Abstract
Informative abstract:This chapter addresses the need for indigenizing the social work education curriculum. This is long overdue because, traditionally, social work students receive an education entrenched in European history and Eurocentric values. This narrow education limits students to only practicing dominant society norms when they become professional social workers. Even Indigenous individuals who study social work at Western universities primarily receive an education steeped in the dominant Western paradigm. Lacking knowledge outside these norms has historically caused harm to Indigenous people. Historically and to some degree today, social work with Indigenous people and communities has stressed assimilation as opposed to empowerment and social justice. In addition, this chapter provides strategies to aid in indigenizing the social work curriculum. This is both necessary and achievable, as social work educators are ideally situated to teach how the principles of cultural competence and social justice can be applied to work with Indigenous people. Teaching about the root causes of structural inequities that exist in today’s society and found in many Native populations can facilitate an understanding of the need to work for social justice with Native people. Significantly, this aspect of a social work student’s education can provide an alternative to the Western Eurocentric perspectives of history and culture while at the same time recognizing the aspects of the helping philosophies that are compatible with Indigenous ways of knowing and being.
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Unal, D. (2023). Indigenizing the Social Work Curriculum: Why It Matters and How to Start?. In: Majumdar, K., Baikady, R., D'Souza, A.A. (eds) Indigenization Discourse in Social Work. Springer Series in International Social Work. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-37712-9_6
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