SAGE - CSWE Award

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The SAGE/CSWE Award for Innovative Teaching in Social Work Education

SAGE and the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) have come together to announce a new award to honor and recognize innovative teaching in social work education. Two recipients (or teams) will be awarded and recognized each year for outstanding contributions to social work education.

Click here to download the application

Overview

The annual Award for Innovative Teaching in Social Work Education is presented by SAGE, working in collaboration with the Council on Social Work Education.  The award’s purpose is to:

  • Promote innovative teaching in social work by highlighting it as it emerges; and
  • Recognize the individuals who’ve played significant roles in bringing it about.
  • Key dates:
    • Submission process timeline:  2/10/12 – 3/30/12
    • Winners' announcement date: 5/1/12

The award will be granted to two individuals (or teams) in recognition of innovative teaching.

Applicants and Nominees

Any individuals currently engaged in social work education at the undergraduate, graduate, and/or continuing professional education levels may be nominated. The awards are intended to recognize individuals, working alone or in concert, in social work or interdisciplinary and interprofessional settings.
 
Nominees may be self-referred or recommended by colleagues, students, administrators and others familiar with the nominee’s work. They may include teachers, administrators of designers of social work-relevant educational programs.  Nominations are not limited to persons who are members of the CSWE or working in the United States, or authors who have published with SAGE.  Efforts will be made to attract both new and veteran nominees whose efforts reflect sensitivity to diversity issues, and whose work has implications that cut across method and field specializations. Nominees will be required to submit summaries of the work to be assessed.

Thematic Foci

For the 2012 award, the Advisory Board has identified three themes it considers very important to social work education:

  • The use of cyber and communication technologies in education;
  • Education for reflective practice; and
  • Promoting inclusion.

However, applications describing innovative teaching in other areas will receive equal consideration. 

The focus on cyber and communication technology includes innovative uses of the internet and social networks in teaching and learning.  When used in tandem with traditional face-to-face interactions and reading assignments, this is often referred to as blended teaching. The focus on reflective practice is intended to prepare social workers to intervene professionally in those situations where neither scientific theory nor verified practices are sufficiently robust (or available) to address the complexities of the presenting problem.  Promoting social inclusion is a policy goal shared by the CSWE and social workers at large.  Innovations in education can be used to broaden learner inclusion in the learning process while also modeling techniques that can be used in professional practice.

Selection Criteria

Three criteria are used in selecting award recipients:

  • Effectiveness
  • Transferability
  • Significance

Effectiveness criteria are used to measure the innovation-in-teaching’s impact on the learners, the institution in which it takes place, or both.  Transferability refers to the extent to which the innovation can be extended to other settings (e.g., from one course or institution to another, or from the classroom to the field.) Significance refers to the importance or consequence of the innovation to be social work education and to social work practice.

The Award—More than a Ceremony

Recipients will be announced by May 1st in any given year, and presented at the opening Ceremony during that year’s CSWE Annual Program Meeting.  
Recipients will be encouraged to present their innovations in a seminar or workshop during the Annual Program Meeting.

The seminar will bring together awardees and other nominees to exchange ideas on innovations in social work education that lead to innovations in social work practice. One or more workshops will be scheduled at which award winners can demonstrate how their innovations work and engage participants in related activities.

Awardees will receive a complimentary registration to APM (one per individual award or up to two per team award provided by CSWE) and travel and lodging will be paid for up to $1,500 per individual or team by SAGE publications. In addition, the awardees will receive $500 worth of SAGE books or journals.


Click here to download the application