Education For Social Work

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Education For Social Work

• Chapter 3

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Introduction

• Social work education is a phenomenon of the
  twentieth century.
• Social works prominence among the profession
  results from community demands for trained staff
  to administer a multibillion dollar human service
  system.

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• The first agencies trained their own staffs in
  the fundamental theory and practice of charity.
• Charity Organization Society of New York offered
  instruction to 30 students in a three month
  summer program in l898.
• At the turn of the century, an Institute of
  Social Science was established as part of an
  extension of the University of Chicago.

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Social Work Education

• Social work education provides excellent
  opportunities for students in undergraduate,
  masters, and doctoral programs.
• In response to mounting pressures for manpower in
  the human services, practice degree programs have
  been instituted at the bachelors degree level.

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Social Work Education

• In 2001 the Board of Directors of CSWE adopted an
  Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards
  (EPAS) that defined the purposes of social work
  education as follows
• The purposes of social work education are to
  prepare competent and effective professionals, to
  develop social work knowledge, and to provide
  leadership in the development of service delivery
  systems. Social work education is grounded in
  the professions history, purposes, and
  philosophy and is based on a body of knowledge,
  values, and skills. Social work education
  enables students to integrate the knowledge,
  values, and skills of the social work profession
  for competent practice.

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• The preparation of effective social work
  professionals is expected at both the
  baccalaureate and masters level.
• The baccalaureate programs prepare students for
  advanced social work practice while the masters
  programs prepare students for advanced social
  work practice in a specific concentration.

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• The concentration can be in a social work method,
  such as direct practice or community organization
  and planning, or in a field of practice such as
  mental health, family services, health and child
  welfare.
• CSUB offers a Masters level program with two
  concentrations
• Child and Family Services
• Health and Mental Health Services

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Foundations in Social Work

• Values and Ethics
• Diversity
• Populations at Risk and Social and Economic
  Justice
• Human Behavior and the Social Environment

• Social Welfare Policy and Services
• Social Work Practice
• Research
• Field Education

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The Masters Program

• The number of MSW students graduating from 141
  programs was 15,061, in 1999.
• The masters program prepares students for
  professional service and leadership.
• Education is structured to provide opportunity
  for the application of skills and knowledge
  acquired in the classroom to actual social work
  situations through an integrated field-work
  experience.

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• Students are also given opportunities to
  participate in school governance, to involve
  themselves in school policy and procedure
  formulation and implementation, and to engage in
  all dimensions of the learning process.
• Social work education is an open system with
  different patterns of education encouraged.

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Educational Objectives

• Understand and incorporate the basic values,
  concepts, and methods of social work.
• Acquire and utilize understanding of human
  behavior and the social environment, of social
  policy and services, of institutional
  reconstruction, and of forces shaping public
  policy.
• Achieve competence and basic skill through study
  and practice in one method, or in a combination
  of related methods by which services are provided.

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• Understand the unique features of minority and
  disadvantaged peoples, the significance of their
  problems, and of their contributions to the
  resolution of issues in effecting social change.
• Acquire mature and sensitive attitudes toward
  ones self and others, which result in becoming
  accountable and a disciplined helping person.
• Develop a commitment to the spirit of inquiry and
  to research methods through which inquiry can be
  pursued in advancing professional knowledge and
  practice.

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• Establish an identification with the profession
  of social work and the need to integrate
  knowledge, feeling and responsible action in
  becoming a professional person.
• Become oriented to the contribution of the
  professional social work association and develop
  a conviction that the student will carry
  responsibility for specifying the dimensions of
  its concerns and practices.
• Gain the ability to work with and support other
  professional disciplines and volunteer and
  paraprofessional groups in the belief that many
  of the social and personal ill of our time can be
  overcome by intelligent and cooperative
  intervention.

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Admissions to the Masters Program

• Qualifications for candidates to be admitted to
  the masters program include
• Evidence of superior ability, character, and
  personality
• A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college
  or university
• Undergraduate background in the arts and sciences
  with some emphasis in the social sciences

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Curriculum

• Study centers on social work theory and practice,
  research and statistics, social and behavioral
  science theory, social welfare policy and
  planning, and educational theories and
  methodologies.
• To enrich the educational program, courses from
  other departments of the university are usually
  recommended.

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Continuing Education

• An essential part of social work education,
  designed to qualify practitioners to meet the
  demands of an ever-changing social service
  kaleidoscope.
• Prepares workers to accept change.
• Recognizes that degree producing programs can
  provide entry-level qualifications for
  practitioners.

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• Continuing education makes it possible for
  workers to update their knowledge and skills,
  acquire new knowledge, advance on the job, and to
  prepare for new roles and responsibilities.
• Helps one become a wise man as defined by Andre
  Gide Nobel Prize winner, l947 The wise man is
  he who constantly wonders afresh.

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Council on Social Work Education

• The only official accrediting body in social work
  education.
• Requires all schools on all levels to stress
  generalist practice and a generalist perspective.
• The social worker needs to understand and be able
  to work with the interaction of multiple human
  systems.