**3. Social work education in university curricula**

#### **3.1 The curricula in universities**

Many Social Work degrees that are recognized locally and internationally are offered by the tertiary educational institutes of the country. In many countries of the world, there is an authoritative body to accredit these social work programs [6]. The international associations are there to design the global standards as to how the entire world can practice the discipline in a uniformed way [1, 6, 8]. The curricula are designed by the particular institute and then get the approval of the necessary accreditation body(ies)—regional or professional—of the country [8] while in some countries there are none [6, 12]. Highly qualified professionals are there to deliver the content to train the young minds who are interested in this field. At the preliminary level, there are foundation, certificate, diploma, and advanced diploma programs. But the popular programs are BA in Social Work, BSc. in Social Work, MA in Social Work, M.Sc. in Social Work, M.Phil. in Social Work, and Ph.D. in Social Work or Doctor of Social Work. The advanced programs have field work placements and research to prove the candidate whether s/he has the capacity to practice what s/he has learnt.

One of the basic issues is that the structure of the Social Work degree. To be eligible for the undergraduate degree, a university entrance requirement or any other similar qualification is sufficient. Most of the Bachelor's degrees are of 3 years or 4 years. There are no common curricula even though all these universities or institutes

adhere to the global standards. Most of the curricula promote a generalist practice with a limited time period for a professional training [12]. In the Master's level also the curriculum is different from institute to institute, and no uniformity in the specializations they offer. Many individuals prefer to follow Social Work degree at the Master's level after completing a Bachelor's degree in any discipline. It has been found out that the Western-oriented Social Work theories, methods, and practices have been included in the curricula of the non-Western educational institutes as well [6, 12].

Due to this in 1992, National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and the Council of Social Work Education (CSWE) decided to formulate a common curriculum for all the social work programs to follow [2]. The field work component too differs significantly. Even though there cannot be a uniformity due to each institute's unique identity, the job market has not got adjusted to the youth who are leaving universities after completing their undergraduate or postgraduate degrees [6]. The newly passed out Social Work graduates have no options other than working in NGOs and many other similar organizations. Lack of proper employment for Social Work graduates is a sheer waste of national economy as the social workers cannot extend their services to the society at large [5].

All the universities or any other educational institute that offers a Social Work study program should adhere to the global standards to maintain uniformity throughout the world [11]. Ginsberg (2005) mentions eight standards based on the 2003 version issued by the Commission on accreditation of CSWE [8]. Even though all these are equally important, the second, fifth, and the eighth standards are crucial in relation to the topic that is discussed here. The second standard is curriculum. The curriculum should adhere to the program specifications and the expectations. It should be in line with the country's educational policy, social welfare policy, social work practices, and all forms of development indices. So from one program to the next, the specializations and the relevance to the society's needs and wants should be met.

Baikady et al. are of the opinion that most of the global South curricula have not got upgraded according to the local requirements but rather rely on or heavily influenced by the Western traditions [6]. It is interesting to note that both global North and South societies are getting unprecedently diversified and fragmented, but the nature of the issues and the outcomes are totally dissimilar. Therefore, the challenge of the social work curriculum or syllabus is to cater to those pressing needs of the local communities [5]. The local universities and the relevant governmental authorities have to be ahead of the times predicting the nature of Social Work services the country needs in future.

The fifth standard is the professional development of the student who steps into the world of social work. The student who gets enrolled to any social work study program should be convinced that s/he has the necessary environment to enjoy the benefits of a CPD program structure. As we are in need of professionally sound social workers, the SWE structure of the country should ensure that guarantee. The eighth standard is about the assessment of the study programs. There should be timely revisions to the curriculum, proper assessment structure, accreditation, and licensing [6, 7].

Sewpaul and Jones have mentioned nine global standards for SWE and Training and the article, though 1 year before than Ginsberg, offer a detailed and informative discussion of the agreed standards of the collaborative effort between the IASSW and the IFSW [20]. The CSWE has introduced nine social work competencies, program mission and goals, accreditation standards for the generalist and specialist practice, implicit and explicit curriculum, faculty, administrative and governance structure,

#### *Perspective Chapter: Social Work Education in University Curricula for Sustainable Development DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.106246*

and student evaluations in its guidelines [21]. All these provide the necessary platform for any university to design their study programs.

Ioakimidis and Sookraj who discuss the final document adopted by the IASSW and the IFSW in 2020 organize the global standards for SWE and Training under three distinctive domains: the school, the people, and the profession [16]. In this discussion of preparing the future leaders for tomorrow, SWE could immensely help to address the global sustainability issues. The schools considered in this context are the universities, tertiary educational institutes, and any other academic institute that offer SWE programs. According to the common agreement, the curriculum should be common, consistent, and regularly reviewed. The social workers should have a balance in theoretical knowledge and the on-field training. The main functions of the Social Work schools and other institutions are to empower the new social workers to enhance critical thinking skills, rational approaches to problem-solving, and a commitment to CPD. They should be given a thorough training on the ethical guidelines of the social work practice in all the possible fields of practice where they would have to serve in future [4]. Even though there could be many universal elements that can be shared in both global North and South, the contexts, peoples, and issues may not be the same. So, having a broader and in-depth knowledge in relation to context-specific, people-specific, and issue-specific is vital.

The people are the different stakeholders who are a part of the SWE. They can be the students, the teachers, the administrators, clients, and/or any other individual, group, or community that contributes toward the quality enhancement of the social work profession. The educators should have a sound knowledge and a wealth of knowledge on theory and practice. Social work schools produce the professionals to fill the dearth of professional social workers in the society. These professionals extend their services from the subnational, national, regional, to global levels [2]. The profession serves the society in two ways. While it gives an opportunity to the social workers to engage in practices, simultaneously it allows the victims or clients to find solutions for their issues. The social workers, whether they are veterans or novices, could utilize social work practices to integrate the global standards with local requirements.

#### **3.2 The impact of social work education on society**

The impact of SWE on society could be understood from many perspectives. It can be the individual, institutional, or organizational and the structural level of the society [4]. When considering the individual level, there are mainly two segments. The first is the social workers. The lecturers, students who study Social Work and the professional social workers constitute this segment. The other segment represents the clients related to different fields of practice. The ultimate aim of the SWE in university curricula is to empower the members of both these segments. While the social workers are becoming proficient and competent in their service provision, simultaneously, they make the entire society a better place for all those clients to live.

The role of the institutions and organizations from the subnational level to the global level has a tremendous influence on society. The local level village communities and community-based organizations undoubtedly play a leading role in fulfilling the needs and wants of the society at a micro level. It is the village community that identifies their issues and the needs and wants better. The organizational capacity and the leadership qualities emerging from the subnational level are a great opportunity for the university students and lecturers to exploit. The direct and indirect contribution toward the sustainability issues by the local communities is immense. They may be unaware of their exact contribution, but it is immeasurable.

Apart from that, the national level organizations—the Ministries and Departments of the country—have another significant contribution to extend. They are the policy makers and the policy implementers. To achieve the expected outcomes of the Social Work activities, a positive intervention of the government institutions is critical. So, the success or failure of them directly has a direct impact on society. The universities, in this context, should deliver the best practices with best-fit policies to strengthen the society.

In Global South, the universities are mainly funded by the respective governments. In many cases, the higher and tertiary education has become a part of social welfarism. The finances allocated should not be a burden to the national economy but an investment. Since the universities are publicly funded, the social workers are accountable to the society and its people. The international organizations [IOs], the International nongovernmental organizations [INGOs], and nongovernmental organizations [NGOs] have to extend the timely support to all the social workers to achieve the sustainability goals of each country. Through the respective mechanisms, these international institutions and organizations representing Global North can extend their commitment through finances, training, exchange programs, research and development activities, and consultancy to improve the present situation of the Global South.

The analysis of the structural elements of society has proved that the personal issues and social problems are on the rise. Even though the world boasts of development using numerous indicators, the life of the clients and the social worker is getting complicated. The challenges posed by uneven development in the globalized world have spread its tentacles in every sphere. Based on the new developments in the postmodern social realm, the problems the social workers have to cope with are also getting increased. As the challenges are anew, the social workers should be trained using updated curricula and novel training methods. The traditional leadership styles the youth leaders or social workers have developed in relation to their own social contexts are becoming invalid at present. The theoretical approaches also should have to be revised based on the contemporary developments.

#### **3.3 Promoting leadership through university curricula**

Leadership had been identified in Social Work as a prominent element and all the social workers in the institution or field should acquire, learn, and develop leadership qualities and skills to serve proper in critical times in the society. Presently, the leadership styles the social workers use could be identified through the human resources management perspective. According to Yukl and Gardner [22], leadership is

*"the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives" [p. 52].*

The leadership qualities of the social worker are learnt through the preliminary sessions he or she attends in classes and later learns, acquires, and develops through the different activities the learner engages in. Both formal and informal learning can take place throughout this learning process. The educational institutes that design the curriculum should take efforts to include the topics and activities to improve the leadership qualities of the learner. The NASW has codified the code of ethics that facilitate the social Work practice [23]. Accordingly, the novices in the social work

#### *Perspective Chapter: Social Work Education in University Curricula for Sustainable Development DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.106246*

should study these six core values of Social Work profession. These are the basic guidelines on which the leadership traits are going to be enhanced.

The social workers in the field and even in in-class settings have to solve personal or social problems. Therefore, problem-solving skills, models, and approach are a must for the social worker. In understanding the issues of the people, finding the correct solutions within a short period of time independently, analyzing the pros and cons of the solutions when going to apply in personal or social contexts, and how to conduct the follow-up processes are crucial for a practicing social worker [12]. Out of the numerous skills available in social work literature, the social worker has to have almost all or majority of the skills related to communication, comprehension, critical thinking, problem-solving, presentation, negotiation, planning, resource mobilization, and listening.

Apart from that, the author suggests that the present social worker should be equipped with twenty-first century skills as well. All the stakeholders who belong to social work profession should be educated on these. There are three broad categories as learning skills (critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication), literacy skills (information literacy, media literacy, and technology literacy), and life skills (flexibility, leadership, initiative, productivity, and social skills). Learning skills assist the social worker to improve his cognitive abilities to serve better in the present environment. The literacy skills make the social worker use information in a methodical manner while the life skills enable him or her to present his or her personality and its associated characteristics in an impressive way.

#### **3.4 The challenges for professional social work in university curricula**

Though many attempts have taken by the universities around the world to promote Social Work study programs through its curricula, still there are so many challenges the discipline, Social Work has to face. The most pressing issue is that many countries do not have a well-established national association to govern and monitor its Social Work processes [6, 12]. Licensing and the accreditation are two other critical concerns [6, 8, 12]. Each and every course or academic program should be accredited by a reputed local institution, and then the practitioners should have the facility to get the licensing for immediate practice after the completion of the full program. In many countries, especially in the global South, these facilities are unavailable [12]. So, the relevant authorities should systematize the profession of social work with due regard. As mentioned earlier in this article, most of the learners prefer the urban areas for learning and research rather than the rural areas. This situation grossly violates the basic principles propagated by the NASW or the IFSW. The fundamental elements such as equity, equality, justice are overlooked by the very profession that is there to safeguard those.

Baikady et al. suggest the importance of a common field work manual for the practitioners [6]. Many authors have expressed their concerns for not having enough and proper field work practice and the necessary feedback from the senior supervisors [12, 24]. The number of hours for bachelors and master's programs should be decided at the international level and a proper code of conduct for the students, supervisors, and the managers. There should be regular training and evaluation programs for the supervisors in all the fields of practice as well to upgrade the quality of supervision through a higher degree of dedication and commitment [6].

The lack of competent social work educators has been a serious concern in the global South. Most of these either migrate to the Western hemisphere or the better

countries within the region [12]. As the Third World countries have financial constraints, the state-sponsored education system is funded with minimum requirements; therefore, the funds for research cannot be found out [6, 12]. As the disciplines register a demand in the job market the Third World countries, these subjects become vulnerable to commercial aspirations [6]. Social Work also affected by that syndrome. This may be one of the reasons why Social Work does not display its actual development within the global South. Even though most freshers spend a lot of money to get a qualification, lack of accreditation, licensing, and inability to find an exact job in the job market have impacted negatively on the propagation of Social Work.

Social work at present is mainly geared toward nothing but social development [13]. The social work curriculum has been designed to make that all the stakeholders who involve in Social Work profession should take all the academic and practical initiatives to achieve the SDGs. "Development" and "sustainability" may differ from country to country, and each country may perceive development differently. According to the dire need at present, one country may presume development to be in economic terms while another country may want to achieve political development. Under any circumstance, the sustainable development would definitely bring similar sentiments to all the countries alike. As for the UN's 17 SDGs, all the countries in the world would attempt to reach all the goals with due respects.

Social Work and social workers in all the countries in all the regions have a greater role to play. How SWE could supplement the SDGs is different from country to country. Finally, all the countries would achieve the similar conditions but how each country gets there is a different strategy. After going through the empirical literature in an in-depth manner, it is noted that many writers have discussed the positives and negatives of the different ways and means the different countries are using to reach and sustain the SDGs [2–5, 11, 12, 14, 24, 25]. In summary, all these different methods are used to get the best out of the social workers to improve the situation of each society. The following examples are a testimony to understand that there is no one specific method and each country has to learn from all till it finds out what is most suitable for it.

In supplementing the SDGs, the social work students are made to get in to creative methods in and out of the classroom to perceive social and personal issues in a novel way [4], but the teacher/lecturer should have an immense capacity to set these creative opportunities in class and society. The Southern and Eastern African experience described by Mel et al. [5] provides a better picture even though there are many limitations. According to them, the developmental social work approach has provided ample opportunities for lecturers and the students who have utilized to a greater extent. Dziro examines how Zimbabwean social work has moved from a remedial approach to a development-oriented social work training even though it loses its much valued human resources to neighboring countries and the West [11]. Onyiko et al. are in the opinion that there are professional gaps that should be filled by the authorities and a more systematic approach by the professionals with well-compiled curricula can draw toward its research-based practices to the ultimate target [12].

Minzhanov et al. discuss how role plays could be utilized to empower the young social workers in the country. They have seen the curricula and the practical contexts rely on professional training through student-centered approach [14]. According to the article, a multitude of skills can be developed using role plays. Simulation-based learning [24, 25] has been another result-oriented strategy. The lecturer can create many opportunities and contexts to the learners so that they get trained to work out successfully through these imaginary situations. The unending issues for social work

*Perspective Chapter: Social Work Education in University Curricula for Sustainable Development DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.106246*

profession have been discussed by Faruque and Ahmmed in a detailed manner [2]. According to them the world is unable to have a unique social development model because of the cultural differences that exist in the world. On the other hand, Papouli is optimistic about the field learning. For him the practitioners can integrate both formal and informal learning in respective field work settings [3].
