Introduction to Social Work SOW 3203 Susan Mankita, MSW, LCSW Chapter 3: Education for SW Adapted from Farley, Smith, & Boyle

Chapter 3: What is Social Work Education The purposes of social work education are:  To prepare competent and effective professionals  To develop social work knowledge,  To provide leadership in the development of service delivery systems.  Social work education is grounded in the profession’s 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.

B.S.W vs. M.S.W.  Baccalaureate programs prepare students of generalist social work practice while the master’s programs prepare students for advanced social work practice in a specific concentration  Social work methods: Direct practice Community organization and planning Mental health, family services, health, child welfare or services to the elderly

CSWE  Council on Social Work Education  Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS): 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

M.S.W.  Master’s Program Normally a two-year program (possible advanced standing) Prepares students for professional service and leadership Select college graduates who combine native endowment, relationship capacity, maturity, imagination, industry, motivation, and such other physical, social, emotional, and spiritual qualities that lend themselves to excellence in helping others.

B.S.W.  Baccalaureate Program Analytic and research skills Basic knowledge, skills, and values related to problem-solving in social work practice  Philosophical values that underlie practice in field of social welfare  Social welfare institutions and their relationship to other institutional structures in society  Social welfare policies and ways in which they are developed  Social work as a profession  Individuals in society, including human behavior and development  Basic social work treatment techniques and skills employed in working with individuals, groups, and communities

Doctorate Degrees  Doctoral programs Develop and demonstrate capacities as social work scholars and to acquire requisite knowledge, background, and skill to teach, conduct research, write, and speak with authority about social work Achieve advanced understanding of methods employed in social work practice and of the broad range of social welfare services, and to study the social and behavioral sciences and to assess their relevance to social work practice

CEUs  Continuing education Essential part of social work education Keep practitioners current with profession and the environment in which social workers practice Update knowledge and skills, acquire new knowledge, advance on the job, and prepare for new roles and responsibilities “The wise man is he who constantly wonders afresh”

CSWE Council on Social Work Education National association of social work education programs and individuals Mission: Ensures and enhances the quality of social work education for a professional practice, promotes individual, family, and community well-being, and social and economic justice. Sets and maintains national accreditation standards for baccalaureate and master’s degree programs in social work,  promoting faculty development,  advocating for social work education and research