Social work education in Nigeria and the search for enhanced local relevance: perspectives from social work academics

ABSTRACT

Social work education should be responsive to local practices. This qualitative study, based on interviews with six social work academics, in four Nigerian universities, explored the development of social work education in Nigeria, and the integration of local content into counter-hegemonic Western knowledge. A Key Informant Interview (KII) guide based around key themes was used for data collection. The findings reveal local content is being integrated into social work programmes. However, the dearth of locally relevant literature to inform and support contextually relevant social work education/practice means students are receiving indigenous, local knowledge largely through the experiential knowledge of academics, students, and community representatives; case examples; field practicum; and the creative use of languages and cultural diversity. We offer recommendations for sustainable approaches for integrating indigenous knowledge into Nigerian/African social work education. First, we build the empirical foundation of Nigerian social work through further research and publication of existing research to generate new knowledge and understanding, including transferring existing experiential knowledge into an accessible published format. Second, there are regular staff development workshops, seminars, and training for social work educators (both academics and practitioners). Third, we open up the curriculum review process to be inclusive of practitioners, service users/community representatives, and early-career academics. What is crucial in relation to each of the three recommendations is embedding local knowledge into social work curricula.

KEYWORDS:

• Social work education
• indigenous knowledge
• local relevance
• social work educators
• Nigeria
• Africa

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express our gratitude to all the study participants, who have contributed to this research by expending their valuable time during the data collection phase. Equally acknowledged are the British Academy Writing Workshops 2020 that supported the writing of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported that there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Ngozi Eucharia Chukwu

Ngozi Eucharia Chukwu is a Senior lecturer in Social Work, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. She is one of the editors of Social Work in Nigeria: Book of Readings and Journal of Social Work in Developing Societies.

Susan Levy

Susan Levy is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work, Education and Society and the Programme Director of Professional Doctorates at the University of Dundee.

Patricia U. Agbawodikeizu

Patricia Uju Agbawodikeizu is a teaching staff in the department of Social Work, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. She is a research fellow with Health Policy Research Group and H3Africa, Nigeria.