Teaching Note—Ecological Devastation Bus Tour: A New Pedagogy for Environmental Social Work?

ABSTRACT

Despite the growing recognition of social workers’ important role in addressing environmental injustices, there is a gap in the literature concerning approaches for educating social work students about these issues. This article examines the effectiveness of a collaborative community-based intervention whereby students, community members, and local business, religious, and political leaders participated in an ecological devastation bus tour, visiting sites of environmental injustices in a large metropolitan area. Findings indicate that participants valued the experiential learning element of the tour, gained knowledge of environmental issues, enhanced motivation to advocate, and felt more equipped to address environmental justice problems. Applications for social work education are discussed and we conclude with recommendations for further research on such educational interventions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Karen J. Magruder

Karen J. Magruder, LCSW-S is an Assistant Professor of Practice at the University of Texas at Arlington School of Social Work. Diane B. Mitschke is Associate Professor and Associate Dean of Academic and Student Affairs at the School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Arlington. Holli M. Slater is a Clinical Research Manager and Program Lead for the Texas Youth Depression and Suicide Research Network (TX-YDSRN) in the Center for Depression Research and Clinical Care at UT Southwestern Medical Center.