The 2023 cohort of students in the 全球 Practice program will be working in 19 countries around the world. (图片来源:Rebecca McDade)
虽然春季学期刚刚开始, 25 BC省社会工作学院 students are already well into the next phase of their education.
工作地点远至菲律宾, 乌干达, 柬埔寨, 黎巴嫩以及美国, BCSSW的学生参与了一系列的任务, some providing counseling and case management support to survivors of gender-based violence, 或者为新抵达的难民制定和实施方案. Others are establishing monitoring and 评价 protocols for mental health and psychosocial support programming, or researching and advocating global migration policies and peace theory and praxis.
The 25 form the largest cohort in the 17-year history of BCSSW’s 全球 Practice program, 是什么让学生为全球社会工作领域做好准备, 人道主义援助, 国际发展. 全球 Practice focuses on addressing complex social issues that go beyond national boundaries and affect many populations, 将社会工作实践与人权原则相结合, 人类安全, 人类发展, 促进社会问题的可持续解决方案.
学生 in the program go on a field placement for their final semester, working domestically or internationally with one of BCSSW’s intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizational partners such as Jesuit Refugee Service, 天主教救济服务, 国际天主教移民委员会, 国际救援委员会, 灯塔救援, 坚实的思想, FXB印度苏拉克沙, 和PTI宿雾.
“The desire to provide more holistic and integrated services led me to pursue social work. The BCSSW program is incredibly unique in how it practically prepares students to work in a variety of contexts with a global lens to better support individuals and communities.”
BCSSW administrators say the 全球 Practice field placement serves as a proving ground for students’ professional, 学术, 而个人的形成——一个机会，不仅把理论, 指令, 在经验丰富的专业人士的指导下，将价值观转化为行动, but test their ability to adapt to unfamiliar environments and cultural perspectives.
“学生们对自己的了解比他们想象的要多,BCSSW现场教育助理主任Lyndsey麦克马汉说. “How do you interact with someone whose life seems to have little in comparison to yours? How do you live in a place that’s so vastly different than what you’re used to? How do you navigate a situation when basic supplies and staples of everyday life aren’t available? 这时就需要他们解决问题的能力了.”
BC省社会工作学院 Professor 托马斯·克雷亚, assistant dean for global programs
“很多工作都是在实践中学习的, 会议的挑战, 和旋转,负责全球项目的副院长兼教授托马斯·克雷说. “It requires a combination of what might be called ‘hard skills’—like program management, 评价, 还有预算，以及“软技能”,比如开放和文化意识. 我们为这些学生开门, 但当他们踏进那扇门, it’s up to them to work through what they find using the skills we’ve taught them.”
丽贝卡·卡尼(丽贝卡·卡尼)是纽约州和谐镇(Harmony Township)人.J., 谁在黎巴嫩与JRS一起实习, found the 全球 Practice program was a logical extension of her work with NGOs responding to natural disasters, 武装冲突, 或美国的其他紧急情况.S. 在世界各地.
全球实践学生丽贝卡·卡尼
“我目睹了社区支持和结构的崩溃, and felt drawn to understanding and addressing the daily stressors and mental health needs for impacted populations as well,卡尼说。, who is working in the JRS Mental Health and Psychosocial Support department. “The desire to provide more holistic and integrated services led me to pursue social work. The BCSSW program is incredibly unique in how it practically prepares students to work in a variety of contexts with a global lens to better support individuals and communities. 在全球实践项目中有一个宏观轨道, I hope to continue working in humanitarian action to develop integrated mental health and psychosocial support programs for refugees and other displaced persons.
“The field placement provides a remarkable opportunity towards this goal by drawing on past experiences and BC classes to continue learning and provide tangible support to NGOs.”
BCSSW现场教育助理主任Lyndsey麦克马汉
While some students like Carney come to the 全球 Practice program with prior experience in humanitarian or developmental work, 尽管如此，实地实习仍然是他们培训的重要组成部分, Crea和McMahan指出. The assignment is less about directly administering aid—serving food or providing medical care to refugees, 例如，比它正在求值, 调整, or creating programs or policies that provide longer-term and more holistic solutions to address issues affecting populations in need.
同时, 他们补充道, the 全球 Practice program stresses the need to be open-minded and look beyond conventional Western-based perspectives and approaches.
“We can never know what we need to know about a culture or community until we take the time to watch and listen,麦克马汉说. “So, we emphasize the need to be respectful and not make broad assumptions about what’s needed and how problems can be solved.”
全球实践学生雅各Furey-Rosan
雅各Furey-Rosan, whose field placement is in 乌干达 with JRS Mental Health and Psychosocial Support, 他说刚开始的几天很有启发性, 在某些方面, 挑战他的先入之见.
“我可以自信地说，乌干达欢迎难民, and hosts nearly one-and-a-half million refugees fleeing violence and instability in neighboring African countries like South Sudan, 埃塞俄比亚, 以及刚果民主共和国, 等. 这使得乌干达成为世界上接纳难民最多的国家之一. 在这里, they have greater freedom of movement and legal ability to work and study than in other host countries.”
全球实践学生文森特·斯威尼说
“在罗马尼亚的实习让我掌握了我所需要的技能, 对我来说，这比位置更重要,文森特·斯威尼说, 在离开美国前几周的一次采访中.S. 为他在布加勒斯特的JRS工作做准备. “I tend to thrive in a crisis situation, and this feels like a good setting for me. 即使乌克兰的战争明天就结束了, 这里有许多复杂的问题需要解决.”
难民面临着许多艰巨的挑战, 请注意全球实践的学生, and one of these is the perception that they are beyond the capability to lead any kind of normal life. 这一观点, 学生们说, 忽视难民所承受的身心创伤, 低估了他们性格中的韧性和力量.
“This assumption reinforces power imbalances that strip refugees of any agency and deteriorate individual and community resilience,卡尼说。. “在全球实践项目中, 我们讨论了流离失所者如何度过痛苦的事件, 而是心理健康和社会心理支持, 基本需求, 以及其他服务, 他们可以做出决定，促进自己的福祉和繁荣. 作为一名人道主义领域的社会工作者, I consistently and consciously counteract this narrative by aiming to operate with humility, 意识, 和意图.”
“[Refugees] have proven themselves capable by escaping from the dangers they fled, 在山, 沙漠, 海洋, 充满敌意的城市, 危险的边界,弗瑞-罗森说. “If they were completely helpless, lacking in skills or aptitude, how could they have made it? Triumph can still come at a cost, though, and no one can do it all alone. 现在, 在一个新的, 奇怪的, 在某些情况下是不受欢迎的国家, 他们需要帮助来调整, 从他们所面临的困难和逆境中恢复过来, 并学习新的技能，以适应他们的新家.”
肖恩·史密斯|大学传播| 2023年1月