Critical Thinking in Social Work Training

Abstract

It is the look at the that leads us to questioning and the answers guide us to updating and the production of knowledge. There is always, in the debates of social work professionals, the question of the search for an intervention project that gives a new meaning to the profession in order to respond, not only theoretically coherent but also efficiently, to the demands placed upon them. The purpose of this chapter is to highlight the importance of critical thinking in the training of social workers. The research is based on an exploratory study carried out with recently graduated university students, whose results point to the benefits of this soft skill in the ability to analyze, understand interactions, detect inconsistencies, systematic problemsolving, reflect on beliefs and values, and reintegrate information as a whole.2 social worker is a kind of a good Samaritan, and this is only one of the challenges students are going to face.Over time, reality is altered and new conceptions are incorporated into the way of living, learning, acting, interacting, and thinking. The new resources that are constantly added to the already existing ones have or should have the purpose of better serving the individual and society in general. Dealing with the new and complex situations of the contemporary world requires more and more expertise in ways of thinking and acting and relating. Faced with this reality of constant transformations, how can we find autonomy to decide on what is relevant, important, pertinent, and ethical? Critical thinking fits into this question, when it serves as a filter to select what should be harnessed or discarded in this actual avalanche of instantaneous information.Reflective analysis on the theoretical foundations and intervention models allows social workers to re-equate the directionality of professional action in the context of critical thinking that frames objectivity and questions the reality where it is intervened, as well as the meaning of this intervention in its micro, meso, and macro levels from local to global and from global to local, an exercise that social works constantly need.As Granja says: Knowing in Social Work means understanding the social problems as total social phenomena that arise from the operation of the structures and social relations, without denying the particularity of the individual processes and act with a mission to prevent and repair the structural inefficiencies that prevent the poorest from accessing indispensable resources for building themselves as full citizens [1].Knowledge about the transformation of social reality requires an investment that results from a reflexive activity involving professionals, in a link between theoretical knowledge and practice, through an interdisciplinary approach that requires a theoretical synthesis built with other areas of social sciences, namely psychology, sociology, anthropology and economics, law, public and social policies, among others, which aims to "change the systems of opportunities, promote social relations dynami...

Critical Thinking and Its Importance in the Present Days for Social Workers

“…Also, we added two questions to understand the degree of satisfaction with critical thinking training with a scale from 0 to 10, in which 0 was totally dissatisfied and 10 was totally satisfied. The results were very positive and students admit that it helped them to analyze information (the importance of details), to practice curiosity and skepticism (to ask questions and compare with other sources) and to question (particularly, their own beliefs), including problem solving or decision making [5].…”

“…Before the pandemic situation we conducted a study [5] with a universe of the 1st year social work students recently graduated, whose training included the critical thinking curricular unit in their study plan. We used as data collection technician, a questionnaire with a Likert scale of level 5 and this questionnaire was composed of a set of sentences (items) and each one of the respondents were asked to express the degree of agreement of the non-positive (level 1), up to very positive (level 5).…”

“…Common sense concepts are so embedded in our society that even social work students, most of the time, at the beginning of the graduation have a completely wrong idea about what the profession is. For example, the knowledge provided by common sense lead people to believe that the social worker is a kind of a good Samaritan, and this is only one of the challenges students are going to face [5].…”

“…In a world where 'fake news' don't stop increasing, where societies are changing quickly, and where there are big challenges to open democratic government, critical thinking is a vital skill for this profession. "Knowledge about the transformation of social reality requires an investment that results from a reflexive activity involving professionals, in a link between theoretical knowledge and practice" [5].…”

“…Also, we cannot can't forget "that the surprises with which every social worker is confronted in everyday contacts and relationships need to be analyzed not only with common sense look but also with critical thinking and the autonomy of a thought based on solid concepts should be a factor of considerable importance" [5].…”