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SWK1100 Decolonising Social Work: Multicultural Australia

Semester 2, 2023 Online
Units : 1
School or Department : School of Psychology and Wellbeing
Grading basis : Graded
Course fee schedule : /current-students/administration/fees/fee-schedules

Staffing

Course Coordinator:

Overview

How does social work engage with First Nation鈥檚 peoples and people from diverse cultural backgrounds? This is a question that many social workers must consider. It is important for social workers to understand how race, privilege and cultural blindness affects the assumptions, presumptions and perspectives that guide social work thinking and practice. Australia is one of the most multicultural nations world-wide yet many people with diverse cultural identities are marginalised, disenfranchised, and socially excluded. Multicultural Australia includes First Nation peoples, who have more than 250 different languages. Social workers must embrace and celebrate multicultural Australia given the profession鈥檚 ethical commitment to decolonisation, diversity, human rights, and social justice. Students must adopt inclusive professional practice that respects and values how peoples with diverse cultural backgrounds have different ways of knowing, doing and being. However, critical multicultural practice will also need to strengthen relationships and enhance mutual trusting relationships between First Nations and multicultural communities and social workers.

It is relatively easy to acknowledge that Australia has witnessed a succession of new patterns and waves of migration for more than 100 years; moving from primarily an Anglo-Celtic base to a universal multicultural nation. Migrants from Eastern, Western, and Northern Europe came in the early 20th century, and they were followed by Southern Europeans in the 1950s, followed by migrants from Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Changes to immigration policies paved the way for non-European migration, especially from Asia and Southern Africa due to civil wars and humanitarian crises. What this European centric history misses, is that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have inhabited Australia for more than 60,0000 years. Indigenous Australians are the world's oldest living culture and yet social work has often failed to address the fatal impacts of colonisation is the Australian context.

This course explores the need for social workers to critically acknowledge the imperative of decolonisation through challenging cultural oppression, racism, and consequent discrimination. Social workers must explore, analyse, and respect cultural differences in worldviews, as well as contributing to culturally safe practice. In addition to introduction to multicultural theories and practice approaches, this course allows students to critically reflect on 'white' social work and the need for decolonisation. The course also specifically addresses a number of fields of practice where people with diverse cultural identities experience significant challenges including child safety issues; domestic and family violence; homelessness and statelessness; rurality; ethnicity and ageing; transcultural mental health; and disability. Adopting a critical human-rights approach, the course enables student to embrace and engage in anti-oppressive and emancipatory social work practice with individuals, communities and systemic changes to ensure people with diverse cultural backgrounds are welcomed and valued.

Course learning outcomes

On completion of this course students should be able to:

  1. Consider the impact of colonisation on First Nations peoples with due consideration to the imperatives for anti-oppressive social work practice.
  2. Explore and relate the historical development of immigration policies to the social policies implemented by successive governments and interpret the intersectional experiences for people who migrate
  3. Practice anti-oppressive and emancipatory social work by recognising, respecting, and valuing the rich cultural diversity in Australia and beyond.
  4. Critically respond to 鈥渟uperdiversity鈥, including challenges facing people with diverse cultural identities.
  5. Practice with cultural humility, alternate ways of knowing, doing and being, hence focus on enabling people with diverse cultural identities to experience cultural safety.
  6. Advances human rights through anti-oppressive practice that contributes to social, economic, political, and environmental justice for all citizens of the globe.

Topics

Description Weighting(%)
1. Impact of colonisation on First Nations peoples and imperative for decolonisation and Indigenisation 10.00
2. The historical heritage of Australia鈥檚 policies on multiculturalism 10.00
3. White blindness: Ethical, legal and policy context of 鈥渕ulticultural鈥 and 鈥渨hite鈥 Australia 10.00
4. Multicultural theory and frameworks: Challenging hegemonic constructions and implications for critical multicultural social work practice, including internalised dominance and oppression shaping worldviews 20.00
5. The relationship between decolonisation, cultural safety, and multiculturalism 10.00
6. Fields of practice: Co-working with First Nation鈥檚 peoples; child safety; People from refugee backgrounds living with disability; Domestic and family violence and people seeking asylum; Nationless, homeless and seeking asylum; Rurality; Transcultural mental health 30 30.00
7. Celebrating cultural diversity: Systemic advocacy, community empowerment and anti-oppressive social work practice 10.00

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

Nipperess, S. & Williams, C (Eds) (2020), Critical Multicultural Practice in Social Work New perspectives and practice, Routledge.
Tascon, M and Ife, J (2020), Disrupting Whiteness in Social Work, Routledge.

Student workload expectations

To do well in this subject, students are expected to commit approximately 10 hours per week including class contact hours, independent study, and all assessment tasks. If you are undertaking additional activities, which may include placements and residential schools, the weekly workload hours may vary.

Assessment details

Approach Type Description Group
Assessment
Weighting (%) Course learning outcomes
Assignments Written Quiz No 20 1,2,3
Assignments Written Essay A1 of 2 No 15 2,3,4,5,6
Assignments Oral Presentation (ind, grp, mltmd) A2 of 2 Yes 35 2,3,4,5,6
Assignments Written Reflection (personal/clinical) No 30 3,4,5,6
Date printed 9 February 2024