ABSTRACT
Social work practice faculty have an important role in socializing MSW students to the field and practice of social work. This study, based on interviews with 15 faculty teaching an advanced clinical practice course in the United States, examines how faculty conceptualize teaching and learning. Faculty were asked about the theories or frameworks that guided their teaching, their own journeys to teaching and the resources that support their teaching. The study found that participants drew largely on their own experiences as student learners and social work practitioners and did not have much formal training in teaching and student learning. Furthermore, while half of the participants were able to identify a learning theory that guided their teaching, the other half were not. Finally, while participants articulated the need for support regarding their own teaching, many of the schools did not have formal faculty development opportunities. The paper ends with recommendations for supporting current and new faculty regarding teaching and student learning.
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Rani Varghese
Rani Varghese, MSW, Ed.D. is an Assistant Professor at the School of Social Work at Adelphi University. Dr. Varghese’s clinical experience has been in the context of college campuses supporting survivors of gender based violence Her research focuses on social work education, clinical social work, social justice practices and principles, intergroup dialogue and its intersections.