Q&A: Meet Carolyn Mak, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream 

A graduate of the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work’s Master of Social Work program in the early aughts, Dr. Carolyn Mak credits the Faculty with setting her on the path to working with children and youth in family service organizations, mental health agencies, and Toronto schools. In 2023, she was recognized with an Ontario Association of Social Workers’ School Social Work Achievement Award for her profound dedication to the field.

Passionate about pedagogy and committed to exploring ways to apply anti-racist and decolonial lenses to social work teaching and clinical practice, Mak is now excited to share her knowledge and experience with FIFSW students and engage in new learning as an Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream. We asked her about her journey through the field, her unexpected path into academia, and what she is looking forward to after the first semester in her new role. 

What inspired you to pursue social work? 

When I was younger, I thought that being a helping professional meant you had to go through a medical route. Working with a social worker myself as a client expanded my thinking about what was possible. I found myself wanting to understand the broader context of what people need to actually address root issues. As I got to know more about social work, there was something about it that really felt like a calling.   

 What led you to work with children and youth in schools? 

When I was in my second year of the Masters program, I attended a talk given by a practicum supervisor, Harvey Nagelberg, who worked in the Toronto District School Board. I remember thinking, well this sounds interesting, but I really wanted to work in a hospital. When it came time to list our preferences for practicum sites, I put the Toronto District School Board down as my third choice, and that’s what I was given, but I soon realized how fortunate I was to have been given that opportunity. I had always wanted to work with children and youth. It was a magical experience; it just really opened my eyes to all the things that you can do in prevention and intervention. I learned that schools are places with fertile grounds where you can help sow seeds for young people early on in their lives. I had a wonderful experience working with Harvey, who I’m really grateful for. 

Why did you decide to pursue a PhD? 

After working at the Toronto District School Board for a few years, I realized the complexity of what goes on in young people’s lives and felt I could use more clinical and research skills to provide the best support possible. I had amazing mentors in my career, including Dr. Barbara Muskat and Dr. Faye Mishna at FIFSW, who suggested I consider getting a PhD at Smith College. Faye Mishna was a graduate of Smith College and one of my professors when I did my MSW here and we stayed in touch over the years.  

What did your PhD research focus on? 

My dissertation was based on the work that I was doing at the school board, which involved working with Chinese immigrant youth who had been separated from their parents for various reasons and were then going through the process of reunification. It was a privilege to work at the TDSB because you got to work with real live problems and solutions. You work collaboratively with educators and other professionals to try to create environments that help young people flourish. It’s a hard job; people don’t always end up flourishing, but I’m really grateful to the young people that I met throughout my career. Shout out to Northwest Scarborough!  

Did you also have ambitions of becoming an academic? 

I never grew up thinking that I would be an academic. Being a community social work clinician was something I was really proud of. Over time, I realized that the things that brought me joy and interest outside of my day job were things like teaching. I taught as an adjunct and sessional professor at TMU, Humber College, and Smith College. It was challenging, but a good challenge, and I found myself doing it more and more. Over time, I also started to write and publish articles and collaborate with others on things I was interested in and I began amassing a portfolio. When the teaching stream position at FIFSW came up, I realized, oh, I might be qualified for that! After over 20 years working in the community, it feels like I now have a strong background to focus on teaching.  

Before joining FIFSW, you were the Director of Well-Being and School Counselling at Branksome Hall. How did this experience compare to your previous roles? 

Most of my career involved working with youth in Scarborough schools, and before that, I was working at a children’s mental health organization. For the last nine years, I was at Branksome Hall, which is an indepedent girls school where, comparatively, there’s a lot of affluence and privilege. But what I realized is that young people have some of the same basic needs, no matter where they are, no matter what their background, and the young people at Branksome Hall still deserved and needed support to deal with issues such as divorce, loss, separation, transitions, identity, and other universal questions and issues that transcend socioeconomic lines.  

How does your research and professional experiences influence your teaching? 

I’m lucky to have a lot of clinical experiences that I can draw from, and my research is something that I’m hoping to continue to grow. One of my current interests is really how to teach social work, specifically, ways to connect social justice to clinical social work. More recently, I’ve been exploring what it means to decolonize clinical practice. I’m also interested in what it means to be a racialized body in the classroom, as a teacher, but also as a learner, and I have been collaborating with LaTasha Smith, a professor in the U.S. , on tools to dismantle anti-Black racism in social work education.  

How do you hope to build on this research at FIFSW? 

It seems like the doors are wide open, which is really exciting. I’m hoping that in the near future, I’ll be able to explore more about pedagogy, focusing on teaching methods in social work graduate education, and really thinking about what it means to become an excellent clinician and how to make sure that social justice is always at the core of what it is that we’re doing as social workers. 

What are you most looking forward to in your new role? 

I look forward to continuing to get to know more students and to working with them to facilitate their learning. I am also really excited to collaborate with my colleagues and to continue to get to know the community more. I’m looking forward to hopefully doing some small research projects and also just being in the classroom. Teaching takes a lot of intellectual and emotional energy, but this is a challenge that I really embrace and feel very privileged to be able to take on. 

 Recent publications by Carolyn Mak 

Mak, Carolyn; Mucina, Mandeep Kaur; Ferguson, Renee (2021). Wrestling the elephant: Teaching as a racialized body in the social work classroom. Advances in Social Work  DOI:10.18060/24082  

Mak, Carolyn (2023). Decolonizing School Social Work Practice: The Delicate Dance Around Power, Privilege and Oppression, Smith College Studies in Social Work. DOI:10.1080/00377317.2023.2268169 

Mak, Carolyn & Koustova, Natasha (2023) Recess time: Help or hindrance to the social-emotional development of young children?, Theory Into Practice, 62:2, 127-140, DOI:10.1080/00405841.2023.2202134 

Smith, LaTasha & Mak, Carolyn (2022) The Trajectory of Awareness: A Tool to Dismantle Anti-Black Racism in Social Work Education, Journal of Teaching in Social Work. 42:2-3, 120-141, DOI:10.1080/08841233.2022.2048337 

Mak, Carolyn & Therriault, Joelle (2022). Developing a Response to Behavior Plan: The Interplay of Social–Emotional Learning and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Children & Schools, Volume 44, Issue 1, January 2022, Pages 59 -62, DOI:/10.1093/cs/cdab025