Pedagogies for developing students' professional identity in neo-conservative environments

Our presentation details changes we have made to course content to centralise professional identity in our curriculum. As social work educators it is important to ensure students develop a professional identity that can withstand and challenge dominant discourses inconsistent with a social work value base. Many Western countries are immersed in dominant discourses, especially neo-conservativism, which prioritise organisational loyalty and generic roles over professional identity. This conflicts with our core values of social justice and human rights. Our endeavours at Charles Sturt University prompt students to critically reflect on the development and sustainability of professional identity, in the face of oppressive discourses. We call for further reflection and action among social work educators and the wider profession about students’ development of professional identity. There is also a need for further research to explore whether graduates emerge from university study with a professional social work identity that can not only challenge but transform dominant discourses.