The obscure nature of signature pedagogy in social work education: a Canadian perspective

ABSTRACT

Signature Pedagogy in social work education has been well discussed in the American context, yet, less so in Canada. In the United States, field education has been proclaimed as the signature pedagogy for social work in 2008 and reaffirmed in 2015. To date, the Canadian Association for Social Work Education (CASWE), has affirmed field education as a cornerstone of social work education, yet has not declared it as its signature pedagogy. The claim that all professions have a signature pedagogy piqued our curiosity about our Canadian position. This mixed methods study reflects the voices of three stakeholder groups in Western Canada. Focus groups were utilized to explore social work students, field education staff, and faculty members’ understandings of social work signature pedagogy, and inform an on-line national survey of faculty and field education staff. Utilizing thematic analysis and descriptive statistics, the findings suggest common and disparate views between participant groups. Despite nuances in understanding, strong suggestions by some scholars, and some support for the value of defining signature pedagogy, there is not yet agreement on signature pedagogy in Canadian social work education.

KEYWORDS:

• Signature pedagogy
• social work education
• Canadian perspective
• mixed methods

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the students, staff and faculty who shared their knowledge and experience in this project. We would also like to thank the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary for the start-up funds that enabled us to complete this project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Research Services, University of Calgary [Faculty Start Up Funds].

Notes on contributors

Beth Archer-Kuhn

Dr. Beth Archer-Kuhn is an assistant professor with the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary.

Devin Allen

Devin Allen is a graduate thesis student in the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary

Liz Schweizer

Liz Schweizer is a graduate student in the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary

Faaria Meghji

Faaria Meghji is a graduate student in the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary

Akin Taiwo

Dr. Akin Taiwo is an assistant professor with the School of Social Work at King’s College at the University of Western Ontario.