Language Teaching in Social Work

1. Language Teaching in Social Work Looking into Latino Growth Presentation to WSSA, Calgary,2007

2. The Survey • A pilot study conducted in 2004 showed that few schools of social work took special steps to prepare their students for practice in a multi-lingual environment. • The 2006 survey aimed to assess whether the situation had changed. • The 2004 study included "the old Spanish states“ in the Southwest. The 2006 study included those states which according to the 2005 Census data, had over 250,000 Hispanics in the population.

3. The Survey • The 2004 survey was sent to BSW and MSW programs. The 2006 survey addressed only MSW programs. • In 2004, email letters with an attached survey instrument were sent to 84 U and G program directors listed in the CSWE web-site. • In 2006, email letters and questionnaires were sent to 121 program deans or directors. The survey was broadened to capture the growth of the Latino/Hispanic population. • Responses were received anonymously in a web-site.

4. Hispanic Population Growth 2000-2006 in the Selected States • (Pew Hispanic Center Reports, 2006)

6. States Surveyed and Responses in 2004-05 and 2006-07 2004 2006

7. The Responses • The response level for the 2007 survey was disappointedly low (19.83%). It had been 49% in 2005. • By state, the following responses were received: • AZ- 2 NJ- 1 • CA- 1 NM- 2 • CO- 2 NY- 3 • FL- 1 OR- 1 • GA- 1 PA- 1 • IL- 1 TX-3 • MI- 4 UT-1

8. Responses by State

9. Respondents by Position

10. Very Important AZ AZ CA CO CO FL GA MI NM NM NY PA TX TX Importance of Spanish Language Competency for Practice by State Important • IL • MI • NY • OR • TX Somewhat Important • MI • NJ • NY • UT Unimportant • MI

11. Explanations offered for the importance of Spanish competency • Large numbers of immigrants with Spanish as primary language. • Border state. • Frequency of Spanish use for professional practice and daily living. • Pervasiveness of Spanish in the context of the state, the county or the specific area. • Spanish speakers will be the majority in a few decades. • The context of South Fl, where Spanish “is almost the first rather than a second language”. • High percent of Hispanic families receiving social services. • Increasing recognition of Spanish speakers’ social service needs.

13. How do programs respond to the needs of Spanish speaking agencies • Connecting students who have language skills with agencies that need those skills • Offering a range, from a course in Spanish for social workers, to a certificate, to a full program • Agencies are obviously already bilingual and bicultural in that area and so are students • Not able to respond because of lack of Spanish speaking students in program • Unable to guess agencies’ needs or having nothing to do with field agencies

15. 3 programs have a language requirement 21 one programs do not have a language requirement 100 % of students in 2 programs satisfy it with Spanish. No students are reported to use Spanish in the other. Do you have a language requirement and what percentage of the students satisfy it with Spanish?

16. What programs do to capitalize on Spanish language skills of students • Re-affirm the value of language skills, to include advising, luncheon events, Spanish conversation sessions, etc. • Placing students with language skills in Spanish speaking agencies. Some respondents stress the importance of choice on part of students and some express concern about “exploitation” • Offering immersion or single courses in Mexico or Central America • Offering a total bi-lingual/bi-cultural social work concentration

17. Steps taken by program to encourage Spanish competency • Offering ½ graduate credit for UG Spanish courses • Many types of immersion and technical Spanish offerings, ranging from single courses to full exposure in Spanish speaking countries • Offering a limited number of full tuition scholarships for bi-lingual/bi-cultural social work • Pointing out the marketability of language skills • Offering a full bi-lingual/bi-cultural concentration which includes content courses taught in Spanish and field placement in Mexico

18. Reported success of the steps taken

19. Reported impediments to language teaching and learning • Low priority given to language learning in the programs or to language entrance requirements in social work • Scarcity of Spanish speaking faculty • Faculty conservatism and administrative lack of force • Languages are not amenable to the fast learning results students expect and reluctance to second language learning common in social work • Foreign language departments’ teaching methods and time span • Incorrect assumptions from some faculty and students regarding the effectiveness of short language courses or short study abroad offerings • Conflicting demands for students’ time in a very structured curriculum • No impediments

20. Innovations in Spanish language competency • Requesting a faculty member to learn Spanish to coordinate the Spanish language and culture project • Three programs reported a full bi-lingual/bi-cultural graduate program (or concentration), two with a clinical focus, and one with a development one • It was reported that the state legislature in NM funds a bi-lingual/bi-cultural program as a commitment to the state’s heritage

21. Observations and Reflections • In spite of the growth of the Hispanic population in the states surveyed, and the expressed concern about language issues by educators, the rate of response to the survey was very poor. • In the 2005 survey, BSW programs responded with greater interest and enhanced the response rate.

22. Observations and Reflections • By far, the most innovative policy is the one reported for NM, where the legislature funds the bi-lingual/bi-cultural program • Very impressive are the programs that offer full concentrations at the graduate level, particularly those that do not report a high level of Spanish speaking students in the program (CO) • Very interesting is a FL report, which highlights the pervasiveness of Spanish among students, agencies and in the milieu • The specific regional context of a program seems to have made a difference more than the average growth of the SS population recorded for the state.

23. Observations and Reflections • The programs that report the most intense type of offerings (whether immersion of concentrations) report the highest level of success in terms of student interest and follow up • One state with a fairly recent Spanish population reports good movement forward • One program reports students coming from all over the country to do their full bi-lingual/bi-cultural curriculum • In reporting impediments to giving languages high priority, programs frequently mention the rigidity and lack of room for electives in social work