The Department of Social Work, is one of the first academic departments established at the same time with the Shue Yan University in 1971.
Dr. Margaret WONG Fung Yee, the Head of the Department of Social Work said that it is a great honour to be born at the same time with the University and celebrate the 50th birthday together. The Department of Social Work embraces the mission to teach, research, and advocate for the disadvantaged. For the past 50 years, the Department has been nurturing students who aspire to become social workers and uphold the ethics and values of the social work profession.
Curriculum uniqueness
The social work curriculum of the Department of Social Work has a number of unique features. One of which is the provision of three instead of two fieldwork placements. The total number of practicum hours is 1,024 which exceeds that required by the Social Workers Registration Board. The additional field practice proves to be an invaluable learning opportunity, enabling students to consolidate the integration of their theoretical and practical learning. Prior to their internship, students are required to participate in pre-placement workshops which are designed to develop and strengthen their resilience, creativity, and empathy. In 2019/20, the Department introduced overseas fieldwork placements in Taiwan and Singapore in order to broaden students’ global perspectives in analyzing and tackling social issues.
Dr. WONG pointed out that there is a rising concern about issues related to youth mental health, family breakdown, support for family and informal caregivers, long waiting list for adult rehabilitation care and elderly residential care, ageing population, high suicide rate among youth and elderly, and high divorce rates. These issues are in some ways aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the social upheaval in the last two years. Faced with the above challenges, Dr. WONG stressed the importance of regularly review and update the social work programme and curriculum in order to equip students to address these issues. New courses and new ways of social work intervention are introduced. A case in point is the emphasis on teaching on-line counselling skills, the use of VR and AR, and social media networks in social service delivery.
Not only does the social work curriculum have to reflect on the social changes and challenges, social work academics have to maintain close collaboration with service providers in the community to ensure that what we teach is relevant to what is practised in the field. To this end, the Department has set up the Centre on Social Work Clinical Practice, Research, and Training Partnership (CPRTP) which provides a learning and training platform for students as well as our community partners and stakeholders. The CPRTP is located at LG101 in the Academic Building. The Center is furnished with audio-visual equipment to facilitate supervision, role play recordings and training. Looking ahead, the Department is actively preparing to introduce a Master Degree in Social Work to be launched by 2024 to provide opportunity to train non-social work degree holders who would like to join the social work profession.
Dr. WONG trusts that students who have embarked on the journey to become social workers would continue to bear in mind why they choose to join the social work profession in the first instance. What social work means to them and what social work upholds are particularly important in challenging times. This reflection could be the guiding light to see them through, enabling them to continue to speak out for the disadvantaged, and make positive changes to our community.
Source：50th Anniversary Special Issue