WITHIN THE SOCIAL WORK PROFESSION
4.3 Section B
4.3.4 Attempts to transform social work Education
developmental'. Kasiram (1998:119) conducted a study in respect of postgraduate social work programmes offered at the University of Durban- Westville. The purpose of the investigation was to formulate programmes based on market needs. The study revealed that the two highest needs of practising social workers were community development and community work (57%) and developmental social work (52%). These results clearly indicate a need for and interest in equipping practitioners for working within a developmental paradigm.
Lombard (1997:19) recommends that training institutions take the initiative in drawing up course contents for the retraining of practitioners in the knowledge and skills required for social development.
the macro policy level in South Africa by rooting their programmes within the paradigm of social development .
./' The curricula reflect a clear focus on knowledge of and strategies and training directed towards the target groups identified in the White Paper for Social Welfare .
./' Conscientious efforts are made to contextualise theory within a South African framework. This includes locating course content within the unique socio-economic circumstances of specific provinces .
./' Education and training programmes are aimed at being relevant to the realities of the challenges facing practitioners .
./' Poverty alleviation, rural development and HIV/AIDS are priority areas for a number of training institutions .
./' Learners are taught to work with individuals, families, groups and communities and develop skills in community development, social planning, social work administration, policy formulation and social work research .
./' All departments have focused on preparing learners for beginning generic practice within the South African context .
./' Distinct common themes informing all course content are those of capacity building, working from a strengths perspective and facilitating the empowerment of individuals, families, groups and communities, with the focus on understanding the consequences of structural sources of oppression and inequality in the lives of people.
(Joint Universities Committee for Social Work, 2001)
The report is clear concerning aspects of transformation in the curricula of the training institutions. However, Matlhabe's (2001) study on the transition from students to social workers in their first year revealed conflicting information as to whether training institutions succeeded in their goals. This study focused on the transition of 25 newly-graduated
Gauteng social work students (sample) into the world of social work in their first year of practice and investigated the extent to which they assessed their professional education and training as having equipped them with the knowledge and skills to function effectively within their work situation.
The study revealed that the majority (68%) of the respondents believed that their education was "not effective" in some areas that might have been critical to their effective functioning in specific jobs in social work practice. These included theory and practice skills in social development (60%), skills in specialised fields (68%), and theory of social work and the law (54%). The respondents in Matlhabe's (2001 :68) study further identified the following major educational priorities which deserve special attention from the schools/departments of social work regarding achieving a "better fit "between education and practice:
• Social work education needs to locate itself within the socio-political reality of South African society (72%).
• Social work educators and social work practitioners should jointly share the responsibility for curriculum planning (68%).
• The education focus should be on preparing students equally for therapeutic and social development roles (64%).
• Social work departments should provide a wider range of specialisation options at postgraduate level since generic social work is limiting (56%).
The study findings and recommendations from the respondents shared some commonalities with findings in Kasiram's (2000) study. Kasiram et al (2002) also reveal similar findings, where students recommended curriculum change to address the needs of the South African context
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having identified that there is still a perceived gap between theory and actual practice. It may be concluded that social work education has at
least in part effectively equipped these respondents for the kind of social work activities they are presently doing, but not necessarily for the kind of social work activities that practising social workers think they should be doing, having come face to face with some South African practice realities.
It is also imperative to note that the social work educators' responsibility should extend beyond curriculum delivery to include specific strategies for assisting students to understand what the transitions to the workplace really entail and should provide for the developmental needs of graduates and the broader environmental factors that influence both the student and the transition process. Matlhabe (2001) concludes by affirming that social work educators have to take particular note of graduates' ability to deal with uncertainty and ambiguity.
The Joint Universities Committee for Social Work (2001) also highlighted the factors that hinder the transformation. The following is a list of these factors that the researcher considers relevant to this study.
a) At this time of growing social crisis, student numbers have dwindled in some departments. One of the reasons for this is that prospective students do not perceive the Department of Social Development /government as taking social work seriously. Compounding this situation is the decline in a service orientation among the general public. Many do not see studying social work as a worthwhile educational investment.
b) The inherent contradictions of policy proposals, and the gap between policy and practice diminish the legitimacy of welfare in a nation.
c) The poor image and low morale of social work practitioners, together with the severe financial difficulties experienced by many non-governmental organisations (NGOs), impede the continuing education of social workers. This in turn results in
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inter alia, lack of a shared conception of social development among academics and some practitioners. Subsequently, this frustrates learners in their field instruction experiences.
Further, Kasiram (2000) suggests that social workers may be regarded as study-shy. According to Kasiram (2000:266), several factors contribute to this including the fact that, opportunities for promotion are linked to minimal financial gains, and that there is minimum opportunity for upward mobility even if further study is undertaken.
Lastly, whatever the dimensions of social work, it is evident that a new welfare policy and socio-political dispensation create an environment in which social workers must struggle to survive. There is clearly still opportunity for tertiary institutions to improve curricula and empower qualified and undergraduates students in dealing with realities of the South African society. It would seem that curriculum planning is not a jOint endeavour of social work practitioners and social work educators. For the social work profession to survive, a partnership between social workers in practice and social work educators is essential. Then the gap between theory and practice realities can be narrowed.
4.3.5 The Input of Welfare Organisations in the Training