Search

Background: The ability to question global structures and analyze one's own positionality in relation to economic, political, and social forces is essential for college graduates. Although study abroad programs claim to develop students into global citizens, most studies do not critically examine student learning about global inequalities. Purpose: This study analyzed the process of critical consciousness raising about economic inequalities through experiential and emotional learning. Methodology/Approach: It employed ethnographic observations, in-depth interviews, and written journals of 27 U.S. college students who participated in a Ghana study abroad program in years 2016-2018. Data were analyzed using an inductive thematic approach. Findings/Conclusions: Witnessing and being emotionally affected by unjust global realities allowed students to question their actions and assumptions. Even though they seemed to have become more self-aware of their privilege and positionality, few of them questioned the global structures underlying economic injustice. Despite the limited analysis, they demonstrated inspiration to learn and do more. Implications: Moving beyond education's traditional focus on students' cognitive domain is crucial for critical consciousness raising about social injustice and global interconnections of oppression. Higher education should ensure a critical analysis of economic inequalities both abroad and in their own country.

Little of social work literature provides evidence of best teaching practices for preparing social work students to work with clients from historically excluded racial and ethnic groups. A systematic literature review was conducted to assess studies published in the United States during the 10-year period (2007-2016) that examined: (1) social work educators' pedagogical interventions for teaching about racial and ethnic diversity, (2) components of those interventions, (3) methodological designs to evaluate the interventions, and (4) the students' learning outcomes. Following the systematic review protocol, the authors identified and assessed twenty-five studies (qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods). The studies reflected a variety of teaching interventions, such as diversity courses and projects, instructional technology, and cultural immersion programs. While many reported positive student learning outcomes, as a whole, the studies lacked methodological rigor and sound theoretical grounding. Although social work education attempts to prepare students for multicultural practice, the field lacks an intentional and systematic approach to teaching about racial and ethnic diversity and evaluating learning outcomes in social work students. There is an urgency to expand the empirical evidence on social work diversity education, particularly concerning teaching about race, racism, and Whiteness.

This article reviews the literature on challenges faced by engineering faculty in educating their students on community-engaged, sustainable technical solutions in developing countries. We review a number of approaches to increasing teaching modules on social and community components of international development education, from adding capstone courses and educational track seminars to integrating content from other disciplines, particularly the social sciences. After summarising recent pedagogical strategies to increase content on community-focused development, we present a case study of how one engineering programme incorporates social work students and faculty to infuse strategies for community engagement in designing and implementing student-led global engineering development projects. We outline how this interdisciplinary pedagogical approach teaches students from the two disciplines to work together in addressing power balances, economic and social issues and overall sustainability of international development projects.

Cultural humility is increasingly important in social work literature given its emphasis on mitigating power imbalances in helping relationships, particularly across cultural differences. Consequently, there is a need to understand whether and how cultural humility can be taught in social work education, both through traditional classroom instructions and cultural immersion programs. Guided by the Transformative Learning Theory (TLT) and relying on ethnographic observations and reflective journals, this study explores the process of developing cultural humility among 19 U.S. social work students who studied abroad in Ghana in the years 2016–2018. To summarise how the learning process required to develop cultural humility manifests at each of the TLT stages, we identified three major themes: 1) confusion and discomfort, 2) re-moulding, and 3) humility in action. Specifically, this process seems to depend on the experience of a disorienting dilemma, meaningful connections with others, and the ongoing readiness to function beyond one's own cultural frame of reference. We suggest TLT can serve as a guide to social work educators and study abroad coordinators in planning, facilitating, and evaluating transformative learning experiences which can help students begin this life-long journey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interdisciplinary programs in schools of social work are growing in scope and number. This article reports on collaboration between a school of social work and a school of engineering, which is forging a new area of interdisciplinary education. The program engages social work students working alongside engineering students in a team approach to developing and implementing international community development projects. The author chronicles the prevalence and types of interdisciplinary, academic social work collaborations over the past 2 decades and outlines the uniqueness of an engineering and social work partnership. After presenting the components of the collaboration, the author analyzes the collaboration's fit for social work education using a model of interdisciplinary social work. Implications for social work education and research are discussed.

For over a decade, a number of social work scholars have advocated for an Africentric paradigm shift in social work practice with African Americans; yet the paradigm shift has been slow in coming with respect to infusing Africentric theory and interventions into social work practice, education, and research. Interventions that infuse Africentric values (such as interdependence, collectivism, transformation, and spirituality) have been shown to create significant change across a number of areas important to social work practice with African Americans. However, a barrier to the full integration of Africentric models into social work practice is that Africentric programs lack cohesive documentation and replication and, thus, have limited potential to be established as evidence-based practices. The authors present an overview of various Africentric interventions, including their program components and methods of evaluation, with the aim of establishing guideposts or next steps in developing a discourse on Africentric interventions that are promising best practices or are emerging as evidence-based practices. The authors conclude with implications for social work practice, education, and research and a call for Africentric scholars to engage in increased discussion, dissemination of manualized treatments, and collaborative research to build the evidence-based Africentric knowledge base and foster replication of studies.

Describes the development of the Prejudice Perception Assessment Scale, a brief scale composed of five vignettes aimed at assessing the extent to which participants perceive prejudice as the cause of negative outcomes in ambiguous situations. Results from studies with 66 and 109 African Americans distinguish stigma vulnerability from mistrust of Whites. (SLD)

This article examined what U.S. college students who participated in a Ghana study abroad program learned about the history of racial oppression and the meaning-making that resulted from that knowledge. Based on inductive thematic analysis of a variety of qualitative data sources, four themes were identified: (1) the suffering and resilience of African and African descent people; (2) 'it's still happening today'; (3) 'you don't learn about that in school'; and (4) remembrance, equity, and healing. Students expressed frustration with the U.S. education system which 'breezes through' the topics of slavery and colonialism. As connections between the past and present racial oppression in the United States and globally were recognized, students yearned for a forthright education and dialogue about racism as a first step toward acknowledging historical trauma and creating a racially equitable society. More explicit education related to slavery and colonialism and their current repercussions is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Prejudice Perception Assessment Scale (PPAS) was developed to examine the stigma vulnerability of African American students at universities which are dominated by Euro-Americans. Examination of construct validity, reliability and factor structure indicated convergent validity, internal consistency and one factor unidimensional variable. When administered to African American students in Euro-American campuses, the PPAS was useful in clarifying intragroup differences associated to perception of prejudice among African American students.

Background: The ability to question global structures and analyze one's own positionality in relation to economic, political, and social forces is essential for college graduates. Although study abroad programs claim to develop students into global citizens, most studies do not critically examine student learning about global inequalities. Purpose: This study analyzed the process of critical consciousness raising about economic inequalities through experiential and emotional learning. Methodology/Approach: It employed ethnographic observations, in-depth interviews, and written journals of 27 U.S. college students who participated in a Ghana study abroad program in years 2016–2018. Data were analyzed using an inductive thematic approach. Findings/Conclusions: Witnessing and being emotionally affected by unjust global realities allowed students to question their actions and assumptions. Even though they seemed to have become more self-aware of their privilege and positionality, few of them questioned the global structures underlying economic injustice. Despite the limited analysis, they demonstrated inspiration to learn and do more. Implications: Moving beyond education's traditional focus on students' cognitive domain is crucial for critical consciousness raising about social injustice and global interconnections of oppression. Higher education should ensure a critical analysis of economic inequalities both abroad and in their own country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little of social work literature provides evidence of best teaching practices for preparing social work students to work with clients from historically excluded racial and ethnic groups. A systematic literature review was conducted to assess studies published in the United States during the 10-year period (2007–2016) that examined: (1) social work educators' pedagogical interventions for teaching about racial and ethnic diversity, (2) components of those interventions, (3) methodological designs to evaluate the interventions, and (4) the students' learning outcomes. Following the systematic review protocol, the authors identified and assessed twenty-five studies (qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods). The studies reflected a variety of teaching interventions, such as diversity courses and projects, instructional technology, and cultural immersion programs. While many reported positive student learning outcomes, as a whole, the studies lacked methodological rigor and sound theoretical grounding. Although social work education attempts to prepare students for multicultural practice, the field lacks an intentional and systematic approach to teaching about racial and ethnic diversity and evaluating learning outcomes in social work students. There is an urgency to expand the empirical evidence on social work diversity education, particularly concerning teaching about race, racism, and Whiteness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An examination of cultural protective factors that foster substance use abstinence among low-income, early adolescent, African American girls may be helpful in understanding how to promote resilience and reduce negative health outcomes. This study examined the relations between Africentric cultural values, ethnic identity, and substance use abstinence among 196 low-income African American early adolescent girls (age 11-14 years). Results of logistic regressions revealed that Africentric values were negatively linked to cigarette and alcohol abstinence. Results also showed a significant positive interaction between Africentric cultural values and ethnic identity exploration that contributed to increased cigarette and alcohol abstinence. Implications for research and practice with African American early adolescent girls are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews the literature on challenges faced by engineering faculty in educating their students on community-engaged, sustainable technical solutions in developing countries. We review a number of approaches to increasing teaching modules on social and community components of international development education, from adding capstone courses and educational track seminars to integrating content from other disciplines, particularly the social sciences. After summarising recent pedagogical strategies to increase content on community-focused development, we present a case study of how one engineering programme incorporates social work students and faculty to infuse strategies for community engagement in designing and implementing student-led global engineering development projects. We outline how this interdisciplinary pedagogical approach teaches students from the two disciplines to work together in addressing power balances, economic and social issues and overall sustainability of international development projects. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Transnational feminist discourse has critiqued the pursuit of women’s empowerment through international development programs. Empowerment, when reduced to the provision of financial resources and services, is unlikely to lead to wider changes in gender inequality unless programs strategically combine credit with other vital services. We interviewed women participating in a multifaceted empowerment program in Mumbai, India, to explore the potential of the “Credit-Plus” model to facilitate pathways of individual and collective empowerment. Emergent themes of empowerment were enhanced socioemotional well-being, increased economic assets, and improved household gender equity. Interview responses demonstrate changes in individual, household, and collective agency dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]