Paradigm Shift of Social Work Profession: In Context of Indian Social Work Education

Abstract

The social work profession is founded on a scientific understanding of human relations and aims to support individuals or groups in exercising their freedom and satisfaction within society. It began as a charitable endeavor and developed into a way to shed light on social issues and give people the confidence they needed to deal with life’s unexpected turns in a positive way. As a human services profession, social work addresses micro-to-macro-level societal issues and works to implement necessary reforms. The distinctive core values of social work education, along with its own methodological technique known as the basic along with the auxiliary methods, contribute to the creation of new opportunities for humankind. The development of a PSW (Professional Social Workers) competent cadre through social work education holds the potential to effect tangible changes in society and human existence. However, the main issues with social work education are the lack of originality in curricula and moral guidance for educators and practitioners. The PSWE (Professional Social Work Education) System is primarily related to training methodology, but there have been other issues with social work education as well, like outdated curricula, specialized courses that aren’t relevant, and improper fieldwork components. In order to prepare the next generation of PSW having the necessary knowledge, abilities, and attitudes, the current paper offers insights into the challenges facing PSWE. In order to produce more capable change agents, the paper attempts to shed light on the requirement to update the professional social work education training methodology. This paper also gives an overview of the PSWE development in India, sheds light on the true issues facing the field, and offers solutions for improving the field’s responsiveness to societal demands.