The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social work education and practice in the Netherlands

ABSTRACT

During the first half of 2020, the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus had a huge global impact. The physical health of many was (often severely) threatened and affected, resulting in numerous deaths. Furthermore, all aspects of human coexistence came under pressure, such as economic activities and material living conditions, psychological well-being and social contacts, human rights and democratic decision-making, international political relations and global solidarity. As in other parts of the world, COVID-19 kept the Netherlands in its grip.In this article we would like to address the following questions:-What impact did pandemic and policy have on Dutch social work education and how was this experienced by students?-What was the impact of pandemic and policy on social work practices and what were its challenges for social professionals?-What does this all mean for the future of social work education, since it has to take the present concerns of students into account as well as prepare them for social work practice in the near future?

KEYWORDS:

• Blended Learning
• curriculum development < Education
• distance learning < Education
• e-learning
• ethics and values < Values
• students
• teaching
• training

Acknowledgments

The authors would also like to express their gratitude to all those who contributed to their surveys, not only social workers but also policy staff, service users and students. This article is partly based on a study for the bachelor thesis social work that was carried out by Jelissa Herlaar, Floor Krausen and Hella Schouten.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ed de Jonge

Ed de Jonge (PhD) is associate professor (hoofddocent) at Utrecht University of Applied Sciences. His work focuses on practice-based research and curriculum development. His main interests are (the intersections of) professionalism, ethics, and complexity.

Raymond Kloppenburg

Raymond Kloppenburg (PhD) is associate professor (hoofddocent) at Utrecht University of Applied Sciences. His focus is on social work education: curriculum development, learning networks and internationalisation.

Peter Hendriks

Peter Hendriks (PhD) is senior lecturer at Utrecht University of Applied Sciences with a focus on participative research with migrant and refugee students and inclusive education.