Foundation Skills for Social Work Practice

This course will present the foundation skills that all social workers need in order to practice in interpersonal, organizational, community, policy, and evaluation settings. Students will learn that social workers act as group facilitators, mediators, counselors, brokers, advocates, administrators, organizers, planners, and so forth. These roles must be based, not only on an understanding of cause and effect, but also on adherence to social work values and ethics. Performing these roles effectively requires knowledge of one's cultural characteristics and other social identities, how one is perceived and reacted to by others, and one's professional and personal strengths and limitations. In all settings, social workers must develop relationships with clients, colleagues, supervisors, other professionals, and many other constituencies that make up the organizations in which they work. In all of these contexts of employment, social workers are expected to understand patterns of functioning, to assess strengths and limitations, and to plan and implement change strategies. Social work practice further requires that social workers evaluate methods of change, not only on the basis of situational effectiveness, but also on whether their implementation enhances the client's capacity for self-determination and the system's capacity for social justice.