A robust infrastructure for education and training is vital for the development of an emerging social work education in developing countries. This book fills a gap in the existing literature by providing analysis of international practice methods which can be used by developing countries to develop their own professional and educational infrastructures.
The authors' experience of over eight years in Vietnam in enhancing social work education has yielded important information about the contexts, approaches, and lessons learned when disseminating educational systems and content in non-Western countries. Covering improvements to faculty expertise, university leadership, curriculum, and the use of technology with careful attention to cultural contexts, the chapters describe a model of knowledge transfer which can be generalized to other countries and other fields with emerging professions.
International Development of Social Work Education should be considered required reading for all social work academics, students and professionals as well as those working in social and community development.
About the Author: Edward Cohen is Professor at the School of Social work at San José State University. He received his Masters and Ph.D. in Social Welfare from the University of California at Berkeley, and is former Director of the Center for Social Services Research at U.C. Berkeley. He teaches courses in graduate research methods and international social work, and his research interests include mental health, criminal justice, child welfare, and international social work with extensive journal publications in these fields. He was Co-Investigator of the Social Work Education Enhancement Program and a recent recipient of a Fulbright Scholar Grant teaching in Vietnam. He has served on the editorial boards of Research on Social Work Practice and Child and Adolescent Social Work.
Alice Hines has an M.S.W and Ph.D. in Social Welfare from the University of California, Berkeley. She is past Professor, Associate Dean, and Interim Dean of the College of Applied Sciences and Arts at San Jose State University. She was also the former Director of the School of Social Work and Director/Principal Investigator of the Social work Education Enhancement Program following several years of consultation and teaching in Vietnam. Her interests include the development of international programming for undergraduate and graduate students and the transfer of knowledge in the development of educational infrastructure in other countries.
Laurie Drabble, PhD, is Associate Dean of Faculty Success and Research at San José State University, College of Health and Human Sciences, and an Affiliate Scientist with the Alcohol Research Group. In addition to her work in the areas of leadership development and fostering university-community research partnerships, she conducts epidemiological and qualitative research on alcohol and drug problems among women. Her global work included involvement with the Social Work Education Enhancement Project.
Hoa Nguyen is a Lecturer at the department of Social Practice, Unitec Institute of Technology, New Zealand. Before coming to Unitec, she worked as a Coordinator for the Social Work Education Enhancement Program. Nguyen received her Ph.D. in Social Work and Master of Social Work at the University of Minnesota, USA. She completed her B.A. in English at Hanoi University, Vietnam. Nguyen teaches courses in research methods, advanced social work theories, and fields of practice. Her research interests include economic empowerment, community development, child well-being, and international social work education. Nguyen has published several articles in peer-reviewed journals such as Relational Child & Youth care practice; Social Work Education, Social Development Issues, Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning.
Meekyung Han, PhD. is Professor at the School of Social Work at San José State University. Her primary research interests focus on 1) issues related to mental health and general well-being among Asian Americans and 2) enhancing culturally sensitive, competent social work practices with Asian-American populations. She has demonstrated professional contributions, dedication and leadership to the community and the social work profession through various interdisciplinary research activities with other faculty, community-based agencies, and international scholars.
Soma Sen is Professor at the School of Social Work, San Jose State University. She has Masters degrees in Economics from Iowa State University and in Social Work from University of Minnesota. She received her doctorate from Arizona State University. She teaches foundational theory in the Social Work Graduate program in addition to supervising final year students' capstone projects. Her overall scholarly agenda focuses on understanding and addressing health disparities among marginalized groups. Her more recent research has focused on HIV/AIDS prevalence among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI), both nationally and internationally. She publishes consistently in national and international journals and disseminates her research through local, national, and international conferences.
Debbie Faires is the Director of Online Learning at San Jose State University's School of Information. She earned a master's degree in library and information science at SJSU. She has taught classes on web technology at SJSU and Diablo Valley College. She conducts training for faculty members who are preparing to teach online and she developed and coordinates the introductory core course for all students in the MLIS program. In addition to administrative responsibilities, she works in the areas of faculty development and effective facilitation of synchronous online sessions.
