Internationale stage: zeker doen !

By guest editor: Nadia Hagenbeek

Het vakgebied Social Work in Nederland is erg uitgebreid: veel verschillende organisaties en instanties. Toch zijn er bepaalde normen en waarden die bijna overal gelden. Dit komt door de Westerse samenleving waarin wij opgroeien en ontwikkelen. Voor ons professionals heeft de samenleving een grote invloed op het handelen: op school worden bepaalde modellen aangeleerd en methodieken uitgeprobeerd. Deze nemen wij mee in ons proces tot professional.

In andere landen, zeker buiten Europa, gelden andere normen en waarden. Mensen kijken anders naar elkaar en staan anders in de samenleving. Social Work krijgt hierdoor een andere rol en van de professional vraagt dit andere vaardigheden. Een internationale stage is een unieke kans om verder te komen en verder te kijken dan onze Westerse wereld.

Voor een internationale stage is het belangrijk dat je nieuwsgierig en onderzoekend bent. Dat je uit je comfortzone durft te gaan omdat je een andere wereld in duikt. Dat je open staat voor ervaringen en om kunt gaan met anderen.

Zelf heb ik stage gelopen op het Tikondane Community Centre in Zambia. Ik was hier juffrouw in de Early Childhood Class en gaf lessen aan opvoeders. Tijdens mijn stageperiode heb ik veel geleerd door gesprekken met de lokale bevolking. Tevens kon ik mijn kennis weer delen met de mensen daar. Vaak kreeg ik hier waardering en lof voor. Hiernaast heb ik geleerd om contact te maken zonder verbale taal: een vaardigheid die in Nederland minder nodig is, maar niet minder belangrijk.

Tijdens een internationale stage krijg je nieuwe inzichten wat betreft professioneel handelen en leer je jezelf profileren. Hiernaast zorgt een internationale stage voor persoonlijke groei door de hoge mate van zelfstandigheid. Je leert op je eigen benen staan.

Een internationale stage maakt het verschil, omdat het de kans biedt om in een andere cultuur te werken en te wonen. Hiernaast zal je veel leren van de mensen die je ontmoet en de manieren van handelen en omgang, zoals die daar gewoon zijn. En wat misschien nog wel het belangrijkst is: het is super tof!

Een internationale stage: zeker doen !

What's so special about social work ?

By coincidence I stumbled on this intriguing question during one of my surfing expeditions on the web. Intriguing for social work professionals, you might say ? Well, to be honest, often in your day-to-day routines you get bogged down with a heavy workload and tend to forget the importance and essence of social work.

And luckily, you stumble on  Malcolm Payne's article , making crystal clear what is so special about social work and why it matters.

"Social work makes three main contributions to social justice, which are very distinctive.
First, it is concerned with the 'social': to improving social relations between people. Doctors deal with illness, lawyers with crime and individual injustices, teachers teach their pupils: social work uniquely sets out to improve relationships between people individually and collectively. Teachers or counsellors might help a child think through their worries, but it's social workers who visit the house, sit down and join with other members of the family to help sort out home problems.

Second, it focuses on people who lose out because they need housing or financial support but don't fit the criteria. Social workers try not to give up on people just because they don't fit in with the bureaucratic categories. Research over several decades shows that the people using their services value social workers trying to understand their problems and sticking with trying to get the best for them.

Third, social workers have always been prepared to intervene in social relations. It doesn't make them popular. Nineteenth century campaigners complained about early social workers interfering in other people's lives with their own moral agenda (or at least the moral agenda of the churches and the middle classes who funded early social work).

Complaints about social workers not intervening with an abused child, or a violent mentally ill man, or an isolated disabled or elderly person without family support just shows how useful it is to have a profession around prepared to have a go at helping to sort things out. In this way, social work helps to maintain the social fabric. That's why most countries have a social work profession."

Along these lines (and more) Payne held a presentation during the Stockholm Global Social Work Conference in July 2012. Here's a link to that 30-minute presentation, paving the way for 21st century social work.

My tip is: have your students listen to this easily understandable talk to the global social work community !

For those of you who don't know Malcolm Payne: he is a writer, blogger, consultant, educator on social work and end-of-life care. Here's a link to his tweets.

UNESCO schools, an outstanding initiative

Did you know: the UNESCO Associated Schools Project Network (ASPnet for short) was created over half a century ago? In 1953 to be precise. Convinced of the constant need to construct peace in the minds of men, women and children, a truly international network of schools was set up committed to converting the organization’s ideals into action through new and effective educational practices and approaches worldwide.
It is the largest network of public and private schools around the globe(representing some one million teachers and millions of students, from over 9000 educational institutions in 180 countries, all operating under the auspices of UNESCO and within the United Nations system. It is highly acclaimed by Member States and still expanding.
The ASPnet was set up to help deal with some of the pressing issues facing society and the world at large in the 20th Century. By building peace in the minds of children and young people, the network has kept pace with a constantly changing world and it remains futureoriented. Member institutions – ranging from pre-schools, primary, secondary and vocational schools to teacher training institutions at university level- work in support of international understanding, peace, intercultural dialogue, sustainable development and quality education in practice.
At the moment there are 20 UNESCO schools in the Netherlands and recently Europees Platform activated a specific subsite dedicated to explaining the idea and principles of UNESCO schools. Click here.

Exploring the unesco.org site a little further I came across this very practical toolkit, published by UNESCO, UNICEF and the Arigato Foundation: “Learning to Live Together: An Intercultural and Interfaith Program for Ethics Education”, a programme for educators to teach children about respecting and understanding diverse faiths, religions and ethical beliefs. It aims to help young people and children develop ethical decision-making skills and nurture a sense of belonging, community and values. Ultimately its aim is to shape attitudes for building peace through teaching tolerance and mutual understanding.
In the light of the Grundtvig project that we are participating in this was a welcome find! Another interesting and recent publication is: School Culture: UNESCO-schools towards a peaceful society, showing national and international school portraits around the issue: how can multi-ethnic schools develop a binding school culture? Inspiring examples of the way schools can tailor the UNESCO School profile to their own specific situations ! The idea of becoming a UNESCO school is definitely worth exploring further.

this is integrity

Values.com | Pass it On Billboards Integrity

Shortly after returning home from the 2nd meeting of our Ethical competence project, I stumbled on the values.com site. Integrity happens to be one of the 20 values we identified at the 1st meeting (see earlier post). This site is such an interesting way of visualising and drawing attention to values, that I just needed to pass it on. Actually, the site encourages everyone to pass it on.
Browsing the site with interest, I was also charmed by the large selection of inspirational quotes, made accessible via tags.
It was this quote by Maya Angelou that sums up the site for me: “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Wonderful resource for us, not in the least because of the video materials too.