Practice Teaching Guidelines for Learning Ethnically Sensitive, Anti-Discriminatory Practice: A Canadian Application

Correspondence to Gayla Rogers, Faculty of Social Work, The University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive N.W., Calgary, AB Canada, T2N 1N4. Summary Canadian social work educators, in recognizing the importanceof preparing students for anti-oppressive practice, can lookto developments in the United Kingdom for direction and guidance.Recent changes to education policy statements in Canada haveincluded the requirement that social work students graduatewith the knowledge, values and skills to be ethnically sensitivepractitioners. The Canadian equivalent to practice teaching,the field practicum, is an ideal venue to learn about multi-culturaldifferences, oppression, and how to combat institutional andindividual racism, sexism and ethnocentrism. However, such learningmust be explicitly and purposely developed. Thus, guidelineshave been suggested to promote the establishment of an ethnicallysensitive, anti-discriminatory practice teaching process. This paper discusses how concepts and practices derived in Britaincan be applied in a Canadian context to help course instructors,tutors, practice teachers and students build effective learningexperiences for the multi-cultural realities and struggles oftoday. These guidelines can be used by both Canadian and Britishsocial work courses and include questions to be raised at keypoints throughout the practice teaching process to ensure thefocus and attention to ethnically sensitive, anti-discriminatorypractice is maintained. The guidelines were derived from a synthesisof British concepts and practices combined with a review ofselected North American and British literature and the experiencesof two practice teaching projects in one social work coursein Canada. The projects involved practice teaching placementswith a community development project that had a multi-culturaland multi-racial focus and the experience of a native studiesconcentration with a practice teaching component. From a Canadianperspective this combination facilitates a step forward andprovides a framework which has a timely practical application.