Published on : September 8, 2022
The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) announced the grantees for the seventh cycle of the Katherine A. Kendall Institute for International Social Work Education grants program. Grantees were selected based on their innovative projects that demonstrated sustainability, transferability, and potential to advance the field of international social work education.
The programs featured below demonstrate the need to bring international social work education materials and curricula that bring the global context into social work classrooms in the United States. These projects will prepare future social workers and researchers to practice in an increasingly interdependent and interconnected global community.
University of Denver – Stories of Climate Justice & Global Environmental Change
Project lead: Rachel Forbes, MSW
“Stories of Climate Justice and Global Environmental Change'' seeks to address the specific need for social workers to be global agents of change in the face of climate injustice by creating a transferable volume of curricular resources on climate justice and global environmental change. The overarching goal is to connect social workers, grassroots leaders, and social change organizations from around the world who will be able to share their stories on how climate change has impacted them and/or their communities, and what their strategies for resistance, resilience and advocacy are—highlighting the transformative power of multicultural educational approaches to integrating climate justice issues into the social work classroom.
The Catholic University of America – Making Immersive International Education Accessible to All
Project lead: Melissa Grady, PhD
This project addresses two critical needs within social work by first, creating a model for how to develop online social work education courses for international immersive experiences, and second, by increasing U.S. social workers’ capacity to enhance mental well-being by transferring the knowledge from another country to U.S. students. This project seeks to also develop an innovative and immersive online course experience focused on mental well-being from a global context; a topic that has garnered significant attention due to the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic.
University of South Carolina – Dilemmas in Social Work Practice with Refugees: Decision Cases
Project lead: Terry Wolfer, PhD
This project will create and disseminate innovative teaching resources and related teaching materials for social work education on international social work with refugees by using a case study approach to help students develop an understanding and skills in grappling with the complexities of ethical practice in a culturally diverse world. These cases will portray the actual experiences of social workers in a wide range of practice settings as they encounter refugees or asylees, migrants, or displaced people.
Bradley University – Developing an ICF Curriculum to Educate Social Workers on Addressing Social Determinants of Health
Project lead: Patricia Saleeby, PhD
This project will develop, assess, and implement a web-based curriculum to train U.S. students and social workers on the International Classification of Functioning (ICF) and World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule for social work education. The overall goal is to improve clinical preparation and competency of social work students for local and global practice.