include the importance of work shadowing, observational learning and the centrality of critical reflection in aiding students' personal and professional learning. A discussion of its effectiveness in preparing students for their first practice learning experience follows. It concludes by recommending how students' learning in relation to the nature of social work and the skills required to undertake the role effectively might be addressed within the curriculum. Finally, a Preparation for Practice Learning model based on these findings is proposed.     

‘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.     

Reality-play--experiential learning in social work training

A unique teaching model, called reality-play, arose as the result of the author's two concerns about how to teach students to integrate a theoretical model as a working tool in social work and how to prevent them from categorising people. In this teaching approach students have to go through a whole social work process by using their own real life challenges as learning material. The purpose is to learn social work from the perspective of a social worker, a user and an observer at the same time. The paper is divided into two parts. The first paper introduced the teaching model, showed how it built on an overall theoretical perspective of social constructionism, and on learning theories of adult, experiential and confluent learning to meet the concerns mentioned above. This second part presents a student evaluation of the teaching model in relation to three interwoven topics: involvement, integration of theory and practice, and awareness.     

Does self-assessment in a group help students to learn?

'One of the greatest misconceptions about self-assessment is that it can be undertaken in isolation from others' [Boud (1995) Enhanced Learning through Self-assessment (London, Kogan Page), p. 200]. Social work practice - the experience from which we learn in social work education [Boud et al. (1985) Reflection: Turning Experience into Learning (London, Kogan Page)] - operates in the context of social relationships. This means that learning develops within its social environment, be it a student group, workshop, team or project. If self-assessment is to be an effective aspect of reflective learning in social work education, then it is important that social work students develop skills in self-assessment in group contexts. This paper charts an exploration of self-assessment in a group setting in order to reach some conclusions about how self-assessment can be encouraged amongst social work students as they carry out group assignments.     

Learning social work law: An enquiry-based approach to developing knowledge and skills

This paper, written jointly by tutors and students, discusses an enquiry-based approach to learning and assessing law as part of social work qualifying training in England. It is argued that social work law is an area of learning particularly suited to an approach in which enquiry and analysis skills are promoted through practical problem solving. The paper considers the theoretical rationale for this approach and identifies how this conceptual frame informs the learning and assessment structure. It identifies how students present evidence for assessment of their skill and knowledge development, through both written and verbal submission, and considers the learning outcomes achieved. The paper concludes with an evaluation of the approach as an example of knowledge and skill development through problem solving and reflection.     

Application of Web-based learning in teaching social work law

Computer-assisted learning is now well established in many universities and offers a number of virtues that should commend it to social work educators. It offers a unique and valuable way of achieving certain learning outcomes that are of particular value in social work education. This paper presents one attempt to develop its potential by integrating Web-based tutorials into teaching social work law. It is suggested that Web-based learning has a unique and specific contribution to offer in enhancing student learning, but it does need to be carefully planned and integrated into teaching. Resistance to this form of learning needs to be anticipated; and the reasons for it considered for they may partly explain why the use of computer-assisted learning in social work education has, so far, been fairly limited. Nevertheless the 'added value' of Web-based learning is considerable so long as it is not regarded as some kind of cheap or 'soft' teaching option.     

Teaching Note―Conceptualization of a Contemporary Social Work Ethics Course

This article outlines the conceptualization of a contemporary social work course for the foundation level of a midwestern U.S. master’s of social work program. The conceptualization uses problem-based and applied learning and reflective thinking with attention to the developmental level of students. A brief review of factors to be considered in teaching social work ethics is included. Student learning beyond the National Association of Social Workers’ Code of Ethics is described as well as the use of an ethical decision-making model.     

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.     

Learning pattern of social work students: a longitudinal study

Research on learning patterns of social work students is scare. This longitudinal study addresses this issue by employing mixed methods of quantitative and qualitative study design to understand the learning pattern of students throughout their undergraduate social work studies. Six rounds of quantitative data collected by structured questionnaires and four rounds of qualitative data collected by focus group interviews have been conducted at an interval of every 6 months to track the learning pattern and to evaluate the continuous impacts of social work education on students. Results indicate that although students’ evaluation on the curriculum was positive and with significant difference in mean scores, paired sample t-tests found no significant difference between time 1 and 6 of all outcome variables. With regard to students’ change in attitude, acquisition of knowledge and skills, results indicate a ‘U-shape’ trend and a fluctuating learning pattern with a rebound in different outcome variables toward the end of the three-year study. Qualitative data echoes the findings and reveals that students go through the confused freshman stage, to disillusioned in practicum and finally with enriching experience upon graduation. The paper discusses meanings and implications of student learning pattern to social work education.     

Social work field education: believing in students who are living with a disability

This paper is an exploration of social work placements with students who are living with a disability. The paper discusses hurdles including censoring placements and opportunities, equal access, strategies for building a belief in ability and self-esteem. Field education is a significant part of the social work degree internationally. It allows social work students to further develop their social work identity and to apply their knowledge to professional practice through real-life learning. The paper broadens the conversation on social work placements and ability, adding some personal narratives and sharing some insights from an Australian university context.