Poverty Simulations in Social Work Education

Posted By Laurel Hitchcock on Feb 5, 2022

As many of you may already know, simulations are increasingly being incorporated into social work education in various ways (online, in-person, virtual or augmented reality, large-scale, standardized patient, OSCE (Objective structured clinical exams), formative assessment, etc.). In addition, simulations often cover a range of topics such as child welfare home visits, assessment skills, and interprofessional teamwork. The goal of a simulation is to offer students an alternative or mock situation of a real one to meet specific learning outcomes. Reasons for using simulations range from assessing student competency, wanting to offer unique learning experiences to students (i.e., practice assessing for suicidality), and needing to shift instruction to virtual settings (i.e., think moving field hours out of community-based settings). 

I have worked on several projects that integrate simulations into our BSW and MSW programs at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), where I work. One of the most successful has been the use of poverty simulations at our institution. In this blog post, I share why and how we implement poverty simulations, offering guidance for those wanting to add this active learning experience to their curriculum.

Re-Capping Teaching & Learning in SWK for 2021

Posted By Laurel Hitchcock on Dec 30, 2021

One of my academic favorites is Dr. Katie Linder who produces a podcast called You’ve Got This, where she offers advice and examples for other academics as they navigate the world of higher education. Frequently, Katie talks about goal setting and how she works to accomplish her own goals. As I listened to her end-of-the-year podcast about her 2021 goals, all I could think about was my blog.

You see, every year, I set goals for this blog, and rarely do I accomplish these goals. Here is some of the evidence:

Review of Teaching & Learning in Social Work for 2019

Review of Teaching & Learning in Social Work for 2018

Review of Teaching & Learning in Social Work for 2017

Review of Teaching & Learning in Social Work Blog Posts for 2016

I even tried to set goals for the first quarter of 2020 and publish only seven blog posts. Sigh! Here they are:

Using LinkedIn for #SWVirtualPal

Posted By Laurel Hitchcock on Sep 8, 2021

Editor’s note: This post is cross-published on the Social Work Virtual Pal website. Social Work Virtual Pal is a global and virtual community of practice for the social work profession, that digitizes the practice of having a pen pal for professional learning and networking.  This community focuses on connection and collaboration among social workers to offer the profession with an opportunity to harness its collective knowledge for the greater good. We have resources for social work educators so, please consider incorporating #SWVirtualPal in your social work course. Learn about Social Work Virtual Pal here.

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Social Work Virtual Pal now has a LinkedIn Group for social work students, instructors, and practitioners to connect with other social workers around the world.  Similar to our Twitter account, this is a virtual space that digitizes the practice of having a pen pal for professional learning and networking. In addition, this community focuses on connection and collaboration among social workers to offer the profession an opportunity to harness its collective knowledge for the greater good.  In this blog post, we offer details for creating a LinkedIn Profile, establishing your digital networking goals, and then joining our LinkedIn Group to find your #SWVirtualPal.  

Where to start 

LinkedIn is a social networking site designed specifically for professional use and offers a robust user profile system that serves as a digital resume.  It is a great place to establish your online presence as a social work student or practitioner.  As with any social media platform, you’ll want to start with creating your LinkedIn profile.  There are many online tutorials on creating a high-quality LinkedIn profile, and LinkedIn’s Help feature offers many tips and guides on navigating the platform.  Before getting started with your profile, you will want to have a professional-looking photo and a copy of your resume handy.  Set aside a few hours to create your profile. Here is a good profile checklist designed for college students, but applicable to anyone. 

Because #SWVirtualPal is designed to help social workers from around the world connect with other social workers, there are some additional features to consider adding to your profile: 

Writing your values-based teaching philosophy

Posted By Laurel Hitchcock on Aug 5, 2021

This blog post is one of a three-part series about how to write a values-based teaching philosophy.  In this blog post, we (April Love and Laurel Hitchcock) cover tips for writing and presenting a values-based teaching philosophy.  The first post offers a process for identifying your teaching values and in the third post, we share our own values-based teaching philosophies.  This post is cross-published on April’s Blog – Genuine Curiosity: Navigating Nursing Education Now.

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If you are reading this blog post, then you have already done some work to identify your teaching values – see our first blog post – How to define your Teaching Values.  We know you’ve worked hard and put in the time to truly identify teaching values that speak to the heart and practice of your professional identity.  You’ve reviewed, compared, and reflected on various teaching values and now feel confident that those you’ve selected represent you well and that you’re ready to share them with others.

In addition to identifying your teaching values, you’ve also spent some time collecting “evidence” as to how these values are showing up in your work.  Maybe you have a special process that encourages students to speak freely in your classroom, which is a great example of how you’re living the value of “safety” or “inclusion.”  Maybe it’s a new technology that you’ve introduced to your department that has you leading the charge for “innovation” or “creativity.”  Whatever those examples are that showcase how you’re walking the walk and talking the talk, you’ll want to display them in your teaching philosophy.  Actions often speak louder than words.  

Now is the time to transform your values and evidence into a two-page written statement of teaching philosophy that you can share with others in a variety of ways depending on your audience and other environmental considerations.