Publications from ODSW Social Insights: Letters by DSW (Vol 2) | Seite 15

Fundamentals of Social Work

Dear Social Service Practitioners,
Having decided to invest time and resources in a university degree in social
work, what might you want to get out of it? If you have not thought about
it, it would be good to start reflecting on this question. Of course every
university has its mission and an idea of the type of students it wants to
produce. However, what is finally achieved is dependent too on the students
as the same curriculum does not necessarily translate into equal outcomes
since students are inherently different.

The Role of Education in Training the Mind to think
deeply and widely
Generally, higher education at the university takes an approach that helps
students develop holistic capability in contrast to a training approach that
focuses on specific information and skills. As such, the degree in social work
aims to help students to acquire knowledge and to become more inquisitive
in nature. This takes place both informally and formally through assessed
knowledge in order to train social workers to appreciate different contexts
and to debate various issues.
For Example: Poverty
In the area of poverty for example, there is a need to understand
a country’s context in discussing policy issues. In the context of
Singapore, it is perhaps fortunate that social work here in a citystate with good housing means that we do not have to grapple
with distressed communities with intractable issues of poverty or
worse still, persistent intergenerational poverty of a sizeable scale.
Any and every country will have people who are poor but persistent
intergenerational poverty is a complex and daunting problem that
requires sustained effort at multiple levels.
Higher education at the university exposes students to the research
being done which shows the difficulties that most countries still
struggle with in public policy making and in the strategies to eradicate
intergenerational poverty. So what have these countries tried? Many
have tried strategies that focus on the places where poor children live
while others have tried moving children out of poor neighbourhoods
and communities. And what have these countries learned about
eradicating intergenerational poverty? Reading widely into research
for example should point towards some success in policies that focus
on education, stable employment and family relationships.
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