Are we getting socially just pedagogy right? Reflections from social work praxis

ABSTRACT

This article explores how the teaching of group work field education can be developed through learning communities. The Bachelor of Social Work degree is being revised to include a wider social development focus against the backdrop of increasing socio-economic inequality. Given these changes, educators are encouraged to develop courses that promote active learning to engage students emotionally, cognitively and behaviourally as socially responsible citizens. Socially just pedagogy, informed by a convergent theoretical orientation that is able to hold multiple realities, forms of inequality, and agency, was used to underpin the field education course to achieve learning outcomes of critical thinking, reflection, reflexivity and an acute understanding of difference. In this exploratory qualitative study, the views of eight students and five external field supervisors are considered in relation to the introduction of the Ke Moja (I am fine, without drugs) programme to conduct group work at working class public schools. The focus was to foster greater awareness on substance use implementing a meso-practice group work intervention. Data were from a focus group with students and a semi-structured interviews with external field education supervisors. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings of the study suggest the potential of the programme to strengthen social work students’ awareness of the critical aspects of group work, the values and the ethics relevant to the profession and thoughtful citizenship. They also point to the limitations of the programme to engage with the socio-economic conditions that produce drug dependence.

KEYWORDS:

• Social work field education
• socially just pedagogy
• group work
• social work students
• Ke Moja programme