Running Head: American Social Work Education

SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES:New Trends and Issues

Daniel B. Lee, DSW
Professor
Graduate School of Social Work
Loyola University Chicago
Chicago, IL
USADoshisha University
Kyoto, Japan
December 12-13, 2008

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Running Head: American Social Work Education

THE PAPER CONTENT
I. Social Work Education in the U. S.: An Overview
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II.

Purpose of Social Work Education
Current Statistics of Accredited and Non Accredited Social Work Programs
Primary Field of Practice Among the MSW Students
Baccalaureate Social Worko Historyo Critical Questions and Issues
Master’s Social Worko A Major Question
Doctoral Social Worko History and Demographyo The Role of GADEo Financing Doctoral Educationo Employment Opportunities
o Emerging Trends and Issues
New Trends and Issues in Social Work/Welfare Education and Practice

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Cultural Competence and Social Diversity
FeminismInterdisciplinary Collaboration
Evidence-Based-Social Work PracticeDistance Education: Web-Based Learning
Gerontological Education
Political Participation of Social Work
Globalization of Social Work Education and PracticeIII.

The Current Change in Educational Policy of Accreditation Standards (EPAS)

IV.

Toward Building a New Foundation for Global Social Welfare•••

International Social Work Research
Global Context of Learning
New Paradigm To Guide The Profession of Social Work

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Running Head: American Social Work Education

I. Social Work Education in the United States: An Overview
As defined by the Council on Social Work Education, the purpose of social work
profession is:
To promote human and community well-being. Guided by a person and environment
construct, a global perspective, respect for human diversity, and knowledge based on
scientific inquiry, social work’s purpose is actualized though its quest for social andeconomic justice, the prevention of conditions that limit human rights, the elimination ofpoverty, and the enhancement of the quality of life for all” (CSWE, 2008, p. 1).
Social work educators serve the profession’s future through the education of competentprofessionals (teaching) at the baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral levels, the generation ofknowledge (research), and the exercise of leadership within the professional community(service) (Ibid).
The current number of accredited social work programs in the United States (as of June2008) is 463 at baccalaureate level and 17 in candidacy, and 191 at master’s level and 19 incandidacy (CSWE, 2008) as shown in table 1. In addition to BSW and MSW programs,
there are 73 doctoral programs which are not accredited by CSWE.
Table 1: Number of Social Work Programs in the United States as of June 2008
LevelsBaccalaureate
Master’s
DoctoralCombined

Accredited
programs
462
191
-653

Programs incandidacy
17
19
-36

Total
479
210
73*
762

*Source: Encyclopedia of Social Work, 19th Edition

Geographical distribution of social work education programs according to 2003 CSWE
survey is shown in table 2 below:

3Running Head: American Social Work Education

Table 2: Social Work Education Programs and Faculty, by Geographic and Level of
ProgramLevel of Program
Region Graduate Only

Joint

BA Only Program

Total

Program Faculty

Program Faculty

Program Faculty

Program Faculty

1

6

294

8

206

16

98

30

598

2

6

309

9

685

24

171

39

1,175

3

4

166

12

484

32

168

48

818

4

6

217

18

497

52

308

76

1,022

5

9

256

18

656

68

375

95

1,287

6

3

75

13

403

29

152

45

630

7

4

134

10

279

20

78

34

491

8

1

80

5

112

8

58

14

250

9

5

165

12

357

7

37

24

559

10

1

49

5

118

6

28

12

195

Total

45

1,745

110

3,807

262

1,473

417

7,025

Region 1 – Connecticut, Main, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont
Region 2 – New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands
Region 3 – Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia
Region 4 – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee
Region 5 – Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin
Region 6 – Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas
Region 7 – Iowa, Kansa, Missouri, Nebraska
Region 8 – Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming
Region 9 – Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Guam
Region 10- Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington
Source: Statistics on Social Work Education in the United States: 2003. Council on Social Work Education(2005), p. 3 (Table 2).

On the academic year of 2002-3, a total of 11,159 social work students (11% male,
88.4% female) were awarded Baccalaureate degrees, and a total of 14,482 students (13% male,
86.9% female) were awarded Master’s degrees in social work. Only small proportion of foreign
students (0.5% BSW and 1.3% MSW) were awarded social work degrees in the same year

4Running Head: American Social Work Education(CSWE, 2005, pp. 29-37). Table 3 shows the primary field of practice or social problem
concentration for the master’s degree students enrolled on 11/1/03 (CSWE, 2005, p. 39).
Table 3:

Primary Field of Practice Among the Master’s Degree
Social Work Students

Type of Concentration

No.

%

Aging/Gerontological Social Work
Alcohol, Drug or Substance Abuse
Child Welfare
Corrections/Criminal JusticeDevelopmental Disability
Family Services
Group Services
HealthOccupational/Industrial Social Work
Mental Health or Community Mental HealthPublic Assistance/Public Welfare
Rehabilitation
School Social Work
Other
Combinations
Not Yet Determined
None (Methods Concentration Only)

1,156
507
2,961
512
185
2,648
141
1,724
237
4,321
237
107
2,307
2,168
2,181
7,410
8,338

3.1
1.4
8.0
1.4
0.5
7.1
0.4
4.7
0.6
11.7
0.6
0.3
6.2
5.9
5.9
22.0
22.5

Total

37,052100.0

Source: CSWE (2005) Table 41, p. 39

I have selected 12 leading social work programs across the different regions and types ofprograms. They include: (1) Boston College Graduate School of Social Work, (2) Columbia
University School of Social Work, (3) Fordham University Graduate School of Social Work, (4)New York University Silver School of Social Work, (5) University of California at Berkeley
School of Social Welfare, (6) University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration, (7)University of Michigan School of Social Work, (8) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
(9) School of Social Work, University of Southern California School of Social Work, (10)University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work, (11) University of Washington School of5

Running Head: American Social Work Education

Social Work, and (12) Washington University in St. Louis George Warren Brown School ofSocial Work. All of these schools offer MSW and PhD programs as an integral part of theresearch missions of the universities. They are located in major cities including New York,
Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Berkeley, Chapel Hill, Austin, Seattle, St. Louis, and Ann Arbor.
Three programs offer BSW in addition to MSW and PhD. Five are public, and seven including
one faith- based are private. The characteristics of MSW program structure are introduced for acomparative assessment.

Table 4: Sample 12 Schools of Social Work for A Cross-Comparison
SchoolLocation

Public/Degrees MSW Program Structure
OfferedWeb

Private/Faithbased
Boston College Graduate
School of Social Work

Columbia University School ofSocial Work

Chestnut Hill,
Massachusetts

New York,

PrivatePrivateNew York

MSW

Students elect one of two intervention methods: Clinical Practice; Macro PracticePhD

And elect one of the following practice concentrations: Children, Youth, and Families;
Global Practice; Health and Mental Health (clinical or macro); Older Adults and Families

MSW

Students elect one of four practice methods: Advanced Clinical Social Work Practice;
Advanced Generalist Practice and Programming; Policy Practice; Social Enterprise
Administration

PhD

www

www

And apply it to one of the following fields of practice: Aging; Contemporary Social Issues;
Family, Youth and Children’s Services; Health, Mental Health, and Disabilities; International
Social Welfare and Services to Immigrants and Refugees; School-Based and School-Linked
Services; World of Work
Fordham University Graduate
School of Social Service

New York,

PrivateBASW

Students elect one of the following concentrations: Clinical; Administration; Research

New York

Faithbased

MSW

And may elect one of the following specializations: Children and their Families; Substance
grad
Abuse; Social Work and Law; Older Persons and their Families; Global Service

New York,

Privateww

PhD
New York University Silver
School of Social WorkNew York
University of California at
Berkeley School of Social
WelfareBerkeley,
California

MSW

This program prepares students especially for clinical practice

www

PhD
PublicBASW

Students elect one of the following concentrations: Child and Family Services; Community socia
Mental Health Services; Health Services; Management and Planning

MSW
PhD

University of Chicago School of Chicago,
Social Service Administration

PrivateIllinois
University of Michigan School of Ann Arbor,
Social Work
Michigan

MSW

Students elect one of two concentrations: Clinical Practice; Social AdministrationwwwStudents elect one of the following practice method concentrations: Interpersonal
Practice; Community Organization; Management of Human Services; Social Policy and
Evaluation

www

PhD
PublicMSW
PhD

And elect one of the following practice area concentrations: Aging in Families and6Society; Children and Youth in Families and Society; Communities and Social Systems;
Health; Mental Health
University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill School of Social
Work

Chapel Hill,

PublicNorth Carolina

University of SouthernLos Angeles,
California School of Social Work California

MSW

Students elect one of the following concentrations: Direct Practice; Management andCommunity Practice; Self-Directedssw.

Students elect one of the following concentrations: Community Organization, Planningand Administration; Families and Children; Health; Mental Health; Work and Life

sowk

PhD
PrivateMSW
PhD

And may elect one of the following sub-concentrations: Military Social Work and VeteransServices; Older Adults; Public Child Welfare; School Settings; Systems of Mental Illness
Recovery
University of Texas at Austin
School of Social Work

Austin,PublicTexas

BSW

Students elect one of two concentrations: Clinical Social Work; Community and
Administrative LeadershipwwwStudents elect one of two concentrations: Advanced Generalist Practice; As yet to be
determined

dept

Students elect one of the following concentrations: Children, Youth, and Families;
Gerontology; Health; Mental Health; Social and Economic Development; Individualized

gwbw

MSSW
PhD

University of Washington
School of Social Work

Seattle,Washington

Public

BASW
MSW
PhD

Washington University in St.
Louis George Warren Brown
School of Social Work

St. Louis, Missouri Private

MSW
PhD

And may elect one of the following specializations: Management; Research

Baccalaureate Social Work Education.
The evolution of social work education began as agency training for the Charity Organization
Society with no minimum academic preparation specified. As late as 1927, the American
Association of Schools of Social Work found that almost one-half of the schools required no
more than a high school diploma. But, the influence of Abraham Flexner’s analysis of the private
model of professionalism as such in case of medicine drove the profession to require everincreasing levels of education imposing more highly selected admission requirements. Social
work, too, aspired to that private model and artificially limiting who might become social
workers. This elitist direction led to the conception of social work as a “masters” only
profession” which was persisted until the late 1960s (Sheafer, 2001, p. 26). The year 1970 was
significant in the history of social work education when NASW approved a referendum granting
recognition the baccalaureate-level educational programs as fully professional. “The argument
was heated, resentments lasted for years, and to some extent continue today” (Ibid, p. 27). One of
the major issue was to differentiate between the BSW from the MSW despite CSWE designatedthe former as “generalist” and the latter “specialist” in its accreditation standards. The several
critical questions emerged:
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Running Head: American Social Work Education•

What content was common at both levels and what was unique to each?

•

How should curricula address the differences in the pace of instruction (four years at the
BSW level vs. two years at the MSW level), the degree of immersion in social work)
liberal arts another academic exposure for BSWs vs. primarily social work content for
MSWs), and the degree of selectivity) open admission in many BSW programs vs. thescreening of MSW applicants?

•

What to do with BSW graduate who then moved on to the master’s level? Could (orshould) there be partial waiver of master’s–level coursework for the BSWs and, if so,
how could schools be sure that graduates from different BSW programs would all havesufficient mastery of this fundamental content?

A rigorous approach to program review resulted in only 133 of the original bachelor’s programs
gained accredited status—a 33% decrease in recognized baccalaureate programs. What made the
BSW professional level survived was due to the unified efforts to maintain that level of practiceby the Baccalaureate Program Directors Association (BPF). According to the NASW
membership survey in 1995 revealed only about 2.1% of NASW’s membership have the BSW as
their highest degree which suggests a minimal level of professional identification. About 12,000
students graduate from BSW programs annually (Sheafer, 2001, p. 28, 29).
Master’s Social Work (MSW) Education
The master’s degree level of social work education has been central to theprofessionalization of social work in the United States. The MSW degree is required for theacademic qualification in obtaining a state license to practice social work, and it also serves as a
primary credential for a career path in the field of social work and social welfare. As the
majority of MSW level of social workers seek opportunities to pursue private practice, the
CSWE as the profession’s accrediting body of social work educational programs carries animportant role in maintaining quality assurance of social work programs and promoting
excellence in educating social work professionals. NASW as a largest membership organization
for social workers at all levels facilitates professional identity, group solidarity, and ethical social

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Running Head: American Social Work Education

work practice in collaboration with a number of organizations that are primarily involved insocial work education, research, practice and public policies. By the 1980s, all states regulated
Running Head: American Social Work Educationsocial work practice, most by licensing social workers. During 1990s, social work education
experienced another period of expansion as many BSW programs added master’s programs andsome MSW programs offered the doctorate (Stuart, 2005, p. 589). A major question for social
work as a profession is whether or not social work has moved away from its mission of thecommon good and equality for the poor and disadvantaged as many social work students state
their goal as private practice (Specht & Courtney, 1994). Although social work is secure by theend of the twentieth century, it is uncertain about its mission and its relationship to the welfare
state (Stewart, 2005).
Doctoral Social Work Education.
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History and Demography. There are 73 doctoral social work programs presently in the U.

S. which began first at Bryn Mawr College in 1920, followed by University of Chicago in 1924.
The greatest growth occurred in 1960s and 1970s when the national policies were resourcing
research universities for PhD programs largely in reaction to the race in outer space with Soviet
Union. The number of universities that offer doctoral social work programs has rapidly grownover the last 25 years during which period the Group to Advance Doctoral Education (GADE)
has fostered excellence. According to the 2005 Carnegie Foundation classification system for
institutions of higher education, 62% of the total 73 social work doctoral programs was VeryHigh Research category while 21% High Research, and 18% Non-Research. In 2005, there were
325 doctorates awarded in social work, and among them women constituted 73%, and 91% were
U.S. citizen. These figures are proportionately much higher than all fields of study (45% and
82% respectfully) (Lubben, 2005).
•

The Role of GADE. As the primary external voluntary organization, attempts to foster

quality in doctoral social work education. Its membership is consisted of the chairs of all social
work doctoral programs in the U. S. and Canada along with a few other international programs.

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Running Head: American Social Work Education

The GADE provides guidelines and relevant information on doctoral education on website,
conducts annual meeting with an orientation for new doctoral chairs. The 2003 updated
guidelines recommend that a minimum of two years for course work be spent prior todissertation research and that “students should be given individualized opportunities to hone thewriting and analytic skills essential for high quality scholarship”(p. 4). The courses suggested by
GADE include: social behavioral theory, social welfare policy, research methods, statistics, andphilosophy of science. The guidelines recommend periodic reviews of the doctoral program toensure the relevance of the program and to secure a high program quality. To measure program
quality, the following set of indicators is offered:a) Number, range, rigor, depth, and currency of courses;b) Opportunities for students to participate in research, teaching, and other practicum
experiences with faculty mentorship;c) Quality of dissertation proposals and completed dissertations;d) Student publications and conference presentations;e) Records of accomplishments of doctoral students.
Doctoral social work program, unlike BSW and MSW, is not accredited by CSWE as its review
takes place within each university setting, and thus, there are considerable variations amongprograms. While there are some programs that are relatively insulated from other academic units,
other programs encourage students to get interdisciplinary involvement by taking part of theirformal coursework and including dissertation committee members from other academic
disciplines. Some universities such as University of Michigan offer a joint degree with anotherdiscipline. Financing doctoral education is expensive for those programs with limited
institutional resources. Some universities have chosen deliberately a part time program to reacha different market. The typical program requires a minimum of 4 to 5 years of full time work.
•

Financing Doctoral Education. Many programs encourage students to apply to externalsources to fund their dissertation research. The Institute for Social Work Research(http://www.iaswresearch.org/) website provides a roster of a vast array of funding
opportunities; Society for Social Work Research (http://www.sswr.org/) sponsors a series of10

Running Head: American Social Work Education

workshops at its annual meeting; The Hartford Foundation supports dissertation grants, and
CSWE helps minority students to complete their doctoral dissertations.
•

Employment Opportunities. The number of academic job openings (250) is
approximately equal to the number of new doctorates awarded in social work each year.
While the majority of them seek full time faculty appointments, others pursue a career insocial research, policy analysis, or administration in addition to a clinical practice career
path.

•

Emerging Trends and Issues. Shanti Khinduka (2002) identified five issues that are vitalfor doctoral social work education, and they include:a) Promoting interdisciplinary preparation;b) Strengthening the quality of the social work faculty;c) Balancing rigorous research with effective teaching;d) Developing postdoctoral social work education; ande) Fashioning an institutional culture supportive of excellence in social work
education.

One emerging issue that is under the consideration among the GADE programs to resurrect the
DSW as a practice doctorate to be offered in addition to a research-based PhD. The University ofPennsylvania has recently reinstated the DSW.

II. New Trends and Issues in Social Work/ Social Welfare Education
Cultural Competence & Social Diversity
Cultural competence is made up of values, skills, and knowledge necessary to work
effectively with individuals different than one’s self with cultural sensitivity and awareness ofbias justice (NASW, 2001; Krebtznab & Townsend, 2008, p. 8). Diversity is taking on a broader
meaning to include the sociocultural experiences of people of different genders,11Running Head: American Social Work Educationsocial classes, religions and spiritual beliefs, sexual orientations, ages, and physical and mental
abilities (NASW, 2001, p. 8). There are numerous scales developed by various disciplines
including counseling psychology, and social work (Krentzman and Townsend, 2008). Among 15,
four were recommended on the basis of validity, coherence, and relevance to social justice. These
are: Ethnic-Competence-Skill Model in Psychological Interventions with Minority EthnicChildren and Youth, or Ethnic Competency Skills Assessment (Ho, 1992); Miville-Guzman
University-Diversity Scale (1992); Multicultural Counseling Inventory (MCI) (Sodowsky et al.,1994); Multicultural Counseling Knowledge and Awareness Scale (MCKAS) (Ponterotto & Potre,
2003);In order to adequately prepare students to become multiculturally competent professionals,
diversity content taught in schools of social work must include content on oppression, privilege,social identity, and racism. This requires students engage in a demanding experience that involves
both learning about diverse populations and confronting their own personal experience related todifference and privilege within the dominant culture (p. 21).
Immigrant and refugee concerns in human services (Ryan, 2002): The wars, revolutions, famines,
terrorism, and economic stagnations of the last decade have brought many millions ofimmigrants, both legal and illegal, into the United States, as well as Europe, the Middle East andAsia. Demographers have projected that almost two-thirds of the population in the United Statesover the next fifty years will be the result of post-1990 immigrants and their children (Ryan,
2002, p. 1).
Interdisciplinary Collaboration.
Interdisciplinary team collaboration (Hooyman, 2008; Lewis, 2008) between nurses andsocial workers in assuring effective practice with family caregivers of older adults includinginterdisciplinary team collaboration. “Proponents of the infusion of family caregivercompetencies in foundation and advanced curricular must then provide faculty with user-friendly
and readily adaptable teaching materials—readings, case studies, in-class exercises—that will
facilitate their teaching the necessary knowledge and skills along with using assignments andother measures of competence attainment (Hooyman, 2008, p. 140). Lewis suggests
interdisciplinary caregiving curricular for nurses and social workers and including caregivers in
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Running Head: American Social Work Education

training (p. 133). Certification or licensure in key elements of family care, such as assessment
and care coordination, would ensure that nurses and social workers have an appropriate
foundation of knowledge. In addition, national competency standards for care managers should
include family caregiving. (p. 133).
Distance Education: Web-Based Learning
Web-based social work education in the era of informational technology has become a reality
throughout the educational instructions including social work due to the use of television andcomputer networks (Regan and Youn, 2008). Although interactive television has become themost widely used technology for distance education in social work, Web-based course are now
the primary form of technology used to offer social work distance education courses. (p. 96). It
is often supported by WebCT/Blackboard that allows instructors to display their course content(such as grades reading, PowerPoint presentations) to student via a secure Web site. It allows
students to access posted material whenever convenient, without having to mesh their schedules
with those of faculty, fellow students, or others. A study found that data from the completely
online courses indicate higher levels of satisfaction, although intermittent frustration with thedevelopmental nature of the online delivery platform was expressed by students. Certain elearning tools, such as discussion forums, library services, e-mail, and student presentation
forums, received higher ratings than chat rooms, online task planners, and the white-board(p.102). Abels (2005) states: Distance education in social work is not only a medium for theteaching of social work; it could also be a significant force in fulfilling social work’scommitment to equality and social justice”(p. 4). She notes that professional training to develop
knowledge and skills in working with this population is inadequate. There is a need to develop
new curricula. (Ibid., p. 2).
FeminismMoving from theoretical foundations of understanding gender, feminism, and competing
gender models, the next challenge for students is to learn how these theories can be applied to13

Running Head: American Social Work Educationsocial work practice and policy. From a general paradigm of PIE to a more specific one of“women-in-patriarchical-environment” perspective (McPhail, 2008, p. 37),
Political Participation of Social Work
Ritter (2008): The challenge is to convince social work educators how integral they are tofostering student’s interest in politics and inspiring them about the need to create social change
through the legislative or political process (p. 356).
Spirituality and Social Work
The integration of spiritual dimension in the social work education and practice has
become an integral part of both foundation and advanced curricular since 1980s (Canda, 1988,
1989, 1997, & 2002; Cnaan, 1999; Lee. 2005). The Bush administration’s ‘Faith-Based
Initiative’ has facilitated the partnership between the faith-based organizations and thegovernment funding sources in reaching out to the vulnerable populations over the last decade.
This kind of collaborative model in providing needed services to the poor and the hard-to-reachpeople demands an ongoing assessment of its strengths and broader implications for global social
welfare (.Sherman, 2000; Sider, 2000; www.au.org/faithbased.htm;
www.ngltf.org/federal/wfaith.htm). The Society of Spirituality and Social Work and North
American Association of Christians in Social Work (http://www.nacsw.org) have played an
important role in advancing the academic interests, research collaborations, and curricular
resource developments (Canda & Furman, 1999; Vanderwoerd, 2008). Dual degree programs
between MSW and Master’s degree in Divinity have attracted students who are interested inworking in the context of combining both spiritual/religious and psychosocial dimensions ofsocial work practice More than 15 social work programs offer such dual degree programs andthis trends will likely continue in the future (Lee & O’Gorman, 2005).

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Running Head: American Social Work Education

Gerontoogical Education
As the aging demographic trends continue uprising, CSWE has established its
institutional programs, Gero-Ed Center to develop educational resources through the funding of
the John A. Hartford Foundation. Its objectives include:•

Infusion of gerontology across the classroom & field•

Curriculum development•

Review of resources the state of knowledge relevant for social
work practice with older persons (e.g., the research literature;
identifying and assessing existing curriculum resources•

Increase gerontological competencies among students.

The CSWE has instituted the Gero-Ed Track at its annual program meetings (APM). Last year’s
APM, it has received 113 submissions of abstracts which reflects a growing interest in this fieldof gerontology. A number of innovative programs that are projected for the future include: (a)Strengthening gerontology content in the BSW foundation curriculum; and (b) Initiating thepromotion of the students at all program levels as future leaders in the field of gerontologicalsocial work (CSWE, 2008).
Globalization of social work education and practice
Globalization challenges not only the major universities in the U. S. in expanding both curricularand scholarly relevance to accommodate new demands of global interconnectedness inadvancing culturally sensitive and region-specific paradigm of social work education andpractice. It is an emerging force that shapes the 21st century requiring social work education toaddress economic, social, political, health and environment issues impacting on people beyond
national boundaries. In the U. S. “one in five Americans speaks a language other than English at
home; 11% of the U. S. population are foreign born. Social agencies work with refugees, migrant
workers, international adoptees, victims of torture, transnational families, and people suffering
the effects of racism and discrimination” (Link & Healy, 2005, p. v, vi)/ In this context, CSWE

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Running Head: American Social Work Education

educational policy on accreditation standards require social work programs to include thecontents for the foundation curriculum either through infusion or through specific required
course. It states: “professional social workers are leaders on a variety of organizational settingsand service delivery systems within a global context” (EPAS 1.0). In other sections of EPAS,
the global context of social work practice is recognized as the policy requires programs integratesocial and economic justice content grounded on interconnectedness of oppression, human rights,
complex nature of culture and personal identity, as well as global interdependence incollaborative efforts in resolving global issues (Link and Healy, 2005, p. viii).
III.

The Current Changes in Social Work Curriculum Policies

The most recently adopted educational policy of accreditation standards (EPAS) for
social work education in the United States has and will have a significant impact on reshaping
the curriculum of BSW and MSW programs with an emphasis on competence-based social work
education, practice, and research (CSWE, 2008). CSWE sets educational policy and standards toaccredit baccalaureate and master’s programs. It supports academic excellence by establishingthresholds for professional competencies and evidence-based social work practice. EPAS
describe four features of an integrated curriculum design which includes:•

Program Mission and Goals
o values
o program context
o mission & goals•

Explicit Curriculumo core competenciesoprofessional conductso ethical principles, critical thinking
o engaging diversity and difference in practice16

Running Head: American Social Work Educationo advancement of human rights, social & economic justiceo engaging research-informed practice and practice-informed researcho applying knowledge of human behavior & the social environmento engaging in policy practice to advance social & economic justiceo responding to contexts that shape practiceo engaging, assessing, intervening, and evaluating the individuals, families, groups,
organizations, and communities
Implicit Curriculum
o diversity
o student developmento facultyo administrative structureo resources
Assessment
attainment of competencies
evidence of ongoing data collection
identification of any changes based on the analysis of the assessment of data
making the constituents aware of its assessment outcomessummary data for each measure used to assess the attainment of each competency

IV. Toward Building a New Foundation for Collaborations in Global Social
Welfare Education and ResearchInternational Social Work Research
As Midgley (1995) points out the interdisciplinary nature of social welfare research withrespect to comparative studies of social need and of social policies and human services, hebelieved that “a major direction for future activity in the professional domain requires thefostering of greater mutual collaboration” (p. 1995).

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Running Head: American Social Work Education

Tripodi & Tripodi (2007) believe that “social work scholars and students should besensitive not only to the need for knowledge exchange between countries but also to issues
involved in obtaining and utilizing such international knowledge” (p.4). In their book,International social work research: Issues and prospects, the authors conceptualize internationalsocial work research and develop its typology according to four categories of national research,supranational research, international research, and transnational research. The following explainseach:o National research is directed at native populations within a country, and does notuse literature from other countries to formulate the research problem, nor does it
draw implications for two or more countries;o Supranational research deals with research with research within a country;o International research studies a population from another country that resides in adifferent country, such as immigrant and refugees; ando Transnational research is comparative research between populations of two or
more countries (p.28).
According to Tripodi and Tripodi (2007), the potential for increasing the production
and dissemination of knowledge from international social work research is great
because of the following reasons:o Due to the forces of internationalism and globalization, social work problems
encountered within any country increasingly have their causes, effects, and/or
counterparts elsewhere in the world, and thus, adopting a global perspective
enhances the likelihood of effectively addressing these problems;o The definition of international social work research broadens the scope ofprevious conceptualizations, thus broadening the opportunities for suchresearch;o International social work research can be carried out primarily in one country.

Global Context of Learning
More social work programs are intentionally reaching out globally for educatingsocial work students through a variety of traditional and non-traditional approaches
including distance learning and web-based instructions. “Social work education faces a
number of strategic issues related to the convergence of two major trends in higher
education: the expansion in distributed education to meet the needs of a growing
population of nontraditional students, and the revolution in information technology“(York, 2008, p. 157). York studied the outcome effects of three modes of instruction(i.e., traditional, online, and hybrid) in a graduate social work program and found out thatonline instruction achieves outcomes comparable with the traditional format. The

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traditional group had face-to-face instruction whereas the Internet students received all
instruction through the internet. The hybrid students had a balance between the two.
As many schools of social work place their students at various international
practicum settings, and student and faculty exchange programs between their affiliatedschools are much more diversified in an increasing speed and scope, the global context oflearning challenges social work education at all levels, while it provides invaluable
contextual and cross-cultural experiences for teaching, learning, practice, and researchcollaboration with host schools and agencies. Appendix A is an example of suchendeavors. A number of international journals of social work contain reports of various
experiments in global social work education.
New Paradigm to Guide the Profession of Social Work
In concluding this paper, the author asks: What is a just course of future direction
for the profession of social work and global social welfare in the 21st century?

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Appendix: Loyola University Chicago School of Social Work Summer Beijing Program

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