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P E R I Y A R I N S T I T U T E O F D I S T A N C E
E D U C A T I O N
M A S T E R O F S O C I A L W O R K
N a m e :
C o u r s e :
T i t l e :
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E x e c u t i v e S u m m a r y
Social processes such as increased poverty and the movements of large population
groups in search of economic opportunities have contributed to the fragmentation of
social solidarity and the social safety-net in the past decades.
Innovative programs or ideas in curricula or fieldwork practice have been
developed by social work educators as a way to meet these profound challenges.
An email survey was carried out based on Schools of Social Work who are
IASSW members to map innovations introduced in social work education and analyzed
using qualitative methods.
This survey, with 31 respondents, revealed three major types of innovation: 1)
new theories, practice models or methods that are incorporated into the curriculum, 2) the
establishment of new programs, sometimes inter-disciplinary ones, that meet the needs of
new populations or better serve the diverse student body; 3) collaborations between
community agencies or coalitions to involve students, faculty or both in social change or
social activism.
Three additional types of innovation were also reported: 1) programs that helped
with the personal growth or social development of the students 2) administrative changesand 3) technological changes. In keeping with the academic mission of the schools, the
most common beneficiary of the innovation was students, and faculty or other staff was
also frequently mentioned.
To a much lesser extent, the beneficiaries were mentioned as being clients, the
community or society at large. The implications of these findings for the future of social
work education are discussed.
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Introduction
Several social processes have developed around the world in the past decade:
increased poverty and social distress, regression in social rights and government support
for social services, growing disparities between different groups of the population, the
movements of large population groups away from traditional homelands and regional
territories in search of economic opportunities and the fragmentation of social solidarity.
The impact of globalization, pluralization, social exclusion and other macro
developments that affect the practice of the social work have been reviewed by several
authors (e.g. Dominelli, 1996; Powell, 1998; Penna, Paylor & Washington, 2000). These
processes pose a challenge not only to social welfare agencies and social service
providers but also to educational systems, which prepare and train social work
professionals. Innovative programs or ideas in curricula or fieldwork practice have been
developed by social work educators as a way to meet these profound challenges. This
literature review examines the nature of these innovations in schools of social work.
Conceptual Framework for Understanding Innovation
Rogers (1983) defines innovation as an idea, practice, or object that is perceived
as new to an individual or another unit of adoption . Diffusion is defined by Rogers
(1983) as the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels
over time among the members of a social system . According to Rogers the messages
being diffused in the system are concerned with new ideas and this newness gives the
diffusion its special character. This process entails a certain degree of uncertainty and is
primarily a process of social change.
Wejnert (2002) provides a conceptual framework, for integrating the numerous
models of diffusion of innovations found in the literature. The suggested framework
groups the array of variables defined in diffusion research into three major categories
including the characteristics of the innovation, the characteristics of the innovators and
the environmental context.
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The current study is concerned with innovation in higher educational
organizations, specifically schools of social work and academic departments of social
work. Zaltman (1973) defines an organization as a social system created for attaining
some specific goals through the collective efforts of its members. The organizational
environment consists of all the physical and social factors that are taken directly into
account in the decision-making behavior of individuals in the organization. Wright
(2003) states the fact that institutes of higher education, and specifically schools of social
work, have parallel sub-cultural systems present in typical organizations: faculty
members who educate the students; support staff who work to enhance the operations of
the school; and dean or director, who holds the executive function in the organization.
Innovation in Schools of Social Work
The types of change common in educational institutions are policy, curricular and
structural. In part, these are in response to patterns of globalization and within-countries
migration that have changed the demographic structure of the student body in institutions
of higher education. This is reflected in an increasing diversity of ethnic, cultural and
educational backgrounds among the students, who in turn represent the shift in
demographics of the client populations served by the social work profession. Innovations
can affect these systems in various ways. These include changes in the level of resource
use and mix, instructional processes, management and organizational structure (Zaltman,
1977).
Much has been said about the importance of innovation to organizational survival.
According to this view, organizations must find their environmental niche in order to
compete successfully for customers and improve their financial relations with their
external environment (Stensaker & Norgard, 2001). Similar to other organizations,
proper external adaptation is crucial to the survival of educational systems. In other
words, the educational organization has to change as the environment changes (Wright,
2003). Considering the rapidly changing society around the world, that is not a simple
task. In some areas around the world, indigenous populations are also undergoing rapid
social change and those students who originate in these areas must accommodate to the
changing profile of their home communities. For example in Aotearoa/New Zealand one
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of the challenges is to respond to the needs of indigenous students in ways that reflect the
renaissance of indigenous groups in the wider society (Nash, Munford and Hay, 2001).
The same developments can be expected in other countries. Migrant populations will also
create new demands in social work programs as the needs of diverse populations need to
be met through social work practice.
Numerous factors such as financial pressure, growth in technology, changing
faculty roles, public scrutiny, changing demographics, competing values, and the rapid
rate of change in the world both within and beyond national borders, characterize the
challenges educational systems have to face (Kezar & Eckel, 2002). According to
Savelev (2002), the rapidly changing conditions of life make it necessary to employ
updated methods of understanding which are oriented towards a transition away from the
typical (model) approach and abstracted generalization and toward an integral synthesis
of the elements of actual situations. . According to the author, higher education will
need to be better connected to reality. He defines innovative education as based on new
kinds of knowledge and innovative dynamics , consisting of three aims: a. to foster the
students high level of intellectual, personal, and spiritual development; b. to create the
conditions needed for the student to master skills of scientific research; and c. to ensure
the mastery of the methodology of innovations in social, economic and professional
spheres. Students world-wide are required, not only to understand the local contexts of
the society in which they live but to also understand the global influences on this context.
This is one of the major challenges in social work education in the last decade. Programs
that may assist in meeting these challenges include: learning new skills such as in the use
of computers and the internet, program development and fund-raising, handling conflict
and emergency situations, dealing successfully with the mass media and with political
bodies.
However, the pressure universities face is double-sided: in addition to the need to
be innovative, higher-educational institutes have to conform to certain structures and
standards to attain legitimacy and ensure survival (Stensaker & Norgard, 2001). This
double-sided pressure is reflected in Markwards (1999) discussion about accreditation
requirements in social work education. The author agrees that curriculum innovation is
needed to reflect the changing nature of social work practice in the post-industrial era.
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However, after reviewing Council on Social Work Education curriculum policy and
accreditation standards, she concludes that standards that currently regulate MSW
education deter curriculum innovation within the context of contemporary thinking about
curriculum
Organizational change and diffusion of innovation in higher education has been
the subject of numerous analyses in recent years. Some of these studies are theoretical in
nature (Stensaker & Norgard, 2001; Kezar & Eckel, 2002; Lueddeke, 1999), suggesting
approaches and change strategies helpful in diffusing innovation in higher educational
systems. Some of the work focuses on curriculum reform and the implementation of
updated teaching paradigms (Building conditions, 2002; Curriculum reforms, 2002),
while others are concerned with the actual participation of students in educational
organizations (Visser et al., 1998). A current literature search in the field of social work
education revealed a different picture.
The importance of innovation in social work education is demonstrated in a
National Seminar on Standards for Assessment of Quality in Social Work Education,
organized by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, and sponsored by the National
Assessment and Accreditation Council of India in 2003. The seminar aimed to develop
minimum and quality standards in social work education, for the NAAC criteria of
assessment and accreditation of social work education programs. The article provided
details on the outcome of the seminar and the minimum and quality standards for Social
Work Education (Tata Institute of Social Sciences, 2003). Innovation appears in the
article as a quality standard of various educational areas such as fieldwork practicum and
instruction and program staff management, where staff innovations and creativity are
expected to be encouraged. In addition, the article provides standards of recommended
practices in social work education, including the introduction of interventions in new
areas such as working with voluntary organizations or developing new programs in the
absence of effective NGOs or government agencies, preparation of students for new jobs,
identification of new placements, response to emerging community concerns and
initiatives undertaken for peace, human rights, social justice, sustainable development
and projects aimed at influencing social policy and laws in various levels.
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Developing a Classification of Innovation in Schools of Social Work
We conducted a targeted literature review on innovation focusing on material
particularly relevant to our research questions (see questionnaire below). In a thorough
review of the literature, Hardcastle & Bisman (2003) identified five major areas of
innovation in teaching social work research: a) innovations produced by the evidenced-
based practice approach, which requires the integration of practice methods with research
methods. The purpose of such innovations is to make practitioners competent in
measurement and to make research skills practice tools; b) instructional programs
introducing more explicit ideology into research learning. Based on the conclusion that
research is basically ideological and value laden, this position argues that students must
learn the importance of social context in any research activity. The authors list several
teaching approaches rooted in various ideological perspectives such as the feminist, the
heuristic post-modernism heuristic and the social justice perspectives; c) instructional
innovations integrating multiple curriculum areas such as: field practicum, practice class,
research and policy, the basic assumption being that practice involves a range of skills
and that so should the curriculum; d) technology driven innovations, which according to
the authors account for much of the innovation in research instruction; and e) group-based research that focuses on creative ways to enhance student learning. For example,
educators are developing innovative strategies for teaching research and for bringing the
real context into the classroom (see for instance Munford and Sanders, 2003).
A similar typology of innovation areas was identified in general social work
education according to studies retrieved from current social work literature. The largest
proportion of studies consisted of reports of technological innovations introduced in
various ways to social work educational programs. Distance education helped by
computer assisted classroom, interactive television and the Internet encourage innovative
teaching approaches (Hick, 2002; Freddolino, 2002; Sandell & Hays, 2002; Faria &
Perry-Burney, 2002; Sarnoff, 2003; Abell & Galinsky, 2002) and new multidisciplinary
collaborations in training program development (Cuable & Dinkel, 2002). Among its
many advantages, Web delivery makes educational programs more accessible to remote
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communities, disabled people and students with special needs. It can create online
multicultural and cross-national learning communities, provide course materials and class
notes online and encourage the use of web links to state, federal and professional
websites containing updated information relevant to various courses (Sarnoff, 2003).
However, technology assisted training is not challenge free. First, computer
accessibility, knowledge and skills are required of both faculty and students. Advanced
hardware needed to implement a wide range of teaching strategies can be costly and limit
the number of users who can access them. Second, the virtual learning environment
might displace the real learning context and has the potential of being demanding on
faculty (Hardcastle & Bisman, 2003).
A second cluster of articles contains descriptions of social work educational
projects which developed innovative teachings methods. Schuster et al.s (2003)
description of the development and implementation of an undergraduate life course
theory is an example of an educational endeavor aimed at creating an interdisciplinary,
team-taught course. According to the authors, such teaching models, in addition to
providing multiple disciplinary perspectives on the life course, actually reflect the world
that students enter after graduation, thereby providing an important working model. The
authors experience included innovative teaching methods such as having each member
of the team sharing her life story, while applying life course theory together with the use
of music, food and other artifacts in order to approach the learning experience through
multiple senses.
Another example of an effort to model intervention methods in the teaching
program is described by Nuttman-Schwartz and Hantman (2003). This paper describes an
innovative teaching model aimed at promoting greater awareness among students of the
social workers social role. The purpose of the teaching model, based on the community
participation and role modeling approaches, was to teach the students to assess and
intervene while considering the social dimension of the clients problems. Essentially,
small student task force groups planned and implemented community interventions in
their classes, modeling macro intervention methods learned from their practice methods
teachers.
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Another trend in teaching social change intervention strategies to social work
students involves university-community projects aimed at promoting social justice in the
community (Kaufman, 2004). The Ben-Gurion University Department of Social Work, in
Israel, has initiated such a project in collaboration with local community human services
and national social advocacy organizations. The purpose of the project was to promote
the right to food security in Israel, while at the same time instilling values and skills
associated with social change in the university community. Through the project, the
undergraduate students experienced methods of social activism including the definition of
a social problem, framing solutions based on the principle of social entitlement,
collecting data from affected communities to support their position and mobilizing the
community for policy change (Kaufman, 2004).
At Massey University in Aotearoa/New Zealand social and community work
students introduced new approaches to teaching community development. They became
involved in community scenarios using a structural analysis framework which informed
their practice from locating themselves in communities, to analysis and action to critical
reflection (Munford & Tapiata, 2000).
Approaching the issue of social problems and public policy from a different
angle, Lens (2002) described the construction of an innovative classroom exercise for
analyzing public discourse using basic content analysis of media text. Based on the
knowledge that the media plays a crucial role in policy making, Lens (2002) suggested
that social work students need a better grasp of the medias role in shaping public policy.
The reported exercise was aimed at teaching students how to read news critically and
assist them in identifying the different ideologies that underlie social problems.
Altshuler and Bosch, (2003) described the implementation and evaluation of a
Problem-Based Learning (PBL) model in two graduate level social work courses.
Borrowed from medical education, PBL encourages students to take a more active role in
their learning, by creating real life situations where practitioners often lack the
necessary information for solving clinical problems, and for which no clear-cut solutions
can be reached. The main purpose of the model is turn students into effective problem-
solvers.
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Finally, in response to the external force on social work education of the rapid
growth of the aged population and increasing demand for social services for older adults,
and to expose students to a wide range of social work practice existing in the field of
gerontology, Ivry and Haden (2002) developed and implemented a new field practicum
rotation model. Essentially, students were placed in two agencies, receiving supervision
from a field instructor in the primary site and from a task supervisor in the associate site,
instead of spending three days in one field site for the entire academic year. This model
ensured that students receive complementary and contrasting field experiences.
According to the authors, despite practical difficulties during the implementation phase,
the field rotation model was found valuable and was evaluated positively by the majority
of students and field instructors.
The third group of articles focused on the introduction of new curriculum areas.
This rather smaller group of reports included such endeavors as integrating womens
knowledge into social work curriculum (Nichols-Casebolt, Figurea-McDonough &
Netting, 2000), the internalization of social work educational programs (Healy, 2002;
Johnson, 2004) and the numerous curricular innovations, including assignments, projects,
workshops and courses, in the field of Gerontology, fostered by GeroRich Projects
throughout the USA (as reported by the Hartford Geriatric Enrichment in Social Work
Education website 2004). The rights of disabled people and their families are also
becoming central to some social work programs (see Nash, Munford and Hay, 2001).
The smallest group of papers concentrated on new methods of curriculum
development, based on learning skills identified by the learners (Biegel, 2002;
Pointdexter, Lane & Boyer, 2002). This participatory method of program development is
based on the assumption that success is maximized by having potential learners shape the
content of the learning process and using focus groups to achieve their educational goals
(Pointdexter, Lane & Boyer, 2002).
Interestingly enough, very few studies report on educational programs initiated as
a result of the need to face the current challenges of increased poverty, social distress and
reduced government social spending. One of them is a project developed at the Bob
Shapell School of Social Work at Tel Aviv University, aimed at training and assisting
professionals working within the government social service system to be social
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entrepreneurs. This project was designed to improve the capacity of these professionals
to initiate, plan and implement innovative social programs within their agencies. The
project was conceived as a kind of "social incubator," on the model of a business
incubator, in which the university would provide the knowledge and personal support that
would enable practitioners to bring their ideas to fruition. The idea was to take
practitioners with rudimentary ideas for innovative social programs and to help them
develop and implement the programs within the agencies in which they worked (Savaya,
Namir, Stange & Packer, 2003).
Other examples are reported anecdotally from the field in Aoteroa/New Zealand
(personal communication, Robyn Munford, 2006). Often, community work programs are
the first to try to meet the needs of particularly impoverished or disadvantaged groups.
Once these programs become established or have proven their efficacy, they become part
of the mainstream social work education programs. Another variation of these types of
innovations comes from social agencies serving these populations that introduce new
programs to meet their needs and then try to partner with universities to have them
incorporate these programs into their mainstream curriculum.
It should be noted that the current literature search has come up with very few
empirical investigations concerned with innovation in social work educational systems.
Those that describe innovations are mainly case studies that take place in a small number
of institutions. It is possible that innovations may not be reported by educators who don't
see them as such, due to a lack of comprehensive perspective on social work education.
Another issue is that innovations may not be documented or evaluated, since to do so
require additional resources and skills.
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Study Aims
As senior faculty members of Schools of Social Work, we are interested in the
question of how social work educators approach the concept of innovation as a way to
meet the profound challenges outlined above. Specifically, we want to map innovations
in training and education that have been introduced in programs of social work education
in all regions of the world. We believe that these innovations may provide a potent
method and theory for addressing these global trends and to enable students to be well
prepared to work in diverse contexts.
Table 1.Countries of Respondents in the Survey
CountryNumber of
responses
USA 6
Australia 4
New Zealand 4
South Africa 4Israel 4
Canada 3
India 2
Denmark 1
England 1
Hong Kong 1
Turkey 1
Total 31
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The questionnaire
The short questionnaire (see appendix 1) included closed and open-ended
questions. Participants were asked to describe innovations that have been introduced in
their social work training program in the past five years, and to explain why they consider
the initiative as innovative. In addition they were asked to specify:
y In what program (e.g., BA, MA, PhD, Continuation Education) or target population (e.g., academic staff, administrative staff) the innovation was
introduced;
y Expected benefited and outcomes of the innovation;y Whether or not the innovation met with resistance or negative reactions from any
of the groups involved;
y Whether or not any formal evaluation accompanied the innovation; andy Information about the school and program in which the innovation was
introduced.
Results
The results are presented in the order of the questions as presented in the questionnaire.
When we report the specific answers of the respondents, we presented them verbatim (in
italics).
Typology of Innovations
The first question asked the respondents to describe any innovations that were
introduced in their social work training program in the past five years, who initiated
the innovation and for what purpose. Respondents could describe more than one
innovation and could include changes such as structural innovations, resource use,
and/or policy and management. The results show that there are three major clusters
of innovations described and three minor ones.
Major Innovations
The three major ones are: 1) innovations in theories, practice or methods that are
incorporated in some way in new courses, programs or field practices, 2) the
establishment of new programs and centers within the university or academic arena,
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sometimes with changes in the structure of the school or department or through
adding new degree programs 3) the development of collaborations and coalitions that
involve the teaching staff and students in some type of social activism or community
project for social change.
Minor Innovations
Three smaller types in the typology include: 4) programs for the social development
of the students which may be with community or coalition involvement, 5), the
introduction of technological innovations and 6) administrative changes.
Examples of each of these types of innovations are shown in Table 2. Some of the
innovations were listed in more than one category according to the thematic analysis.
Table 2. Typology and examples of innovations
Category
Major Innovations
Number
Reporting
Examples Quotation
Practice
development, adding
new theoreticalapproaches or
professional
directions
5 The College of Social Work felt the need to train
social workers to develop their skills in this area of
disaster mitigation and management. It hasintroduced a new course on Disaster Management:
Social Work Perspectives and Interventions as a
continuous education programme for professional
social workers.
Our School established an International Social Work
Program in 1999. The objective of the 3 year
International Social Work Program is to qualify
Social Workers to carry out social work both in
Denmark and in international contexts, based upon
an understanding of local impacts of globalisation.
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Innovative or new
teaching methods
3 Integrating new theory and techniques into my
teaching courses, especially in the area of
constructivism and evidence-based therapy in the
first and second degreerather than giving a
theoretical course I involved students in direct
assessment, intervention and evaluation methods and
taught all of these through practicing.
Specific new
academic courses
4 New course on Disaster Management: Social Work
Perspectives and Interventions as a continuous
education programme for professional social
workers
This innovation resulted in a new course we offer
("Practicing and managing social work in religious
contexts") and a series of articles and books on the
topic.
I introduced two new courses to our Graduate
program: Social Work with Diverse Families and
Qualitative Research Methods Both the issue of
family diversity and an explicit feminist framework
are not common in our school.
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Table 2. Typology and examples of innovations (cont')
New learning
techniques/programs
problem-based
learning and
practice
3 An integrated problem-based learning has been
initiated in the MSW program and course-based PBL
in the BSW. This teaching innovation is aimed at
fostering life-long learning and student-centered
learning.
New academic
programs, new way
of getting qualified,
curricular changes
or enrichment.
15 We have initiated two new specializations at the
BSW level: The First Nations Specialization and the
First Nations Child Welfare Specialization were
initiated to respond to the particular needs of First
Nations social work practitioners
A part-time program of study for the BSW degree,
known as the Alternate Stream, was initiated. This
stream allows experienced human services workerswith a Bachelors degree to complete their BSW
degree taking courses at accessible times on a part-
time basis over the course of three years while
continuing their current employment.
We have implemented bicultural tutorials so that
indigenous students and non-indigenous students
have opportunities to work through their issues
separately and then they come together to work
together to develop skills, theory and knowledge for
working bi and multiculturally.
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New Programs with
a Focus on New
Student Populations
5 We have implemented bicultural tutorials so that
indigenous students and non-indigenous students
have opportunities to work through their issues
separately and then they come together to work
together to develop skills, theory and knowledge for
working bi and multi-culturally.
A joint part-time 3-year MSW program that drew
students from the Navajo and Hopi Nations as well as
from the Flagstaff area.
Field work
development /
changes
2 Problem focused field practice is another innovation
where the College organizes field action projects in
which students get freedom and opportunity to
experiment with new approaches of problem solving
process.
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Table 2. Typology and examples of innovations (cont')
New at the local or
national levels
4 MA-structured program in advanced social work
practice
MA-in forensic social work (being developed at
present)
These programs are unique because they are offered
by no other university in this country on this level,
and is a departure from the nature of programs
offered elsewhere in the country.
We are studying under the Health Sciences Faculty.
We are taking the social part of the health. We have
only two Schools of Social Work in Turkey. It is new
to take social work as an health subject
As far as our knowledge goes, with the exception of
quite a few NGOs, no department of social work in
India has attempted promotion and strengthening ofSHGs as a means of empowerment of women among
lower income groups.
New academic
units/institutes
5 The Qualitative Research Center is a novel
organization at my University.
Establishment of a social development research
centre titled: Centre for Social Development in
Africa.
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Developing
collaborations and
coalitions (between
school and
organizations in the
community, between
schools)
11 The innovation is the delivery of a program to
educate and prepare social work practitioners to
become excellent field educators /supervisors. This
was developed in partnership with a major statutory
child protection agency.
Working with womens Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in
the area of micro-credit to enable them to reach
economic self-reliance and social empowerment
This program is run with the collaboration of
Peoples Action for Rural Development (PARD), an
NGO working in the urban poor neighborhoods of
Visakhapatnam city.
The establishment of the The Joint Forum of Faculty
and Students for Social Justice The Forum initiated
a number of community action activities on issues of
social justice, providing practical experience incommunity mobilization for social change at both the
local and national level in the area of introducing
legislation to establish hot lunch programs in the
schools.
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Table 2. Typology and examples of innovations (cont')
This comprises of networking with some of the
industrial groups/houses in the city to develop some
of the infrastructural facilities like library, computer
centre and faculty board room. The classrooms have
been renovated through a collaboration with alumni.
Category
Minor Innovations
Social activism,
personal growth,
mentoring, social
involvement of
students, extra-
curricular activities
3 Our first year students are involved in a project (Big
Brother Big Sister). It gives them the opportunity to
be a friend or mentor for a young child/mentee. The
organization Partners for Children reached out to our
university and we first did a pilot project. Because of
the success of the project we at the University
requested that all our first year students be involved
in this project.
We run locating ourselves workshops for all
students - these give the students an opportunity to
work through their cultural, class, gender etc
frameworks and the ways in which these influence
their practice and their world views.
Technological
innovations
4 The integration of information technology into
teaching has been initiated. A number of web-CT
courses and web-based course materials are provided
to stimulate an interactive and informative learning
environment.
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Administrative
changes
2 In 2004 the Council of the School of Social Work
implemented a blueprint that envisages the School
no longer along the old hierarchical lines but as a
community in which students and staff are all
stakeholders. In other words, students and
supervisors are involved in all matters of the Schools
administration, its various committees and projects,
including community projects outside the School.
Why is this an innovation?
The second question asked why the respondent considered what they reported an
innovation?
The responses are not surprising given the types of innovations that were
reported. The most common response (8 out of 31) about why what they did or reported
on was innovative, was that it was a unique or new program or course that was not beingdone elsewhere.
The innovation was also apparent at the course level where seven respondents felt
that they introduced new methods, theories or approaches to established courses, such as
the greater infusion of gerontology or international social work to the curricula. Another
seven mentioned that their innovation reflected a larger theoretical model (e.g. social
development or eclectic social work or viewing social work as a profession that includes
health) in the social work profession that allowed the curriculum to give a better
educational response to students' needs.
Another set of responses suggested that the program or method had been adapted
to meet the needs of a population or group that had special educational needs and
therefore this adaptation was an innovation (6). An additional cluster of answers gave a
practical, utilitarian rationale for their innovation that somehow it benefited some
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group, either students, the community, by recruiting new students or providing better job
opportunities for students and graduates (6). The last cluster of answers articulated that
the innovation was a new organizational approach that brought in collaborative partners
and formed coalitions between groups that had not worked together before, either
between academic units or universities or across community groups (5).
Some stated directly that an innovation had to be "new" and not done before,
others were specific about the innovation as a reflection of either personal or social work
values. Some felt that the innovation had proved itself not by its content and approach,
but by its end-result it brought some benefit to some party involved. A small minority
wasn't really sure about why it was an innovation or felt that their first answer made it
obvious and thus did not answer this question. However, one respondent answered this
question at length in the following way:
"For me innovation, at the dawn of the 21st century, is often seeing and
identifying a reality that most people ignore or do not see. Specifically, I refer to my
introduction of the role of religion in social work/social services. Not reading about
religious social services in the literature, I was puzzled and thought to venture into a new
area of research; one that was tabooed by the social science community."
The level at which the innovation was introduced
Since respondents could check more than one category, the answers reveal the
following picture: the most common level was in the BA program (20), the second most
common the MA program (12), followed by the Ph.D. program (7), and then variously at
the continuing education level (6), the S.W. certificate level (4) and then for the academic
staff (3).
One project was introduced for administrative staff and four others mentioned
other departments including field action projects, research support program, at a research
centre affiliated with the School of Social Work. This distribution seems to reflect the
distribution of academic resources in Universities the most common at the BA,
following by MA and Ph.D. level studies which other academic units mentioned
sporadically.
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Who benefited and in what ways from this innovation?
Most of the respondents named or implied several beneficiaries of their
innovations with, roughly, three major categories of beneficiaries named. The largest set
consisted of persons and bodies affiliated with the academic framework in social work
education. Of these, the most frequently named beneficiaries were students, named by 25
of the 31 respondents.
The other beneficiaries in this category included faculty (11), field instructors (3),
and the university in general or the social work program in particular (2). The students,
faculty, and field instructors were viewed as benefiting from training programs that
enhanced their skills, expanded their knowledge, introduced them to new modes and
approaches, as well as from research and the publication of a textbook on a subject
hitherto not written about.
One respondent stated that the program benefited the faculty by enhancing
international cooperation. The benefits to the universities and to the social work
programs were that the innovation provided publicity that improved their image and
visibility. One respondent mentioned improved enrollment for the benefit of the
university.
The next category consisted of the service providers: namely community agencies
(7) and practitioners (5). Practitioners were viewed as benefiting through much the same
processes as were deemed beneficial to the students, faculty, and field instructors. The
agencies were said to benefit from the knowledge and skills gained by practitioners, by
the fact that their skills had been up-graded. The sense was that the agencies benefited by
being able to employ better qualified practitioners and thus provide better services.
The third category consisted of the recipients of the services: the clients or target
population (7), the community (7) and society at large (2). In all but a few instances
these are described as the indirect beneficiaries of improved training for students and
practitioners and the enhancement of their knowledge and skills.
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Only in a few of the programs, where groups or interventions had been conducted
in the community (e.g. a long distance learning program, a national policy change and a
program directed towards increasing the number of minority social workers) specific
client groups or populations were mentioned as benefiting from the innovation.
What difficulties were encountered in trying to implement the innovation?
Surprisingly enough, a significant number of respondents (12) reported no
resistance or difficulties in implementing the innovation in their program. However,
these may be in part due to investment of time and energy to prepare for the introduction
of the innovation. One respondent reported, for example: "We spent several years
gathering data, laying the ground work, planning and implementing this change".
Another respondent remarked "It was welcomed and approved by the schools
committees, the standing committee of the university and community organizations."
One respondent gave kudos to the professionalism of staff for easing the introduction of
change. This was expressed as "No, there was no resistance, although the workload of
staff increased during the development time and when designing new assessments etc. A
high level of professionalism of the staff assisted in coping with extra work."
However, the bulk of respondents reported some kind of resistance to the new
program or innovation; the most common from faculty (13), then students (5), from the
administration or university (6) and from the clients themselves (1). However, some of
the respondents expected or were not surprised by the resistance and difficulties they
encountered. One respondent expressed it in this way "Both teachers and students
expressed resistance and anxiety in adopting new teaching and learning initiatives" and
another "Like every other new program there was resistance from most participants."
One source of resistance came from senior faculty who were concerned that the
new curriculum changes would render their knowledge obsolete and no longer needed in
academia. They reported: "At first we had to convince the lecturers that we are not
going to damage them and their professional integrity by exposing them to new model."
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"Some colleagues were concerned that their courses were being abolished.
Colleagues who had expertise in certain fields which were no longer the only core
training areas were also concerned."
At times, the larger university administration was the source of resistance or
difficulties. One respondent explained "Although there was support from the social work
staff (even if not very active support), the wider school environment was not at all
supportive and saw it as an added burden to the school (both financially and in human
resources).
This meant that there was no help financially... Further, there was no recognition
of the work-load impact of this programme on the lecturers, and no encouragement of the
students to take part in the programme. It was for these reasons that the programme was
discontinued at the end of 2003."
This is an example, among the few reported, of an innovation that did not
ultimately gain acceptance and was discontinued. This innovation consisted of two
modules of seven sessions each of experiential personal growth sessions with a focus on
values, problems solving, self-awareness and building self-esteem and applied skills (in
computer literacy and oral presentations).
However, the program was voluntary, non-fee carrying and non-mark bearing for
both social work and speech pathology students. This lack of organizational backing may
have contributed to the difficulties in maintaining this innovation.
One example was given of resistance to the intervention module from the target
population itself developing economic self-help groups for women living in poor, urban
neighborhoods. "Initial resistance came from the women to form into groups and later to
enter into economic activity. Mostly it was because of lack of self-confidence and
poverty, which has limited their initiative and ability to take decisions."
Another type of resistance was felt when the innovation meant addressing new
populations that the program had not yet addressed. Two mentioned this type:
"There was some concern that we restrict admission to the specializations to First
Nations students. However, the concern was less than expected and we have had the
support of the university to do so, given that that was what the First Nations community
had asked us to do. "
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"Little resistance, although not all faculty seem to have understand the need for
resources for the program for staff of agencies meeting the needs of a large Hispanic
clientele. "
The same researcher who reported venturing into a new area of social work
research gave a final type of wider societal resistance the changes that resulted.
"Many people were afraid that the findings and new content will enhance the
power of religion in society and will erode the balance of church and state. As such, most
secular and left wing groups in the school, profession, and wider society felt threatened."
Other difficulties in implementing the innovations
Other difficulties were named by 17 of the 30 respondents, most of whom
mentioned more than one difficulty. Two respondents didn't reply to the question; 11
stated there were no additional difficulties. The most frequently mentioned difficulty,
stated by 13 respondents, was insufficiency of resources.
Eight respondents referred to insufficient funding provision; three wrote of
insufficient time to develop, implement and evaluate the program; and two mentioned not
having enough appropriate faculty members to implement the program. These resource
shortages run across programs of different types. Two other resource shortages that were
mentioned, an insufficiency of public spaces and inadequate library facilities, which were
more program specific.
Difficulties pertaining to the faculty, students, and/or target population were
mentioned by six respondents. Two named the additional workload for the staff; three
wrote of objections, discomfort, or resistance by students; and two mentioned that the
target population did not take full advantage of the program.
One named competition with other projects as a difficulty. Two named
difficulties specifically related to their programs: one, a lack of sensitivity on the part of
third parties whose cooperation was crucial to the implementation of the program; the
other, the lack of a user-unfriendly on-line environment.
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Solutions for Easing Resistance to the Innovation
For the most part, the solutions suggested by the respondents included addressing
the concerns of participants, whether they were students or staff and easing anxieties
through this process. Seven persons suggested this type of approach, such as:
" Normal concerns about potential negative consequences of the new streamwere expressed and addressed prior to its introduction."
"Capacity building of staff was undertaken over a twelve month period,compromises were made and sufficient consensus achieved."
"I involved them in the process from the very beginning, by setting objectives thatcould be achieved and by sharing the "benefits" of success."
By contrast with this pro-active approach, others suggest that resistance eased
over time and suggested that "laissez-faire" was the best method to cope with it.
Variations on this theme were mentioned by four respondents. For example "Once
through the first year and into the second year of the programme, they realized the
benefits of this kind of delivery and its contribution to enhancing their learning and their
ability to work in multicultural environments. "Another recounted that " Some
students expressed anxiety about the on-line quizzes, but after some experience with the
quizzes, they described them as an effective means to ensure and recognize advance
reading in preparation for classes."
How does your institute encourage innovation?
This question was answered positively by 27 respondents, three of whom stated
that the support was only partial by younger faculty but not older or for teaching
projects but not others. One replied in the negative and three did not reply at all.
This type of partial support was expressed as a conflict between younger and
older academic staff. "I think my institute is very traditional in the willingness to apply
change. There is a discrepancy between the young, senior staff who are much more open
to change, and the older junior staff who are not interested in change". This suggests that
both academic training (we assume that this means Ph.D. level) and young tenure on the
faculty as two factors that encourage innovation in what is termed a fairly traditional
academic setting.
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Four respondents cited verbal support in the form of presidential mandate or the
university mission statement, with one of these respondents noting that the verbal support
was not backed up by funding or other tangible evidence of support. One respondent
mentioned that the mission statement was a significant aid in promoting innovation.
This was stated, for example, thus:
"Yes, our mission of the college is to educate professional social workers, develop
knowledge, and provide leadership in the development and implementation of policies
and services on behalf of the poor, the oppressed, racial and ethnic minorities, and other
at-risk populations. With this as our mission statement we have many programs that are
innovative."
Twelve cited various forms of instrumental support: Of these, four mentioned the
provision of funding; six mentioned administrative support in the form of the provision
of staff training, technology, physical space, and other, unnamed provisions; and two
mentioned that the innovators were rewarded with money, recognition and prestige.
Most of the description about how innovation was encouraged had to do with
organizational culture. Four mentioned generally that the introduction of structural and
managerial changes that had encouraged innovation. Two cited the frequent revision of
curriculum, mission statement, and governing committees. Eight respondents gave
specifics of how their institution had encouraged innovation (and some mentioned more
than one type of encouragement).
Of these, three mentioned that their institution encouraged faculty collaboration,
five that it encouraged proposals and ideas, and one that it encouraged student
involvement and supported their activities. Another respondent wrote that the institution
encouraged innovation by allowing freedom of decision to the local departments, and yet
another that it was fostered by the department's adoption of the innovation that was
produced.
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Personal Involvement and Evaluation of the Innovation
The vast majority of the respondents was directly involved in the innovation and
answered the questionnaire using their own insider information (27/31). One person who
was not directly involved was in a major supporting role as a head of school.
We also asked about whether the innovation was formally evaluated. Findings
show that the majority of innovations was accompanied by some type of evaluation
process (23/29 and two did not respond). However, what type of formal evaluation the
respondents were referring to is hard to assess from the information given (yes/no).
Eight respondents gave details of the evaluation process which ranged from very
informal and not very detailed (e.g. feedback from the students) to more systematic
evaluations (mid-range and final reports). One respondent, who reported self-evaluation
by staff quarterly and annually, presented plans for a more formal evaluation in the
future.
One respondent reported a formal process, by saying:
"The Alternate Stream was evaluated internally and a first report produced six months
after its introduction. Use of technology in the classroom is evaluated through the two
evaluations of teaching completed by students one for the university as a whole and one
designed specifically for the BSW program."
One more respondent was able to give the end result of the evaluation:
"Yes, evaluations are ongoing as part of our quality management system. It is difficult for
students to compare as they are not enrolled in both programmes. However we have
reduced attrition which is a positive measure of success."
Another respondent, whose program had not yet been evaluated, was cognizant
of the importance of the evaluation process and detailed the plans for the future:
"Unfortunately I have to say no here. However a current MSW student is carrying out
her research with former students to ascertain the efficacy of the model for preparing
students for practiceso one type of evaluation is in the pipeline but certainly this has
not been systematically addressed, except through the process of usual course
evaluations. The pedagogy as a whole for the program has not undergone in-depth
scrutiny."
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Discussion
This email survey has revealed that some schools of social work are actively
engaged in introducing innovation in social work educational programs. Three majortypes of innovation were reported: 1) new theories, practice models or methods that are
incorporated into the curriculum, 2) the establishment of new programs, sometimes inter-
disciplinary ones, that meet the needs of new populations or better serve the diverse
student body; 3) collaborations between community agencies or coalitions to involve
students, faculty or both in social change or social activism. Three additional types of
innovation were also reported: 1) programs that helped with the personal growth or social
development of the students 2) administrative changes and 3) technological changes. In
keeping with the academic mission of the schools, the most common beneficiary of the
innovation were students, with faculty or other staff also frequently mentioned. To a
much lesser extent, the beneficiaries were mentioned as being clients, the community or
society at large.
These findings are congruent to some degree with the types of innovations
mentioned in the current social work literature, with new models and theories
incorporated into curricula particularly common, both in the literature and in our findings.
We did find that a significant proportion of the innovations reported in the survey related
to adapting programs to meet the needs of new populations, particularly ethnic minorities
or groups of students who had had relatively poor access to academic frameworks. These
were not commonly reported in the social work literature, although work done in New
Zealand within a bi-cultural framework is one notable exception (Munford & Tapiata,
2000). It is possible that technological innovations are more commonly reported in the
literature than were reported in this survey, perhaps because the technological
innovations are easier to publish than theoretical or population-focused innovations.Innovations that relate to the personal growth needs of students were only found in our
survey and not commonly reported. The emphasis on social justice, social activism or
social change was reported both in the literature and in this survey.
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