Revaluing Student Knowledge through Reflective Practice on Involvement in Social Justice Efforts

Abstract

Based on our experience as social work educators teaching a practice seminar, we describe an activity to revalue student knowledge and to reaffirm the importance of reflective practice for knowledge building and for social transformation. We focus on an activity that sought to engage students in a reflection on the barriers that impede them from becoming or remaining engaged in social change efforts and the facilitative factors that could help them to overcome such barriers. Throughout the paper, we argue that participatory reflection activities revalue student knowledge and favour their active involvement in the educational process. We highlight the communal nature of the activity and student feedback about their participation in this educational experience. We conclude by suggesting future directions for research and teaching.

Keywords:

• Reflection
• Practice Learning
• Practice Teaching
• Social Justice
• Practicum Seminar

Acknowledgement

The authors wish to acknowledge the financial contribution of the Faculty of Community Services, Ryerson University, to complete work on this article.