Akilova Mashura, Donovan Alexis, Miles Bethany, Phillips Noah, Verdooner Elise Margaret
Columbia University School of Social Work, New York, NY USA.
J Hum Rights Soc Work. 2021;6(3):193-203. doi: 10.1007/s41134-021-00165-1. Epub 2021 Apr 10.
In the increasingly interconnected and interdependent world, social work education requires a more global approach to graduating better-prepared practitioners. Teaching international social work only based on classroom and second-hand experiences do not expose students to the realities, opportunities, and challenges of work in the field. While there are longer-term volunteering or internship-based field immersion programs, shorter-term collaborations mixing in-class and field learning in international social work education are practiced less. Experiential and project-based courses provide students with opportunities to learn from practitioners, while also providing the reciprocal benefit of time, human, and academic resources of their institution to their partner agencies. This model of education provides aspiring practitioners skills in and models of international collaboration, reducing the risks that learning takes place only at the expense of host communities. The key takeaways of this approach from the experience of students in the course are discussed in this paper. The course provides structured instruction and exposes students to experts in the field of humanitarian response through collaborative projects, field visits, and seminars with practitioners. The analysis of the qualitative data from students' course reflections shed light on several broad themes on the value of experiential project-based education and the impact of field immersion on the development of essential skills necessary for social workers entering the field of humanitarian response and practice with displaced persons. A case for mainstreaming project-based learning in international social work education to better prepare informed, effective, and efficient practitioners and leaders is presented.
在这个日益相互联系和相互依存的世界中，社会工作教育需要一种更具全球性的方法，以培养准备更充分的从业者。仅基于课堂和二手经验来教授国际社会工作，并不能让学生接触到该领域工作的现实情况、机会和挑战。虽然存在长期的志愿服务或基于实习的实地沉浸式项目，但在国际社会工作教育中，将课堂学习与实地学习相结合的短期合作实践较少。基于经验和项目的课程为学生提供了向从业者学习的机会，同时也为其所在机构的时间、人力和学术资源回馈给合作机构带来了互惠效益。这种教育模式为有抱负的从业者提供国际合作技能和模式，降低了仅以牺牲东道社区为代价进行学习的风险。本文讨论了从该课程学生的经验中获得的这种方法的关键要点。该课程提供结构化教学，并通过合作项目、实地考察以及与从业者的研讨会，让学生接触人道主义应对领域的专家。对学生课程反思的定性数据进行分析，揭示了关于基于经验的项目式教育的价值以及实地沉浸式体验对进入人道主义应对领域并与流离失所者开展工作的社会工作者所需关键技能发展的影响等几个广泛主题。本文提出了将基于项目的学习纳入国际社会工作教育主流的理由，以便更好地培养见多识广、高效且有成效的从业者和领导者。
