Is there a shared social work signature pedagogy cross-nationally?: using a case study methodology to explore signature pedagogy in England, Israel, Finland, Spain and Sweden

Abstract

While there is an international definition of social work as a profession, little is known about whether there is a shared pedagogy in social work cross-nationally. To our knowledge, this paper is the first empirical study which aims to fill this gap by applying the concept of signature pedagogy in social work education to explore the commonality of social work pedagogy across countries. The study uses a multi-site case study (six universities in five European countries) through applying a ‘critical teacher-researcher’ approach in generating the data, followed by a two-phased thematic analysis. The study evidenced a shared principle of social work pedagogy which nurtures social work students to think and perform like a social worker and develop the professional self through developing relationships and dialogue, professional practice, group work, self-reflection and critical thinking. It is argued from, this exploratory study, that even between countries which have different welfare ideology as well as social work history and education systems, there is some common ground in social work pedagogy where one can learn from another through the use of ‘teacher as researcher’ methodologically.While there is an international definition of social work as a profession,little is known about whether there is a shared pedagogy in social workcross-nationally. To our knowledge, this paper is the first empirical studywhich aims to fill this gap by applying the concept of signaturepedagogy in social work education to explore the commonality of socialwork pedagogy across countries. The study uses a multi-site case study(six universities in five European countries) through applying a ‘criticalteacher-researcher’ approach in generating the data, followed by a two-phased thematic analysis. The study evidenced a shared principle ofsocial work pedagogy which nurtures social work students to think andperform like a social worker and develop the professional self throughdeveloping relationships and dialogue, professional practice, groupwork, self-reflection and critical thinking. It is argued from, thisexploratory study, that even between countries which have differentwelfare ideology as well as social work history and education systems,there is some common ground in social work pedagogy where one canlearn from another through the use of ‘teacher as researcher’methodologically.Det finns en internationell definition av socialt arbete som profession men vi vet mindre om huruvida det finns en gemensam pedagogik i hur socialt arbete lärs ut mellan länder. Utifrån vår kännedom är detta det första paper som genom en empirisk studie utforskar vad vi har gemensamt i hur vi lär ut socialt arbete. Studien använder en multi-site case study (sex universitet i fem europeiska länder) genom att använda ”critical teacher researcher” som metod för att samla in data som sedan följs av en tematisk analys i två steg. Studien visade ett gemensamt förhållningssätt i den pedagogik som lär ut socialt arbete där vi alla fokuserar på att ge studenterna en förmåga att tänka och verka som socialarbetare och utveckla det professionella ”jaget” genom att utveckla relationer och dialog, professionell praktik, grupparbete, självreflektion och kritiskt tänkande. Det finns, utifrån den här utforskande studien, grund för att påstå att även länder som inte har en gemensam välfärdsideologi, historik eller utbildningssystem, ändå har några gemensamma principer i pedagogiken i socialt arbete där vi kan lära från varandra genom att använda ”teacher as reasercher” metoden.