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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.

Social work education aims to prepare students to effectively engage with diverse people and groups. This article presents a practical application of critical race theory (CRT) toward that end. It describes a brief history of curricular approaches to teaching diversity and social justice and examines a few of the challenges with current curricular approaches that CRT has the potential to mitigate. I provide an overview of CRT and discusses the utility of applying CRT to the design of a diversity and social justice course in a social work education program. A logic model, which illustrates the application of CRT and a social justice approach, is presented and discussed. The model includes strategies, course methods, student outcomes, and influential factors.

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]

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]

Working for social change in the intersections of multiple oppressions requires innovate approaches. In this article, two women offer their reflections on working in an organization that is organized by, for, and about queer people of color (POC) and prioritizes issues that affect them. The women also form the collectively constructed voice of the organization to describe the organization, its mission, models, and principles. They discuss working under the influences of racism, classism, and homphobia while attempting to work against racism, classism, and homophobia; working in a collective; and the challenges of and strategies for working in collaboration and with a diverse constituency.