Incorporating Service Learning into an Online Social Justice Course Carmen Mónico, PhD, MSW, MS; Assistant Professor, Elon University & Dalia El-Khoury, M.Ed., Doctoral Student, Virginia Commonwealth University Why Social Justice? Introduction References Summer 2013: Instructors Carmen Mónico and Dalia El-Khoury taught an 8-week, online social justice course for VCU’s MSW Distance Education Program They offered the option for students to pursue a service learning project as their main assignment, instead of writing three papers. Half the class (8/16) elected the service learning option. The concept of social justice is integral to the identity of social workers as clinicians, researchers, and educators. The core of social justice reflects a worldview concerned with those less fortunate, with the plight of minorities, the persecuted, the ostracized, and the disadvantaged; It is also concerned with ensuring that they are afforded the same rights, opportunities, resources, and privileges as others. (Beverley & McSweeney, 1987; Swensen, 1998) Wakefield (1998) argues that distributive justice is the key organizing value of social work, as the profession seeks deprivation to the fair minimum level of social good to which everyone is entitled. Course Details This course examined social work’s historical and current commitment to social justice as related to oppressed groups in a multicultural society. It was intended to enhance understanding of, and appreciation for diversity in self and others. It was intended to encourage the discussion of ethical dilemmas when promoting empowerment and advocacy roles. Students learned to analyze oppression resulting from persistent social, educational, political, religious, economic, and legal inequalities. Students examined selected readings and video clippings focusing on the experiences of oppressed groups in the U.S. and abroad in order to understand their strengths, needs, and responses. Examples of Service Learning Projects The production of a video with stories about the experience of transgender communities in Washington D.C. The support of the transition from a Dialogue on Race in a Human Rights Commission in Charlottesville, VA. The preparation of an instructional manual for relative placement as an alternative to foster care in Alexandria, VA. The development of a multicultural training curriculum for volunteers of the Virginia Beach Court Appointed Special Advocates Program in Virginia Beach, VA. Beverly, D.P. and McSweeney, E.A. (1987). Social Welfare and Social Justice. Prentice Hall: Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Morris, P.M. (2002). The capabilities perspective: A framework for social justice. Families in Society, 83(4), Swenson, C. R. (1998). Clinical social work’s contribution to a social hustice perspective. Social Work, 43, Wakefield, J. C. (1988). Psychotherapy, distributive justice, and social work. Social Service Review, 62(2), Student Feedback – Own Words I plan to use my understanding of social justice in everyday life, so that I can prohibit any discrimination from happening within or around my life, but also to provide insight into the mechanisms of oppressions to those around me and with whom I work with. I do hope to use the knowledge and skill that I have learned so far to address the inequalities by assisting individuals and communities in finding their strengths and moving toward their greatest potential. What I’ve learned is that that sensitivity does not exempt me from holding insidious “isms” and benefiting from oppressive policy and values. Perhaps the greatest lesson for me was to learn that difference is a social construction and that it has subtly wormed its way into our values and institutions to the point of becoming the “norm.” I am so thankful that the service learning project was an option. It was a huge commitment of time and energy but it gave me the opportunity to apply the concepts in the curriculum to a real-life, current issue and identify all of the overlapping oppressions in that issue.