Unmuting Practice in Malmö: From Listening to Action
Episode Description
On 29 January 2026, 47 student colleagues from universities in Sweden, Finland, Germany, Switzerland and Austria came together at Malmö University for an EASSW-funded full-day workshop exploring how decolonising ideas can move from listening and reflection into dialogue and action.
The workshop formed part of Malmö University’s international course Social Work: Social Policies and Welfare Studies. Participants collectively engaged with the Decolonising Social Work Practicum podcast series through listening, reflection, embodied activities and small-group dialogue.
This episode brings together voices from that day. Participants reflect on whose knowledge and voices are heard, what happens when majority and less-heard perspectives meet, the discomfort and uncertainty involved in questioning familiar ways of thinking, and how learning might be carried forward into action.
The Malmö dialogue subsequently informed the development of Unmuting Practice (UNMUTE), Henglien Lisa Chen’s synthesis of the co-created learning into a dialogic approach to decolonising practice education.
UNMUTE brings together six interconnected elements: Uncover, Name, Make space, Unlearn, Turn and Enact. Rather than being a fixed sequence, the elements can be entered and revisited in different ways as context, relationships, knowledge and action change.
Discussion Box
Join the Conversation
Have you listened to the episode and explored the learning materials?
Tell us
What stayed with you from the Malmö dialogue?
What can mute knowledge, voice or action in your own learning, teaching or practice setting?
Which part of UNMUTE would you like to try or adapt in your own context?
Is there anything in the approach that you would challenge or change?
Whether you're a student (pre-placement or currently on placement), an educator, a practicing social worker or a placement provider, this space is for everyone.
Share your thoughts below and feel free to write in whichever language best carries what you want to say.
DIVE FURTHER INTO THE TOPIC
Unmuting Practice (UNMUTE): a dialogic approach to decolonising practice education
Henglien Lisa Chen (2026), Version 1.2. Zenodo.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23265805
Decolonising social work practice field education: A scoping review
Jones, M., Anka, A., Segev, E., Allassad Alhuzail, N., Mohamed, O., Wallengren-Lynch, M., Cantley, L., Mitra vom Berg, N., Laver, S., Hammond, L. and Chen, H. L. (2025). International Social Work, 68(6), 1032–1050.
CITE THE EPISODE
Chen, H. L. (Series lead) and Kulkarni, M. (Producer). (2026). Unmuting Practice in Malmö: From Listening to Action [Podcast]. Decolonising Social Work Practicum: Global Dialogues for Change. Available at: [please insert the Malmö episode webpage URL once created].
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