Social work education in a global pandemic: strategies, reflections, and challenges

Transitioning to online teaching: a phenomenological analysis of social work educator perspectives

“…As the pandemic is facilitating a permanent reconstitution of social work education (McLaughlin et al, 2020), the profession has an obligation to consider how these educational delivery systems further or impair the mandated mission to best prepare future social workers. Social work educators transitioning to online teaching experience both joys and challenges along the way.…”

“…The pace at which the current pandemic is accelerating the acceptance of online education may result in it becoming the default pedagogical modality (McLaughlin et al, 2020). The pandemic is emphasizing the need to perfect online pedagogical practice in higher education (Toquero, 2020) and some argue that greater utilization of online education in necessary in this era even beyond the demands of the pandemic (Gallagher & Palmer, 2020).…”

Working and learning from home during COVID-19: International experiences among social work educators and students

“…As social work educators, we are forced to think creatively and adapt technology to meet our pedagogical goals (Kourgiantakis and Lee, 2020). The adaption is also echoed by Mclaughlin et al (2020), who state that COVID-19 'sparked opportunities for innovation, creativity, and humanistic endeavours in meetings the needs of the students and moving forward in delivering social work education remotely and virtually ' (p. 975). The impact this has had on social work students has yet to be fully understood.…”

It’s up to you: The need for self-directed learning for social work students on placement during COVID-19

“…A review of the literature published during 2020 and 2021 reported that many field education programmes around the world reported the relaxation or removal of practice hour requirements, and a focus instead on demonstrating that students had met practice learning outcomes, with a more permissive approach to how this might be achieved ( Mclaughlin et al , 2020 , p. 978). A study of field education programmes across seven countries showed that practice placements ended or were paused ( McFadden et al , 2020 ), but the interesting difference was the ability to act quickly if the universities were in national or regional partnerships with other universities and governing bodies.…”

“…In Northern Ireland and England, an assessed year in employment enabled final year students to withdraw early from their placements, and recruiting them into the social work workforce to carry forward unmet learning needs into their first year ( Beesley and Devonald, 2020 ; McFadden et al , 2020 ). Temporary amendments to social work education accreditation standards also occurred in the USA and Canada (Canadian Association For Social Work Education (CASWE), 2020 ; Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), 2020 ) with adjustments made to allow for a continuation of placement when the standard placement activities were interrupted and potentially threatened student progression and completion ( Mclaughlin et al , 2020 ).…”