A Comparative Analysis of Social Work in Vietnam and Canada

Abstract

Social work education is rapidly developing in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and it is facing new challenges as it blends the historical, political and cultural influences. This article reviews and compares the historical and recent developments of social work in Canada and Vietnam. Canadian social work developed in Euro-western culture and its values, whereas, Vietnam suffered under French colonialism, a 30 year war of independence and then economic depression. For many years, social work remained nebulous but in recent years, the country has seen a rebirth of social work. Field education is the link from theory to practice and is often where differences between the two countries become evident. The article concludes with a discussion on the professionalization of social work and its future contribution to the emerging “new” Vietnam.

Exploring the Transferability of Competency-Based Education Model to Social Work Education in Vietnam

“…During that time, North Vietnam was governed 'under the socialist regime and did not develop professional social work' (Durst et al, 2010, p. 5). Meanwhile in the South, the French Red Cross introduced professional social work in 1947 through the establishment of the Caritas School of Social Work in Saigon (Durst, Nguyen, & Le, 2006). Following the French model, Caritas focused on issues related to the war and social problems, especially for those who had moved to the cities in order to flee from the violence and to aid the American war against rural insurgents (Hugman, Bui, & Nguyen, 2013).…”

“…Prior to 1945, Vietnam was a French colony. As a result, Vietnam followed a French model, which focused on charity and services rendered by religious institutions (Kelly, 2003, as cited in Durst et al, 2010). Between 1954 and 1975, Vietnam was divided into two parts, North Vietnam and South Vietnam.…”

“…Vietnam's educational system has been greatly influenced by Confucianism and socialist teachings, which comprise 'moral education' as defined in Vietnam (Doan, 2005;Durst et al, 2010;Ngoc, 2011;Oanh, 2002). In the Vietnamese culture, moral as a broad term emphasizes standards of right and proper behaviors that have been shaped by sociopolitical standards and values dominant in the society (Hay, 2013).…”

“…Following the French model, Caritas focused on issues related to the war and social problems, especially for those who had moved to the cities in order to flee from the violence and to aid the American war against rural insurgents (Hugman, Bui, & Nguyen, 2013). In 1970, the Vietnam Association of Social work was established in South Vietnam and became a member of the International Federation of Social Work (Durst et al, 2006).…”

“…The field of social work in Vietnam is at the beginning stage of creating a form of professional social work relevant to the national context (Durst, Lanh, & Pitzel, 2010;Hugman et al, 2009). Additional work remains in training social workers to address the complex and growing societal issues by developing social work educational programs in a systematic manner (Hines et al, 2010).…”