Overview
- Guides readers in the development of a national social work competency framework
- Shows how to contextualize a social work competency framework
- Guides social work schools in the evaluation of education outcomes through the competency framework
Part of the book series: European Social Work Education and Practice (ESWEP)
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Table of contents (10 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Understanding a Professional Competencies Approach
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Front Matter
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Major Areas of Professional Competencies
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Front Matter
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Measuring Professional Competencies and Education Outcomes
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Front Matter
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Professional Competencies and Professional Development
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
- social work competencies
- professional competence framework for social change
- competency-based education (CBE)
- research instrument for measuring professional competencies
- social work identity
- evaluation self-efficacy scale
- knowledge-base for social work
- evaluation of field practice
- evaluation of education programs in social work
- education outcomes in social work
- meta-competencies in social work
- process competencies in social work
- career development in social work
- professional development in social work
- professional socialization in social work
- social work leadership
- social work education outcomes
- holistic competence in social work
- professional capabilities framework (PCF) for social workers
- pedagogical methods in social work
About this book
There has been growing interest to define the social work profession within a professional competencies framework. Professional competencies are considered in their complexity as a triangle of knowledge, skills and values. They are not solely a tool for education and practice, but they are also important for professional socialization and identity in social work. A professional competencies approach has been used to define standards and expectations for social workers-practitioners; it is an evaluation tool for formal education and lifelong learning programs, provides guidance for field practice and placements for social work students, and could be a frame for distinguishing levels of professional expertise.
The volume provides an up-to-date, comprehensive overview of a professional competencies approach in social work with 10 chapters organized in four sections:
- Part I: Understanding a Professional Competencies Approach, including Criticisms of the Competency-Based Education Approach
- Part II: Major Areas of Professional Competencies, including Leadership and Professional Socialisation
- Part III: Measuring Professional Competencies and Education Outcomes, including How to Conceptualise, Operationalise and Measure Professional Competencies in Social Work
- Part IV: Professional Competencies and Professional Development, including A Model of Holistic Competence in Social Work and the unique Professional Capabilities Framework
Social Work in the Frame of a Professional Competencies Approach is essential reading for social work instructors, academics and national professional associations interested in developing or reviewing their professional competencies framework. It is an invaluable resource for experts in statutory bodies that set up a legislative framework of social work practice or work in the accreditation of social work education programs. The book is useful for social work students interested in understanding the theoretical background of social work, as well as for field practitioners who wish to use professional competencies for their self-reflection, self-evaluation and professional identity.
Editors and Affiliations
About the editor
Ana Opačić, PhD, is an associate professor at the Social Work Study Center, Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb in Croatia. She was a project leader on a collaborative research project ˝Social Work in Social Welfare Centers in the Republic of Croatia˝ in which the aim was to develop, measure and validate a national framework of professional competencies. She has more than 10 years of experience in teaching theory of social work at the baccalaureate, master’s and postgraduate doctorate levels. She is one of the authors of the university textbook Theory of Social Work and author of many articles about social work in domestic and international peer-reviewed journals.
Ana Opačić is very active in professional associations, namely Croatian Chamber of Social Workers and Croatian Association of Social Workers. She is engaged in statutory bodies dealing with professional standards and competencies in social work.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Social Work in the Frame of a Professional Competencies Approach
Editors: Ana Opačić
Series Title: European Social Work Education and Practice
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13528-6
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-031-13527-9Published: 20 October 2022
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-031-13530-9Published: 21 October 2023
eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-13528-6Published: 19 October 2022
Series ISSN: 2662-2440
Series E-ISSN: 2662-2459
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XVII, 204
Number of Illustrations: 4 b/w illustrations, 7 illustrations in colour
Topics: Ethics and Values in Social Work, Social Work, Professional & Vocational Education