Social Work Education and the Grand Challenges

The Grand Challenges for Social Work (GCSW) provides an agenda for society, and for the social work profession. The 13 GCSW have been codified by the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare and are emerging as a significant underpinning in the education of undergraduate and graduate social work students throughout the USA. This volume serves as a guide as to how this can best be achieved in alignment with the 2022 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) from the Council of Social Work Education.

Divided into four parts:

• Individual and Family Well-Being
• Stronger Social Fabric
• A Just Society
• The Grand Challenges in the Field

Each chapter introduces a Grand Challenge, situates it within the curricula, and provides teaching practices in one of the targeted domains as well as learning objectives, class exercises, and discussions. By showing how to facilitate class discussion, manage difficult conversations, and address diversity, equity, and inclusion as part of teaching the topic, this book will be of interest to all faculty teaching at both undergraduate and graduate levels. It should be noted that there are additional supplementary chapters beyond the 13 GCSW that provide further context for the reader.

R. Paul Maiden (PhD), Professor Emeritus (teaching) at the University of Southern California Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. Prior to his retirement from USC, he was Vice Dean, and subsequently, Executive Vice Dean of Academic Affairs and Professor (2007–17). From 2017–21 he taught in the school’s online MSW and DSW. His research and scholarship are focused on occupational social work, including workplace behavioral health, workplace violence, trauma management, managing organizational change, and executive leadership.

Eugenia L. Weiss (PhD, PsyD) is a bilingual-bicultural licensed clinical social worker and licensed psychologist. She is Associate Professor and MSW Director at the School of Social Work at the University of Nevada, Reno. She was previously Clinical Professor at the University of Southern California (USC), Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. Weiss served in the roles of Academic Center Director for the school’s San Diego and Orange County Academic Centers, and as Senior Associate Dean of faculty affairs. She was a recipient of the Hutto Patterson Foundation Award for Distinguished Social Work Faculty.