The Bearcamp Project Case Study: Decentering Knowledge in the Social Work Classroom

Background

Democratizing knowledge requires intentional action. One strategy is modeling these principles in social work classrooms, training the next generation of social work thought-leaders. The classroom becomes a multilayered living learning laboratory. In this paper, I present a case study of an undergraduate macro practice class collaborative community-based participatory action learning opportunity. Students became both learners and doers, gaining experience and training in a framework intended to decenter traditional avenues of knowledge production and consumption, thereby empowering all involved to become active producers of information. Unsigned end-of-semester student evaluation comments and post-semester follow up conversations with the executive director suggest the strategy was effective on many levels.

Method

I applied a community-based participatory approach to macro practice class for senior social work undergraduates. Partnering with a regional service agency, the course centered student-group investigations of five program development areas identified by the executive director. Further democratizing the classroom, I also included “student choice” assignments, meant to promote student agency, self-determination, and empowerment to direct their own learning. The data for this presentation are anonymous (unsigned) comments from end-of-semester course evaluations and post-semester follow-up conversations with the executive director. Eleven of 24 students completed course evaluations, a response rate of 46%.

Results

Students appeared to value collaborating with the agency and self-directed learning, such as these two representative examples:

“The Bearcamp project was such an enriching activity that helped me better understand what community-engaged practice truly meant. It made me excited for my future in the profession, and excited to make a difference now while still in school. I wish more courses incorporated community projects in this way.” (#4)

“I love that we were allowed to create our own learning. It was different but I think that it was extremely beneficial.” (#1)

There was also room for improvement. Based on the feedback, it seems as though at least some students did not make connections between the didactic presentation and their hands-on projects, or possibly simply did not recall the more traditional approach to information dissemination through in-class lectures. For example, “I would advise keeping the group project, but involving time into the course to teach the students about macro practice fields and other lessons that fall under the macro practice category. It would help set up students for success when going into their field placements.” (#3)

The executive director’s stated desire to partner again the next time the course is taught provides evidence of success from the agency’s perspective. She shared that she received actionable ideas in all five project areas before we had fully completed the projects.

Conclusion

To continue social work’s commitment to empowering our clientele, we must train future social workers in collaborative methods of knowledge production, consumption, and dissemination. As this case study suggests, one strategy to achieving this is to apply decolonizing research methods to course design and implementation, so social work students are empowered through experiential learning, gaining practice and practical skills doing the work of making knowledge available and accessible to those we serve.