Teaching Gender in Social Work - MailChimp
Teaching Gender in Social Work - MailChimp
Teaching Gender in Social Work - MailChimp
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about be<strong>in</strong>g shy. Frank is shocked to f<strong>in</strong>d that the foster parents are allow<strong>in</strong>g<br />
him to play with their daughters’ dolls and toys. They say they did not encourage<br />
it but that John always chooses these toys and they do not see a problem<br />
with it. He offered to br<strong>in</strong>g more appropriate toys for John. He also advised<br />
that for socialisation, they should be encourag<strong>in</strong>g him to play football and<br />
<strong>in</strong>tegrate more with the boys <strong>in</strong> the neighbourhood. The foster parents challenged<br />
him as be<strong>in</strong>g sexist. Frank does not th<strong>in</strong>k he is sexist; he is just afraid<br />
that John will be teased <strong>in</strong> school if the other boys f<strong>in</strong>d out and may grow up<br />
to be confused about his gender identity and role. He feels really unsure about<br />
what, if anyth<strong>in</strong>g, he should do. What would you advise?<br />
A range of further case studies are used with students which draw<br />
out issues relat<strong>in</strong>g to gender assumptions <strong>in</strong> the context of core areas such<br />
as different cultural practices with<strong>in</strong> families from different ethnic orig<strong>in</strong>s;<br />
mixed ethnic orig<strong>in</strong>; <strong>in</strong> relation to child abuse and gender, disability and so on.<br />
Through such case studies, students are challenged to engage honestly with the<br />
issues and also to th<strong>in</strong>k beyond the theoretical stance of what ‘should’ be done<br />
to engag<strong>in</strong>g with the practice reality, which is often <strong>in</strong>fluenced by the workers’<br />
own perceptions and dilemmas about gender roles and relations, either overtly<br />
or subtly.<br />
Problematis<strong>in</strong>g <strong>Gender</strong> Perspectives and <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Work</strong>: Introduc<strong>in</strong>g<br />
Anti-discrim<strong>in</strong>atory and Empowerment Perspectives<br />
The discussion to date has focused on how gender is <strong>in</strong>troduced <strong>in</strong> an <strong>in</strong>tegrated<br />
manner on a social work course. An essential feature of this approach for this<br />
author is that <strong>in</strong> addition to provid<strong>in</strong>g gender specific <strong>in</strong>puts, especially at the<br />
early stages of a degree, it is essential that the theme is <strong>in</strong>tegrated more widely<br />
<strong>in</strong>to the curriculum for a number of reasons:<br />
a) <strong>in</strong> view of the importance of students hav<strong>in</strong>g opportunities to<br />
move from a generalised to a more specific and nuanced<br />
understand<strong>in</strong>g and critical awareness of gender;<br />
b) to recognise that for social work that is underp<strong>in</strong>ned by a commitment<br />
to anti-oppressive practice, gender is only one of a number of<br />
critical themes and must be considered with<strong>in</strong> broader theoretical<br />
frameworks outside of the gender perspectives referred to thus far;<br />
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