TY - JOUR
T1 - Human Development Education for Social Workers in Multicultural Societies
AU - Roer-Strier, Dorit
PY - 2005/4
Y1 - 2005/4
N2 - In many countries, social workers are faced with the challenge of tailoring their practice to the diverse needs of children and families in multicultural realities. Our training and teaching practices, however, lag behind in their readiness to face this challenge. Attempts to reconcile cultural perspectives and postmodernism with the traditional goals of human development education are generally premised on the following assumptions: (a) postmodernist education fosters the ability to think critically and question assumptions underlying claims to knowledge; (b) theories should be evaluated for their usefulness and applicability to a more equitable society; and (c) a dialogic model of education in human development highlights the ‘inherently polysemous’ nature of human existence rather than transmitting a codified body of knowledge. The paper calls attention to the challenges of cross-cultural psychology, indigenous psychology and postmodern critique and offers the means of confronting these challenges. Examples are based on teaching experiences in Israel and the US.
AB - In many countries, social workers are faced with the challenge of tailoring their practice to the diverse needs of children and families in multicultural realities. Our training and teaching practices, however, lag behind in their readiness to face this challenge. Attempts to reconcile cultural perspectives and postmodernism with the traditional goals of human development education are generally premised on the following assumptions: (a) postmodernist education fosters the ability to think critically and question assumptions underlying claims to knowledge; (b) theories should be evaluated for their usefulness and applicability to a more equitable society; and (c) a dialogic model of education in human development highlights the ‘inherently polysemous’ nature of human existence rather than transmitting a codified body of knowledge. The paper calls attention to the challenges of cross-cultural psychology, indigenous psychology and postmodern critique and offers the means of confronting these challenges. Examples are based on teaching experiences in Israel and the US.
KW - Cross Cultural Perspective
KW - Human Development Education
KW - Post Modern Critique
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85055305491&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/02615470500050537
DO - 10.1080/02615470500050537
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AN - SCOPUS:85055305491
SN - 0261-5479
VL - 24
SP - 311
EP - 326
JO - Social Work Education
JF - Social Work Education
IS - 3
ER -