Reconciling the Congruent and Contrasting Roles of Social Work Teacher, Student and Practitioner

Abstract

Social work educators who are balancing the congruent roles of teacher and social work practitioner and the contrasting roles of student and teacher face unique challenges that have not been captured in the literature. This paper represents an experiential account of three doctoral candidates who were teaching while simultaneously occupying the roles of full-time students and social work practitioners. We propose that examining boundary management between teachers and students in the context of these three roles and the implicit or explicit epistemology articulated in carrying out these roles will highlight the complexities of maintaining a comfortable relational stance with students.

Key Words:

• Doctoral student teachers
• social work education
• student-teacher boundaries