Abstract:

Effective social work pedagogy ideally brings theory and practice together joining on-campus learning with field placements. Academic settings rarely provide the opportunity to go beyond standard lecture/workshop offerings in which simulated experiences bring together theory/practice. In this presentation two units are described which take a different approach. The Australian example from the MSW at UWA in Perth, Australia represents a Freirean pedagogical design where students and staff are both teachers and learners. Over 6 weeks, students and staff co-design learning goals and develop learning activities. In Germany, the BSW unit, offered at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts at Dortmund is project-focused, taught over 12 weeks and includes field related reviews to expand the students’ learning and enhance their understanding of structural limitations, specific challenges and discriminations experienced by clients. In both examples, students learn through developing strategies to help them trust their own professional development, taking more responsibility for their actions and decisions rather than “asking the professor/lecturer what is right or wrong”.

Student feedback values learning in these innovative ways, emphasising the modelling of inclusion, participation, problem solving, and responsivity to the evolving needs of communities. Both units highlight relational work with staff and students teaching and learning together. These units emphasize the importance of critical self-reflection and the place of lived experience in ways of working and understanding social work practice.

This presentation describes components of an award-winning unit run as a core part of the Master of Social Work curriculum at the University of Western Australia in Perth, Australia, and a unit in the Bachelor of Social Work at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Dortmund, Germany, taking a similar approach. We would like to share these innovative international pedagogical approaches and invite a discussion with participants.

Keywords:

Transformative Pedagogy, Relational Social Work, Innovative Teaching and Learning, Critical and Counter Oppressive Practice.