The Relationship Between Service Learning and Undergraduate Social Work Students' Professional Value Development

Abstract

Service learning has long been used to foster students' personal and professional development and encourage civic engagement. This study explored how service learning affected the development of professional values in undergraduate social work students, with a focus on the core values of the profession outlined by the National Association of Social Workers. Thirty- six students enrolled in a service- learning course with 30 hours of required service in an agency completed a survey at the end of the semester. The majority of respondents reported observing a slight or significant increase for them personally in each of the core values as a result of the service-learning experience. The core values of service and competence increased the most. Working with agency clients and participating in class discussions were the most helpful in the development of all the core values.

Enhancing Competency-Based Social Work Skills Through Service Learning and Interprofessional Education in a Student-Run Free Healthcare Clinic

“…Students' development of their professional identity was another key area of perceived growth. These are consistent with research findings that both SL (Levy & Edmiston, 2015;Long & Gummelt, 2020;Nino et al, 2011) and IPE (Ciani et al, 2023;Haugland et al, 2019;Rishel et al, 2020) were related to social work students' professional identity development. An oft-repeated sentiment by students was their appreciation of being an essential part of the interprofessional team.…”

“…There are several benefits to SL for social work students in developing competencybased skills. Students are able to link theory to practice (Fraher et al, 2018;Gruslyte, 2021), demonstrate increased perceived self-efficacy (Williams et al, 2002), and develop professionally (Levy & Edmiston, 2015;McNaughton, 2018;Nino et al, 2011). Levy and Edmiston (2015) found that students enrolled in 30 hours of SL showed an increase in core values of service and competence (National Association of Social Workers [NASW], 2021).…”

“…Students are able to link theory to practice (Fraher et al, 2018;Gruslyte, 2021), demonstrate increased perceived self-efficacy (Williams et al, 2002), and develop professionally (Levy & Edmiston, 2015;McNaughton, 2018;Nino et al, 2011). Levy and Edmiston (2015) found that students enrolled in 30 hours of SL showed an increase in core values of service and competence (National Association of Social Workers [NASW], 2021). Students cited working with real clients and guided reflection as being the most beneficial in developing core values.…”

Practicing Professional Values: Factors Influencing Involvement in Social Work Student Organizations

“…In a recent study, researchers designed a service-learning course that combined classroom learning and assignments focused on developing professional values and skill-building along with 30 hours of service-learning in community agencies. After completing the course, students reported slight or significant increases in the degree to which they "valued" each of the core values of social work (Levy & Edmiston, 2015). While social work programs all have practicums, service-learning courses such as this may provide a more focused strategy for promoting the importance of professional values and the eventual practice of these values following graduation.…”