Author:
Ferguson Aidan,Erwin Jennifer
Abstract
All levels of education have been tasked with creating empowered, civic-minded citizens. It is often assumed that students come into college having received a robust civics education in high school, leaving a potential gap between education and abilities of graduates to become ethical and effective social workers and civic citizens. When broached in higher education, disagreement often lies in what civic competency means, how it is addressed in the classroom, and - for higher education - if it is appropriate to support a particular “agenda” or ideology in creating pedagogical goals. For social work, the disconnect between historical professional goals, the current political and professional climate, and academic barriers and freedoms can be further impacted by disparate views on whether it is appropriate for social work to support education aimed at increasing civic competency and engagement. This conceptual paper will review the historical roots of the profession, explore current issues related to civic competency and political education, and discuss the future of civics education in social work.
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