The University of British Columbia is a global centre for research and teaching, consistently ranked among the 40 best universities in the world. In the Masters of Social Work program at UBC’s Okanagan campus, you gain all the benefits of attending a globally respected university while studying in a close-knit learning community.
The Master of Social Work (MSW) degree program provides students with a wide knowledge base and advanced clinical skills for effective social work practice with individuals, families and communities. Our students graduate ready for professional leadership roles in clinical and direct-practice organizations.
The MSW program incorporates critical theory into social work assessment and intervention. Students develop a deeper understanding of the integration of individual, relational, structural and global factors that promote resilience and strengthen capacity. We believe that to be effective social work practitioners, we have to understand the dynamic interaction between the biological, psychological, and social domains.
Our focus is on a clinical social work program of study. The MSW curriculum consists of core courses, field education, and electives. In fact, field education is the cornerstone of our program.
Field education provides students with supervised opportunities to apply their course knowledge in a practice setting. We have strong and collaborative relationships with a wide range of agencies and organizations.
School of Social Work Commitment to Truth and Reconciliation
The Faculty of Social Work does make any explicit commitment to Truth and Reconciliation
They do, however, make the following statements:
MSW Program Objectives
The MSW courses and field education aim to:
(…)
8. develop students’ knowledge and skills to integrate inter-sectionalities of ability, age, class, culture, ethnicity, gender, Indigeneity, power, religion, race, sexual orientation, social condition, among other positionalities, in clinical social work practice
Clinical Program and Curriculum (ubc.ca)
Respectful Dialogue and Conduct Guideline
Social work professional identity, SSW Values and Mission promote societal change through equity, social justice, diversity, and inclusion: “We must work together to dismantle the tools of discrimination, colonization and white supremacy that remain prevalent and entrenched in our everyday systems.”[1] Therefore, Indigenization, decolonization, anti-colonial, anti-racism, anti-oppression knowledge and skill development are expected throughout all aspects of the Master of Social Work (MSW) education and professional work. The goal is to work on creating equitable, diverse, and inclusive learning spaces where Indigenous Peoples, 2SLGBTQIA+, women, gender diverse individuals, people with disabilities, Black people, People of Colour, multiracial individuals and individuals from equity deserving groups can thrive, feel safe, valued, and respected.
TRC Call to Action # 1
We call upon the federal, provincial, territorial, and Aboriginal governments to commit to reducing the number of Aboriginal children in care by:
- Monitoring and assessing neglect investigations
- Providing adequate resources to enable Aboriginal communities and child-welfare organizations to keep Aboriginal families together where it is safe to do so, and to keep children in culturally appropriate environments, regardless of where they reside.
- Ensuring that social workers and others who conduct child-welfare investigations are properly educated and trained about the history and impacts of residential schools.
- Ensuring that social workers and others who conduct child-welfare investigations are properly educated and trained about the potential for Aboriginal communities and families to provide more appropriate solutions to family healing.
- Requiring that all child-welfare decision makers consider the impact of the residential school experience on children and their caregivers.
Mandatory Course: Yes
SOCW 517 Social Work and Indigenous Peoples and Canada (3 credits)
OKSW_MSWStudentHandbook_20230803.pdf (ubc.ca)
Faculty of Social Work Commitment to Call to Action # 1: 3, 4 and 5: 3 out of 3 = 100%
| 3 | History and impact of residential schools (theory) |
| Yes. Mandatory course on Social Work and Indigenous Peoples (SOCW517) | |
| 4 | Potential for Aboriginal communities and families to provide more appropriate solutions to family healing (practice) |
| Yes. Mandatory course on Social Work and Indigenous Peoples (SOCW517) | |
| 5 | All child welfare decision makers consider the impact of the residential school experience on children and their caregivers |
| Yes. Mandatory course on Social Work and Indigenous Peoples (SOCW517) |
Compliance with CASWE/ACFTS Statement of Complicity and Commitment to Change
| At the May 27th, 2017 Board meeting, the Board of Directors of CASWE-ACFTS committed to ensuring that social work education in Canada contributes to transforming Canada’s colonial reality and approved a “Statement of Complicity and Commitment to Change”. “This is an important step in engaging social work education in the reconciliation process and supporting the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action” affirms CASWE-ACFTS President, Dr. Susan Cadel. Of the 12 actions articulated in the “Statement of Complicity and Commitment to Change, the following two are directed at Schools of Social Work |
| 7 | Will encourage institutional members to post a territorial acknowledgement on their School’s website and post a link to the CAUT guide to territorial acknowledgement on the CASWE-ACFTS website to assist Schools with this task |
| Located on the Okanagan campus part of the website.We respectfully acknowledge the Syilx Okanagan Nation and their peoples, in whose traditional, ancestral, unceded territory UBC Okanagan is situated. | |
| 8 | Will encourage and support Canadian schools of social work in revising mission statements, governance processes, curriculum, and pedagogy in ways that both advance the TRC recommendations and the overall indigenization of social work education |
| Yes, see program objectives. |
| NOTE: All content has been submitted to the respective faculty for validation to ensure accuracy and currency as of the time of posting. The University of British Columbia – Okanagan – School of Social Work DID NOT RESPOND to multiple Indigenous Watchdog inquiries. Managing Editor: Douglas Sinclair: Publisher, Indigenous Watchdog Lead Researcher, Timothy Maton, Ph.D |