The quality of social work practice is heavily dependent upon the quality of social work education. Therefore it is important to prepare future social work teachers with the knowledge and competencies associated with excellence as a professional educator in an academic institution. Social work doctoral programs aim to produce scholars/educators who will develop and disseminate knowledge for social welfare and social work. In preparing the future leadership for the profession, doctoral programs have the responsibility to prepare students for research and the advancement of new knowledge, and for teaching. Increasingly, new faculty are expected to provide evidence of effective teaching experience, and teaching performance is evaluated in tenure and promotion decisions.
This course is offered for doctoral students who intend to pursue a career in teaching at the community college or university level. The goal is to prepare students to function as effective social work educators by providing knowledge and skills for teaching social work. The focus will be on the integration of theory, research and practice in social work education. Specific goals are:
- to introduce students to the structure and scope of social work education;
- to provide conceptual frameworks and practices for effective and competent teaching, drawing on the contributions of social work and educational theory and research;
- to prepare students for curriculum development and teaching responsibilities in academic roles;
- to begin to develop and articulate an educational philosophy as a social work educator.