We must express social work knowledge and understanding so that it is open to interpretation into other cultures

The International social work conference in the summer led to a lot of material on international socila work appearing in the Guardian; one article by a Flemish academic, Joke Knockaert, discusses some of the issues, referring to a Flemish government policy 'Brains on the move', which wants to ensure that one in three Flemish students gets international experience.

But as Gurid Aga Askeland and I argue in our book and articles about globalisation and social work education, it is a naive expectation to think that 'travel broadens the mind' is an appropriate policy in a profession which is partly constructed by policy and legal developments in countries and the cultural expectations in both countries and ethnic and cultural groups.  We have to work hard at expressing our research and understanding in terms that are open enough so that it can be interpreted by people from other cultures into knowledge and understanding that is relevant to them.

Link to Guardian article

Why do societies not value social work? Analysis from the Czech Republic

A new book arrives from the Czech Republic, and usefully provides information about social work education in both the Czech and Slovak Republics.

But the major contribution is an extended paper about postmodernity and social work by the respected Czech academic, Libor Musil. This addresses the concern shared by scoial workers across the world that their profession is not held in the high level of respect that they might wish. Why is this? He argues that the traditional view in which professions attain respect for their valued contribution to society needs to be replaced by our understanding that the legitimacy of our role (and indeed that of all professions) needs to be constantly renegotiated in response to changing social conditions.

The whole publication is in English.

Citation:  MATULAYOVÁ, Tatiana a Libor MUSIL. Social Work, Education and Postmodernity. Theory and Studies in Selected Czech, Slovak and Polish Issues. first. Liberec: Technical University of Liberec, 2013. 145 s. 55-100-13. ISBN 978-80-7494-032-3.

Link to publisher