Exploring the interconnectedness between social work education and social work practice: perceptions of BA social work graduates from one of Ghana’s public universities

ABSTRACT

To make social work education relevant, educators, students, and practitioners must assess the extent to which taught concepts, theories and techniques are relevant for practice within the local context. Currently, there is little empirical research in Ghana that reviews the social work curriculum in relation to practice. This paper relies on data collected from BA Social Work graduates working with various social service agencies in Ghana. These graduates earned their undergraduate degrees from one of Ghana’s top public universities, offering social work education. Respondents were asked to reflect on their education and their work contexts and to comment on the extent to which they find taught concepts relevant and practical for their work. While we do not draw broad conclusions from our study, we believe that our methodological approach can help other Ghanaian educators evaluate and enhance social work education for effective practice.

KEYWORDS:

• Social work education
• social work curriculum evaluation
• indigenous social work education and practice
• context relevant social work education
• African social work education and practice
• social work education and practice in Ghana

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no external funding for this study.

Notes on contributors

John Boulard Forkuor

John Boulard Forkuor is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Sociology and Social Work, KNUST. His research in social work focuses on making practice and education of social work relevant for the local context. His publications have appeared in journals like Qualitative Social Work; Gender Studies; Urban Review; Sage Open; Journal of Contemporary African Studies; and Urban Forum.

Mary Ayim

Mary Ayim is a PhD student at the Department of Social Work and Social Care, University of Birmingham (UoB), UK. Her research in social work focuses on child welfare and indigenous social work practice in Africa. She has publications in Youth Services Review, Qualitative Social Work, and International Quarterly of Community Health Education.

Esmeranda Manful

Esmeranda Manful is an Associate Professor with the Department of Sociology and Social Work, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. Her research interest in social work education focuses on curriculum development.