Integrating Indigenous and Western Knowledge and Healing: Exploring the Experiences of Graduates of a Master of Social Work Program

Background and Purpose:

In partnership with an urban Indigenous organization and an organization that provides community consultation, training and intervention in Indigenous communities, a two-year Master of Social Work field of study was launched in an urban-based school of social work in 2016. The program objective was to prepare social work students to work with individuals, families and communities affected by generational trauma resulting from colonization throughout the globe. The curriculum is designed to build bridges linking Indigenous knowledge and methods of healing in North America and throughout the globe to Western biopsychosocial methods of healing and treatment modalities. A hallmark of the program has been its focus on intercultural understanding, with students identifying commonalities across cultures and experiences, enhancing global understanding and support, and creating allies invested in reconciliation.

The purpose of this study was to examine student experiences and the outcomes of this graduate social work program. We solicited feedback exploring graduates’ learning experiences and the impact of the learning on their current social work practice. Specifically, we explored key elements of this educational experience to determine its influence on the graduates in their education and social work practice.

Methods:

Participants were recruited through an email list-serve comprising 130 program graduates who were invited to participate in an online individual interview. To ensure representation from each graduate cohort, a purposive sampling approach was taken. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, lasting 60 to 90 minutes, exploring the objectives, program structure, and participants’ experiences and the connection to their current social work practice. The interviews were transcribed and de-identified and then coded thematically. Data were qualitatively analyzed using modified grounded theory and thematic analysis was conducted using NVivo software.

Results:

Forty graduates participated in individual in-depth interviews, with each graduating class cohort represented in the sample. A prominent finding was that the participants were highly satisfied with their learning experience in the program. Within this overall finding, five major overlapping themes emerged: 1) managing intensity of the content; 2) importance of ceremony; 3) desire for more “clinical” skills; 4) institutional barriers (e.g., related to practicum placement); and 5) experiences of healing.

Conclusion and Implications:

The findings indicated that the benefits of the program for participants were both personal and professional, and influenced their current practice as social workers. A paradox that was revealed is that although emphatic that their practice has benefited from the healing experiences, the participants also asserted that those benefits were sometimes at the cost of varying degrees of emotional and social disruption during their learning. An important implication is that while emotional intensity appears helpful and inevitable in learning about generational trauma in social work, there must be attention to teaching practices of emotional regulation that will be useful in the moment and continue to be useful in future practice. Moreover, the findings confirm the need for ongoing research that will continue to inform the program.