Beginning to See the Big Picture: BSW Student Reflections on Community Macro Practice

Abstract

This article describes an undergraduate social work macro practice course that included a service-learning project in which BSW students canvassed for a grassroots, community-based agency to increase voter participation in a low-income, disfranchised community. An analysis of students' reflections prior to and during the course and project illustrates how this experience cultivated students' perspectives about macro practice. Embedding a service-learning project into a macro practice course demystified this level of practice for students, increased their understanding of the relationship between the community and their social work practice, and motivated their interest in macro practice. Recommendations for social work education and further research are provided.

Enhancing Student Commitment to the Micro-Mezzo-Macro Continuum

“…Unfortunately, macro social work is all too often siphoned off from micro and mezzo practice. As a result, many social workers are unable to immediately identify the connections between all forms of social work practice (Crutchfield et al, 2016;Lucero et al, 2017). Increased intentionality in social work education, through the MPA or similar learning activities, may help to reconnect these forms of practice in the minds of the next generation of social workers.…”

“…The authors also found that roughly 42% of the student participants felt that instructors covered community practice course material insufficiently and that the material lacked the same depth as clinical material (Liddell & Lass, 2019). Although this is but one study, the results are troubling because the sample was comprised of students who evidenced some predisposition towards macro social work practice, rather than viewing it as a necessary educational nuisance on their way to a social work degree, as some social work students do (Crutchfield et al, 2016). Research has also found that macro practice students were often told by social work educators that it is difficult to obtain a job and pass the licensing exam with a concentration in macro practice -which perhaps speaks to the content of licensing exams (Plitt Donaldson et al, 2016).…”

“…In order to address these shortcomings in macro social work education, various authors have suggested that professors assigned to teach macro practice courses could or should implement community-based or service-learning projects in their classes (Crutchfield et al, 2016;Lucero et al, 2017). These types of projects can foster an understanding and application of macro practice skills and knowledge, thereby addressing some of the deficits associated with macro practice education.…”

“…Macro social work education typically addresses core social work competencies related to engaging, assessing, intervening, and evaluating practice with organizations and communities (Council on Social Work Education [CSWE], 2022). Although learning objectives related to these competencies are essential for budding social workers, students who enter the field with more interest in direct practice with individuals, families, and groups may find macro social work instruction to be less immediately relevant to their professional goals than instruction in other types of social work (Crutchfield et al, 2016). This is problematic, since a commitment to macro practice is core to the social work profession.…”