IN-PERSON: Learning. Life. Work

Abstract

Drawing on an innovative graduate-level capstone course, we will discuss the concurrent development of budding social work professionals and their emerging approaches to anti-oppressive, anti-racist practice. While all social work students intern within the human services arena, this unique course provides students the opportunity to create and implement an independent, self-directed project that both furthers their professional goals and responds to a contemporary issue within the field. Students are called to consider the realities of practice – how theory both comes alive and falls short; how justice is enacted in services and programs or constrained by internal and external organizational tensions; and how innovation must contend with tradition. During this presentation, we will discuss key components in the engaged learning process, including identifying a pressing social phenomenon, developing a project grounded in professional values, applying theory and research within a real-world context, and reflection on how our social positionalities inform practice. We will share meaningful pedagogical practices such as: developing a community of learners, intentional use of self-reflection, incorporating principles of project-based learning and modeling anti-oppressive practice within the learning space. Additionally, we will highlight the impact of community-engaged learning on students’ sense of efficacy, knowledge of justice-oriented practice and skills for furthering our work for personal and social change. We will conclude by sharing stories of students’ impact on agency practice, focusing on implications for more socially just programs, services, and policies.