Transformative Social Work Education: The Hallmark of Empowerment

Abstract

Although the social work profession is inherently transformative, it is also going through transformation to meet local and global changes and challenges brought about by climate change and environmental degradation, social and health inequalities, poverty and sustainable development, among others. Experiential learning, social justice, inequalities, and empowerment are central to the transformation process. In this chapter, the authors discuss transformative social work education and how it fosters empowerment through experience. Transformative and experiential learning theories are examined, and it is shown how they contribute to transformation and empowerment. The authors argue that transformative social work education is the hallmark of empowerment because the profession (itself transformative), centralizes empowerment by enhancing capabilities of the people it serves. Field work education is perhaps the main transformation mechanism that social work uses. As such, social work education should nourish environments in which transformation would easily be fostered.