Practicing alliance: an experiential model of teaching diversity and inclusion for social work practice and education.

Social work students are expected to engage diversity and difference in practice, yet few approaches in social work education explicitly focus on strengthening skills required for such allyship engagement. Constructs such as cultural competence, cultural humility, and intersectionality are often difficult for students to learn and for educators to teach effectively. This article describes Practicing Alliance, a curriculum that extends the Ally Model for Social Justice through a systematic integration of experiential learning theory, designed to increase the allyship skills of social work students across social locations. Participants (N = 85) in the pilot evaluation were students in the Foundation-year (n = 21) and second-year (n = 47) of a two-year MSW program, and 17 Advanced Standing MSW students. Practice experience ranged from 1–2 years (17.76%) to over 5 years (37.65%). Following completion of Practicing Alliance, 100% of participants reported that they were better able to practice allyship, 91% agreed that they were better equipped to intervene in incidents of discrimination, and 93% stated that Practicing Alliance contributed to their development as a social worker. Qualitatively, participants reported increased confidence in utilizing their allyship skills. The Practicing Alliance model is described with recommendations for implementation within social work education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]