Social Work Commons^™

Challenges And Opportunities For Applying Group Work Principles To Enhance Online Learning In Social Work, Marcia B. Cohen, Shirley Simon, Donna Mclaughlin, Barbara Muskat, Mary White

Shirley Simon

The recent increase in social work courses being offered on line as well as fully online social work programs raises challenges for social work educators. The literature suggests that group work principles can serve as a foundation for effective online education. This chapter will examine the obstacles and opportunities for using group work principles to advance learning in online education. Three examples of fully online social work courses will be discussed m order to highlight these issues. The potential role of group work educators as leaders in facilitating effective online learning will be explored.

Beyond Group Work Camp: A Bridge To Symposia And Conference Participation Via Professional Presentations, Shirley Simon

Shirley Simon

The purpose of this paper is twofold - to describe a Group Work Camp workshop that facilitates continued professional involvement beyond the camp experience, and to share the information offered in this session. The workshop provides information about developing peer-reviewed presentations for professional association conferences and addresses the benefits of such presentations. It identifies different presentation formats and describes the abstract preparation, submission and review processes. It addresses the dissemination of supplemental material related to the presentation. Detailed recommendations for navigating the preparation and presentation processes are shared with the hope of easing anxieties for new presenters. By scheduling the …

Developing A White Anti-Racism Identity: A Psycho-Educational Group Model, Kathryn Kristin Berg, Shirley Simon

Shirley Simon

This paper describes and assesses a seven session psycho-educational group on anti-racism identity development for White European-American undergraduate students at a midwestern U.S. university. It is predicated on the premise that Whiteness can simultaneously privilege and harm White people, and that White students have the potential to become personally invested in the challenging of systematic racism. It is also based on the idea that a group structure presents an ideal format for addressing this topic. Peer support, a safe environment, and information are requisites for facilitating personal exploration of this sensitive subject. A group model for addressing this topic is …

Technology And Groupwork: A Mandate And An Opportunity, Shirley Simon, Kahtleen W. Stauber

Shirley Simon

This paper addresses the relationship between social groupwork and technology. It discusses the evolution of online technology—how the technological revolution of the computer, the Internet, and mass access to new communication devices has impacted our lives with unprecedented speed and universality. It acknowledges the natural and understandable resistance of many skilled and renowned groupworkers to the use of these new modalities. It addresses the numerous benefi ts and challenges that technology brings, and the critical and timely need for groupworkers to make the conceptual shift to embrace these modalities. A case is made for groupworkers’ ability to take a leadership …

The Five Year Bsw—Msw Program: A New Curriculum Option, Shirley Simon, Edward J. Gumz, Susan Grossman, James Marley, Yolanda Golden

Shirley Simon