Ethical Child Welfare Lessons

The “Ethical Child Welfare” lesson presented might have been improved in several ways, and the following observations of the instructor’s skills and teaching methods are discussed to develop effective strategies for improving teaching and enhancing student learning in UTSA’s graduate MSW program.

First, the presentation did not distinguish between the concepts of values (things deemed significant and can include concepts like equality, honesty, education, effort, perseverance, loyalty, faithfulness, conservation of the environment), beliefs (convictions that we generally hold to be true, usually without actual proof or evidence) and ethics (moral principles governing behavior). These three concepts were presented in a cursory manner and were confounded by the instructor and students (see paragraph below). An opportunity to clearly delineate between each of these concepts was also missed in an exercise in which students had to choose between binary statements about child abuse and neglect. The instructor might have had students’ explicitly identify whether their choices were grounded in values, beliefs, and/or ethics to help demarcate these important yet …show more content…
Moreover, legal concepts such as “best interest of the child” or “permanency planning” are codified in legislation and shape child welfare practice but were not discussed. The former was not discussed, and the latter was inaccurately discussed by a student and not addressed by the instructor.

Finally, some of the listicles presented on PowerPoint slides did not have sources attributed. For example, the “Core Values of Child Welfare Practice” were from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services but this information was included on the