Critical Thinking as Integral to Social Work Practice

Gibbons, Jill; Gray, Mel

doi:10.1300/j067v24n01_02

Cited by 66 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…These exercises develop their professional responses and reactions (Furman, Coyne & Negi, 2008;Hussain et al, 2011). In participatory methods the use of case studies and movies, and written exercises are often cited as means to facilitate deep and reflective learning (Gibbons & Gray, 2004;Hussain et al, 2011;Pallisera et al, 2013). The value of this suggestion is that participatory and reflective methods should not be an inconsistent application at the will of individual lecturers, but should be structured as part of the teaching philosophy of the social work programme, with appropriate debriefing embedded.…”

Section: Extend Participatory Learning Methods and Activitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning Profiles of Social Work Students: Who Are You and How Should This Influence My Teaching?

Dykes¹,

Green²

2015

SWORK

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This qualitative study explores the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) of social work students on notions of students' learning profile. Data were obtained from both student and staff participants on third year level within the social work programme during the teaching of a particular module focusing on family wellbeing. The implications of strong reactions during teaching and learning are juxtaposed against the notions of students' learning profile and participants' teaching and learning suggestions. Several recommendations are made that have emerged from the study that attempt to relate to students' learning profile in social work professional learning. 577Social Work/Maatskaplike Werk 2015:51(4) LEARNING PROFILES OF SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS: WHO ARE YOU AND HOW SHOULD THIS INFLUENCE MY TEACHING?Glynnis Dykes, Sulina Green INTRODUCTIONInternationally, classrooms reflect an increasingly diverse world of differing ages, abilities, cultures, interests, motivations and difficulties (Rosslyn, 2004;Tomlinson, Brighton, Hertberg, Callahan, Moon, Brimijoin, Conover & Reynolds, 2003). The situation in South Africa is no different. The majority of South African students currently in higher education are first-generation (non-traditional) students commonly (and indiscriminately) described as underprepared, coming from impoverished backgrounds in terms of economic strength, poor schooling and socio-cultural resources, and using English as additional language (Bozalek, 2013;Carelse & Dykes, 2013;Collins & Van Breda, 2010;Hlalele, 2010;Smit, 2012).In order to facilitate learning for these diverse groups, it is vital to know who the adult learner is in terms of the role of personal circumstances in the learning endeavour, as well as to ascertain how adults learn (Merriam, Caffarella & Baumgartner, 2007;Ramsden, 1992). The current student profile at the university where the study was undertaken started to emerge during the 1980s, when the institution initiated an affirmative action admissions policy designed to broaden access particularly for students from all historically disadvantaged communities (Bozalek, 2013). For the non-traditional and adult learner, the concepts of self and self-directed learning are vital (HylandRussell & Groen, 2011) in that they feed into their individual learning approaches; this in turn advances the philosophy of learner-centredness (Wilcox, 1996).Learning styles have been variously defined in the literature. For this study the overall notion of learning profile will be used to refer to students' personal traits (such as biological, cultural and societal factors; emotional and social influences; academic record and learning preferences) that optimise the individual's learning (Powell & Kusuma-Powell, 2011;Rollnick, Lubben, Lotz & Dlamini, 2002). A learning profile consists of two dimensions (Fry, Ketteridge & Marshall, 2009;Vanthournout, Coertjens, Gijbels, Donche & Van Petegem, 2013), namely, learning styles (stable personal characteristics of the learner), and learning approaches (cha...

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Section: Extend Participatory Learning Methods and Activitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning Profiles of Social Work Students: Who Are You and How Should This Influence My Teaching?

Dykes¹,

Green²

2015

SWORK

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“…Gibbons & Gray, 2004;Weaver & Nackerud, 2005;Lam et al, 2006). An example of this possibility is evident in the work of Gibbons and Gray who write about an experiential model relied upon at an Australian social work university BSW programme to link critical thinking to practice.…”

Section: Reconceptualizing Knowledge: Challenging the Scholarship/teamentioning

confidence: 99%

Reclaiming Our Agency in Academia: Engaging in the Scholarship of Teaching in Social Work

Wehbi¹

2009

Social Work Education

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In this paper, I argue that as academics we need to engage in self reflection on our own practice as educators. Among many things, this means looking at ourselves and challenging our own unhelpful arguments that work to rob us of our agency in terms of our scholarship. While beginning with an acknowledgement of broader realities, such as neoliberal agendas, that impact on our experiences of tenure and promotion, I wish to push the discussion further by arguing that one form of resistance to these unjust conditions is to reclaim our agency by revaluing our practice as educators.Hence, this paper begins with a challenge to some of our unhelpful arguments and proceeds to a discussion of several ideas that could be helpful in furthering our scholarship within a climate where quantity supersedes quality and where 'productivity' is the defining feature of success. My hope in writing this article is to offer my reflections and experiences as a way for other young academics to enhance their own scholarship. As such, this paper discusses the importance of writing for publication from an untenured academic's point of view and provides ideas that could assist specifically in engaging in the scholarship of teaching.

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“…Social work mirrors some of the same perspectives on critical thinking as both the history and economics department discussed in Jones ' (2007) research in that multiple perspectives are valued in an increasingly complex and fluid society and the increased emphasis on evidence-based practice (Greene, 2005;Seelig, 1991). Gibbons and Gray (2004) describe critical thinking from a social work perspective as more than a rigid scientific process, but an application of discipline specific critical thinking skills in real life practice. Plath, English, Connors, and Beveridge (1999) described social work critical thinking skills as "the ability to tease out the factors impacting upon a situation, define a range of concepts and to integrate knowledge from a range of sources in making decisions about appropriate social work interventions in different contexts" (pp.…”

Section: Definitionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…The social work profession has also followed this trend to define critical thinking, accreditation requirements and research to improve students' critical thinking skills (Gibbons & Gray, 2004;Greene, 2005;Plath, English, Connors, & Beveridge, 1999;Seelig, 1991). According to Greene (2005), as the social work profession strived to redefine itself in the new millennium, the emphasis will be on developing reflective, critical practitioners who are committed to life long learning.…”

Section: Definitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Critical thinking has been a unifying concept in higher education and across disciplines as it is viewed as a valuable multidisciplinary skill in a variety of contexts (Ingle, 2007). As society continues to change and evolve at an exponentially faster rate due to technological advances and increasingly complex social problems, it becomes even more necessary for college graduates, specifically social work graduates, to have the skills necessary to maintain effectiveness, and critical thinking is believed to be that skill (Gibbons & Gray, 2004;Greene, 2005;Ingle, 2007;Seelig, 1991). Chaffee (1994) argued that critical thinking skills allows a person to consider new perspectives, encourages self-confidence and independent thinking, and promotes lifelong learning.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Predictors of critical thinking as a component of an outcomes assessment in a graduate level school of social work.

Tucker¹

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Critical Thinking as Integral to Social Work Practice

Abstract: We are whip lashed by parents who tell us they send their children to college not so the children can discover for themselves what they believe but to confirm what parents already know, whether about politics, evolution,

Cited by 66 publications

References 15 publications

Learning Profiles of Social Work Students: Who Are You and How Should This Influence My Teaching?

Learning Profiles of Social Work Students: Who Are You and How Should This Influence My Teaching?

Reclaiming Our Agency in Academia: Engaging in the Scholarship of Teaching in Social Work

Predictors of critical thinking as a component of an outcomes assessment in a graduate level school of social work.

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