Discussion: Interview With a Social Worker
Thinking back to your social work inspiration in Week 1, consider whether your perspective has changed, your goals have expanded, or you have affirmed your reason for beginning this journey. Now, reflect on what you learned as you interviewed a social worker in the field for this Assignment. How could you apply what you learned in your coursework to the field of practice you learned more about in person through the interview?
Does the combination of your inspiration, your learning, and your experience with a social worker in practice help you visualize your future as a social worker? Does the combination of what inspires you, what you’ve learned, and what you’ve seen a social worker do in the real world help you see yourself as a social worker?
For this Discussion, you will interview a social worker to find out what they do in their current organization and how they got to where they are in their career. You make a professional PowerPoint presentation to share what you learned from the interview and from thinking about this experience.
For this Discussion, you interview a social worker and learn about their role in their current organization, as well as their social work career path. You create a professional PowerPoint presentation to share the information you learned from the interview and in reflecting on this experience.
To Prepare
• Read the requirements of the presentation listed below, and with those in mind, review your notes from your interview and any other information you gathered. Organize the learning from your notes based on the requirements below.
• Tip: Don’t just paste an essay into your slides. Follow the best practices for creating a PowerPoint presentation. Use the Notes section in PowerPoint to represent what you would say to add context to the slides.
By Day 3
Post your Agency Presentation to the Discussion thread following the guidelines below.
In a 6- to 8-slide PowerPoint presentation, address each of the following areas:
• Describe the agency you visited. Include:
o Services offered
o Mission of the agency
o Clientele or population served
• Describe the social worker’s job activities and professional roles.
• Explain what brought the social worker to the field and their work history.
• Explain opportunities for advancement and what the social worker does for professional development.
• Describe the social worker’s overall job satisfaction.
• Identify the strategies the social worker uses for self-care.
• Analyze your experience. Specifically:
o Discuss your thoughts and feelings related to the agency, clientele, and type of work.
o Reflect on why you may have experienced these reactions to the agency, clientele, and type of work.
• Explain which social work values and ethics were evident (or not evident) during the interview.
• Explain how cultural awareness was demonstrated (or not demonstrated) within the agency or by the social worker.
• Explain how social justice relates to the services provided or population served by this agency.
Learning Resources
Required Readings
Gambrill, E. (2016). Is social work evidence-based? Does saying so make it so? Ongoing challenges in integrating research, practice and policy. Journal of Social Work Education, 52(sup1), S110–S125. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2016.1174642
Levenson, J. (2017). Trauma-informed social work practice. Social Work, 62(2), 105-113.
Parrish, D. E. (2018). Evidence-based practice: A common definition matters. Journal of Social Work Education, 54(3), 407–411. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/10437797.2018.1498691
Sue, D. W., Rasheed, M. N., & Rasheed, J. M. (2016). Evidence-based multicultural social work practice. In Multicultural social work practice: A competency-based approach to diversity and social justice (pp. 373–401). Jossey-Bass.
Walden University: Writing Center. (n.d.). PowerPoint presentation. https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/templates/general#s-lg-box-20293636
Note: This is a link to a Walden University PowerPoint template.
Required Media
Walden University. (2021). Evidence-based practice. [Video]. http://class.waldenu.edu
Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 2 minutes.
Accessible player
Walden University. (2016, 2021). The importance of self-care. [Video]. http://class.waldenu.edu
Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 2 minutes.
Accessible player
Walden University. (2021). Your role in social work. [Video]. http://class.waldenu.edu
Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 4 minutes.
Accessible player
Discussion: Cultural Awareness in Social Work Practice
In order to become a practitioner who addresses the diverse needs of your clients in a sensitive and respectful manner, you must be dedicated to continued education around the needs and experiences of different groups, religions, ethnicities, and other populations. The first step is to identify any personal biases and perceptions you might have about other cultures. From a broader perspective, how might an individual’s culture, race, ethnicity, disability, or sexual orientation affect how society perceives and treats them? Which potential social structures may perpetuate the oppression and marginalization of certain groups? The most important attribute you can bring to this topic is an open mind and a willingness to learn about others unlike yourself and ask how they want to be treated by you as a social worker. In this Discussion, you consider these topics in relation to a case study depicting issues in cultural competence.
To Prepare
• Review this week’s Learning Resources, including the videos, and then reflect on the following:
o What is your definition of cultural competency?
o What skills do you think are necessary for attaining cultural competence as a social worker working with that population?
o What is the difference between having knowledge about a cultural group and engaging with an individual from the stance of cultural humility?
o Then, search the Walden Library for additional information that supports the skills you selected.
o For help with this discussion, please refer back to the Library recommendations in Week 3.
Helpful hint: Try using different keywords including:
cultural intelligence
cultural sensitivity
cultural humility
cultural competence
cultural literacy
Add the keyword “skills” to find articles on specific skills that promote cultural awareness in social work practice.
By Day 3
Post a response to the following:
• Provide your definition of cultural humility.
• Explain how this is similar or different to how the Kirst-Ashman and Hull textbook describes cultural competence.
• Explain the skills you think are necessary for developing cultural awareness as a social worker.
Support your post with examples from the course text and any other resources used to respond to this Discussion. Demonstrate that you have completed the required readings, understand the material, and are able to apply the concepts. Include a full reference of resources at the bottom of the post.
Learning Resources
Required Readings
Kirst-Ashman, K. K., & Hull, G. H., Jr. (2018). Empowerment series: Understanding generalist practice (8th ed.). CENGAGE Learning.
• Chapter 12, “Culturally Competent Social Work Practice” (pp. 466–498)
• Chapter 13, “Gender-Sensitive Social Work Practice” (pp. 499–543)
Azzopardi, C., & McNeill, T. (2016). From cultural competence to cultural consciousness: Transitioning to a critical approach to working across differences in social work. Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 25(4), 282–299. https://doi.org/10.1080/15313204.2016.1206494
Fisher-Borne, M., Cain, J. M., & Martin, S. L. (2015). From mastery to accountability: Cultural humility as an alternative to cultural competence. Social Work Education, 34(2), 165–181. doi:10.1080/02615479.2014.977244
Hook, J. N., Farrell, J. E., Davis, D. E., DeBlaere, C., Van Tongeren, D. R., & Utsey, S. O. (2016). Cultural humility and racial microaggressions in counseling. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 63(3), 269–277. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000114
Walden University Writing Center. (2020). Walden templates: General templates: PowerPoint presentation. http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/templates/general#s-lg-box-2774360
Document: Interview Presentation: Questions (Word document)
