The concept of research-based social work is introduced and discussed from the point of view of preconditions for its realization. Attention is paid both to the academic research of social work and to opportunities fo...The concept of research-based social work is introduced and discussed from the point of view of preconditions for its realization. Attention is paid both to the academic research of social work and to opportunities for developing a knowledge-producing social work practice. Both of these are seen as essential elements of a research-based profession. On the one hand, the academic research is necessary for development of social work as a research-based professional system, and on the other hand, a knowledge-producing practice, conducted by research-oriented practitioners, can only be realized within such a system. Historically, social work has been partly developed as a knowledge-applying instead of a knowledge-producing profession, although the central founding pioneers emphasized the importance of an own-knowledge basis and theory formation, as well as the idea of knowledge-producing practice based on a corresponding professional identity. The future of social work as a professional system in modern society may depend decisively on how it develops a research-based professional identity, not only in the sense of academic research but also through practitioners with research orientation. These are practitioners who would be capable of research-based working in terms of creative knowledge production, thus of developing social work as a credible research-based profession. This can be created only through education in which the development of necessary professional skills is linked to advanced academic meta-skills. There are good reasons to suspect that a three-year education is too short for this.展开更多
文摘The concept of research-based social work is introduced and discussed from the point of view of preconditions for its realization. Attention is paid both to the academic research of social work and to opportunities for developing a knowledge-producing social work practice. Both of these are seen as essential elements of a research-based profession. On the one hand, the academic research is necessary for development of social work as a research-based professional system, and on the other hand, a knowledge-producing practice, conducted by research-oriented practitioners, can only be realized within such a system. Historically, social work has been partly developed as a knowledge-applying instead of a knowledge-producing profession, although the central founding pioneers emphasized the importance of an own-knowledge basis and theory formation, as well as the idea of knowledge-producing practice based on a corresponding professional identity. The future of social work as a professional system in modern society may depend decisively on how it develops a research-based professional identity, not only in the sense of academic research but also through practitioners with research orientation. These are practitioners who would be capable of research-based working in terms of creative knowledge production, thus of developing social work as a credible research-based profession. This can be created only through education in which the development of necessary professional skills is linked to advanced academic meta-skills. There are good reasons to suspect that a three-year education is too short for this.
