Social Work, Gerontology, and the Arts: A Creative Approach to Teaching Undergraduate Social Work Students

Abstract

In this article, we explore how social work students cultivated a deeper understanding and community connection with older adults through personal engagement with artistic practices. We begin with an exploration of gerontological social work, noting the trends and challenges in this specialization. Guided by extended epistemology as a conceptual framework, we consider the role of the arts within critical pedagogy and describe an undergraduate course taken concurrently during student eld-placements. As part of the curriculum, students designed artifacts about their experience working with older adults, which supported critical re ection and student-led learning. As an exemplar of a creative teaching model, further considerations for implementation are also discussed.

Sensory Arts-Based Storytelling as Critical Reflection: Tales From an Online Graduate Social Work Classroom

“…Arts-based practices explore the substance and relationship between power, dominance, and oppression (Sinding et al, 2014;Sitter et al, 2016). Leonard and colleagues' (2018) systematic review of the arts in social work education found that arts-based approaches effectively fostered connections between micro and macro practice among learners.…”