European Association of Schools of Social Work Conference Madrid 2019

QUALITY FOR SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION IN CHANGING EUROPE

4-7, June 2019

The European Association of Schools of Social Work and the Faculty of Social Work of the Complutense University of Madrid announce the 2019 European Conference on Social Work Education, which aims at being an international forum for debating innovation, concerns, challenges and practices in Social Work education. The overarching theme of the conference is Meanings of Quality for Social Work Education in changing Europe. 

We invite social work educators, researchers and practitioners to present debates, experiences and research related to Social Work education for fighting against world inequality and  for promoting  social  justice  and  dignity  of  people.  At this stake we argue that  high-quality  Social Work  education  is  needed,  in  order  to  also  challenge  the  common  understanding  of  the concept of quality as presented by the neo-liberal and managerial agenda for Social Work.

The concept of quality is meant to address issues of diversity, of inequality  in  societies,  of barriers  to  access  opportunities,  of  promoting  social  and  human  rights, of promoting respect for human dignity and individual identities,  of sustainability, and of what  these demand from Social Work education programmes and educators.

As we are concluding the 2020 target for the European strategy for growth, sustainability and inclusion and approaching the UN  2030  agenda  for  sustainable  development,  it  has  become increasingly evident that the present conditions of world’s uncertainty, acceleration and rapid change  have  global  implications  and  affect,  in  first  place,  vulnerable  populations  of  each society.  The issue  of  equality  in  societies  and  of  barriers  which  hinders  it  is,  thus,  critical  to whoever  aims  to  contribute  for  a  better  world,  driven  by  social  justice  purposes  and  human rights acknowledgement.

In this sense, social workers currently face complex challenges in tackling barriers to the access to opportunities, to social rights, to economic growth, to sustainable lifestyles and to take part of the global development and wealth. Professionals are urged to contribute to inclusive practices, which engender new forms of distribution and create opportunities for all.

To meet this end, Social  Work  practice  has  become  increasingly  demanding  and  requests creativity, entrepreneurship, proactivity, policy action, expertise, high technical competencies and so forth from the professional. This challenges education for Social Work and puts on the arena the debate of how and what to teach students to become well-prepared and competent social   workers.   In   other   words, education should   seek   for   high-quality   practices, methodologies and contents.

The European Conference on Social Work Education, continuing the work developed at  the previous ones, aims to create a forum for discussion, reflexivity and exchange of issues which can contribute to respond to such demands.

The conference will be  structured  in  different  settings  of  debate  and  sharing,  which  will include: keynote speeches, plenary panels, masterclasses, parallel sessions of presenting papers according to the defined streams, symposia of collective around a given topic, workshops of pedagogical experiences, e-poster presentation.

The call for papers will be open to any teacher, student, researcher, professional and user interested in social work related topics, and specifically social work education issues. Proposals from PhD students will be very welcome, as well as from experienced researchers and academics in the field of Social Work. Professionals and service users are also invited to participate. The proposals might be research-based, classroom or fieldwork-based or professional practice-based. Abstracts should be presented in English and must follow the guidelines and keywords according to UNESCO criteria. Acceptance will not privilege any particular approach; the organizing committee is engaged with a pro-diversity orientation and will be happy to accept a mix of proposals that fit within the following themes. Parallel sessions, symposia and workshops will be subjected to a peer-review selection process.

 

 

CONFERENCE STREAMS.

 

1. Reflections on and presentation of methodologies and methods for promote quality in Social Work Education. Practice training and practice research enhancing quality of Social Work Education.

a) Proposals for inclusive practices for the promotion of new opportunities for vulnerable populations.

b) Debates on methods in social work for an open society.

c) Social work training in current social needs.

d) Curricular designs: human rights, diversity and gender.

e) Different scopes in social work among Europe?

 

2. Quality of Social Work Education to respond to contexts of social disruption and new demands in transformative and multi-professional settings.

a) Europe in front of the mirror. Social work, people in motion and refuge. Rights vs. barriers

b) Human trafficking. Education and intervention. Care and prevention.

c) Minors, minors protection and social work. 

c) Diversity in and out Europe. What to do from social work.

d) Social work in social disruption. A place among professions.

e) School training for social emergencies. Social work visibility.

 

3. Social innovations and technology in Social Work Education promoting equity

and a participatory society.

a) Social work and technology, Limits and potentialities in education.

b) Social work, e-pedagogy and e-learning. Connecting universities, people and knowledge.

c) Social work as creativity. 

d) Lessons of social innovation and technology to address social work.

e) Democracy as participation. Removing barriers and promoting citizenship from diversity.

 

4. Strengthening Social Work Education to improve the quality of communities.

a) Social justice from the school, how to train in a culture of rights.

b) Open roads to communication between communities. Knowledge and practice in social work.

c) Training and placing individuals in their communities. Participation and deciding culture 

d) Opening the classroom to reality. Findings in social coexistence.

e) Reviewing and measuring the impact of social work with communities. Desired and unwanted effects.

 

5. Quality of Social Work Education to turn out and boost ethics, human rights and gender in an open and democratic society. Critical reflection of quality evaluation of Social Work Education and politics behind it.

a) Last challenges of ethics in social work studies in the open society.

b) Human rights and social work. Promoting democracy from the school.

c) An incomplete democracy with pending subjects. Gender and social work.

d) Feasibility of the ultimate goal, human dignity and social work.

e) Lessons of diversity and differences in a more equitable society.

 

6. Debating quality under the influence of managerialism and neoliberalism in

social and public policies framework.

a) Social work studies after crisis. Organizative manageralization and other issues.

b) Coexistence and vulnerability in the societies of effectiveness.

c) Social work as neoliberalist superstructure? Strategies and options to change societies.

d) Are still social rights a European discourse? New barriers in accessing social rights.

e) Workfare or welfare. Demonstrating citizenship or just being citizen.

 

Registration Info

The Registration to the Conference is mandatory to be enabled to attend the Sessions and the Conference events (Opening Ceremony, Lunches, Coffee Breaks, Social Visits and Events). Paid Registration is also mandatory to have the accepted Paper included in the Conference.