A triad model of engaged social work pedagogy: connecting research, education, and action

ABSTRACT

Social work is troubled by long-standing tensions that emanate from its origin as both a practice-based profession and an academic discipline. Social work’s core social justice values often run counter to traditional positivist research and academic education. In academia, these tensions appear as educators are called to better prepare students for high quality research as well as to implement anti-oppressive (AOP) content into their curriculum. This article presents the Triad Model, which responds to these dual calls for engaged AOP academia and pedagogy by engaging students in anti-oppressive research and community practice. We begin by identifying three main challenges for teaching AOP social work research. Building on the principles of engaged pedagogy, participatory research, and community-academy partnerships, we then present a Triad Model that merges research, education, and action. This model fosters a holistic approach that entwines the three strands, while honoring diverse forms of knowledge and perspectives to promote social change. We discuss implications and provide guidelines for educators who wish to adopt the Triad Mode in ways that are responsive to their local context and pedagogical goals.

KEYWORDS:

• Engaged pedagogy
• community/university partnerships
• anti-oppressive practice
• participatory action research
• research education
• social work education
• instructional innovations
• praxis

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our gratitude to our community partners, the staff and local activists of UW. We would also like to thank all the students that worked with us for two years. We would like to thank Lane Victorson of University of Maryland School of Social Work - Social Work Community Outreach Services (SWCOS) for his encouragement and community wisdom.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).