What connects Us as Social Workers? Innovations, Future Directions and Global Citizenship WORKSHOP WS32

This is an interactive session providing an opportunity for social workers from around the world to reflect on social work. This forum for co-operative inquiry encourages exchange as a basis for global citizenship and global social work practice. Social work is a dynamic profession that is both culturally-responsive in a fluid and hybridized world, yet fundamentally stable at its core through shared ethics and values. There is a need to affirm, confirm, and extend the above considerations in order to engage in decolonizing practice informed by blended worldviews.
Details of organizers and participating members: Workshop facilitators are academics and postgraduate students from the School of Social Work, Charles Sturt University, Australia.
Contacts: Dr Karen Bell ([email protected]); Dr Susan Mlcek ([email protected]); Professor Wendy Bowles ([email protected]).
Synopsis and workshop format:
Using a structured approach, participants draw on concrete experiences as a basis for co-operative learning. Workshops will be facilitated using the
following format:
• Panel presentations - key themes - social work identity, innovations, global social work; (20 minutes)
• Self-selected sub-groups (4-6 participants) identify and discuss concrete experiences relating to three key areas –
1. What does social work mean to me?
2. What is innovative about social work practice?
3. What is the future of global social work?
Sub-groups discuss their experiences of what it means to be a social worker; provide examples of innovations in practice; share ideas about the
future of social work.
Sub-groups keep notes of the key points raised in their discussion; facilitator takes detailed notes to capture the sub-group discussion. (40 minutes)
Each sub-group the reports to the whole group, summarising key points about social work, innovations and the future of the profession.
From whole-group discussion, a summary of key themes emerges.
Workshop notes from facilitators and participants (textual data) collected at the end of the workshop, will be de-identified and collated postconference.

Collated qualitative data will be organised into three broad, constructed topic codes (meanings of social work, innovative practice, and the future of
global social work). Within each topic code, finer analytic codes will be identified through line-by-line coding.
The collated data will be circulated via email to all participants and consideration will be given to producing a journal paper or a discussion paper
based on participants’ contributions. (30 minutes)
Implications for social work: The conference provides a rare opportunity for social workers from around the globe to reflect on social work practice, worldviews, core values and principles in particular. The gathered practice wisdom and lived experiences of social work gathered from social workers from a range of practice contexts and locations will add to the professional knowledge base on global social work and social development.
Target audience: Social work practitioners, educators, students (undergraduate and postgraduate).
Main conference themes: Education and training; Social work practice; Human rights; International Social Work.