Assistant Professor Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States
Overview: Policy and community organizing are often taught separately in social work curriculum, though both aim to train students to advocate for social change. This paper presents a case study of a MSW course that integrates policy, organizing and service-learning pedagogies to teach the process of social change.Proposal text: Policy & Organizing Pedagogy. Policy advocacy to “improve social conditions to meet basic human needs and promote social justice” is a responsibility so fundamental to the social work profession it is embedded in the Code of Ethics (National Association of Social Workers, 2017, Section 6.04). This ethical responsibility is strengthened by the profession’s pedagogical commitment to social workers' skill development in advocacy with its designation of policy practice as a “core competency” (Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), 2015). Central to the history of the profession is the practice of community organizing. Despite the clear connection between Community Organizing and Policy Practice, the two are rarely explicitly connected in social work education. Integrating pedagogical techniques from the two approaches to macro practice and service learning provides a unique way to deepen students understanding of how to effect social change.
Methods. We designed a course to teach policy students how to advocate for social change at the macro-level borrowing concepts from organizing, policy and service learning pedagogies and then taught the course. We present the course design and our experience with its facilitation as a case study in integrated pedagogy.
Curriculum Case Study. We present the design of a specialized course in social work focused on theories and techniques of community organizing and community based participatory research (CBPR) as an approach to policy change at the city and state levels. Structured as a service-learning course, the course structure engages a community partner in the planning and facilitation of the course. Students completing the course are expected to be able to describe the principles of community organizing and how it is used to effect policy change. Over the course of the semester, students are expected to engage in community based participatory research to design and implement an organizing campaign towards a specific policy-related goal, learn key practices like relational and house meetings, and develop and deliver a community presentation. Several writing assignments support student engagement in reflective praxis and evaluation of the process.
Implications. Given the importance of education on policy advocacy given its position as a core competency of social work and of the history of community organizing to the profession, their explicit integration in social work education provides an innovative way of deepening students understanding of both. New techniques for equipping social work professionals with clearer understanding of how to effect social change has broader implications for social justice in communities.
Learning Objectives:
To provide participants with a broad understanding of community organizing, policy and service learning education in the social work discipline.
To present a case study of a masters-level social work course that integrates these three pedagogical approaches in a single course.
To engage participants in discussion on integrating community organizing and policy pedagogical methods for teaching social work students how to advocate for policy change.
