Where It All Began: Reflecting on the Scoping Review

Michelle Jones: We came together with one question.

Michael Wallengren Lynch: What does it mean?

Michael Wallengren Lynch: To truly decolonise social work field education.

Einav Segev: The literature told a stone we listen.

Henglien Lisa Chen: We won't just review you we will rethinking.

Michelle Jones: We challenged what was missing and imagined.

Michelle Jones: What could be umm?

Omar Mohamed: We asked who gets left out of the.

Omar Mohamed: Field and how can we change that.

Ann Anka: This work is for educators for students the communities.

Michael Wallengren Lynch: This episode is a window into our journey.

Ann Anka: This is socially killed education we imagined and decolonise.

Tina Odu: Hi I'm Tina Odu

Eleanor Hogan: And I'm Eleanor Hogan with social work apprentices pursuing a bachelors of social work in the United Kingdom.

Eleanor Hogan: Welcome to the first episode of the decolonising social work field education podcast.

Eleanor Hogan: Decolonisation isn't just a buzzword it's a journey of unlearning reimagining and rebuilding.

Tina Odu: And in social work field education it is absolutely essential because I feel this is where practice actually begins where we as students are shaped and our values are either reinforced or challenged.

Eleanor Hogan: As we have recently begun our placement we have realized how they reflect colonial structures who gets to lead.

Eleanor Hogan: Whose knowledge is centered whose pain is validated and whose is ignored.

Tina Odu: So I believe decolonizing feed education isn't just about changing curriculum it's also about transforming power dynamics and making space for indigenous black and other marginalized ways of knowing and that's exactly what today's episode is about we sat down with the full research team behind the major scoping review.

Tina Odu: I asked what does it really mean to decolonize social create education or placements as we know it in the United.

Tina Odu: Kingdom.

Eleanor Hogan: In this episode you'll hear their stories challenges and shifts this is for educators students practice educators community workers anyone shaping the future of social work.

Tina Odu: Thank you all once again for joining us today.

Eleanor Hogan: So my first question is to all of you can you introduce yourself in 2 lines.

Ann Anka: Hi I'm doctor Ann anka associate professor in social work University of East Anglia my research interest is decolonization social education including field education.

Michelle Jones: I'm associate professor Michelle Jones from the University of South Australia I am coming to you from Ghana country KAURNA and that is located central Adelaide here in South Australia and I acknowledge the elders from garner country.

Michelle Jones: Past present and emerging.

Omar Mohamed: My name is Omar Mohammed I'm a lecturer and social work and I'm an activist.

Einav Segev: Hi.

Tina Odu: Hey.

Einav Segev: I'm an associate professor and I'm I'm from superior codemix College in Israel I'm a social work educator for more than 20 years.

Einav Segev: And.

Henglien Lisa Chen: And better for me and Lisa Chen and associate professor at the University of Sussex in the UK I'm also the founder of the international working.

Henglien Lisa Chen: That look into decolonizing social work field education and the project lead for this podcast theory.

Michael Wallengren Lynch: My name is Michael avangrid.

Michael Wallengren Lynch: Irish born I've been living in Sweden since 2009 been social in modern software since 2004 worked in practice up until about 2015 when she got in academia but I did my doctorate in Sussex.

Nishi Mitra Vom Berg: Burg I'm working as a professor in the.

Libby Hammond: The advanced Center for women 's studies at the Tata institute of social sciences located in Mumbai hi my name is Libby Hammond and I'm an Anglo Celtic Australian as a social worker I have a background in community development child protection academia and research and.

Libby Hammond: As a.

Libby Hammond: Resident of Australia I'd like to acknowledge the traditional custodians the Ghana peoples of the lands where I live and work and I pay my respect to to elders past and present.

Tina Odu: Thank you all for that wonderful introduction it's really great to have you all here today and to hear about your diverse experiences from different parts of the world can you step back providing an overview of what you did in your scoping review and your findings.

Michelle Jones: Thanks for that question Tina yeah we'll start by talking maybe a little bit about the methods and the approach that we took and then talk a little bit more about some of the findings.

Michelle Jones: In terms of the methods we met monthly as an international network of scholars social work practitioners and social work students we in effect decolonise the methods as we use them we came up against some I thought eye opening experiences for me.

Michelle Jones: As a western academic he has access to a whole range of different databases and and libraries online and recognising that my international colleagues didn't have the same access to the same databases.

Michelle Jones: They didn't have access to the same technology that I had available to me in my research sphere and we engaged in some decolonising processes as a result of that and so changed our search strategy for example and used relational searching as well and so using articles that colleagues had found in their.

Michelle Jones: Practice.

Ann Anka: Yeah I'm just going to go back to what Michelle said about having access to some of the systems that we don't have access to so for example we were asking if you know of any articles or anything to bring these articles in and then we give them all to doctor Jones who is the lead researcher who then imported into something called covenants we.

Ann Anka: We didn't have I didn't have a clue about what it was and therefore learning about how to use these systems again one of the things I remembered we had a really good discussion on about is that we're using systematic review methodologies where we bring in all these papers and and we read them.

Ann Anka: But then systematic review uses something called quality assurance and then we thought Oh no we're not going to use that cause then we need to we need to decolonize the approaches that we were using and that was really interesting yeah.

Einav Segev: Just want to add that one of the obstacles was the language that some of the articles were in other languages than English and we didn't have a way to include it in the COVID 's I think or something technical so they left out so.

Einav Segev: If we look of decolonization of our own process we can really understand that some knowledge?

Einav Segev: Still in this research left behind.

Einav Segev: Although we did and really extreme effort to include it.

Michelle Jones: Yeah it certainly was a reminder of how academics how colonial academic systems are and remain no matter how much we might try to decolonize them.

Eleanor Hogan: That was great thank you so I think that our listeners are going to be able to learn a lot about decolonizing social work field education I'm interested and and in now what did you learn about decolonising social work field education while you are undertaking the scoping review.

Nishi Mitra Vom Berg: To begin with I was a little bit hesitant about being engaged in this project because although I teach social students courses which are optional I am not really trained in social work and.

Nishi Mitra Vom Berg: And therefore to be engaged in this project on field education I had some reserves but I must say the first thing I learned by being in this group was the open and generous way in which the group.

Nishi Mitra Vom Berg: Treated me and all of us and welcomed our diversity and our different locations and.

Nishi Mitra Vom Berg: I think that the urge of learning from each other was a very good experience as somebody coming from India having a perspective on colonialism and also suspicion about any decolonizing attempts which have their locus in.

Nishi Mitra Vom Berg: The West.

Nishi Mitra Vom Berg: He learned the method of talking across the world openly about conflicts and challenges.

Libby Hammond: So the main idea that I took away from undertaking the scoping view was really.

Libby Hammond: Understanding the how widespread colonization actually is.

Libby Hammond: And even more importantly how widespread and multifaceted decolonizing social work through education is so in my previous research looking at decolonizing social work education I'd focus mainly on places like Canada alltel or New Zealand the Pacific islands.

Libby Hammond: But I hadn't really realised that decolonising social work education.

Libby Hammond: Was occurring in all around the world so I think for me that was the biggest thing that I took out of the scoping review?

Omar Mohamed: I think too often we see decolonization as let's just include some indigenous content and the box has been ticked.

Omar Mohamed: And I think what we're really asking for or what I've really learned and taken away from this project is there's a real need for that critical reflexivity you know what we're going to do differently.

Omar Mohamed: There's a real need for reforms on a kind of systemic level.

Omar Mohamed: And.

Omar Mohamed: There is so much beauty and I think power in partnerships.

Omar Mohamed: You know partnerships amongst academics partnerships with indigenous and racial monetised people.

Omar Mohamed: Partnerships with those who are still early on their journey when it comes to understanding colonialism and the impact.

Omar Mohamed: There's so much opportunity.

Michael Wallengren Lynch: Yeah I would certainly agree that aspect around partnership and working with a group of people from all across the world 's most of whom I've never met physically that's always for me a fantastic thing to be part.

Michael Wallengren Lynch: Of but I.

Michael Wallengren Lynch: Think for me the biggest learning has been actually starting from being an Irish person.

Michael Wallengren Lynch: In and the relationship with England and what that means at a personal level this process has really taken me on a journey of self discovery it need not wanting to be a cliche about it but really I'm trying to understand.

Michael Wallengren Lynch: All these layers of history may go my sense of self or a sense of identity and I think while we talk about students needing to engage with this it's also so much about practitioners it's about practice teachers educators this is very much a journey of self discovery.

Michael Wallengren Lynch: And self transformation when we use the word transformation and society like well it's also about individual transformation because it's so context dependent but it is also requires so much.

 

Michael Wallengren Lynch: In their self affectivity I think and that's what I've been experiencing.

Michael Wallengren Lynch: It through this process and it's never.

Michael Wallengren Lynch: A place nuendo.

Michael Wallengren Lynch: I think with the colonialism it's an ongoing maybe there is an endpoint at some point in the future we aim for strive for that but so much is about continuously checking in recognizing what's what.

Michael Wallengren Lynch: The what The thing is.

Michael Wallengren Lynch: You're very invaluable ongoing experience for me.

Einav Segev: I think in Academy itself when I look at my colleagues around the world and in my college itself.

Einav Segev: I think there is a gap because there is quality intention maybe it may many talk about the importance of the colonization of the social worker education but actually when we see the syllabus in the silver in the courses in the models.

Einav Segev: There's a gap from the declaration or the way people or educator want to think about social work education but what they do in practice it's not really go with it do we think about the cultures of our students.

Einav Segev: We have to do much more.

Einav Segev: But I'm I'm very I'm in the process I don't think I have all the answers not at all and I think they work with the wonderful international group and our reflexive way of work it's opened my.

Einav Segev: Consciousness and open my ways of applying this so I really think this work really changed me in a way as a social work education.

 

Michelle Jones: Here I second that I never I think the richness of conversations around decolonial practices has really enriched my delivery of teaching I think part of the problem as you mentioned is that we are still part of colonial structures as university employees and so sometimes we can't go far enough.

Ann Anka: Yes.

Henglien Lisa Chen: Experience our research base rigorous scoping review is freely was a really eye opener for the whole thing it shows us just how deeply colonial thinking is still embedded in social work fields education globally like what they be just mentioned.

Henglien Lisa Chen: Key things that came through strongly and which we felt were crucial to share so we are learning tool like this podcast included many needs to genuinely integrate the indigenous knowledge into our teaching.

Henglien Lisa Chen: But then suddenly we lay our western models and to actively challenge white dominance in curricula and practice.

Henglien Lisa Chen: We learn that understanding these issues through research like identifying our current systems.

Henglien Lisa Chen: Perpetuate cultural and academic injustice for non white students is vital.

Henglien Lisa Chen: But it's absolutely must be followed by accountable action.

Henglien Lisa Chen: The strong feeling is why we move to Co create this series for students educators and practitioners like our listeners today.

Libby Hammond: So for me I really appreciated the fact that we focused upon field education rather than education social work education more generally and as we discussed in the article as well it was really interesting to see that the analysis.

Libby Hammond: This revealed a substantial increase in publication on decolonising social work education from 2020 onwards it's quite amazing to think that this is still a relatively new kind of area of research and that there isn't a lot of published research out there and that that term decolonizing was only really present in articles.

Libby Hammond: Around post 2010 which I thought was interesting that we're really looking at something that.

Libby Hammond: Has been and probably under research in a lot of ways?

Eleanor Hogan: Oh thank you for that you used Adam 's framework of injustice to analyze the themes tell me a little bit about how the framework and its relevance to your review.

Omar Mohamed: Yeah absolutely so the thing with Adams dimensions of injustice framework it's really thinking about injustice which is a call principle an issue for social work and it talks about 3 main interconnected forms of injustice so you've got your cultural and epistemic and then you've got your political and geopolitical and then you've got your material.

Omar Mohamed: And I think a lot about cultural and epistemic injustices when we think about epistemic injustice which comes from the work of Miranda fricker that's very much thinking about knowledge and what knowledge is valued and legitimized as well as what knowledge is devalued and disregarded.

Omar Mohamed: And there are some real core issues when we think about things like cultural erase.

Omar Mohamed: This idea that eurocentric knowledge systems in education and in this kind of particular kind of work almost as silencing of indigenous or non western ways of knowing and I think when I was a social work student not really seeing my local kind of embody and indigenous knowledge platform in the.

Omar Mohamed: Social work curriculum.

Omar Mohamed: So yeah I think the dimensions of injustice at least I guess starting with the cultural epistemic injustices makes me really think about the need to talk about indigenous and embodied knowledge.

Eleanor Hogan: Thank you for that.

Eleanor Hogan: So my next question is for Lisa so I understand that the scoping review project links to a new project funded by the European association of schools of social work as a lead for this project Lisa from your perspective how can this podcast series help students like me have a bit more decolonized experience in.

Eleanor Hogan: Social work field education.

Henglien Lisa Chen: That's absolutely our hope.

Henglien Lisa Chen: Goodnight Elena and.

Henglien Lisa Chen: And not just at the students but also their educators practitioners and the placement providers who might be listening.

Henglien Lisa Chen: To expand how it can help we didn't by Co creating the entire podcast series with practitioners educators students like yourself and importantly people sharing their lived experience from all around the world.

Henglien Lisa Chen: We choose Co creation because it's so deeply linked to decolonization itself is about shifting power and making sure marginalized voices are heard.

Henglien Lisa Chen: Here's how we hope that series helps make a difference for everyone listening.

Henglien Lisa Chen: So.

Henglien Lisa Chen: Because of how this podcast was made.

Henglien Lisa Chen: And who made it.

Henglien Lisa Chen: We hope it is not just talking about the colonization.

Henglien Lisa Chen: We want this to be an active teaching and a learning tool.

Eleanor Hogan: Thank you Lisa other for me that working on the podcast has helped me to understand where decolonising social work field education can not only just fit into my study life and my work life but also into my personal life.

Tina Odu: I'm curious school was there a specific.

Tina Odu: Paper that surprised you or challenged your assumptions when working on these coping review.

Michael Wallengren Lynch: I think if we can go back to the some of the things that we created from the the paper where we look at all those and come on Q one for real was around critical reflection on learning colonial ideologies reconstructing space in curriculum one if we're if we're reconstructing what are we going to fill it with what needs to be in there what can go in there what should be in there.

Michael Wallengren Lynch: Who decides that these type of the dominance dominant discourses and and how that all plays out the 2 policies that makes?

Michael Wallengren Lynch: Up our curriculum.

Michael Wallengren Lynch: Won't pay for delay was intrigued by which I found really eye opening is called which she also won award for the best title on paper theories cool but theory with no practice.

Michael Wallengren Lynch: Critical theories and framework to dismantle racism and social education and practice it's already on a winner with the title and other thing but what that paper did was identified 5 different theories written by indigenous and people of color scholars and it just really highlighted the alternative even these the one alternative but other theories which can be applicable to different communities depending on who you're working with and the importance of.

Michael Wallengren Lynch: Skinnies and that's the way all just don't go with our standard theories into social education and practice and expect them to make sense to all the people we work with from all the backgrounds and diversity that we there is.

Ann Anka: Yeah so for me that there's so many that really impacted on me but one thing that that stood out for me is published by in 2019 this was before his on his ascetic region and the reason why I picked this up is also linking to one of our key findings about I think we use Adams dimensions of.

Ann Anka: Just injustices to help us analyze the fineness and what we will talk about is that he was encouraging indianization by advocating the inclusion of traditional practices.

Ann Anka: Practice wisdom as well as wisdom of elders a sense of belonging and then also he also talked about colonial and ideology so helping us to think about that one of the key findings that came up that I've linked this paper to is about hunting Creek critical reflections.

Ann Anka: On learning and the reason why I picked this up is so personal to me.

Ann Anka: The 4 previous couple is promoting advocating for the inclusion of traditional practices but I thought about something that had been in my childhood and if this has been going on right in my head all the time so in in where I come from a traditional traditional wisdom is that you have to respect your elders.

Ann Anka: Which will really advocate for I remember one visit me and my mom having an argument about?

Ann Anka: My mum 's house is untidy Yan and then she's asking one of her big people that she and the people who look after her she's having a go at this person to clean up the house.

Ann Anka: And then she make a comment about I'm training you to be a Good Wife.

Ann Anka: So that when your husband come home the house be clean and I got really angry.

Ann Anka: I got angry from the fact that I was looking at this for a western lens about how not to train women so men can also be as good as cleanness as women and my thoughts about there's some thinking for me what I took from this is that I need to use this critical reflection and on learning about the colonial ideas that have been.

Ann Anka: Finalize within me but not to just take the as faithfulness to the harm not just the harm by colonial ideology but the harm about some of the traditional practices that we then pass on.

Michelle Jones: Thanks Anne.

Michelle Jones: I might reflect on one of our key findings which is critical reflection and unlearning colonial ideologies as a focus and the articles I think that really influence me is a lot of the work by aboriginal social worker professor bindi Bennett bindi Bennett.

Michelle Jones: Here in from Australia has been incredibly influential I think there's about 3 of or more of her articles that feature within this review but I will focus particularly on one article by bindi Bennett and Trevor gates and this particular article from 2020.

Michelle Jones: Fun highlights a number of important aspects one of those is around having cultural self-awareness and as a non indigenous white woman 5th generation settler here in Australia my whiteness is incredibly invisible in my social work practice in my social work education as well.

Michelle Jones: And so these articles reminded me of the importance of recognizing that I have a culture and that my culture influences other people that I'm working with.

Michelle Jones: As well.

Tina Odu: Thank you all for that insightful conversation I know I've been opened up to a whole new world of decolonization I thought I knew at least what the word meant but now I know nothing at all and I'm looking forward to learning more through being involved in this project I'm sure many students.

Tina Odu: In my position would take away so much from this podcast project thank you very much.

Tina Odu: My final question is to Lisa from your research you highlighted that one of the ways to decolonize failed education is by reframing understanding of social problems what advice would you give to students and practice educators who support students and how to approach this.

Tina Odu: Perhaps using this podcast series as an active tool for change.

Henglien Lisa Chen: The kitten man hopefully instead of giving definite advice from my academic role my real hope is we can figure this out together.

Henglien Lisa Chen: As that for us to get further funding to bring in everyone 's students educators practitioners placement providers back together to Co create the best way to use these podcasts though for student listening here are a couple of ways you can't.

Henglien Lisa Chen: Take action in your.

Henglien Lisa Chen: First.

Henglien Lisa Chen: When you listen to an Oxo really try to use it to challenge your own views for example when you tune into the actual physics and I are leading beyond England 's professional capability framework?

Henglien Lisa Chen: Try to think.

Henglien Lisa Chen: Critically how might framework life is sometimes limit our understanding and even with the best intentions.

Henglien Lisa Chen: See it as a chance to actively question and really broaden your perspective.

Henglien Lisa Chen: And another area bring what you are hearing into your placements.

Henglien Lisa Chen: If an absolute spots an idea pick that into your supervision and for our wonderful practice educator how about using the podcast?

Henglien Lisa Chen: To spark dialogue.

Henglien Lisa Chen: You could use specific apso as pump for really rich conversation in your teens during supervisions or even in lectures.

Henglien Lisa Chen: For instance after listening to the episode nishi lead with Yvonne about supporting migrant woman facing gender based violence maybe you could facilitate a session exploring the specific UK policy barriers these.

Henglien Lisa Chen: And finally maybe reflect on 4 miss purchase itself was made.

Henglien Lisa Chen: The core creative process think about how you could bring more of these participatory approach into your teaching your supervision or your team learning.

Henglien Lisa Chen: That really reflects the decolonizing spirit we are all aiming to and aiming for as learning communities.

Tina Odu: I feel like that was a sneak peek into the wonderful episodes we have lined up to tease people and invite people really to this topic that we're discussing and I really liked when you said as students we need to challenge our buyers.

Tina Odu: Because from my learning from this participating in this this project is really understanding where limited knowledge I had and what I'm yet to learn.

Michelle Jones: Thank you very much Tina thank you Tina and Eleanor.

Ann Anka: Thank you.

Tina Odu: Thank you very much again.

Eleanor Hogan: Here in the answers to our questions has made me really excited to hear the rest of the podcast series.

Tina Odu: I agree this series has brought the scoping review to life and we will explore so much about the paper the concept of decolonization of social work and understanding indigenous family structures and cultural relevance on placements.

Tina Odu: And lots more it's amazing hearing how the professionals have worked through the challenges during the scoping review as well.

Eleanor Hogan: And it shows that in social work he never stopped learning.

Tina Odu: We want to say a huge thank you to those who created the scope and review and those who have participated in the podcast series including the hosts and the.

Eleanor Hogan: Guests through this podcast series we hope that you will learn as much as we have on this journey happy listening.

Eleanor Hogan: You've been listening to the decolonising social work field education podcast global dialogues for change and international participatory project with students experts by experience practitioners and academics funded by the European sociation of schools of social work that by associate professor hingley and Lisa.

Eleanor Hogan: 10 at the University of Sussex and Co produced by mitali calcanei visit dialogue SWF E dot org and follow us online.

Eleanor Hogan: Decolonize and social work starts with you stay tuned.