Abstract:

Research is an integral part of the social work curriculum even though social work students and practitioners can perceive research as detached academia with little or no relevance to everyday practice. D’Cruz and Jones (2004) have highlighted the negative attitude that prevails among social work students and practitioners towards social research. US-based literature (Bolin et al., 2012; Harder, 2010; Kranke et al., 2015; Macke and Tapp, 2012) indicates that social work students’ reluctance, dread and anxiety about research is a dilemma for social work education internationally. In trying to address this apparent learning lethargy in the classroom, this paper traces my endeavors to ignite a spark of research interest commitment towards research among a small group of social work students. This paper showcases how social work education offers fertile ground to develop community-based participatory group research in order to connect universities, academics and students with the communities surrounding them.

This paper demonstrates how experience-based learning in social work education, and the emancipatory and social justice values underpinning the profession, align with the community-based learning that ‘engaged’ research affords social work students. Community-based learning is credited with advancing student skills, personal growth, confidence, and citizenship (Celio et al, 2011). I will describe my methodological approach to teaching and learning which focuses on nurturing a reflective, discursive, formative, collective and collaborative learning space for student researchers. Collaborative engagement with community organizations fosters experiential learning for students, communities and for social work educators.

Jacobson and Rugeley (2007) assert that community-based group research ‘provides an exceptionally good fit with the value base of the social work profession where integrity, valuing human relationships and self-determination are integral aspects of how social justice translates into practice’. This paper reiterates this assertion and demonstrates how group research projects offer the potential to expand research education strategies in social work education. Social Work research dissertations are almost always individualized tasks where students take individual responsibility for their motivation, engagement and ethical conduct. In this paper, I suggest that group research project challenge students to enhance their research capabilities beyond the learning opportunities that individual projects offer. This new pedagogical approach allows for social work research education to intersect with other elements of professional formation and service-learning - developing their skills and capacities to act collectively and in solidarity with communities and 'experts through experience'.

The paper celebrates the possibility of developing ‘engaged’ student social work research from individual projects into group-oriented, collaborative exercises in scholarly research activity. In this regard, it offers a methodological development in capacity-building for both social work students and community organizations, and shows how student research, undertaken collaboratively facilitates the use of knowledge for change (Boyer, 1990).

Keywords:

Community-based Participatory Research, Social Work Education, Social Work Research, Group Project, Research Skill.