Utilizing Simulation-Based Learning to Equip Social Work Students with Social Justice and Diversity Competencies: A Qualitative Approach

Background and Purpose: Social justice and diversity competencies are among the nine competencies that social work programs need to include in order to be accredited according to the CSWE’s 2015 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS). MSW level students must be equipped with appropriate knowledge, skills and attitudes to work with clients from different backgrounds and be trained on working towards enhancing human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice (competency 2). Research has shown that traditional classrooms do not adequately equip social work students with the needed skills to address challenging problems related to social justice and diversity in a fast-changing world. Simulation-based learning has been considered as an innovation to address this gap. This method develops learners’ knowledge, practical, and attitudes by offering them a spontaneous environment in which to practice as much like they would in a real life situation, but without risk. This approach has begun to catch the attention of social work research. Building on this tradition, in this presentation, we explore how simulation-based learning enhanced 36 MSW students’ competencies for diversity and social justice.

Methods: This qualitative study drew on five focus group discussions with 36 graduate students who were enrolled in three different graduate-level courses at a large Midwest university. The simulation scenarios included two family cases and four school social work cases that represented clients from different cultures such as African American and Asian-American, and diverse backgrounds such as bisexual youth, same-sex marriage, foster care families, substance use, students with disabilities, etc. Inherent in each case were issues of equity and social justice. Each focus group discussion was facilitated by 1-2 PhD students who worked with the faculty to develop the simulations. Thematic-style analyses were undertaken to identify dominant and emergent themes and meaning units.

Results: The study identified three main themes that reflected the learning experience of the students. First, the simulation helped students obtain knowledge of working with different clients from diverse cultures and backgrounds that could not gain in traditional classrooms. Second, students applied knowledge and skills in a realistic environment and learned from it without posing any risk to clients. Third, most students believed that the simulation-based learning helped to prepare them to work more effectively with diverse clients.

Conclusions and Implications: Findings from the study showed that simulation benefited social work education in multiple ways. Simulation is believed to equip social work students with appropriate knowledge, practice skills, and attitudes to work with clients from marginalized populations, thus enhancing their diversity and social justice competencies as required by EPAS. Students also gained in confidence after participating in live simulations. Nonetheless, the pandemic has changed the prevalence of telemedicine for individual counseling, future studies should explore the outcomes of virtual simulations to prepare social work students to address issues of equity and social justice.