Ethos of the Day—Challenges and Opportunities in Twenty-first Century Social Work Education

Abstract

Most of the social work education literatures center on epistemological and pedagogical issues underpinning curriculum design and teaching methods. There is less attention paid to the socio-economic and technological context of the society that has a significant impact on both teachers and students. This paper brings forth a discussion on such impact in terms of the political economy and electronic-mediated mode of communication in the twenty-first century. Social work educators find themselves engaged in a consumption cycle involving industry, higher education and students. The students become the ‘updated nomads’ with an instrumental and entitlement mentality. The paper also discusses the specific challenges and opportunities to social work educators in such a scenario. Preparing students to practice in the market-driven welfare field, helping students to build up a professional identity that finds personal meaning and significance, and understanding students' search for continuity between life and professional experiences present social work educators with worthy tasks in a trying scene. They are to accomplish these tasks in a co-creation process with their students in a trustful and responsible partnership.

Keywords:

• Social Work Education
• Social Work Students
• Twenty-first Century
• Ethos
• Challenges and Opportunities
• Political Economy
• Electronic-mediated Communication
• Updated Nomads
• Practice
• Professional Identity

Notes

[1] See for example, the ‘Professional Practice and Assessment Centre’, Department of Applied Social Sciences, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong. See the website: http://www.polyu.edu.hk/apss.