Summary

This presentation shares a strategy of engaging positionality in teaching and learning as a way to broaden emancipatory approaches in social work education.  Given the current political climate of undercutting critical perspectives in education, it is crucial to continue to foster critical consciousness of ideas, beliefs, values, commitments, histories, and discourses that shape how we live, work, and relate to one another.  Cultivating reflexivity on positionality we not only demonstrate how power relations are constructed and lived every day, but also offer platforms for emancipatory approaches to education, where the dominant narratives are problematized, and alternative narratives amplified. The presentation will share examples from the classroom.

Keywords (separate with commas)

Positionality, critical consciousness, emancipatory approaches

Summary

In September 2022, a school in the northeast implemented Dr. Love’s Liberatory Consciousness Framework (LCF), which addresses antiracism and oppression.  Liberatory consciousness is an awareness of oppression and intentionality about changing systems of oppression (Love, 2010). The LCF consists of four elements –awareness, analysis, action, accountability/allyship.  Awareness requires that you recognize that we live in an oppressive society; analysis requires that you develop explanations about why oppression is happening; action requires you to take action to promote equity and justice; and accountability/allyship requires you to collaborate with others to address what is contributing to an oppressive society. The LCF is being used to guide curriculum development, students’ work in their field placements, and the work of staff within the school.The purpose of this panel discussion is to inform social work educators about the usefulness of the LCF for curriculum development and designing field placement activities. Examples of how the framework is being used in the curriculum and field settings will be discussed as well as lessons learned. Results will be presented from the initial evaluation of the implementation of the LCF. Resources for those who would like to use this framework in their schools will be made available. Participants will be given time to discuss how they can implement this framework and discuss any challenges they might anticipate in its implementation.Participants will learn about the elements of (awareness, analysis, action, and accountability/allyship) the liberatory consciousness framework.Participants will learn about the ways in which the liberatory consciousness framework was implemented in the curriculum and field settings and consider how they might want to implement it at their own schools.Participants will learn about the challenges encountered in implementing the liberatory consciousness framework.

Keywords (separate with commas)

liberatory consciousness framework, antiracism, oppression, social action

Summary

In Canada, the inequitable assaults of the COVID pandemic and intertwined traumas of anti-Black, anti-Asian, and anti-Indigenous racisms have mobilized social work schools and the social work profession to actions that are often grouped in a discourse of decolonizing social work. However, the term ‘decolonization’ has been employed imprecisely, often used metaphorically to describe actions towards social justice. True decolonization, in the context of social work, requires deliberate efforts to undo the cultural and social effects of colonization, namely, social work focused in eurocentrism, practices reinforcing cultural hierarchies, and the erasure of indigenous ways of being and healing. Using decolonization as a metaphor fails to serve the pressing need for social work to be more respectful of, and responsive to, the diverse communities it serves in the contemporary context. This paper will discuss the impact of (neo)colonization on social work, as it is imperative that we acknowledge and understand the specific ways in which colonization has shaped social work before we can effectively dismantle its detrimental impacts. This paper asserts an urgent need for social work to embrace a precise decolonization framework, thus empowering social workers to challenge the status quo and address the systemic issues that undermine our efforts to do social work for social justice. 

Keywords (separate with commas)

Canada, decolonization, anti-racisms, indigenization, cultural diversity, social work practice

Summary

The narratives used to convey mental health experiences and the meanings associated with them are manifold. The work of postcolonial scholars has shown how mental health practices can be mediated by the colonial gaze, both consciously and unconsciously, further shaping the understanding of mental health issues, if not the experience itself. Moreover, mental health concepts have long served to establish and maintain colonial interests (Fanon, 1952). As such, allegations of misdiagnosis are most prominent in the cross-cultural diagnosis of schizophrenia and psychotic experiences (Adeponle, 2010).\ Combining the preliminary results of a research on psychotic experiences among the Inuit of Nunavik, Québec, Canada, and the experiences of the author as social worker in indigenous context, this presentation explores the different narratives around mental health and psychotic phenomena in Nunavik. We propose to look at the different meanings that emerge and explores how mental health concepts are culturally constructed and how it impacts research and clinic and often, prevent the development of culturally pertinent services. The aim of this presentation are to develop a better understanding of how concepts of mental health and psychotic phenomena are understood in Nunavik and identify the challenges related to the practice of social work in a context of coloniality. We also wish to discuss the uncertainties and biases that researchers and practitioners may experience, when faced with different epistemologies and ontologies, \ and how to embrace these uncertainties. \ 

Keywords (separate with commas)

Mental health; psychotic phenomenon; Inuit; Indigenous; coloniality