1. EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY &
STRATEGIES FOR TEACHING
BSW STUDENTS
PRO-SEMINAR: SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION
BRIANNA P. LEMMONS, MSW
MARCH 9, 2010

2. Overview
 Pedagogy vs. Andragogy
 Underlying Assumptions of Andragogy
 Old & New Paradigms of College Teaching
 Personal Mission Statement & Educational
Philosophy
 General & Course Specific Strategies for
Teaching BSW Students

3. Pedagogy vs. Andragogy (Conner,
n.d.)
 Pedagogy
 The art and science of educating children
 Didactic, traditional, teacher-directed/focused approach
 Teachers assume responsibility for making decisions about
what will be learned, how it will be learned, and when it will be
learned. Teachers direct learning.
 Assumption: learners need to know only what the teacher
teaches them
 Result: Promotes dependency on the instructor
 Andragogy
 The art and science of helping adults learn
 Learner-Focused Approach
 Assumptions: adults are mature and have a need to
become increasingly independent and self-directed. They
are motivated to learn by a desire to solve immediate
problems in their lives.
 Result: Promotes independence from instructor

4. Underlying Assumptions of
Andragogy (Knowles, 1973, p.
31)
 Adults are motivated to learn as they
experience needs and interests that will satisfy
them
 Adults’ orientation to learning is life-centered
 Experience is the richest resource for adults’
learning
 Adults have a deep need to be self-directing
 Individual differences among people increase
with age

5. Old & New Paradigms of College
Teaching (Fink, 2003, p. 19)
Category Old Paradigm New Paradigm
Knowledge Transferred from Faculty to Students Jointly Constructed by Students and
Faculty
Student Passive Vessel to be Filled by
Faculty’s Knowledge
Active Constructor, Discoverer,
Transformers of Knowledge
Mode of Learning Memorizing Relating
Faculty Purpose Classify & Sort Students Develop Students’ Competencies &
Talents
Relationships Impersonal Relationship Among
Students and Between Faculty &
Students
Personal Relationships Among
Students & Between Faculty &
Students
Context Competitive, Individualistic Cooperative Learning in Classroom &
Cooperative Teams Among Faculty
Climate Conformity, Cultural Uniformity Diversity & Personal Esteem; Cultural
Diversity & Commonality
Power Faculty Holds & Exercises Power,
Authority, & Control
Students Are Empowered; Power is
Shared Among Students
Epistemology Reductionist; Facts & Memorization Constructivist; Inquiry & Invention

6. Personal Mission Statement &
Educational Philosophy
“Creating Significant Learning Experiences That Will Last a
Lifetime”

7. Fit Between Institutional and
Personal Missions (Wankat,
2002)
 “Any professor’s personal interests and
mission should be aligned with the
mission of his or her institution (Wankat,
2002, p.11).”
 Hypothetical Institution
 Clark Atlanta University’s Whitney M. Young, Jr.
School of Social Work
 BSW Program

8. Mission of CAU’s Whitney M.
Young, Jr. School of Social Work
 The mission of the Whitney M. Young, Jr., School
of Social Work is to advance the aims of the
profession through education for excellence in
social work practice. The School seeks to
educate creative, responsible social work
professionals committed to the search for
solutions to problems of poverty, social and
economic injustice, sexism, racism, and other
forms of oppression while preserving the
heritage of African American people.

9. Goals of CAU’s Whitney M.
Young, Jr. School of Social Work
The School's mission is operationalized through the following
program goals:
 To educate students for excellence in advanced clinical professional
social work practice;
 To promote students' capacities for critical thinking and self-
reflection;
 To prepare students for practice with oppressed, at-risk, and diverse
populations;
 To prepare students to evaluate, understand and apply
research to social work practice;
 To educate students in the application of professional values and
ethics to practice;
 To promote the ability to add to and disseminate social work
knowledge for the profession

10. Goals of CAU’s Whitney M.
Young, Jr. School of Social
Work-BSW Program
 To prepare students for beginning generalist professional
practice with individuals, families, small groups,
organizations and communities
 To prepare students to develop a professional identity that will
incorporate the values and ethics of the social work profession;
 To prepare students for practice with diverse groups;
 To prepare students as beginning social work generalists
who link social research and social service practice;
 To prepare students for lifelong learning and critical
thinking through an educational process combining a
liberal arts foundation with professional social work
education; and
 To prepare students for graduate education in social work.

11. Adult Educator’s Mission (Knowles,
1970)
 The needs and goals of institutions
 Adult education takes place within the context of
institutions and these institutions have needs and
goals that define the adult educator’s mission
 However, also included in the adult educator’s
mission are two other distinct sets of needs &
goals:
 #1. The needs and goals of individuals
 These needs are missing from CAU’s mission &
goals
 The institution’s goals for the individual vs. the
individual’s own personal goals
 #2. The needs and goals of society

12. The Path to Discovering My
Personal Mission & Goals
The CAU Whitney M. Young Jr., School
of Social Work’s Mission & Goals
Knowles’ (1970) Mission of the Adult
Educator & Principles of Andragogy
My Personal Mission & Goals

13. Personal Mission & Goals
Statement
 Needs and goals of student vs. those of the
institution and society
 It is necessary to meet the needs and goals of the
students, in addition to those of the institution and
society
 Students are humans, and their personal needs
(relevant to those of the institution and society) should
be met in addition to those of the institution and
society
 Education is about personal and professional
fulfillment
 Mission Statement:
 To mentor and guide students through a process of
self-development and growth toward becoming
creative, practical, and critical thinkers and research
informed and engaged social work professionals

14. Beyond Teaching to Mentoring
(Reinarz & White, 2001)
 Based largely on my current experiences as a mentor of
adolescents and a strong belief in the importance of
mentoring, in particular for students of color
 Students of color at times perceive the college campus
as hostile and unfriendly
 Barriers to their successful navigation of the system
can hinder academic performance and satisfaction
with the college experience
 Faculty are a valuable resource for students of color and
represent an intellectual and experiential resource
 This is particularly true and important at the BSW level
given many student’s unfamiliarity with the college
experience
 BSW students are essentially in their late

15. Personal Mission & Goals
Statement Cont’d
 Goals:
 #1. To improve and enhance learning experiences by expanding
the experiential dimension of student learning
 #2. To (re)ignite a spirit of curiosity and excitement for learning
 #3. To establish a climate of inquiry, critical, creative, & practical
thinking that assists in the development of social work
practitioners that demonstrate a commitment to searching for
solutions to societal problems
 #4. To assist students in acquiring the skills of self-directed
learning
 #5. To provide opportunities for self-development and growth by
first seeking to understand students’ personal needs and goals,
interests, abilities, motivations, prior experiences and how they
develop and learn
 #6. To strengthen the link between research & practice by
reducing student levels of anxiety and negative attitudes toward
research through increasing opportunities for knowledge
integration and hands-on, meaningful, and rich learning
experiences

16. Educational Philosophy
 There is an existence in all people of the will and
desire to learn
 “Believe your students can succeed, want to succeed,
and are willing to work for success (Tice, et. al., 2005,
p.13).
 Most students welcome and prefer challenging
coursework. Be demanding and hold high
expectations for your students. However, this
should be balanced with a caring attitude and a
willingness to assist your students in achieving
success as defined by them
 “Most students do not object to hard work, they object

17. Educational Philosophy
Cont’d
 Learning should take place within and across
course content areas
 Learning is not a process of compartmentalization, but of
integration, synthesis, and analysis of knowledge
 This is NOT done enough at the undergraduate level
 Learning is an active process. A wholistic view of
active learning should be taken (Fink, 2003)
 This view includes three components: 1) information and
ideas; 2) “doing” or “observing” experiences; & 3)
reflection
 Reflection is NOT done enough at all levels of higher
education
 The purpose of science in the profession is to
pursue to the goals of practice
 Research is intended to support effective practice

18. “Tell me, I forget. Show me, I remember.
Involve me, I understand.”
General Strategies for Teaching
BSW Students

19. The “Significant Learning
Experiences” Model (Fink,2003,
p.6-7)
 The central idea of this phrase is that:
 Teaching should result in something that is truly
significant in terms of the student’s lives
 A significant learning experience has both a
process and an outcome dimension
 Process
 Engaged
 High energy
 Outcome
 Significant and lasting change
 Value added to the student’s life
 “Teach for the future (Tice, et al., 2005, p.7).”
 “The ultimate effect of your teaching and your
course should be manifested many years after its
completion (Tice, et al., 2005, p.7).”
 Although you may never see the fruits of your labor,
plant the seeds with this in mind

20. The “Significant Learning
Experiences” Model Cont’d
 All significant
learning offers one
or more of the
following values:
 Enhancing one’s
individual life
 Enabling one to
contribute to the
many communities
of which they will be
a part
 Preparing one for
the world of work

21. Fink’s (2003) Taxonomy of
Significant Learning (p. 30)
Taxonomy of Significant Learning
Learning How to Learn
Foundational Knowledge
Caring
Human Dimension
Application
Integration
Connecting
ideas, people
and realms
of life
Skills; creative,
critical and
practical
thinking;
managing
projects
Understanding and
remembering
information and
ideas
Developing
new feelings,
interest, and
values
Learning
about
oneself
and others
Becoming a
better
student,
inquiring
about a
subject,
and self-
directing
learners

22. Helpful Questions for Formulating
Learning Goals & Strategies (Fink,
2003, p. 75)
 Foundational Knowledge
 What key information is important for students to understand and
remember in the future?
 Application
 What kinds of thinking are important for students to learn here (critical,
creative, and practical thinking)?
 Integration
 What connections should students recognize and make among ideas
within this course and between this course and other courses?
 Human Dimension
 What can our should students learn about themselves and interacting
with others?
 Caring
 What changes would you like to see in what students care about
(changes in feelings, interests, and values)?
 Learning How to Learn
 What would you like to see your students learn about?
 How to engage in inquiry, construct knowledge, become a self-directed

23. Inquiry-Guided Learning (Lee, 2004,
p.5)
 “Involve me…I understand.”
 Characterized By:
 Nurtured sense of curiosity and active
learning
 Critical, creative, and practical thinking
 Guided and increasingly independent
inquiry
 Inquiry Continuum: Overtime, instructor
guidance decreases while independent inquiry
increases
 This type of inquiry is key at the undergrad
level
 Responsibility for one’s own learning
 Intellectual growth, development, and
maturity

24. Inquiry-Guided Learning (Lee, 2004,
p.11)
 The process involves developing the ability of students
to:
 Formulate good questions
 Identify and collect appropriate evidence
 Present results systematically
 Analyze and interpret results
 Formulate conclusions
 Evaluate the worth and importance of those conclusions
 Identify problems
 Examine problems
 Generate possible solutions
 Select the best solution and provide an appropriate justification
 When should this type of learning occur? At the Ph.D
level? NO, at all levels!

25. Inquiry-Guided Learning
Cont’d
 Rather than teaching the results of other’s
investigations which students learn passively,
instructors assist students in mastering and learning
through the process of active investigation.
 Strategies Include:
 Interactive Lecture
 Discussion
 Problem-Based Learning
 Case Studies
 Simulations
 Independent Study
 The exclusive use of traditional lecturing is NOT
consistent with inquiry-guided learning

26. The Limitations of Lecturing
(Fink, 2003, p. 3)
 “Tell me. I forget….”
 A long history of research indicates
lecturing has limited effectiveness in
helping students:
 Retain information after a course is over
 Develop any ability to transfer knowledge
to novel situations
 Develop skill in thinking or problem
solving
 Achieve affective outcomes, such as
motivation for additional learning or a
change in attitude
 Ideally, lecture should be combined with
other modes of instruction that
encourage active rather than passive

27. Social Welfare Policy Course
Practice Course
Statistics Course
Course Specific Strategies for
Teaching BSW Students

28. #2. To (re)ignite a spirit of curiosity and excitement for
learning
#3. To establish a climate of inquiry, critical, creative, &
practical thinking that assists in the development of
social work practitioners that demonstrate a
commitment to searching for solutions to societal
problems
#4. To assist students in acquiring the skills of self-
directed learning
Relationship of Strategy to
Goals

29. Debate as a Strategic Tool for
Teaching Social Policy (Gregory &
Holloway, 2005)
 1) Competency-Based Approach
 This approach is consistent with EPAS Explicit
Curriculum Educational Policy 2.1- Core
Competencies
 “Competency-based education is an
outcome performance approach to
curriculum design. Competencies are
measurable practice behaviors that are
comprised of knowledge, values, and skills.
The goal of the outcome approach is to
demonstrate the integration and application
of competencies in practice.”
 Focus is on the learning of course content
 Students engage merely in “surface”
learning in which minimal effort is made to

30. Debate as a Strategic Tool for
Teaching Social Policy Cont’d
 2) Experiential & Reflective Approach
 Broadened conceptualization of the competency-
based approach
 Students become critical thinkers, use their
knowledge reflectively, and engage in “deep”
learning for the purposes of gaining a real
understanding of the material being studied,
bringing new learning to bear on a previous
knowledge base
 This approach is consistent with EPAS
Explicit Curriculum Educational Policy
2.1.3
 Apply critical thinking to inform and communicate
professional judgments
 Social workers are knowledgeable about the
principles of logic, scientific inquiry, and reasoned
discernment. They use critical thinking

31. Debate as a Strategic Tool for
Teaching Social Policy Cont’d
 Both approaches are consistent with:
 EPAS Explicit Curriculum Educational
Policy 2.1.8- Engage in policy practice to
advance social and economic well being and
to deliver effective social work services
 Social work practitioners understand that policy
effects service delivery, and they actively engage
in policy practice. Social workers know the history
and current structures of social policies and
services; they role of policy in service delivery;
and the role of practice in policy development

32. Debate as a Strategic Tool for
Teaching Social Policy Cont’d
 Debate as a means of promoting the learning of
social policy
 Debate encourages active and engaged learning
 Allows students to gain policy practice skills as
well as substantive policy knowledge
 Empirically validated link between debating and
the development of critical thinking and
argumentation skills that allow students to:
 Identify and challenge values and assumptions
 Recognize the importance of context
 Investigate and analyze dilemmas, conflicts, and
competing alternatives
 Develop reflective skepticism
 Develop, defend, and advocate for a particular
position
 Articulate a point of view in a precise manner

33. Debate as a Strategic Tool for
Teaching Social Policy Cont’d
 Debate as a means of assessing student
learning of social policy
 Learning Outcomes:
 Ability to learn actively, use reasoning and logical
judgment, and think critically
 Knowledge of social policy and ability to present
social policy ideas
 Presentation, negotiation, persuasion skills; all of
which are valuable practice skills
 Ability to critique alternative arguments and
address complexities, problems, dilemmas, and
differences that they will contend with in practice
 Demonstrate understanding of the integration of
policy and practice; ability to consider the
implications of a particular position for service
delivery processes and outcomes

34. #6. To strengthen the link between research & practice by
reducing student levels of anxiety and negative attitudes
toward research through increasing opportunities for
knowledge integration and hands-on, meaningful, and rich
learning experiences
Relationship of Strategy to
Goals

35. The Integration of Research into Practice
Courses (Berger, 2002; Hardcastle &
Bisman, 2003)
 Integrating relevant research content with
appropriate practice content
 Rationale
 Intertwining research with practice, rather than
compartmentalizing them, conveys the message that
the two are related
 Students learn the principles of practice and methods
of studying various populations (i.e., observation
component)
 The intent is NOT to replace one with the other, but to
integrate the two
 Research as Practice Methodology Model
 This model argues that the intent of research
knowledge and skills is to support good practice
 That scientific epistemology and research
methodological skills are part and parcel of practice
knowledge and skills
 The purpose of science in the profession is to pursue
to goals of practice

36. The Integration of Research into
Practice Courses Cont’d
 This approach is consistent with EPAS
Explicit Curriculum Educational Policy 2.1.6
 Engage in research informed practice and practice-
informed research
 Social workers use practice experience to inform
research, employ evidence-based intervention,
evaluate their own practice, and use research
findings to improve practice, policy, and social
service delivery. Social workers comprehend
qualitative and quantitative research and
understand scientific and ethical approaches to
building knowledge

37. #1. To improve and enhance learning experiences by expanding
the experiential dimension of student learning
#6. To strengthen the link between research & practice by
reducing student levels of anxiety and negative attitudes
toward research through increasing opportunities for
knowledge integration and hands-on, meaningful, and rich
learning experiences
Relationship of Strategy to
Goals

38. Integration of a Service-Learning
Component in Statistics Courses (Wells,
2006)
 Underlying Assumptions of this Approach:
 Integration of a service-learning component into statistics courses (or
research sequence) makes statistics “real” for social work students.
 A central goal is to use research skills to effect some social change or to
contribute to community improvement
 Can strengthen classroom learning and facilitate application of
academic skills to community needs
 Service learning activities with a research focus can provide clear
linkages between social work research and practice
 Engaging students in community-based projects with real world
applications of research skills learned in class can deepen student
understanding of concepts
 Implementation of Service Learning Component
 Instructor identifies community social service agency that would like
data analysis assistance and structures class assignments around the
agency’s data and a social work statistics textbook
 At the end of the course, students put together a final report and present
their results to the community agency in the final class session

39. Integration of a Service-Learning
Component in Statistics Courses
Cont’d
 Modification: utilize a simulation
(indirect/vicarious “doing” experience) of a
hypothetical agency/community and
secondary data in order to eliminate the ethical
dilemmas and risks associated with
irresponsible conduct of research
 Make the project agency/community-oriented
rather than agency/community-based

40. References
 Berger, R. (2002). Teaching research in practice courses. Social Work Education, 21, 347-
358.
 Fink, L.D. (2003). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to
designing college courses. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
 Gregory, M., & Holloway, M. (2005). The debate as a pedagogical tool in social policy for
social work students. Social Work Education, 24, 617-637.
 Knowles, M. (1978). The adult learner: A neglected species. Houston, TX: Gulf Publishing
Company.
 Knowles, M. (1970). The modern practice of adult education: Andragogy versus pedagogy.
New York, NY: Association Press.
 Hardcastle, D.A., & Bisman, C.D. (2003). Innovations in teaching social work research.
Social Work Education, 22, 31-43.
 Lee, V.S. (2004). Teaching and learning through inquiry: Guidebook for institutions and
instructors. Sterling, VA: Stylus.
 Tice, S.L., Jackson, N., Lambert, L.M., & Englot, P. (2005). University teaching: A
reference guide for graduate students and faculty. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University
Press.
 Matlock-Scisney, M., & Matlock, J. (2001). Beyond teaching to mentoring. New Directions
for Teaching and Learning, 85, 75-84.
 Wankat, P.C. (2002). The effective, efficient professor: Teaching, scholarship, and service.
Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
 Wells, M. (2006). Teaching notes: Making statistics real for social work students. Journal of
Social Work Education, 42, 397-404.