This article contributes to discourse on signature pedagogy by reconceptualizing how our pedagogies are understood and defined for social work education. We critique the view that field education is social work's signature pedagogy and consider what pedagogies are distinct about the teaching and learning of social work. Using Shulman's work on professional education, we offer a conceptualization that rests on the belief about the necessary outcome of our pedagogy-it must enable students to think and perform like social workers through the development of the professional self. We present a framework that focuses on three integrating features: thinking and performing like a social worker, development of the professional self, and characteristic forms of teaching and learning.The purpose of this article is to offer a conceptualization of social work's signature pedagogy that rests on a belief about the necessary outcome of the pedagogy-it must enable students to think and perform like social workers. The article intends to add to the emerging dialogue about signature pedagogy in social work (Wayne, Bogo, & Raskin, 2010). We argue that field education does not meet the criteria for signature pedagogy as understood by Shulman (2005 b) and interpreted in the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) 2008 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS).Our thinking draws on the long history within the profession about the educational and practice frameworks necessary for social work competency and emphasizes the person of the practitioner as an integral component of the thinking and performing of the work. We present an enhanced conceptualization about how signature pedagogy may be understood and defined for social work education. Using Shulman's work on professional education (1999,2004,2005a, 2005b) to frame our understanding, we suggest that the signature pedagogies in social work involve the integration of practitioner knowledge, performative action, and awareness that emphasizes the development of the professional self.In presenting our conceptual framework, we briefly look at some earlier writings related to the history and evolution of social work practice and education (Brieland, 1987;Lee & Kenworthy, 1929;Reynolds, 1942) to help situate the profession's current pedagogical perspectives and to explore how these viewpoints intersect with our thinking about what it means to educate the developing social work practitioner. Our discussion focuses on three integrating components:
This poem represents an autoethnographic reflection of my experiences as a participant-observer in a graduate-level qualitative research course. Infusing words of the participants along with my own self-reflective understanding of the dialogical and experiential processes of the classroom space, the poem attempts to evoke response and encourage tact understanding. Through experimental writing, my effort seeks to capture the emotional resonance that exists when understanding and human connection intersect. I hope to offer a glimpse into understanding the pedagogical processes which encourage insight and reflective practice and where learning and growth take form.
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