Human Rights in Social Work Education: Where are We and Where Can We Go?

Overview: Accredited social work programs in the U.S. are required to teach human rights content across their curriculum. This workshop will present data collected on students’ perception and knowledge of human rights content. Presenters will facilitate an interactive discussion on strategies for effectively including this content across the social work curriculum.Proposal text: The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) has held that human rights content should be included across social work curriculum. The 2015 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) list “Advance human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice” as a core competency. This competency will remain with the 2022 EPAS, with the addition of “racial” justice. Given the importance of ensuring students who graduate from accredited social work programs have received content related to human rights, it is important to assess the extent to which this is occurring and social work students’ understanding of human rights. This workshop will present findings from a national survey of social work students who were enrolled in accredited social work programs. Presenters will lead an interactive discussion regarding what programs are doing to meet this competency and how we, as a profession and educational body, can improve and move forward.