Social justice as a unifying theme in social work education: principles to realize the promise of a new pedagogical model

Abstract

As Mohan notes, social justice can potentially serve as a unifying theme in a new articulation of social work education characterized by inclusion and civil discourse. Yet, historically, social work has often operationalized social justice in a manner that engenders exclusion, rather than inclusion, raising concerns the profession will repeat such mistakes in the future. Building upon Mohan's extensive work in the areas of epistemic pluralism, social justice, and human rights, this article proposes three principles to help realize the promise embedded in the social justice framework while circumventing past problems. These three interrelated guidelines can be summarized as: an affirmation of epistemic pluralism; that creates space for bottom-up, client-centered conceptualizations of social justice; which in turn are congruent with fundamental human rights. Practical pedagogical strategies are provided to foster movement toward a new educational model characterized by inclusiveness and peaceful coexistence.

Keywords:

• social justice
• social work education
• pedagogy
• inclusion
• oppression