Assessing Recent Textbooks and Casebooks in Human Service Administration

Abstract

Little attention has been given to assessing texts currently available to students of social work administration. This article evaluates twelve books in the field including descriptive findings related to audience, structure, definitions, managerial practice, and knowledge acquisition and skill development. The analysis utilizes an eleven-role framework to assess the relationship between the contents of the books and an empirical description of managerial work in the human services. The article concludes with a set of interpretations related to the balance between knowledge and skills, the degree to which theory informs practice, the use of empirical findings about practice, and the nature of learning strategies that include case-based and problem-centered learning.

Key Words:

• Pedagogical approaches
• managerial education
• learning theory
• skill development
• textbooks