Whiting & Birch (E-Journals)
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Challenges and opportunities for applying groupwork principles to enhance online learning in social work
No full textThe recent increase in the number of social work courses being offered in online formats raises challenges and opportunities for social work educators. Simultaneously, the literature suggests that group work principles can serve as an important foundation for effective online education. This article examines the obstacles and opportunities for using group work principles to advance effective learning in online education. Three examples of fully online social work classes - a BSW group work course, an MSW group course and an MSW field work seminar - are discussed in order to identify and assess some of these obstacles and opportunities. Recommendations for best practices in online education are identified. The potential role of group work educators as leaders in facilitating effective online learning is also explored
Using audio-visual presentation to teach global mindedness in social work education
Get PDFThis paper considers the production of an audio-visual presentation of the experience of three students who participated in an exchange with a social work programme in Pune, India. We also describe the use of the video in a classroom setting with a year group of 53 students from a younger cohort. This exercise was intended to stimulate students’ curiosity about the international dimensions of social work and add to their awareness of poverty, social justice, cultural competence and community social work as global issues. Written classroom feedback informs our discussion of the technical as well as the pedagogical benefits and challenges of this approach. We conclude that the audio-visual presentation to some degree helped students connect with diverse cultural contexts, but that a complementary discussion challenging stereotyped viewpoints and unconscious professional imperialism is also crucial
Review
Get PDFA review of:-Practice Placement in Social Work:Innovative approaches for effective teaching and learningA. Bellinger, and D. FordBristol, Policy Press, 2016, 236p
Ain’t gonna study war no more: Teaching and learning cooperation in a graduate course in resource and environmental management
No full textAbstract: Humans are the primary causes of increases in biosphere-scale toxicity, climatic variation, and risk. Despite several generations of intensive and scientifically astute environmental advocacy, research, and training it is unclear whether these trends will provoke self-perpetuating and out-spiraling conflicts or unprecedented levels of effective cooperation. For educators, a pivotal question is whether our schools, classrooms and curricula will produce the problem solvers required to meet escalating challenges in resource and environmental management. One of our responses to this question is a course that uses groupwork to simulate aspects of ‘real world’ complexity in resource management. The course, taught to over 300 graduate students in Simon Fraser University’s School of Resource and Environmental Management, effectively trains learners in the acquisition and application of conceptual and practical knowledge and skills centered on cooperation among individuals and groups with diverse values and interests
Mindfulness as a mechanism for developing the co-leader relationship
No full textCo-leadership is a widely utilized and effective form of group leadership where the therapeutic nature of the co-leader relationship is vital to the group change process. Although the importance of a highly functional co-leader relationship has been established, a systematic method for the development and maintenance of the relationship has yet to be fully realized. We propose that mindfulness may offer such a method and review the fundamentals of mindfulness and evidence for its relevance to the development of a therapeutic co-leader relationship. Mindfulness applications for enhancing the co-leader relationship across stages of an established group development model are described.Keywords: Co-leadership; mindfulness; reflective practice; co-therapy; group functionin
Engagement tactics with foster parents: Experiences of resource workers
No full textResource workers are child welfare workers who work closely with foster parents following placement of a child placed in care. One of the challenges they experience is reluctance to their involvement. Resource workers from a large metropolitan area were asked: “What do you do when foster parents are reluctant about your involvement?” Responses to this question were analyzed with multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis. Nine concepts resulted, including: Recognize Problems, Build Trust, Go the Extra, Be Positive, Broaden their Network, Find Commonalities, Set Limits, Understand Them, and Reinforce Accountability. These concepts were compared and contrasted with the available literature
Improving professionalism through reflection and discourse in communities of practice: The key situations in social work model and project
Get PDFProfessional social work under conditions of uncertainty and complexity requires integration of various forms of knowledge, practice and values and entails managing emotions skilfully to make ethical professional judgements. The article discusses these challenges for social work(ers) and introduces the key situation in social work model. It consists of a systematic reflection process of typical, reoccurring practice situations in communities of practice (CoPs). Situated knowledge, memorised in relation to situations is dominant and is more easily accessed in practice. Situational knowledge, co-produced in reflections on key situations, is documented and shared on a virtual platform. Therefore, the model offers a concept for situational knowledge management and for discursive examination in professional and scientific communities. In the #keysituation project a platform was constructed and 10 CoPs with 35 active members from practice and academia quality assure its content. Based on the literature nine design principles for CoPs are suggested. The authors describe how these were applied. Success and failure depends on balancing three constituent aspects of CoPs: domain, community and practice. The model offers a flexible approach to continuous professional development (CPD), which fosters a learning culture essential to overcome managerial, technocratic approaches so prevalent in social work organisations
The structural model of behavioral change through fun activities
No full textThe aim of this study is to examine the structural model used in explaining the impact of fun activities in changing a person’s behavior toward that activity. This is a cross-sectional survey of 116 respondents that made used of two-step structural equation modeling with maximum likelihood estimation. There is a significant positive impact of attitude toward fun and fun activities, there is significant impact of fun activities and behaviors. However, there is no direct effect of attitude on fun and behavior. Fun activities affect role perception. However, role perception does not affect behavior. The finding of this study may have a significant contribution to those who intent to attract people in participating for an activity which previously they are not interested in, or in creating more attention for an activity
Seselelame: Reflective team approach to practice
Get PDFAbstract: This paper focuses on an awareness of self through the integration of Seselelame Reflective Team Approach to Practice (SRTAP), a model I develop that was adapted from Anderson’s systemic reflective team approach. An understanding of how SRTAP enhances the quality of practice of social workers is explored. Approaching this task from a practice-based standpoint I draw from my experience and practice. I explore how the concept of SRTAP was embedded in a local social work context; I explain and illustrate the value of bringing forth an awareness of self through the use of feeling in the body to practice, inviting an appreciation of the value of practical wisdom through SRTAP.The narratives of practitioners offer examples of the effectiveness of the SRTAP on casework (that is, tasks involving plans or ideas, solving problems or making decisions). I discuss conditions, rationale and guidance needed to achieve and sustain the benefits of SRTAP.Taking feedback from practitioners, my experience and observation I suggest that SRTAP creates a blend between intuitive and analytical ways of being in practice, contributing practice competence through an exploration of self as a resource when dealing with complex relational dynamics. When I use the word ‘self’ in this paper, I refer to felt responses in terms of feelings in the body