A comparison of social work education across South Africa and Japan in relation to the Global Standards for Social Work Education and Training

Sakaguchi H, Sewpaul V. A comparison of social work education across South Africa and Japan in relation to the Global Standards for Social Work Education and Training Int J Soc Welfare 2011: 20: 192–202 © 2009 The Author(s), International Journal of Social Welfare © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. This article draws on a one‐year study visit to the University of KwaZulu‐Natal, South Africa, interviews with field supervisors and students in Japan and reviews of the national frameworks of education in Japan and in South Africa. In doing so, the authors identify the similarities and differences in social work education across the two countries and they explore some of the historical and socio‐cultural factors that might account for the differences. There are some identifiable peculiarities in social work education in Japan, especially with the coalescing of care work and social work education. The lack of differentiation between care work and social work makes it difficult to narrow the scope of social work education and practice. National social work standards have been approved in South Africa and regulatory frameworks for social work education and practice have been long accepted, thus rendering ‘social work’ a protected title and a profession that is more entrenched compared with social work in Japan. The codes of ethics in Japan and South Africa are discussed with specific reference to their control functions in South Africa. The article concludes by discussing these comparisons in relation to the Global Standards for Social Work Education.     

Developing geriatric social work competencies for field education

Preparing social workers to effectively practice with the growing older population requires the identification of geriatric competencies for the profession. The John A. Hartford Geriatric Social Work Initiative provided the impetus and direction for a national strategy to improve the quality of preparation of geriatric social workers. The Geriatric Social Work Practicum Partnership Program (PPP) is the project with the Hartford Initiative that emphasizes field education. The Geriatric Social Work Education Consortium (GSWEC), one of the PPP programs, initiated the development of competencies for work with older adults. GSWEC utilized Geriatric Social Work White Papers and the pioneering work of the Council on Social Work Education's (CSWE) Strengthening Aging and Gerontology Education for Social Work's (SAGE-SW) comprehensive competency list as well as conducted focus groups locally to delineate key competencies for field education. The Coordinating Center for the PPP, located at the New York Academy of Medicine, led in collaboratively developing knowledge based skill competencies for geriatric social work across all 6 demonstration sites (11 universities). The competencies adopted across sites include skills in the following five major domains: values and ethics; assessment (individuals and families, aging services, programs and policies); practice and interventions (theory and knowledge in practice, individual and family, aging services, programs and practice) interdisciplinary collaboration; and evaluation and research. The identified competencies have proven effective in evaluating students (n = 190) pre- and post PPP field education. The implications for further development of competency driven education for geriatric social work are discussed.     

Population education for young adults: making the small family desirable

The approach to population control has been almost totally clinical in India so far. A new program of population education which is broader than the clinical appeal is needed. The major target population in India would be illiterates and those with a small amount of education. Within this target population different groups would have to be treated differently. Division would be between illiterates and literates, between urban and rural populations, and between male and female groups. Family planning must be related to other aspects of life, e.g., the health and well-being of the mother and other children in the family. Sex and social education must be presented together. Basic values cannot be changed. Smaller families will eventually change the values. By concentrating on the basic value of survival of the family, the best method to effect this can be shown to be better care of fewer c hildren rather than proliferation of many children. Education should concentrate on the individual and on economic reasons for limiting family size. Once the idea of limiting family size is accepted, it remains to be shown that methods for doing this are available, safe, and religiously and socially acceptable. The message needs constant repetition. Group education would be least expensive. Population education could be presented by incorporating it into other socioeconomic contexts such as reading classes for the illiterates and mathematics classes for the basic literates.     

Population education: a new strategy for India

Hamstrung by excessive population growth which has absorbed economic gains and faced with the prospect of even greater population gains due to the fact that 45% of her people are under 15 years of age, India must take bold steps to change fertility patterns. The best way of achieving this is to adopt a strong program of population education to convince young people to have small families out of a concern for the threat to the quality of life posed by excessive population. The objectives of population education, as defined by the National Seminar of Population Education in 1969, "should be to enable the students to understand that family size is controllable, that population limitation can facilitate the development of a higher quality of life in the nation and that a small family size can contribute materially to the quality of living for the individual family." The improvement in the health and welfare of individual family members was also emphasized. 3 major elements of population education are 1) determinants of population growth; 2) demography; and 3) consequences of population growth. 2 other aspects, generally called "sex education," can be added: human reproduction and family planning policies and programs. Inclusion of the latter items is highly controversial. Some maintain that the passions aroused by sex education can destroy the entire education program before it has a chance. Before launching an extensive program, the author recommends studying the social norms and constraints of the community, ensuring that the program is in competent hands, and instituting and evaluating pilot programs.     

The Population's Confidence in the Child Protection System – A Survey Study of England,Finland, Norway and the United States (California)

This article examines the confidence the population (N = 4,003) has in the child welfare system in four countries – England, Finland, Norway and the USA (California). We find that about half or less of the population reports having confidence in the system, which is slightly higher than the confidence in the civil servants in the same countries. The Nordic countries display more confidence in the child welfare system than the Anglo‐American countries. The similarity between the countries is, however, greater than anticipated. As for independent variables that can shed light on differences in confidence levels, we find three variables to be related to a higher confidence level, and these are a left wing political orientation, lower age, and higher education. This study contributes in filling a knowledge gap on studies about trust in the child welfare system, but we emphasize that we have studied an aspect of trust that rests on the population's impressions of a system, and not their substantial knowledge about, or identification with, this system.     

两宋科举与文学教育

宋代的教育,可以说是围绕着科举考试的教育,而宋代的科举考试,又是对宋代教育的考察和检验。科举与教育,在宋代重文抑武的国策和社会风气中展开,而文学教育就在＂人文性＂极强的科举制度下普及到宋代社会的各个层面。     

Bucharest: poverty or population?

The controversy that occurred in Bucharest over the World Population Plan of Action had not been totally anticipated. Prior to the Conference, there appeared to be a general consensus that population growth was the crucial issue although it was recognized that population growth had to be considered in the context of socioeconomic and cultural development. What developed at Bucharest was a clear division between the developed countries who favored population control and implementation of family planning programs by 1986 and the developing countries who rejected the idea of population control unless it was associated with the redistribution of world resources. The reality of people having large families because they are poor cannot be denied, but, simultaneously, the problem of increasing numbers and their impact on the quality of life, nutrition, housing, education, and employment must be faced. Since affluent countries cannot be relied upon concerning the redistribution of their wealth, developing countries can bring about some change by redistributing the wealth within their countries. Adult literacy programs have been identified as a means to promote socioeconomic development, but these programs will only prove successful if they involve the adults in the process of learning by means of problem solving and cause them to reflect on their socioeconomic situation with the result of reinvolving themselves in society in order to change it.     

Public expenditures on education, human capital and growth in Canada: An OLG model analysis

Much of the current debate in ageing countries focuses on whether governments should increase investments in human capital. We address this issue by simulating the effects of additional education spending using an overlapping-generations model applied to Canada. In the context of population ageing, the results indicate that how the policy is funded has powerful impacts on the targeted outcomes. Higher education incentives may increase the rate of human capital accumulation and mitigate the negative effects of slowing labour force growth. However, the impact depends on the distortions implied by alternative tax instruments and the efficiency of public expenditures on education.     

Improving educational resilience in the OECD countries: Two convergent paths

While equality of opportunity in education has been studied, the literature mainly focuses on academic performance and its determinants. Thus, to help fill this gap, this paper identifies the factors that contribute to improving equality of opportunity and the policies that should be implemented to achieve it. This work is novel in various ways. First, it defines student resilience in a new way using multilevel models applied to two groups of countries. Second, it analyses the determinants of equality of opportunity in the OECD and makes economic policy recommendations. Using the PISA waves from 2003 to 2018, our results show that uniform economic policies should not be pursued across all OECD countries. While countries in the relatively poor group need economic policies that boost per student expenditure, countries in the richer group should prioritise human capital via teacher salary. In other words, in the richer countries, it is not the level of expenditure that matters but how it is spent. Our results also demonstrate the importance of soft skills for the equality of opportunity of students in all cases. Thus, we recommend designing education policies aimed at developing these skills.     

“大学精神”的理性反思与大学教育目的的深度澄明——从现代性社会与现代公民的德性人格生成的角度

教育目的是一个国家教育的总目标,是一个国家的教育活动在实现各种具体教育目标时的终极性追求,它同时也是一种教育模式最基本的价值取向,是教育活动中的“哲学”,它体现着教育的理性。现代性社会需要具备公共性精神与优良人格品位的人,只有以此为基础,才能建立起现代性文明、健康、公正和合理的公民社会。但从中国目前的大学教育制度安排与教育实践来看,与这种要求显然存在较大差距。现代大学教育本质上是一种社会化了的公民教育,即“公众教育”,是指全社会都参与到新的理性与人文精神的学习、传播、创新和实践中来,其核心是对大学生的“公民意识”和“公民精神”的教育,使其具有公民的人格意识、责任意识、权利意识、义务意识、纳税人意识、规则意识,等等。     

Education and internalized racism in socio-political context: Zimbabwe and Swaziland

We focus on the scarcely researched concept of internalized racism (INR), conceptualized as the internalization by blacks of white stereotypes about blacks, to investigate the extent to which it is impacted by education. Samples were drawn from two countries in Southern Africa, Swaziland (N = 308) and Zimbabwe (N = 319). We examined the contrasting socio-political contexts of a history of apartheid in Zimbabwe, and the absence of de jure segregation in Swaziland, the levels of INR, and the relationship of education to INR in both societies. Analysis showed that there was no difference in the levels of INR. Education, our variable of main interest, was negatively related to INR in both societies, and age, and a “sense of helplessness” were positively related to INR also in both societies, although the latter was marginally significant in Swaziland. We discussed the unexpected similarity of INR levels in these societies, and the potential of education to mediate negative psychological effects in both socio-political contexts.     

教育评价改革:实现创造力教育的支点

创造力教育观念正在为教育界广泛接受 ,而传统的教育评价体系阻碍了创造力教育的实施 ,因此探索与创造力教育相适应的教育评价体系改革将成为重要支点 ,它直接支撑起人才培养模式、教学方法、教育管理制度等多方面的深层次的革新。教育评价机构应该从政府走向“民间” ,摆脱评价制度中的权利色彩 ;教育评价应该呈现多元化的价值取向 ,适应创造力教育发展的内在需要 ;而涉及评价思想、评价目标、评价标准、评价过程、评价方法、评价效果等诸多方面的具体改革措施更应成为推进创造力教育的突破口     

教育扩招促进了代际流动?

本文基于中国综合社会调查的数据,以改革开放后参加工作的群体为研究对象,实证分析了中国高等教育扩招对代际流动的影响。研究发现,没有充足证据证明教育扩招促进了代际流动。一方面,尽管教育在扩张前后始终是决定个人社会经济地位高低的最重要因素,但教育扩招没有显著改善教育机会不均等问题,从而也无法减弱家庭背景以教育为中介对子女初职社会经济地位的间接影响,带来代际流动的改善。另一方面,教育扩招的结构化效应不显著,大学毕业生面临的劳动力市场并非完全遵循绩效原则,因此,即便教育扩招提高了他们在社会总人口中的相对比例,也无法带来社会整体代际流动的改善。因此,发挥教育扩招促进代际流动的功能,不仅要强调教育机会的分配公平问题,同时也要努力完善劳动力市场建设,促进就业机会均等。     

社区教育深入发展中的若干问题

随着我国经济社会发展水平的不断提升,社区教育在促进地区、城市经济和社会发展中的作用与功效,日益引起我国各级政府部门的关注和重视,如何进一步深入推进社区教育发展亦成为社区教育实践与研究的重要问题.文章分别从推进社区教育深入发展的各种因素、社区教育资源的整合、社区教育学科建设等方面论述了今后我国推进社区教育实践与研究的若干...     

Interdisciplinary Geriatric Education

There is an absence of adequately trained social workers to meet the health and social service needs of a rapidly increasing aging population. Educators face the challenge of helping social workers in the field both to upgrade their gerontological knowledge and skills and to become functioning members of the emerging modality-the interdisciplinary care team. A historical review of gerontological social work education suggests that 'first generation' education programs based on a medical model of intervention gave way to the 'second generation' in which aging was viewed as a normative step in the life cycle. Currently gerontological social work education is entering the 'third generation' in which emphasis is on working with members of other disciplines to provide comprehensive care. This interdisciplinary geriatric health care is most readily taught as a continuing education, postgraduate experience. This 'third generation' of gerontological social work education is exemplified by the experience of the Hunter/Mount Sinai Geriatric Education Center. Interdisciplinary geriatric health care requires teaching by an interdisciplinary team and, to be effective, educators must themselves be equipped to function as member of the team. Barriers to interdisciplinary understanding and the factors necessary for interdisciplinary collaboration are detailed.     

陕西高师院校综合化改革模式的选择

开放非定向的师范教育体系和高师院校综合化不仅是发达国家的普遍模式,也是我国上世纪90年代末以来教育改革的重点和强劲发展态势。陕西省应从封闭型走向开放非定向型的师范教育体系,形成综合院校办师范教育和师范院校主办师范教育相结合的师范教育大格局,前者须注重师范教育特性,后者须在保持师范教育优势传统的基础上实现学科、专业的多科性和人才培养模式的宽口径转变,从而发挥各自优势,以培养适应21世纪基础教育的高素质师资。     

Changing gender roles of Egyptian females

A high population growth rate in the Middle East is prompting investigators to look for cultural conditions and attitudes that can be encouraged to facilitate lower fertility rates. Population researchers find an inverse relationship between the educational level of females and their fertility, especially in Third World countries. This suggests that education can become an internal cultural mechanism for population control. The author explores this notion using data collected from interviews with 750 teenage girls and their mothers in Cairo, Egypt.     

Does Bilingual Education Interfere with English‐Language Acquisition?*

Objective. In 1975, the Puerto Rican community successfully sued the New York City Department of Education, mandating the city to provide bilingual education to its Spanish‐speaking English learner (EL) students. The settlement, known as the “Aspira Consent Decree,” has been amended over time to include EL students of all language groups and now requires public schools that have at least 15 students of the same language group in two contiguous grades to offer bilingual education. Yet observational studies of bilingual education classrooms in the city document that Spanish‐speaking EL students may be the only language group that receives native‐language instruction, while students from other language groups who are enrolled in bilingual education primarily receive English instruction. Method. I use this difference in treatment dosage to estimate the effect of bilingual education on the time that it takes students to learn English. Results and Conclusions. Students who enroll in bilingual education classrooms learn English less quickly, but the effect of bilingual education is the same for Spanish‐speaking and other students, implying that negative selection mechanisms are at work.     

关于教育产业化问题的思考

教育产业化意味着教育作为一种产业来发展,教育活动要商品化、企业化、市场化和大众化.我国高等教育产业化是市场经济的必然要求和我国经济社会发展的客观要求.同时,高等教育产业化意味着高等教育的微观组织和宏观管理体制的配套改革.     

Testing the affluence hypothesis: A cross-cultural analysis of the determinants of environmental action

This paper tests empirically the “affluence hypothesis” that states that the level of national income per capita influences the level of environmental concern expressed by the population. The hypothesis is tested in cross-sectional analyses of five aggregate variables measuring involvement in environmental protection. These variables are derived from answers to the World Values Survey (third wave). The interdisciplinary literature on the emergence of environmental awareness suggests that, in addition to national income, levels of education, subjective well-being, population density and income inequality may positively impact national preferences regarding environmental protection. The analysis conducted in this paper shows some statistical evidence of a U-shaped relationship between GDP per capita and some measures of environmental action. Furthermore, it is found that income inequality, education, population density and subjective well-being play a role in explaining cross-cultural differences in preferences over specific environmental actions. Overall the evidence included in this paper lends qualified support to the “affluence hypothesis.” However, it also indicates that involvement in environmental protection may be stronger in poorer countries than is commonly thought.