Engaging Students in Social Policy and Social Justice: The Use of Candidate Debates in Canadian BSW Education

ABSTRACTSocial work pedagogy recognizes the educational value of experiential learning for the professional development of social workers, with a particularly rich experiential learning literature related to clinical work and field education. This study evaluates an experiential learning activity for large undergraduate courses in another area: social policy and social justice. We ask: How effective are electoral candidate debates in building BSW students’ understanding of social justice and its relationship with social policy? Using a constructionist approach, we qualitatively analyzed reflection data from 73 students on their experiences of two in-class electoral candidate debates (one municipal, one federal) held in consecutive offerings of a first-year survey course. Findings indicate that in-class electoral debates have the potential to effectively support learning and engagement related to social policy and social justice, especially foundational concepts such as Canadian federalism, ideologies that inform policy responses, and equity analysis of different policy responses. Learning was primarily limited to formalized conceptualizations of social justice. Recommendations to maximize learning include assessment and accommodation of the diversity of prior student knowledge and inclusion of briefing and debriefing activities. The study suggests that in-class electoral debates, if done properly, can be an effective experiential teaching tool for policy courses.KEYWORDS: Social work educationsocial policysocial justiceelectoral candidate debatesexperiential learning AcknowledgmentsThis research was completed with funding provided by the School of Social Work at Carleton University.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1. Canada is divided into over 300 geographical areas called ridings or constituencies. During a federal election each riding holds an election where local candidates vie for the right to represent the region.2. First-past-the post is a voting system in which an electoral candidate is elected through simple rather than absolute majority (winner take all), i.e., the electoral candidate with the most riding votes wins the right to represent its constituents.3. UPass (or universal transit pass) is a discounted fare offered to eligible students by the university and City transportation provider. The UPass initiative was a direct result of student activism and referenda, resulting in a binding agreement between the university and the public transport authorities.Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by the Evelyn Maud McCorkell Fund, School of Social Work, Carleton University.