Human Development Education for Social Workers in Multicultural Societies

In many countries, social workers are faced with the challenge of tailoring their practice to the diverse needs of children and families in multicultural realities. Our training and teaching practices, however, lag behind in their readiness to face this challenge. Attempts to reconcile cultural perspectives and postmodernism with the traditional goals of human development education are generally premised on the following assumptions: (a) postmodernist education fosters the ability to think critically and question assumptions underlying claims to knowledge; (b) theories should be evaluated for their usefulness and applicability to a more equitable society; and (c) a dialogic model of education in human development highlights the ‘inherently polysemous’ nature of human existence rather than transmitting a codified body of knowledge. The paper calls attention to the challenges of cross‐cultural psychology, indigenous psychology and postmodern critique and offers the means of confronting these challenges. Examples are based on teaching experiences in Israel and the US.     

Using an Online Support Site to Extend the Learning to a Graduate Field Practicum in the United States

An online support site was constructed for graduate social work students at San Diego State University in California during their first‐year field practicum. A study was conducted to explore and describe the attitudes of these students toward the usefulness of the site's online features. Students participated in the site through the Blackboard Software Platform by adding discussion threads to asynchronous forums on an online discussion board, receiving information through online announcements, accessing field‐related materials through the site, and engaging in an online network. The most useful forum was related to the learning plan that students were required to complete in planning and organizing their field practicum experience. Students reported that the most useful feature of the site was the ability to access timely information through the online announcements from the Field Education Program.     

Applying Complexity and Emergence in Social Work Education

Complexity theory provides social work educators, researchers, and evaluators with a promising approach for examining the concepts of interconnectedness, non‐linearity and emergence. This paper introduces complexity theory, provides an example in which a large international non‐governmental organization developed the capacity to address the issue of human trafficking, and discusses implications for applying this approach to social work education coursework. Social work applications of complexity range from understanding emerging social movements, to encouraging human rights and resiliency in target populations, to understanding the interdependencies of communities.     

Virtual Social Work Education—Theory and Experience

This paper critically analyses the experience of providing social work education over the Internet. It argues that the interactivity and responsivity integral to e‐learning are significant capabilities that can facilitate the kind of student centred learning in social work that is consonant with the emerging consensus on effective educational and professional practices. Associated with this it argues that e‐learning better provides equality of access and opportunity to a diverse range of students to pursue social work education through the creation of critical mass and technological adaptations to diverse needs. Research with a group of students who have pursued online learning is presented. The research indicates that though e‐learning is largely considered a positive and enabling experience by students, it is still experienced as isolating by most. A balance therefore needs to be struck in future between face to face and online interaction ensuring students are not isolated and that infrequent use of e‐learning does not delay engagement with the medium and the passing of online developmental milestones. This paper concludes that there is a longer term future for e‐learning within social work education but that this future needs to be based on androgenic constructivist strategies to student learning and a responsive blend of online and physical interactivity.     

Teaching Clinical Social Work Skills Entirely Online: A Case Example

While numerous disciplines have eagerly embraced innovative educational technology, many social work educators have not been among early adopters. Social work's focus on the human connection and hands‐on practice skills can seem antithetical to technology‐mediated education. Nevertheless, social work programs are implementing distance learning and Internet‐mediated courses, and some schools are offering entire social work courses online. Leading the way in this regard is the Florida State University College of Social Work, which has developed and implemented the first CSWE‐accredited, entirely online Master of Social Work program. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development, design, and implementation of one skills‐based clinical course in this program, with the goal of sharing information in a way that will further the discussion of the risks and benefits of online education as well as provide guidance for educators who may be interested in developing a skills‐based online course in the future.     

Searching for a Capacity Building Model in Social Work Education in China

This paper contains our reflections about our experiences in employing a capacity building model for training social workers to conduct community development work in rural China. Unlike the conventional approach to social work practicum, our approach advocates an educational practice of capacity building; not only for local people and learners, but for educators as well. It stresses that the educator should assume a non‐expert role in relating to his/her students so that the students will do the same with local people. We challenge the concept of the social work educator as an expert because it gives a teacher the power and authority to dominate students, which disempowers students during the learning process. In the same vein, we challenge the desire of social work students to become experts in rural development, which in turn disempowers local people from taking charge of the future direction of their lives in rural China. The capacity building approach subscribes to a critical pedagogy that calls for a re‐invention of self by challenging tradition and culture, and by developing academic knowledge, the habit of inquiry and critical curiosity about society, power, inequality, and social change.     

ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AS CONTESTED GROUND IN AN ERA OF GLOBALIZATION: WORKER PERCEPTIONS AND SATISFACTION IN THE USPS

Many prior efforts have examined the personal characteristics of workers or the structural features of an organization that impact job satisfaction. By contrast, we examine organizational culture in the context of "high-performance work systems." We analyze the organizational culture of the United States Postal System, as it is presented in key organizational documents and perceived by workers. It is argued that a viable theory of job satisfaction in the modern workplace must treat worker perceptions, which spring from an organizational culture that is both prescribed and lived.     

From Exclusion to Inclusion? The Legal Treatment of ‘Foreigners’ in Contemporary Japan

This article provides a survey of postwar Japan's policy toward ‘foreign’ settlers, focusing on the case of ‘zainichi Koreans’–Koreans who were taken forcefully, or migrated voluntarily, from Korea to Japan during the Japanese occupation of Korea (1910–45) and settled down in Japan after World War II, and their descendants residing in Japan. The article explores how the Japanese government and society have treated them since the end of World War II, thus showing that Japan's policy toward foreign settlers has been changing from one of ‘exclusion’ to one of ‘inclusion,’ though there still remain some institutional barriers.     

The Legacy of War: An Intergenerational Perspective

Children of combat veterans are affected to varying extents by the physical and psychological aftermath of war as experienced by the parent. Traumatic experiences exist on a continuum; trauma related messages can be communicated by a parent who does not have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. An intergenerational perspective explores the complex family processes by which those who did not experience the actual events come to exhibit varying degress of emotional, psychological and behavioral manifestations of their parents' traumatic experiences.