Interdisciplinarity in social work education and training in Hungary

Abstract

The study analyzes the educational manifestations of the interdisciplinary and interprofessional training of social work in Hungary through a questionnaire used earlier in the USA, Canada and Israel and which is employed simultaneously in Hong Kong and Japan. After a short description of interdisciplinarity and the history of Hungarian social work training, the methodology of the Hungarian research is presented. The analysis of the Hungarian results is followed by their comparison with the available international data. While in most Hungarian educational institutions there is no dual degree program for social workers, about two-thirds of their international counterparts provide such training. The possibilities for interdisciplinary collaborations in field placements were similarly evaluated by the respondents of all nationalities. Research was considered to be the most applicable category for interdisciplinarity by Hungarians as well as for North Americans and Israelis. While respondents in USA, Canada and Israel found community-based research and evaluation most suitable for the improvement of interdisciplinarity in the future, in Hungary this possibility was ranked only fourth after the improvement of course content, field education and informal lectures ('brown-bags'). As a closure, the authors

Preparing Social Work Students for International Interdisciplinary Practice: A Teaching Model and Its Impact on Self-Efficacy

“…After the fall of the Communist regimes in Zubaroglu & Popescu/PREPARING SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS 215 Eastern Europe (1989Europe ( -1991 there was a surge in the need for social work education and implicitly international social work curriculum development (Török & Korazim-Kőrösy, 2012). Immediate transfer of knowledge from countries with recent social work traditions (such as the United States) shaped the development of social work education not only in post-communist countries in Eastern Europe, but also in China and throughout Latin America, following a neocolonialist pattern challenged by local social justice and human rights activists (Cheung & Liu, 2004;Healy, 2008).…”

Do national welfare systems have an influence on interdisciplinary collaborations within schools of social work and their communities? The case of the Nordic countries

“…In Hungary, there was a communist take-over after Second World War, and the welfare services and social work education that had emerged since 1920s lapsed (Török and Korazim-Kőrösy, 2012). After the fall of Soviet hegemony and of the Soviet-type system, the countries of Eastern Central Europe immediately declared their intent to 'return to Europe', which meant, above all, catching up with the post-war political and economic development.…”

“…PhDs in social work were offered in nearly half of the universities in the US-C-I study, while in the Nordic study, the proportion was just over one-third (Bronstein et al, 2010). The Hungarian study shows a lower extent of higher education in social work with only four institutions offering a master degree and two a PhD in social work (Török and Korazim-Kőrösy, 2012). The main reason for this is the fact that social work became an academic profession only after the fall of the Soviet regime at the end of 1989.…”

“…It is built upon, and compared with, a study designed to explore the same topics in the United States, Canada, and Israel (Bronstein et al, 2010), as well as in Hungary (Török and Korazim-Kőrösy, 2012). This is done to investigate differences in the patterns of interdisciplinary collaboration and consider whether these can be linked to differences in the respective welfare systems.…”

“…This article is based on a study of the involvement of social work educators in the Nordic countries in interdisciplinary collaboration within their university, in research, in activities in the community, and in regard to the students' field practice. It is built upon, and compared with, a study designed to explore the same topics in the United States, Canada, and Israel (Bronstein et al, 2010), as well as in Hungary (Török and Korazim-Kőrösy, 2012). This is done to investigate differences in the patterns of interdisciplinary collaboration and consider whether these can be linked to differences in the respective welfare systems.…”