Publishing voice: training social workers in policy practice /
Publishing voice: training social workers in policy practice /
Einat Peled
- Oxford, UK, Oxford University Press, March, 2009.
- 368- 382 p.
- Monthly
- March, 2009.
- Volume 39, Number 2 .
To promote social justice, social workers are required, among other things, to engage in policy practice. The project at the center of this article aimed to improve the ability of social workers to use the mass media as an accessible method of policy practice. The project was conducted as part of an MSW course in Tel Aviv University. During the course, most of its participants succeeded in publishing op- ed articles on a variety of social topics, in the national or local press, in professional periodicals, and on radio and television. A retrospective evaluation of the project indicated an increase in participant's feeling of personal and professional empowerment, as well in their sense of being capable of promoting social issues through the media following the project. Participants also reported that the project facilitated the identification, appreciation and expression of their unique professional voice. Drawing on this experience, a number of general principles are put forward for implications in similar projects.