Social work practice: New directions in a changing scene

Abstract

At the moment large-scale innovations are taking place in the academic offering of universities. This entails adapting orn cornses to more practically oriented teaching progronunes, in accordance with the socio-cultural, political and economic demands of a South Africa transfonning itself for the 21 st century.

A university, in my view, is not a true 'universitas' if it does not link its theory to the expectations created by societal needs and values. But to do this effectively the discipline should be relevant and "appropriate". In saying this I am not suggesting yorn discipline has become inappropriate, but we should at least be willing to test its relevance in the context of (i) changing institutional rules, (ii) societal needs, and (iii) scientific/academic norms.

May I quote in this regard a comment from the Secretary-General of the United Nations in his opening speech at the Urban 21 Conference in Berlin last year. I remember clearly his words on the futrne development of cities and societies: "We need more than technology! We need changes in human behaviorn, attitudes and values to cope with orn problems of humanity." Within the context of this week's horrible attack in the USA, we can see that technology in the hands of people with sick values leads to senseless behavior!

In my view Social Work is ideally suited as an academic discipline to play a significant role in appropriate knowledge production to enhance the real understanding of human problems and the development of orn societies.

I would like to return to my theme of appropriateness: Orn point of departrne should be to ask "appropriate for whom, or what purpose?" Appropriateness should be evaluated on the basis of three criteria - (i) firstly, the academic relevance of Social Work's scientific base; (ii) secondly, the discipline's appropriateness for society and the job market; and (iii) thirdly, the requirements of the higher education framework and its budget.