Pedagogy and Diversity: Enrichment and Support for Social Work Instructors Engaged in Social Justice Education

Abstract

The primary purpose of faculty development is to create and sustain a culture of teaching excellence. For social work faculty, an important part of teaching excellence involves incorporating core social work values such as social justice and diversity across the curriculum and developing pedagogical skills and strategies to teach these issues effectively. In this article, we present a model of a faculty development seminar that offers a facilitated space for instructors to discuss how issues of diversity, social identity, and oppression influence their teaching, the classroom environment, student interactions, and the overall campus climate.

KEYWORDS:

• faculty development
• social justice
• diversity
• education for teaching

Notes

¹ There is no agreement in social work on the terms social justice and diversity, and there are many terms that are used to convey similar concepts (e.g., anti-oppression, multicultural diversity, cultural competence). The authors acknowledge this multiplicity and use social justice and diversity because they are embedded in two of the most important documents that guide social workers and social work education—the NASW Code of Ethics and the Council on Social Work Education’s (CSWE’s) Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards.