Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning in Social Work

Current Issues and Future Direction

Paul A. Kurzman, Paul A. Kurzman

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781351332606
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medicina
• Subtopic: Atención sanitaria

This book focuses on the present development, gradual evolution, and current status of social work continuing education. The contributors demonstrate the rapidly growing importance of continuing education (CE) in the social work profession; look closely at present trends; and address the emerging pedagogical issues that will likely frame the future. The rapid expansion of CE offerings is partly stimulated by CE now being a licensure renewal requirement across the United States, which quite clearly is having a central impact in expanding the demand for CE education and lifelong learning for professional practice.

Relevant for social work students, graduates and educators, in the USA and abroad, this book represents an authoritative statement, authored by widely recognized educators and practitioners who are on the forefront of continuing education and lifelong learning.

This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Teaching in Social Work.

Social Work Continuing Education: Current Issues and Future Direction

Paul A. Kurzman

ABSTRACT
Continuing education is arising as an area of rapid growth and increased attention in the social work profession. Conceptually, the impetus and focus are on the promotion of the principles of lifelong learning and professional replenishment; but pragmatically, the driving force has been the virtually universal requirement of continuing education hours for social work licensure renewal. This chapter lays out the history of continuing social work education and discusses the current and emerging issues herein for the profession.

Introduction

Although the core of social work education involves the preparation of future practitioners through the profession’s accredited baccalaureate and master’s degree programs, increasing emphasis now is being placed on the centrality of continuing education (CE) as a way of ensuring the presence of lifelong learning. Even though this evolving focus is true for virtually all professions, social work is a relative newcomer in this arena.

The growth of CE in social work has had several antecedents and significant sources of support. As Strom-Gottfried (2008) noted, the early impetus in the practice community derived significantly from the passage of the Title XX Amendments to the Social Security Act in 1974, which for the first time provided funds to cover social service staff in-service training. When this funding declined in the 1980s, such training activities did as well, not to reemerge until well into the 1990s, due primarily then to the impetus provided by the expansion of state social work licensing, and the customary requirement that social work licensees obtain units of CE in order to secure licensure renewal (Davenport & Wodarski, 1989; Strom-Gottfried, 2008). In 1998, the academic community also took note of the emerging importance of CE in 1998 with the founding of a peer-refereed journal titled Professional Development: The International Journal of Continuing Social Work Education.

Defined by Halton, Powell, Jivanjee, and Goodluck (2014) as “an ongoing process of education and development that continues throughout the professional career” (p. 1), CE also is commonly known as “lifelong learning” and “continuing professional education.” In this sense, CE generally is conceptualized as an element of what Malcolm Knowles (1998) termed “andragogy,” that is, “the art and science of helping adults learn” (p. 61). Using a pedagogy specifically adapted for adult education, lifelong learning has come to be seen as a requisite—not a luxury—in a world in which knowledge generation has become so rapid and profound that no professional today can been seen as adequately informed for practice solely based on a prior graduate degree and early career certification (Lam, Wong, Hui, Lee, & Chan, 2006). Hence, the conclusion that CE is a necessity has gradually become widely accepted by members of the social work profession. “Social workers practice in rapidly changing and complex environments where they encounter challenges that include increasing evidence-based practice requirements, a shifting information landscape, and diminishing workplace resources. … To address these challenges,” Nissen, Pendell, Jivanjee, and Goodluck (2014) opined, “social workers need to engage in lifelong learning” (p. 384).

From a pragmatic perspective, there were several major events that provided the decisive stimulus for greater attention to CE during the past decade. First and foremost, of course, was the final passage of mandatory CE requirements for social work licensure renewal in all 50 states (as well as the District of Columbia, U.S. Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam). The three final holdouts (Colorado, Hawaii, and New York) gradually joined the other 47 states, with New York as the last state to implement the mandate, effective January 2015. (It is worth noting that New York’s decision to come aboard was especially significant because it has 57,000 licensed social workers, far more than any other state in the nation.) The enactment of the New York requirement created both renewed attention to and a greatly expanded market for CE offerings. The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) evinced an enhanced interest in CE as well, reflected in part by sponsorship of a CE consortium (known as CENET) to bring together its school-based CE directors. However, CSWE’s most important influence on CE emanated from the publication of its new Education Policy and Accreditation Standards in 2015, which placed a more explicit emphasis on competency-based education, underscoring that “an individual social worker’s competence is seen as developmental and dynamic, changing over time in relation to continued learning” (CSWE, 2015, pp. 2–3). Competence 1, “Demonstrating Ethical and Professional Behavior,” specifically noted that social workers should “recognize the importance of life-long learning and … of continually updating their skills to ensure they are relevant and effective” (CSWE, 2015, pp. 2–3). Meanwhile, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) had issued its first formal position on the topic, via the publication of a comprehensive Standards for Continuing Professional Education, which emphasized that “a commitment to continuing education is grounded in an ethical principle articulated in the NASW Code of Ethics,” which specifies that social workers must “develop and enhance their professional expertise” (NASW, 2003, p. 9) and “should critically examine and keep current with emerging knowledge relevant to social work” (NASW, 2008, sec. 4.01b). The Code further states that “social work administrators and supervisors should take reasonable steps to provide or arrange for continuing education and staff development for all staff for whom they are responsible” (NASW, 2008, sec. 3.08). In this spirit, NASW now requires members who hold or seek its professional social work credentials (such as the Diplomate in Clinical Social Work), or advanced practice specialty credentials (such as the Qualified Clinical Social Worker or Certified Advanced Social Work Case Manager) to obtain a minimum of 20–30 hours of related continuing education every two years (NASW Credentialing Center, 2015).

Finally, in 2011 the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Foundation for Research and Consumer Education in Social Work Regulation funded social work scholars at the Boston University School of Social Work to conduct an in-depth study of continuing social work education. Termed “The Missing Link Project” and led by Betty J. Ruth, Mark Gianino, and Scott M. Geron (2014a), ASWB’s 119-page Final Report included a comprehensive survey on the status of CE in the United States and Canada and culminated in a series both of observations and recommendations. Among its strongest superordinate conclusions was “the urgent need for a national conversation, including a call that all of the profession’s organizations make CE the ‘issue of the year’” (p. 56). The authors firmly believed that “by starting with a structured cross profession dialogue [one will be able to] identify a variety of methods for deepening an approach to lifelong learning in the social work profession” (Ruth, Gianino, & Geron, 2014b, p. 16). They concluded with the hope that “the broader profession’s understanding of CE as a crucial, but overlooked, link to quality improvement, practitioner effectiveness, and consumer protection” will measurably be enhanced by their project’s explicit research findings (p. 16).

Current Activity

Continuing professional education today is provided by schools of social work, social agencies, professional associations, postgraduate institutes, and individual entrepreneurs who have incorporated in order to provide CE seminars and workshops. In many states, chapters of the major professional organizations (such as NASW) and accredited social work education entities (MSW and BSW programs) sponsor the largest share of the CE offerings, yet a number of proprietary firms have sprung up in response to the demand. Given that there presently are more than 490,000 licensed social workers (termed “registered social workers” in Canada) in North America today, one can readily appreciate the enticing new market, as virtually all of them will need to obtain CE hours (credits) every year to obtain their periodic state licensure renewal. Some of the present for-profit providers are new entrants into the CE marketplace, such as SocialWorkTodayCE.com, whereas others have been in business for many years—like Coursera, Udacity, and the University of Phoenix. Hence, a new industry has emerged. Some of the proprietary universities and educational corporations seem to be providing CE options of good quality; however, this new entrepreneurial opportunity also has spawned a number of “certificate mills,” of dubious merit, that would appear to be primarily focused on shareholder Return on Investment. Because individual state (or territorial) licensing boards make the final determination on what courses, provided by which sponsors, will qualify toward the state-mandated CE credits, there is an opportunity to screen out offerings on inappropriate topics, provided by insufficiently qualified instructors, or presented under unsuitable auspices. Yet, with due respect for the spirit of free enterprise, it is gradually becoming recognized that there may well be inherent risks built in when profit-focused sponsors enter the educational arena (Kurzman, 2015).

The emergence of distance learning and online education has revolutionized education and practice, and the profession of social work has not been an exception. We currently have peer-reviewed electronic journals, and respected BSW, MSW, and DSW degree programs, offered entirely online. Whatever may be the systemic limitations and risks, the online option provides easy access to CE for rural providers, full-time practitioners (balancing work with child and/or elder care), those with physical limitations and disabilities, and multitasking practitioners who prefer the flexibility inherent in home- or office-based course instruction (Noble & Russell, 2013). In short, online options offer intriguing opportunities for broadening and extending access to CE. As we have suggested elsewhere,

With the advent of broadband availability, more powerful processors, secure interactive video transmission, simulcast broadcasting with ITV, versatile web conferencing software, high-end graphics, avatar assisted animation, and sophisticated web-based platforms, the options for online education (and therefore distance learning) are extensive. (Kurzman, 2013, pp. 332–333)

As the overarching association representing the jurisdictional boards that regulate social work in the United States and Canada, the ASWB membership includes all 50 U.S. states, all 10 Canadian provinces, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the U.S. Territory of Guam, and the U.S. Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (ASWB Guide, 2015a, p. 5). In performing its central function, the ASWB develops and maintains the social work licensing exams (bachelor’s, master’s, advanced generalist, and clinical) that these jurisdictions may select and deploy. Recognizing that CE (like doctoral social work education) is neither overseen by NASW nor accredited by CSWE, ASWB created an Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program in 2001 to help standardize social work CE approval and identify CE programs that met a set of established criteria. Although NASW’s Standards for Continuing Professional Education (2003) and Continuing Education Program Guidelines (2011) represent authoritative statements, and present a useful paradigm for providers and practitioners, the ASWB’s ACE program has established uniform requirements that have proven to be broadly acceptable to social work regulatory boards in many jurisdictions throughout the United States and Canada. In effect, ACE was formed in large part to be able to serve the important function, metaphorically, of providing a Good Housekeeping “seal of approval” in the arena of continuing social work education. In its brochure, ACE sponsors state, “Several national organizations, including ASWB, review CE providers for program quality. Providers who pass these screenings meet stringent requirements for program development and management” (ASWB, n.d.). (For example, approved offerings must be for at least 1 hour, with clearly defined learning objectives, ending with an evaluation measure. Session formats focused on oral presentations, discussion groups, and poster presentations would not meet ACE requirements.) Presently, 47 regulatory jurisdictions accept ACE-approved CE hours (39 U.S. states, six Canadian provinces, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia). Although New York, with its record 57,000 licensed social workers, is not among the jurisdictions that automatically accept the ACE-screened CE offerings, ASWB today can appropriately claim that “the ACE approved brand is recognized widely as the gold standard for social work CE” (ASWB News, 2015b, p. 2).

Current Issues

Many differences exist among the states and territories with regard to their respective CE requi...