Teaching self-awareness: social work educators’ endeavors and struggles

ABSTRACT

Self-awareness has long been a fundamental concept in the social work profession; however, exactly what self-awareness means and how to teach and apply it in practice remain unclear. We explored social work educators’ teaching methods on self-awareness through the narrative approach of qualitative research. Convenience and snowball sampling were used to select the study sample. Thirty-five social work educators from various colleges and universities across the United States agreed to participate in this study. The results indicated that social work educators employ an emotional learning process, self-disclosure, and humor in the class environment to encourage students to practice self-awareness. Further research is needed to explore and elaborate on the factors that facilitate or obstruct the teaching of self-awareness.

KEYWORDS:

• Self-awareness
• social work education
• self-reflection
• emotional learning
• mindfulness

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Leyla Feize

Dr. Leyla Feize is an assistant professor of social work at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). She earned a PhD in social work from the University of Utah. Her research interests include social work education, minority mental health and autism. She has been practicing mental health social work since 1990. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), she employs humanistic theories, mindfulness and self-awareness in her direct practice.

Catherine Faver

Dr. Catherine Faver is a professor of social work at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. She earned a PhD in social work and sociology from the University of Michigan and held previous faculty appointments at the University of Texas at Arlington and the University of Tennessee. Her teaching and research interests include sustainable food systems, environmental health, and animal welfare.