“It’s the News of Difference That Makes the Difference”
Witnessing Social Action Through an International Collaboration Between Australia and Taiwan
Keywords:
International social work, Study abroad, Social work education, Culturally sensitive practice, Practice-basedAbstract
Short-term study abroad programs have been criticised in the literature as inauthentic, vul- nerable to inequity and lacking in reciprocity. Questions about the potentially extractive nature of study abroad programs are important debates and social work educators must ensure that the learning opportunities resulting in study abroad programs are grounded in authentic, ongoing relationships with the host country. This article discusses a collaboration between the Social Work departments of the University of Wollongong (UOW), National Taiwan University (NTU) and an international NGO based in Taiwan. One aspect of this collab- oration is a two-week study program in Taiwan for UOW social work students that focuses on themes of Indigenous cultural recovery, community development and elder care. These themes are grounded in non-government organisations who view care as a collective, relational, knowledgeable practice and are committed to creating possibilities for social justice. Qualitative data taken from the students’ reflexive essays, reflexive group discussions, student present- ations and participant observations are used to highlight the perspectives and impacts on learning for all involved in the collaboration and to identify that, when learning occurs, a difference is perceived and it is this difference that makes a difference. The paper contributes to the pedagogical evidence base for how international short-term study programs can enhance intercultural learning, critically reflexive practice and build respect, recognition and empathy for the ‘other’ amongst social work graduates.
References
Asaba, E., & Suarez-Balcazar, Y. (2018). Participatory research: A promising approach to promote meaningful engagement.
Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 25(5), 309–312. doi:10.1080/11038128.2018.1541224
Barad, K. (2007). Meeting the universe halfway: Quantum physics and the entanglement of matter and meaning. London: Duke University Press.
Bateson, G. (1972). Steps to an ecology of mind, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Baum, F., MacDougall, C., & Smith, D. (2006). Participatory action research. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 60(10), 854–857.
Bell, K., Moorhead, B., & Boetto, H. (2017). Social work students’ reflections on gender, social justice and human rights during a short-term study programme to India. International Social Work, 60(1), 32–44.
Davidson, H., & Kuo, L. (2019). What are the Hong Kong protests about? The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www. theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/10/hong-kong-protests-china-state-media-foreign-forces-extradition-bill
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. (2019). The New Colombo Plan Mobility Program. Retrieved from https://www.dfat. gov.au/people-to-people/new-colombo-plan/mobility-program/Pages/mobility-Program
Epprecht, M. (2004). Work-study abroad courses in international development studies: Some ethical and pedagogical issues. Canadian Journal of Development Studies / Revue canadienne d’études du développement, 25(4), 687–706. doi:10.1080/02255189.2 004.9669009
Fairchild, S. R., Pillai, V. K., & Noble, C. (2006). The impact of a social work study abroad program in Australia on multicultural learning. International Social Work, 49(3), 390–401. doi:10.1177/0020872806063413
Fisher, C. M., & Grettenberger, S. E. (2015). Community-based participatory study abroad: A proposed model for social work education. Journal of Social Work Education, 51(3), 566–582.
Fook, J., & Askeland, G. A. (2007). Challenges of critical reflection: “Nothing ventured, nothing gained”. Social Work Education, 26(5), 520–533. doi:10.1080/02615470601118662
Fox, M. (2017). The international field placement: A reconciliation of identity. Social Work Education, 36(5), 495–507. doi:10.10 80/02615479.2017.1280014
Fox, M., & Hugman, R. (2019). International field placements: The models Australian social work programmes are currently using. International Social Work, 62(5), 1371–1383. doi:10.1177/0020872818767252
Gair, S. (2017). Pondering the colour of empathy: Social work students’ reasoning on activism, empathy and racism. British Journal of Social Work, 47(1), 162–180. doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcw007
Gilin, B., & Young, T. (2009). Educational benefits of international experiential learning in an MSW program. International Social Work, 52(1), 36–47. doi:10.1177/0020872808093347
Hare, I. (2004). Defining social work for the 21st century: The International Federation of Social Workers’ revised definition of social work. International Social Work, 47(3), 407–424. doi:10.1177/0020872804043973
Healy, L. M. (2008). International social work: Professional action in an interdependent world. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Hesse-Biber, S. (2007b). Putting it together: Feminist research praxis. In S. Hesse-Biber & P. Leavy (Eds.), Feminist research practice (pp. 329-349). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Healy, L. M., & Link, R. J. (2012). Handbook of international social work: Human rights, development, and the global profession. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
IFSW. (2014). Global definition of social work. Retrieved from https://www.ifsw.org/global-definition-of-social-work/
Jones, P., & Miles, D. (2017). Transformative learning in interational student exchange: A critical perspective. Advances in Social Work and Welfare Education, 19(2), 47–60.
Jones, P., Rowe, S., & Miles, D. (2018). Beyond practical preparation: A critical approach to preparing social work students for international study experiences. International Social Work, 61(6), 1083–1094. doi:10.1177/0020872817695390
Keevers, L. (2020). Working together to reduce energy poverty in Timor Leste with environmentally sustainable community- based economic development: A transnational developmental social work approach. International Social Work. https://doi. org/10.1177/0020872819887786
Keevers, L., & Sykes, C. (2016). Food and music matters: Affective relations and practices in social justice organizations. Human Relations, 69(8), 1643–1668.
Lamar, S., Boddy, J. O’Leary, P., & Allen, C. (2019). Building culturally sensitive practice for social work and human services practitioners in training: The role of transformative international intercultural learning. Advances in Social Work and Welfare Education, 21(1), 67–83.
Mapp, S. (2012). Effect of short-term study abroad programs on students’ cultural adaptability. Journal of Social Work Education, 48(4), 727–737. doi:10.5175/JSWE.2012.201100103
Midgley, J. (1995). Social development: The developmental perspective in social welfare: London, UK: Sage.
Moorhead, B., Boetto, H., & Bell, K. (2014). India and us: Student development of professional social work identity through a short-term study abroad program. Social Work Education, 33(2), 175–189. doi:10.1080/02615479.2013.768614
Nadan, Y. (2017). Rethinking “cultural competence” in international social work. International Social Work, 60(1), 74–83. doi. org/10.1177/0020872814539986
Pain, R., Kindon, S., & Kesby, M. (2007). Participatory action research: Making a difference to theory, practice and action. In S. Kindon, R. Pain, & M. Kesby (Eds.), Participatory action research approaches and methods (pp. 52–58). London, UK: Routledge.
Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods (3rd ed.). Newbury Park: Sage.
Rice, M. (2019). Conducting rights-based short-term study abroad experiences. Social Work Education, 38(4), 427–438. doi:10.1 080/02615479.2018.1560403
Schatzki, T. (2019). Social change in a material world. London, UK: Routledge.
Shotter, J. (2010). Situated dialogic action research: Disclosing “beginnings” for innovative change in organizations.
Organizational Research Methods, 13(10), 1–18. doi.org/10.1177/1094428109340347
Thampi, K. (2017). Social work education crossing the borders: A field education programme for international internship. Social Work Education, 36(6), 609–622. doi:10.1080/02615479.2017.1291606
Woolf, M. (2007). Impossible things before breakfast: Myths in education abroad. Journal of Studies in International Education, 11(3–4), 496–509.
Zuchowski, I., Miles, D., Howard, E., Harris, N., & Francis, A. (2019). Sustaining quality learning abroad opportunities in Australian schools of social work. International Social Work, 62(2), 980–993. doi:10.1177/0020872818757590
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2020 Australian and New Zealand Social Work and Welfare Education and Research
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Advances in Social Work & Welfare Education by Australian and New Zealand Social Work and Welfare Education and Research (ANZSWWER) is licensed under CC BY 4.0
