Teaching PhD Students to Teach Social Justice and Equity: Simulations As a Pedagogical Approach

Background and Purpose: Students must take on core values of social work if they are to undertake competent social work practice. Yet these values, specifically the principles of social justice and equity, can be very difficult to teach. This paper explores live simulations as a tool to augment traditional modalities of reading assignments, film watching, class discussions, and student role-plays in teaching these values. It focuses on PhD students’ attitudes and perceptions towards live simulations as a pedagogical approach in the teaching of social justice and equity.

Method: Six PhD students involved in live simulations in BSW and MSW classes participated in a focus group discussion led by a social work administrator. Prior to this, the students had worked with lead faculty in core BSW/MSW courses to develop, act in, and/or facilitate group instructions for live simulations that raised issues of social justice and equity. The simulations took place in core competency classes for BSW/MSW students. PhD students reflected on their experiences and shared their insights on the use of simulations as a pedagogical approach, particularly in the teaching of social justice and equity. The students also shared information about how they can integrate simulations into their future teaching careers.

Results: Data analysis of PhD student responses indicate they enjoy simulations and feel that they support the teaching of the values of social justice and equity. The use of simulations as a tool for experiential instruction was a theme raised in the discussion (“when sensories are triggered it actually ties better to memorize things”). Simulations also helped students to practice clinical skills, particularly those who entered the program without experience (“Simulations will prepare a student to have practical skills before they go out into the field”). Doctoral students also saw the value of simulations in sustaining student interests (“a lot of students enjoy [simulations] as [they] felt more real than just doing a role play with your friends ... this is a more realistic experience and it challenged them in a different way”). Students also described their intention to integrate simulations into their own classrooms (“in my teaching, I ended up telling a lot of stories. I feel it may have helped the students... but instead of just telling them stories and asking them questions about it, it would probably have been good to have them actually try to experience it in simulations and see how they would react”).

Conclusions and Implications: Overall findings underscore that PhD students consider simulations to be a valuable and unique pedagogical approach for the teaching of social justice and equity. Simulations are a way to teach social work students core social work values and better prepare them for the field. A roadmap to train PhD students to utilize simulations in teaching social work practice, policy, and research is discussed. Supports for PhD students to integrate simulations in their future teaching careers are also presented.