Embedding Disability in the Social Work Curriculum

There have long been calls for disability to have an increased profile in social work education; however, the launch of the National Disability Insurance Scheme in 2013 has rendered this call more urgent. Curtin University graduates and students participating in fieldwork are required to have knowle...

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Main Authors: Blundell, Barbara, Fernandes, Christina, Ridley, Sophie, Warren, Amy, Stewart, Cath, Watts, Lynelle
Format: Conference Paper
Published: 2022
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/95557
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author Blundell, Barbara
Fernandes, Christina
Ridley, Sophie
Warren, Amy
Stewart, Cath
Watts, Lynelle
author_facet Blundell, Barbara
Fernandes, Christina
Ridley, Sophie
Warren, Amy
Stewart, Cath
Watts, Lynelle
author_sort Blundell, Barbara
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description There have long been calls for disability to have an increased profile in social work education; however, the launch of the National Disability Insurance Scheme in 2013 has rendered this call more urgent. Curtin University graduates and students participating in fieldwork are required to have knowledge of current policy implications on practice, develop skills in this area and uphold social work values in this field of practice. Social workers are employed both directly and indirectly in the disability sector, which is facing workforce issues pertaining to recruitment and retention. Academic staff teaching in both the Bachelor (BSW) and Master of Social Work Qualifying (MSWQ) courses at Curtin identified that the curricula on disability and the NDIS in both courses requires strengthening. Additionally, anecdotal feedback from current and past students and industry partners suggests that a more comprehensive review in this area is warranted. This research project focussed on identifying curricula gaps through an active partnership with industry, alumni and students, with the overall aim of developing topical, relevant, and contemporary content on disability and the NDIS in Australia. Current BSW and MSWQ students, recent graduates, and social work practitioners who work in the disability sector were surveyed about their perspectives on existing and required disability and NDIS content in the curriculum. The next phase of the project will involve participants in co-creating new curricula to address the identified gaps.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-955572024-07-30T04:20:02Z Embedding Disability in the Social Work Curriculum Blundell, Barbara Fernandes, Christina Ridley, Sophie Warren, Amy Stewart, Cath Watts, Lynelle There have long been calls for disability to have an increased profile in social work education; however, the launch of the National Disability Insurance Scheme in 2013 has rendered this call more urgent. Curtin University graduates and students participating in fieldwork are required to have knowledge of current policy implications on practice, develop skills in this area and uphold social work values in this field of practice. Social workers are employed both directly and indirectly in the disability sector, which is facing workforce issues pertaining to recruitment and retention. Academic staff teaching in both the Bachelor (BSW) and Master of Social Work Qualifying (MSWQ) courses at Curtin identified that the curricula on disability and the NDIS in both courses requires strengthening. Additionally, anecdotal feedback from current and past students and industry partners suggests that a more comprehensive review in this area is warranted. This research project focussed on identifying curricula gaps through an active partnership with industry, alumni and students, with the overall aim of developing topical, relevant, and contemporary content on disability and the NDIS in Australia. Current BSW and MSWQ students, recent graduates, and social work practitioners who work in the disability sector were surveyed about their perspectives on existing and required disability and NDIS content in the curriculum. The next phase of the project will involve participants in co-creating new curricula to address the identified gaps. 2022 Conference Paper http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/95557 fulltext
spellingShingle Blundell, Barbara
Fernandes, Christina
Ridley, Sophie
Warren, Amy
Stewart, Cath
Watts, Lynelle
Embedding Disability in the Social Work Curriculum
title Embedding Disability in the Social Work Curriculum
title_full Embedding Disability in the Social Work Curriculum
title_fullStr Embedding Disability in the Social Work Curriculum
title_full_unstemmed Embedding Disability in the Social Work Curriculum
title_short Embedding Disability in the Social Work Curriculum
title_sort embedding disability in the social work curriculum
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/95557