Book review
Title: Social Work in Europe: Educating for Change
Author: Karen Lyons & Sue Lawrence
Year: 2006
Edition: 1
Number of pages: 186
Publisher: Venture Press
ISBN: 1-86178-072-9
Price: £15.95
Reviewer: Dr Marion Ellison, Lecturer, Social Policy, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh
Review date: 09/04/2009
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Social Work in Europe: Educating for Change offers a very timely, well informed and much needed response to recent challenges and opportunities in policy and practice for the social professions in Europe. Focusing on education the book is very useful to educators and those engaged in course development for the social professions, practitioners, students, and policy makers. The book presents very recent material about issues, trends and models in the education for the social professions in a European context. The thematic approach used in this edited collection enables chapter authors to draw upon a range of personal experiences in European research, exchange programmes and joint curriculum developments and relate these experiences to the purpose, and impacts of regional policies in the development of education and training programmes for social professions in Europe.
The book is structured into three parts with a concluding discussion. Part One contextualizes social work education and practice within the europeanisation of welfare developments, giving an informative analysis of the development of policies and systems at regional level. Norman Ginsburg and Sue Lawrence give an incisive and comprehensive account of the impact of changes in the geography and politics of Europe on social policy and welfare in the latter part of the 20th and early 21st century. Here evidence of the European Union’s growing commitment to a ‘social Europe’ and major shifts in ideological views about welfare are explored before going on to focus on specific policies, areas of comparative research, and joint educational initiatives in the field.
Part Two of the book, ‘Education for the social professions’ offers a very helpful account of three key components of educational systems and provisions: theoretical paradigms and curricula underpinning professional boundaries; the role of research in professional education and finally the rationale for developing anti-racist programmes to guard against and help eliminate racism, discrimination and social exclusion within an agenda promoting ethnic and culture diversity in Europe. Walter Lorenz very skillfully explores the goals of social professional education in Europe comparing different models of training and educational approaches. Karen Lyons gives further dimension to Lorenz’s contribution, with her well-grounded exploration of the role of research within education for social professionals in a range of European countries. Lena Dominelli traces the changing nature of race and racialised identities in Europe most usefully drawing on her own experience of running anti-racist courses to identify key components of courses preparing students in the social professions for anti-racist practice.
Part Three of the book looks to the future and once again combines a broad ideological and political analysis of the education agenda at European Union level with a well grounded consideration of issues, trends and models in the education for the social professions in a European context. Kieron Hatton offers a very useful exploration of the dilemmas and possibilities of developing European joint curricula and common awards at undergraduate level whilst Sue Lawrence considers how postgraduate programmes have translated the European dimension.
The book concludes with a very carefully thought through syntheses of how emerging social trends presuppose the development of cross-national initiatives in education and research. Overall the book is very well grounded and well referenced. It is in touch and up to date with recent developments in education within the social professions in Europe, a must for any course within the social professions, it offers material for lectures and seminars and is relevant at undergraduate and post-graduate level. I strongly recommend this book to educators, researchers, students and policy makers in the field.
