“Being a Person, Not Just a Function”–Teaching Professional Knowledge within Social Work Education

How social work students develop professional knowledge is seldom discussed or studied. The aim of this study is to explore what professional knowledge in social work is, and when and how it can be stimulated through educational practices. The methodology used was World Café workshops; one with teachers in Sweden, one with teachers in Ireland, and one with Swedish social work students in the last semester of their education. The results are based on an analysis of the notes from the teachers and students who participated in the workshops. Professional knowledge in educational practice is interpreted as consisting of four main themes: Developing and maintaining relationships; Creating engagement in learning situations; A lifelong learning process; and Responsiveness to others and self. The results from the workshops show that professional knowledge can be stimulated in social work education using various pedagogical tools involving relational teaching and qualitative meetings with students. The teachers in the study highlight challenges impacting these teaching practices; these include large student groups and increasing administrative burdens that reduce their time for students and for learning collaboratively with colleagues and others. The teachers wanted to include professional knowledge at all educational levels including doctoral theses in social work.