Lessons from the Past: Exploring Social Work Histories to Enrich what we Teach and How we Practice
An on-going challenge for social work is to educate students to be able to work creatively and effectively in an ever-changing practice context. This symposium articulates the value of drawing on historical perspectives to inform, disrupt and expand our understandings of past practices. Such historical explorations hold the possibility for naming continuities which shape current practices, as well as recognising breaks with what preceded and (re)discovering lessons from the past, to create socially just and inclusive ways of working.
The profession, both in Australia and internationally, has not always given due regard to its practice history. This contrasts with domains such as social policy, which can draw on an extensive legacy of social welfare history to inform policy analysis and formulation. Revisiting our histories across time and place through an exploration of the actors involved, processes undertaken, outcomes achieved and values expressed we may bring new understandings for ways of practicing in the twenty-first century.
This symposium will include an international panel who will speak to the continuities, breaks and emerging lessons which maybe drawn from an examination of selected historical social work practice exemplars. The audience will be invited to dialogue with the panel to explicate ways in which we may name, claim and document our history to enrich and strengthen what we teach and how we practice.