Social Work in Europe: Educating for Change
Professor Karen Lyons and Sue Lawrence have edited a new book: Social Work in Europe: Educating for Change. It asserts that social work is a diverse and contested activity in which national traditions and cultural factors affect its form and its adaptation to changing political and socio-economic conditions.
However, the education and research that underpin this professional field are increasingly open to influences from outside local and national boundaries, and the book takes a thematic approach to an analysis of such external influences.
The editors, and Norman Ginsburg, identify the changing political context, primarily as influenced by the European Union. They then address major themes in relation to education for the social professions. The book focuses on issues related to education for different forms of social work, research as an element in the curriculum, and as an activity which should inform policy and practice development. It looks at the challenge to educational programmes of preparing students for the increasingly racist national and regional contexts within which professionals must operate.
In the concluding chapters, the editors speculate about the implications of developments at regional and global level for social work. They suggest that increased numbers of students would benefit from educational programmes which include comparative and international perspectives. This is a position supported by the joint sponsors of the book, the International Association of Schools of Social Work, and Venture Press.
