Enhancing the Integration of Group Theory with Practice: A Five-Part Teaching Strategy

Abstract

Group work is one of the areas of practice in which social workers have had unique strengths and advanced skills. However, for the past 20 years there has been a steady decline in group-work content at both undergraduate and graduate levels of social work education. At the same time, this treatment modality is gaining popularity and becoming a major method of service delivery in many agency settings. This article addresses the disconnection between social work education and group-practice needs by presenting an innovative five-part approach to teaching group work. A clear step-by-step guide is provided to aid social work educators in effectively integrating group-work theory with practice skills when teaching both BSW and MSW students.