TITLE:
Enhancing Affective Awareness of DisAbility through Shared Learning in a Social Work Classroom: A Collaborative Project
AUTHORS:
Randy Johner
KEYWORDS:
Disability, Social Work Education, Community-Orientated Pedagogy, Critical Disability Studies, Pre-Service University Students, Affective Awareness
JOURNAL NAME:
Creative Education,
Vol.7 No.15,
September
19,
2016
ABSTRACT: This article describes a small collaborative social work classroom project that included mentoring partnerships between community members with disAbilities and a university class of undergraduate social work students that focused on increasing affective awareness with regard to their understanding of disAbility or diverse abilities and comfort levels in working with people with disAbilities. This project was grounded in critical disability studies theory that examines powerlessness, context, social values, and language. Through qualitative analysis of data that was comprised of student assigned reflective ruminations, personal interviews with community partners, participant observations and reflective journaling, project findings indicated that students’ experiences in the collaborative project had a positive impact on their understanding(s) of diverse abilities and comfort levels in working with people with disAbilities. Project recommendations include continued exploration of the pedagogical method in this project in order to support student learning outcomes in pre-service social work students, other health care pre-service students such as those in Education, Medicine, and Nursing and those students in interdisciplinary health-care service programs; and that further research is needed that examines diverse pedagogical methods that consider collaborative teaching methods that includes people with disAbilities. Continued classroom efforts are needed to assist pre-service social work students to support their understanding of the disability experience, and through that understanding, enhance their comfort levels in working with people with disAbilities; embracing the disability experience as an integral aspect of the human condition.