Social work students confront social justice issues through experiential learning

Abstract

Student empowerment is an educational goal that is necessary to inspire students to develop a sense of their potential as catalysts for change when brought face-to-face with the complexities of inequalities in society. The special attention given to the process of learning at Newcastle provides a rich experience where students learn more than the knowledge and skills of social work practice. Through the experiential model they also come to discover their own limitations and potential, while developing a sense of their own social work identity. This paper presents one example of how a social work curriculum based on an experiential learning approach assists students to discover their capacity for action to address societal inequality.