Suchergebnisse

The aim of this article is to analyse and describe social work education and its professional context in Spain. Specifically, it analyses new degree implementation as a consequence of the Bologna Process over the last 10 years. It posits some ideas about the social sciences beyond the dominant paradigms with the aim of overcoming corporatism. It concludes that social sciences could be used as a toolkit where several instruments and techniques may be useful in tackling social problems in a transdisciplinary way and in systems thinking. What one is able to solve and learn in the present is more interesting than remaining in the past and asking about one's background.

The authors believe that Stoesz and Karger did not go far enough in their critique. The struggling state of the profession and of social work education is symptomatic of a much larger and fundamental systemic problem that cannot be addressed solely by fixing the Council on Social Work Education or increasing requirements for Social Science Citation Index publications. Social work must build a broad-based capacity for rigorous scientific inquiry and train the next generation of faculty researchers and practitioners to carry on this essential work.

This banded dissertation comprises three scholarly products that address the importance of civic engagement and social action in social work education. Throughout the banded dissertation, the conceptual lens of critical social theory, which presupposes that education is fundamental to democracy, provides a framework in which to consider social work educators' responsibility to effectively prepare students to engage in a broad range of civic activities, including social action, in order to address crucial social problems. The first product, an exploratory historical research study, provides historical context with an examination of the role of social work in a democratic society from the perspective of Marion Hathway, a prominent social work educator, scholar and activist during the 1940s. Hathway's arguments that social action is a part of all social work practice and that social work educators have a responsibility to prepare students for participation in social movements continue to resonate today. In the second product, a conceptual paper, the author considers the ways in which her own experiences as an observing participant in environmental justice activism – including an arrest for civil disobedience – have impacted her teaching. Potential pedagogical benefits that can result from social work educators' collaboration with grassroots activists are presented, such as the ongoing development of practice wisdom, the value of providing activist role models, and the creation of pathways for students' experiential learning. The third product of this banded dissertation is an overview of a peer-reviewed workshop presented at the annual conference of the Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors (BPD) in 2017. In this workshop, the author discussed practical lessons learned as an activist, and the challenges and rewards associated with inviting students to observe and participate in environmental justice activism. Resources to create a toolbox for activism strategies and tactics were also provided. Civic engagement has long been recognized as a fundamental responsibility of the social work profession. By serving as activist role models, and providing experiential opportunities to learn how to effectively engage in a broad range of civic activities, including social action, social work educators can engage, inspire and empower students in order to prepare them for the level of civic participation that will be necessary to advance human rights, social, economic and environmental justice.

The study analyzes the educational manifestations of the interdisciplinary and interprofessional training of social work in Hungary through a questionnaire used earlier in the USA, Canada and Israel and which is employed simultaneously in Hong Kong and Japan. After a short description of interdisciplinarity and the history of Hungarian social work training, the methodology of the Hungarian research is presented. The analysis of the Hungarian results is followed by their comparison with the available international data. While in most Hungarian educational institutions there is no dual degree program for social workers, about two-thirds of their international counterparts provide such training. The possibilities for interdisciplinary collaborations in field placements were similarly evaluated by the respondents of all nationalities. Research was considered to be the most applicable category for interdisciplinarity by Hungarians as well as for North Americans and Israelis. While respondents in USA, Canada and Israel found community-based research and evaluation most suitable for the improvement of interdisciplinarity in the future, in Hungary this possibility was ranked only fourth after the improvement of course content, field education and informal lectures ('brown-bags'). As a closure, the authors enlist some interdisciplinary considerations to be taken into account in planning the future of social work education in Hungary.