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"Being a Person, Not Just a Function" - Teaching Professional Knowledge within Social Work Education
Mälardalen University, School of Health, Care and Social Welfare, Health and Welfare.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-3068-5384
Univ Coll Cork, Sch Appl Social Studies, Cork, Ireland.
Mälardalen University, School of Health, Care and Social Welfare, Health and Welfare.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-5387-325x
2026 (English)In: Journal of Teaching in Social Work, ISSN 0884-1233, E-ISSN 1540-7349, Vol. 46, no 1, p. 41-60Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

How social work students develop professional knowledge is seldom discussed or studied. The aim of this study is to explore what professional knowledge in social work is, and when and how it can be stimulated through educational practices. The methodology used was World Caf & eacute; workshops; one with teachers in Sweden, one with teachers in Ireland, and one with Swedish social work students in the last semester of their education. The results are based on an analysis of the notes from the teachers and students who participated in the workshops. Professional knowledge in educational practice is interpreted as consisting of four main themes: Developing and maintaining relationships; Creating engagement in learning situations; A lifelong learning process; and Responsiveness to others and self. The results from the workshops show that professional knowledge can be stimulated in social work education using various pedagogical tools involving relational teaching and qualitative meetings with students. The teachers in the study highlight challenges impacting these teaching practices; these include large student groups and increasing administrative burdens that reduce their time for students and for learning collaboratively with colleagues and others. The teachers wanted to include professional knowledge at all educational levels including doctoral theses in social work.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Informa UK Limited , 2026. Vol. 46, no 1, p. 41-60
Keywords [en]
Social work education, teaching practice, professional knowledge, phronesis, practice-based wisdom
National Category
Social Work
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-74754DOI: 10.1080/08841233.2025.2593671ISI: 001623288400001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105023279557OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mdh-74754DiVA, id: diva2:2018504
Available from: 2025-12-03 Created: 2025-12-03 Last updated: 2026-02-09Bibliographically approved

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Östlund, GunnelLassinantti, Kitty

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