Search

Concerns about social work students' writing are well documented, but the cost of specialized writing programs leaves budget-stressed programs confronting a problem they may feel they have few means to address. However, a valuable resource is already available: faculty expertise in social work writing. The challenge is helping faculty realize their knowledge is not transparent to students; it must be taught, intentionally and explicitly, in undergraduate social work classrooms. Engaging faculty in a process of articulating their expectations will help them elicit more effective student writing and change their attitudes toward student writing from frustrated to excited and optimistic.

Critical reflection is important to vital process issues within social work practice; thus, it warrants attention in teaching and supervisory contexts. Autoethnography is a newer qualitative research methodology that uses the experiences of the author/researcher to extend social science understanding (Sparkes, 2000). In this article, the authors use autoethnography to frame critical reflection as a process of exploring social work knowledge and its potential implications, given that such knowledge is situated within fragmented and diverse selves and identities. Thus, good autoethnography is a unique way of accessing knowledge within intersubjective realities, which simultaneously generates a form of critical reflection (the comparison and assessment of emergent knowledge situated within selves and identities). Purposely incorporating an autoethnographic strategy, the authors draw from their experiences to show how personal narratives, the core of autoethnography, might be used to infuse critical reflection into social work education and practice.

Dementia is a destructive, debilitating, and progressive terminal disease. Palliative care has potential to ameliorate some of the devastating effects for both client and family. In consideration of the Grand Challenges for Social Work, social workers can provide prevention and assistance in supporting individual and family well-being through addressing the practical problems associated with dementia. This field note provides a brief narrative of the challenges I discovered when navigating the minutiae of unraveling the financial affairs of a relative with dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dialogue journaling is a supervision tool that has potential to transform learning within social work field education settings. Dialogue journals enhance reflective practice, critical thinking, and the integration of faith in practice. The impact of dialogue journaling within a field setting will be explored through perspectives of student, field supervisor, and field director. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A personal narrative is presented which explores the author's experience of learning the meaning of a success rate in a chosen field from a seven-year-old child.