WITHIN THE SOCIAL WORK PROFESSION
4.3 Section B
4.3.3 The Transformation of Social Work Education
The democratisation of South Africa brought to the fore new challenges in all spheres of life and social relations. Lebakeng (1997) asserts that South African universities need to enter immediately into an open and dynamic debate on the relationships between education, training and development appropriate for the changing techno-scientific, socio-political and cultural environment.
Social work education needs to be responsive to the needs of the people of South Africa, and Mamphiswana and Noyoo (2000) advocate an integrated and holistic approach to social work education. In a diverse country like South Africa with its long history of both racial and ethnic divisions, social workers should be prepared for anti-discriminatory social work practice. Issues such as social work in a diverse society, women and development, and social work and rural development will be relevant components for inclusion in the new curricula (Mamphiswana & Noyoo, 2000).
There is also a great need for the re-orientation of practising social workers. Some social workers were not trained to work with people but for people. Mamphiswana & Noyoo (2000) add that some social workers were not trained to understand the importance of consulting people and how vital the encouragement of active and meaningful participation by people
at each and every step of the development process can be in shaping living conditions and facilitating national social development.
Hall (1996), and Mamphiswana and Noyoo (1997) contend that social work education also needs to deal with structural problems such as mass poverty, poor housing and malnutrition. The climate has never been as conducive as it is now for social work education to move towards developmental avenues. At present, both educators and social workers face many challenges. Ramphal (1994:340) agrees by saying that rapid changes taking place in South Africa in recent years pose major challenges for the social worker and social work education. Mazibuko, cited in Lombard (1997: 12), states that the RDP, and the White Paper of different sectors related to social welfare, as well as the White Paper for Social Welfare (1997), have laid down a foundation and established a vision for the type of socio-economic development and social services that South Africa will pursue. The challenges facing educators and social workers are numerous. Some of these challenges will need to be achieved by educators themselves, some by field practitioners within their ranks and others jointly. Hoffmann, cited in Lombard (1997: 16), claims that good practice is demonstrated in the application of theory to practice.
Compromise and clarity of obligations in field practice education is therefore best reached when both parties enter into discussion, plan together and understand common objectives.
According to Kotze (1998:125), social work as a profession is faced with a major challenge within the context of developmental social welfare. The fundamental question is whether practising social workers can adapt to this new approach and apply developmental strategies to social problems.
Van Rooyen (1996:332) contends that recently social work academics in South Africa have identified the need for curricula that are responsive to the environment within which social workers practise. Hartman (1980)
adds support to the environment relationship and suggests that a central issue in curriculum development was the training of social workers for practice in the diverse contexts that social work demands. Mamphiswana
& Noyoo (2000) question the number of universities that are prepared to
shed their old curricula and move at the pace of the government's proposed developmental paradigm. Mamphiswana & Noyoo (2000:28) argue that, in order for the educators to become relevant in the new socio-economic and political environment, they have first and foremost to unlearn past teaching methods and become conversant with developmental trends. Letsebe and Grobbelaar (1996) suggest the need for macro-practice training, working with diversity, and training for practice according to the developmental approach.
Mamphiswana and Noyoo (2000:28) contend that academics are not grounded in theories of development and are also averse to developmental social work or social development because they have neither practised in this realm nor been directly acquainted with it.
Mazibuko (1996: 16) claims that developmental social welfare, which implies a shift from traditional social work methods to social development,
"does not imply that the therapeutic, rehabilitative and specialised services are illegitimate or irrelevant", but rather that there must no longer be an over-emphasis on the old methods as they occurred in the past. Mamphiswana and Noyoo (2000:28) claim that current transformation in South Africa is being met by an equal resistance from various segments, institutions of higher learning included. The authors also argue that there is a general notion that the government has imposed a developmental paradigm on academics without consulting them, but at the same time many universities have divorced themselves from the government's endeavours, even though there have been attempts from the government to bring universities into the mainstream of policy formulation. Mamphiswana and Noyoo (2000) maintain that this "situation has made many universities either passive recipients of government policy
or forced them to withdraw into their little cocoons". Universities in this new era must be shapers of government policy by informing as well as advising the government.
Ramphal (1994) makes a strong point for social work curricula change - which she refers to as "the social matrix" in South Africa. This viewpoint was strengthened by the study conducted by Ramphal and Moonilall, cited in Van Rooyen (1996). The majority of the social workers that took part in the study felt insecure and dissatisfied with their ability to provide relevant services in the changing environment in which they work (Van Rooyen, 1996). According to the study, social workers expressed the need for further revision to the curriculum.
Within the context of developmental social welfare, the most likely approach for social work appears to be a community-based approach (Kotze, 1998: 125). Kasiram (1998: 119) focuses on key interventive strategies used to implement developmental social work. Kasiram (1998: 119) refers to Gray (1996), who suggests community development, Midgley (1995) who emphasises social development as promoting wider community and societal development, and the White Paper for Social Welfare (1997), which refers to the need for "sustainable improvements in the well-being of individuals, families and communities". According to Kasiram (1998), the targets for intervention should be individual, family and community, but with a fresh approach directed towards promotion of economic growth in the individual, the community, promotion of people participation and multi-sectoral collaboration. In addition, Kasiram (1998) maintains that as long as academics are able to link their syllabi with features of a developmental perspective, there will be justification for the existence of multiple targets and levels of intervention.
Kasiram (1998) maintains that planning an innovative curriculum today is daunting, given the lack of clarity on what constitutes 'being
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.