Professional Social Work in SE Asia: Education and Qualific - PowerPoint Presentation

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Professional Social Work in SE Asia: Education and QualificationWhat Social Work Do We Want?Towards the third stage of social work

Tatsuru Akimoto, DSWAsian Center for Social Welfare Research, Shukutoku University Immediate Past President, APASWE22 July 2015Royal University of Phnom Penh, CambodiaSlide2

Outline Congratulations—Success of the conference “From now on”—Harvesting Committee What social work do you want?

E.g. Professionalization? (1) Yes—e.g. Difference of roles & functions (2) No—Broader policy choice Don’t just copyAsian Colleagues have started constructing their own social workThe social work world map

has changed

Expectation to Cambodian Colleagues: Make SW that of the world—the 3

rd

Stage of SWSlide3

Congratulations on the success of the conferenceYour goal and objectives

were achieved.Excellent presentations Creative ideas Usable proposalsEach participant leaned.Slide4

Important is “from now on”Harvest CommitteeThe wheat ripened. It is the time to harvest.Organize Harvest Committee? for policy formulation, program design, curriculum improv

ement and strategy & tactic development, at levels of the conference organizer, the government, the professional association, and the university.Cf. Numerous conferences were held, and what remained?Slide5

On your designing a policy and developing your curriculum, a question is:What Social Work Do you Want?

Till today we have been learning, parroting and chasing the only social work—Western- born Professional Social Work (WPSW).Your Iives and society differ from theirs, politically, economically, socially, & culturally.Social work is born and exist based on lives of people in the society.

Lives and societies differ, social work

differs.

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E.g.“Professionalization!”—Wherever we go, we hear the same voice.Is Professionalization the Way We take? Maybe,

Yes. Because Social work must be professional and a profession (Social work=Professional social work). It is a common sense in the world.Services delivered by social workers must be high in quality, and the quality must be socially assured through education and registration/ license.Slide7

However, Your “professionalization” may be different from theirs (WPSW). Because

Your lives—culture, tradition, religion, even value, the degree of industrialization, or industry distribution, job ramification, employment, labor market, % of higher education, etc.—all are different.Slide8

Just an example, take a look at Percentage of university students

50~100 % in some countries vs. a few % in othersTo be called “professionals”, bachelor degrees, at least, hopefully master degrees, are necessary according to the international standard.College students are elite in latter societies and graduates won’t work in the field.⇒ The position and role, or job content and function, of professional social workers must be different from societies with high % of college students

. Cf. Cadre Slide9

Is Professionalization the Way We take?Supposedly let’s us answer, No. Because

There are few or not enough professional social workers in the field under the Professionalization model.But our people have various difficulties and problems of lives and have waited for social work services and help.Slide10

Who would take care of people in difficulties? Should we:1. Produce professional social workers,

imme-diately and enormous number? →impossible ２．Import professional social workers from “developed” countries? →Social work colonialism

What should we do?

Don’t worry. Some entities of the society have been serving the similar function as

PSWers

. Otherwise the society could not sustain itself. Slide11

If you Free yourself from the equation of social work=professional social work,And Accept the inequality of

Social work > Professional social work, Many entities in a society (×para-professional)

Your policy, program, curriculum, strategy & tactic choices would be widened. Our mission is to alleviate and solve problems and difficulties of people’s lives.

Social

work is social work.

Football

is football.

It can be played by professional players but also played by various people in a society

.

Social Work could also be played by various people.Slide12

Anyway, Don’t Just Copy. Copy and Missionary Social work was born and matured based on lives and societies in Europe and the North America.Till today, we have been busy copying it and international SW associations

disseminating it as missionaries. (cf. APASWE Internationalization Research & Historical Review Research) It was not the matter of good or bad. There was only model and not any other models. Slide13

Indigenization“No. We have been making efforts of indigenization.” E.g. textbooks & quoted casesBut What does “indigenization” mean?　

From our side, we indigenize for ours to be accepted as authentic social work by them. From their side, they indigenize for theirs to be accepted by us to disseminate theirs.Anyway, the scale or standards are theirs. i.e. the conformity to the WPSW. （APASWE Internationalization and Indigenization Research)Slide14

Recently Asian colleagues have started Constructing our own social work, which is different from WPSW.Vietnam-Japan Universities questioned: “What are lacking in the WPSW?” e.g. inner factors

Sri Lankan Buddhist Monks found: “We have been doing similar things over 2500 years while WPSW 150 years.” “Professional SW could never be acceptable. For job, money or livelihood!?”6 country researchers reviewed: “The present state of Buddhist ‘social work’ and the reason why Buddhist temples and monks/nuns have been engaged in ‘social work’.” “BSW is very different from WPSW.”A 5 country research started: “Islam and Social Work”.Slide15

Now social work is heading for the third stage of SW, or that of the worldNot copying , not disseminating the stage I & II social works, butHaving these various “social work”s, including WPSW, we could inductively construct the social work (concept) which is acceptable and applicable in the whole world.Slide16

SW World Map Has ChangedIASSW Census: Schools of SW(July 2012 IA BM)Total 　　 ２１１０

(100.0%)Asia & the Pacific ６３２(26.4%) [1000-? (1/3-40%?)] Europe ５５８North America & Caribbean ５８６

Latin America

２８０

Africa

　５４

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Distribution of IASSW school members by regions (N of schools, %) 1967 (N= 341) 2015

(N= 366) Slide18

Today in order to understand SW,Looking at and learning about only European and the North American SW is not enough.We have to look at and learn about “social work” based on lives of people in countries and regions where present social work (WPSW) was not born and grew up.Slide19

We look forward to learning about “What social work Cambodian colleagues want?”Social work was born in Europe (Stage I), and grew up in North America (Stage II), based on

lives of people and societies in those countries and regions.Social Work of the world (Stage III) must also base on lives of people in countries and regions where social work was not born and did not mature.

Thank you very much