Debates over the nature of social work education are not new. What is new, however, comes from the Council on Social Work Education's (CSWE) injection of critical pedagogy into social work education through "anti-racist" and "anti-oppressive" competencies laid out in the 2022 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards…

As social work instructors, we have observed students increasingly wanting to engage in critical conversations about mandated reporting. Few resources are available to support instructors in facilitating these conversations. This teaching note offers content and lesson plans for exploring mandated reporting as a moral duty, a harm, an ethical…

This article addresses the concerns brought forth in this special issue by offering "a detailed and conceptually focused description and rationale for future plans" of addressing anti-Black racism across the social work curriculum. We focus on a less-discussed experience of anti-Black racism -- the experience of internalized racial…

Science plays an important, if not central role, in the profession's mission of enhancing human well-being. The benefits that flow from science do not emerge in a vacuum, but rather are contingent upon the existence of a specific value-based milieu. Included among these values are an academic discourse that: 1) supports the free expression of…

This paper situates inquiry-based learning (IBL) in a post-secondary context while examining possibilities for social work education and practice. Specifically, in what ways has IBL been utilized in higher education, and how might IBL be compatible with social work values that promote social justice? This paper begins with a brief overview of the…

New findings about the brain are explicating how we make moral and ethical decisions. The neuroscience of morality is relevant to ethical decision making in social work because of a shared biopsychosocial perspective and the field's explanatory power to understand possible origins of universally accepted morals and personal attitudes at play in…

The 2008 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards identified 10 core competencies that all social work graduates should master. MSW programs found themselves with a need to identify knowledge, values, and skill statements that reflected what concentration-year students were expected to know and be able to do. In 2009 a group of educators…

Critical thought is a necessary element for proficient practice in social work at both the micro and macro levels. For this reason, social work educators must seek to integrate critical thought in BSW and MSW curricula. This article provides a method for achieving this integration in the social welfare policy course. The method includes the four…

The social work literature often mentions the value and importance of faculty and field instructors serving as role models for students. Unlike allied disciplines, the influence of role models in social work education remains relatively unexplored. This article includes a search of two electronic databases on "role models and social work…

A framework for resolving social work's ethical problems must allow for explicit discussion and justification (Osmo and Landau 2001). As opposed to a preoccupation with what "ought to be," it is argued that "what ought "not"" be" is the more useful question to ask when resolving a moral problem. The University of…

Evidence-based practice has received increased emphasis within the social work field in the past decade and social work educational programs are including more evidence-based practice content in their curricula. This article examines some issues social work educators may wish to consider as they teach evidence-based practice to social work…

It is impossible to teach students all characteristics of the myriad cultures present in the United States. Providing students with a framework to assess the cultural traits of any client and to understand how those traits may influence the helping relationship gives them a tool to use in any clinical setting. This article presents a systematic…

While recent CSWE standards focus on the need for including more relevant technological content in social work curricula, they do not offer guidance regarding how it is to be assessed and selected. Social work educators are in need of an analytic model of computerization to help them understand which technologies are most appropriate and relevant…

This paper describes the use of a participatory action research model to teach undergraduate social work research and statistics. Strategies of the model include (1) integration with social work education, (2) policy analysis, (3) literature review, (4) collaboration with practitioners, (5) collaboration with the target population through…