What makes a Social Worker?

I have a confession to make: I am not a social worker.

That is, I don’t have a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) or a Masters of Social Work (MSW). I’m not even a registered Social Service Worker, which is a two year diploma.

This does not stop my clients, or even friends and family from referring to me as a social worker.

I did go to school. One year of a Bachelor of Fine Arts (dropped out) and a diploma in Assaulted Women and Children’s Counselling and Advocacy (AWCCA). It’s an awkwardly titled and unique program, but I learned more there than in any other school I’ve attended my whole life. And it is in the Community Services department.

I believe in a recovery model of mental health work. Recovery is a word I’ve heard kicked around in mental health departments for a long time, but a lot of the time it seemed to be more of vague notion of an ideal rather than an actual working philosophy or model. It’s only been in the past year or so that I have really learned how the concept of recovery can be used to help clients and improve the work that I do.

I took to the recovery model very quickly, because it jives well with my feminist and anti-oppression perspective. These are things I learned in the good ol’ AWCCA, as well as my life experiences. 

Most of the time, I feel pretty well prepared to handle the work I do. I attribute this to my training, but also to my ‘lived experience’ - the things you don’t get out of a book. The recovery model values this highly. It emphasizes the importance of lived experience and in particular peer-support in doing mental health work.

Meanwhile, the social work sector seems to be headed for increased professionalization. I don’t really have numbers to back this up, but I have certainly noticed it from my constant perusing of job postings. More and more jobs are requiring BSW’s and even MSW’s for community work that has often been done by people like me. While I strongly believe that further education is a good thing, I do question whether this trend can be congruent with the recovery model.

I also would never want to disrespect or devalue the years of effort and hard work that others have put into their professional designations. Goodness knows I was proud when I graduated my program (with honours thankyouverymuch) but is completing a two or four or five year degree the only way to be a Social Worker?

More to come in a new blog series I am going to call Recovery 101.

Soapbox pt. 2

So I figured if I could blog about it, I could also do something more productive. Write a letter. This is what I have written to the premier:*

April 23, 2010

Dear Premier,

I was very encouraged when I heard the recent announcement of the changes being introduced to Ontario’s curriculum regarding sex education. I understand that this is a sensitive and therefore particularly challenging subject matter, and I felt that your plan did a good job reflecting the diverse experiences of children and families in Ontario. It was disappointing then when you decided to place these changes on hold.

I am the parent of a six year old who attends public school. As a mother, I have a great responsibility to impart my knowledge and values to my child, but I also recognize that she is constantly being influenced by other sources. Between sexist and homophobic messages in popular culture, hyper-sexualized images in the media, and often misguided information from her peers, I would like to trust that the education system is a place where she and other children can receive sound knowledge and resources. It is not helpful to her or the other students to continue using language in the classroom that is vague or non-inclusive.

I sincerely hope that the government of Ontario will proceed with the proposed changes to the elementary curriculum. Cultural attitudes and information available about sex and relationships are always changing, and the curriculum needs to keep pace. Our schools provide a safe environment for children to hear these messages.

Sincerely,

(Nectarine)

Also, I tried to find some groups or articles supporting the change, but have come up short so far. I did find this informative comparison.

*feel free to copy/paste/share/plagirize!

Is that a soapbox? Let me at it!

So this is what I get for procrastinating on posting.

I kept meaning to blog something about how pleased I was with the government of Ontario’s new changes to the sex ed curriculum. It involved a new focus on teaching younger students the correct terms for their body parts including genitals, and using more inclusive language throughout the curriculum to recognize families and relationships outside the heterosexual norm. This would include not using terms like “mother and father” or “husband and wife” exclusively when talking about relationships and sex. It would also weave this information throughout the school curriculum to normalize it, instead of confining it to the giggling sessions of health class.

Apparently, this new curriculum has been posted on the government’s website for months, although I can’t find the link. It was formally announced this week, and drew the expected criticisms from social conservative and religious groups. At first, the premier defended the changes, but now he has backed down and “shelved” the curriculum until “further consultation with parents”.

Now, I have a lot to say about this but I’ll focus on one thing for now. It really irks me that social conservatives seem to have a strangle hold on the word “family”. The opposition to this plan is continually referred to in the media as “family values focused”, “pro-family” etc. as though there is only one definition of “family values” and anything else is amoral.

Look, just because we don’t all have a mommy and a daddy who got married in a church and then planned and had some babies and will stay together forever, doesn’t mean we don’t care for and love one another and comprise a FAMILY. And because of this, it means kids need to have a safe and well-informed environment to learn about sex and relationships.

Bear with me, I may have more on this later.