The study applies worldview diagnostic scale (WDS) as a classroom instrument for enhanced pedagogy for teaching on religion and spirituality in social work education. A sample of 110 Masters of Social Work (MSW) alumni and 154 MSW students was used to investigate: 1) differences in worldviews on human nature and social justice between clinical and community concentration MSW students; and 2) diversity of positions on theological, epistemological, ontological, axiological and deontological issues as related to social work practice. These were compared to MSW alumni to determine spheres of differences between trainees and graduates from the same institution. The results served as a foundation on which the integration of religion and spirituality in social work education was built. They derived the conclusion that a worldview system is a stable structure that does not easily yield to outside influences.
The academic literature has identified the urgent need for training competency-based social workers on issues of religion and spirituality. The academic institutions, however, have not responded to this need with curricula inclusion and classroom pedagogy on the subject. This study offers a concrete methodology that attempts to bridge the identified gap. The introduced Worldview Diagnostic Scale (WDS) is a classroom instrument for enhanced pedagogy for teaching on religion and spirituality in social work education.
Recent, 21st century developments in the mental health field encourage the practical integration of many diverse forms of spiritual and religious practices. Belief systems such as moral relativism, naturalism, New Age philosophy and postmodernism are deeply imbedded in the culture and find direct implementation into the therapeutic treatment process. Graduating students, however, are not adequately prepared to face the spiritual and religious diversity of the professional field. The Worldview Diagnostic Tree is a pedagogical instrument designed to address the identified problem. It has a two-fold function: equipping students with a tool for assessing their own spiritual orientation and assessing their clients' spiritual orientation as well. This educational tool for classroom pedagogy on the integration of spirituality and religion in social work curricula meets EPAS requirements for competent social work practice.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.