The Civil War in Song

Human history is often shaped by the outcomes of arguments, not only in the sense of disputes between people or governments, but in the sense of the more rational pursuit of trying to convince others to accept or do certain things by offering reasons that are presented as compelling for so doing. Yet history teachers have done little to help students learn how to identify arguments in this sense, figure out what the arguments being offered are, and evaluate them. This article shows how a generic instructional technique—infusing direct instruction in skillful thinking into content instruction—can be used in the teaching of American history in ways that help students develop and use these thinking skills and that enhance their deep content understanding of the history being taught. The context is a secondary school classroom studying American history.     

Vorking mothers and the family

Social work tends to develop interest in law and legal development, particularly in family law, juvenile crime and social welfare fields. Social workers are often the closest observers of such laws in action, and naturally wish to help administer and amend them. My impression is that they are often inadequately prepared to do so—but not in the way they may think. Some sociology of lawyers may be more important than a mastery of technical law.     

An experiment in helping social work practitioners to design and conduct research

A twelve-week short course, “Understanding Social Work Practice through Research” was conducted for experienced social work practitioners during the Spring of 1982. The course, experimental in character, began with the practice interests of individual course members and used the resources of the class members and the course tutors to help each person to devise a research design suitable to his or her personally declared practice interests. The work was supported by handouts (e.g., “Turning an interest in a practice issue into one or more researchable questions”; “Decisions required when constructing a research design”; etc.) and by worksheets.

Eight persons attended all or most sessions (one dropped out early in the sequence) and all of these completed a research design and indicated an interest in implementing it. Optional follow-up sessions were provided in the form of group support meetings held at four-month intervals and individual consultation as required. In addition to producing a viable research design, members gained increased confidence in themselves as researchers as well as practitioners, clarified their understanding of the relationship between research and practice, and in some cases emerged with a renewed enthusiasm for social work practice.     

Differential Use of Social Work Manpower

In this paper the authors report on a research, training, and demonstration study that dealt with the interaction of law and social work graduate students in delivering services to the elderly poor. Data suggested more similarities than differences in roles and tasks performed. Attitudinal measures indicated stereotypes toward the disciplines and the elderly. Confusion of roles and stereotypic attitudes accounted for a low referral rate within a project highly skewed toward interdisciplinary practice. Confrontation education is suggested as a means to modify stereotypes, clarify roles, and encourage the integrated service delivery needed by the elderly. Implications for higher education are drawn.     

Research as Social Work: Participatory Research in Learning Disability

The social-work literature has already made links between socialwork and research, and has argued in favour of practitioner–research.This paper turns the argument around and looks at how researchcan come to look and feel like social work. This happens particularly,but not exclusively, in participatory research in the learning-disabilityfield, especially in auto/biographical or life-story research,where long-term research relationships are more in evidence.Drawing on the participatory research methodology literature,and her own oral and life-history research, the author exploresthe areas in which research comes to emulate social-work practice.There are, of course, practical and ethical issues to be addressedand, as the author concludes, safeguards are needed to clarifyroles and foster openness in research relationships.     

Advocacy in Practice: The Troubled Position of Advocates in Adult Services

This paper is a review, and critical appraisal, of the theoryand practice of advocacy. Advocacy is not social work, but itsprinciples and values resonate closely to those espoused bythe British Association of Social Workers (BASW, 2002). In thispaper, we interrogate the assumption that advocacy is necessarilyalways a positive and enabling experience. Indeed, we suggestthat the use of advocacy can be contested from the point ofthe view of the service user (the advocacy partner¹), the advocateand from professionals working with advocates (or positioningthemselves as advocates). Drawing on recent research that evaluated advocacy servicesin Nottinghamshire, we discuss some of the key tensions. Inparticular, we consider the reality of the advocate’srole, including where it relates to and differs from socialwork, and the issue of whether advocacy can be part of whata social worker does anyway. We also review, briefly, the dilemmasarising from professionals acting as advocates, especially inrelation to being independent of services.     

Ethical Guidelines for Study Abroad: Can We Transform Ugly Americans into Engaged Global Citizens?

Study abroad has become a common experience for American socialwork students. However, there is little guidance for facilitationof such courses in an international context. As a result, thereis a risk that students and facilitators can perpetuate theprivileged and ‘Ugly American’ image. Providingguidance for prevention of such mistakes, the authors presenta conceptual model for international learning, based on an ethicalframework founded on personal values and supported by traditionalethical principles and values. Included are the pillars of socialjustice and human rights, community capacity, dignity and worthof the person, self-determination, boundaries, competence, facilitatedlearning in a safe environment and integrity. Finally, consciousness-raisingas professionals, respectful engagement in context, and interculturalcompetence are discussed.