Students with mental health (dis)Abilities’ storied experiences within distance education

Abstract

Distance education gives a diverse group of social work students access to further education. Research addressing the overall experiences of Canadian distance education social work students is limited, and even more so for distance education social work students with mental health (dis)Abilities. By means of a qualitative research project using narrative inquiry, I listened to the stories of social work students with mental health (dis)Abilities studying online as they each shared points of access and barriers within their distance education. Six study participants from two Canadian universities narrated multifaceted storied experiences of adapting, coping, and navigating through their distance courses and programs, highlighting attitudinal and institutional changes that would be supportive of their learning. Using narrative auto-ethnography, I also integrated my own experiences into the research. Through participants’ storied experiences, I conceptualized recommendations for social work distance education programs.

Keywords:

• distance education
• social work education
• mental health
• disabilities
• narrative inquiry

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the participants who generously offered their time and stories for this research. The authors would also like to thank the two participating Schools of Social Work for their support and involvement in the study.

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Data availability statement

Due to the nature of this research, participants of this study did not agree for their data to be shared publicly, so supporting data is not available.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rose C. B. Singh

Rose C. B. Singh completed this research as part of their Master of Social Work degree at Dalhousie University. Rose is currently a sessional lecturer at Dalhousie University and a PhD student at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Judy E. MacDonald

Judy E. MacDonald is professor and director of the School of Social Work, and assistant dean of equity and inclusion in the Faculty of Health at Dalhousie University. Judy’s scholarship focuses on access and inclusion within postsecondary institutions for disabled students.