6 Involving students with mental health experience in social work education
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Hubert Kaszyński
Abstract
For many years we have been pointing out that a promising method of teaching about mental health is to provide interested parties (especially students and social therapists in general) with first-hand knowledge about mental illness (Kaszyński, 1999). It is therefore essential to have direct contact with individuals with mental illnesses in order to understand them and modify our stereotyped view of deep emotional problems (Couture and Penn, 2003). This approach, which we call ‘social education’, requires above all a willingness to submit to the authority of those who are predominantly the focus of our educational interactions and themselves subject to authority. As a result, this approach makes us advocates of empowerment. If the objective of our educational activity is to answer the question of how to support people in their development and motivate them to change, then an essential condition becomes our ability to perceive and experience the external world from the subjective perspective of those who become partners in the educational relationship.
First, we present the history of shaping the concept of service-user involvement at the Institute of Sociology of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. We emphasise that its indisputable strength is the involvement and cooperation of various actors – academic teachers, people with experience of the diseases, students, social welfare practitioners and therapists. It is necessary to highlight at this point the particular importance of the participation of students with experience of emotional difficulties in the educational process.
The activities described in this chapter are undertaken by a team of lecturers professionally associated with the Institute of Sociology of the Jagiellonian University and social practitioners involved in various activities for people with mental health problems. From the very beginning, the project was based on close cooperation between both groups.
Abstract
For many years we have been pointing out that a promising method of teaching about mental health is to provide interested parties (especially students and social therapists in general) with first-hand knowledge about mental illness (Kaszyński, 1999). It is therefore essential to have direct contact with individuals with mental illnesses in order to understand them and modify our stereotyped view of deep emotional problems (Couture and Penn, 2003). This approach, which we call ‘social education’, requires above all a willingness to submit to the authority of those who are predominantly the focus of our educational interactions and themselves subject to authority. As a result, this approach makes us advocates of empowerment. If the objective of our educational activity is to answer the question of how to support people in their development and motivate them to change, then an essential condition becomes our ability to perceive and experience the external world from the subjective perspective of those who become partners in the educational relationship.
First, we present the history of shaping the concept of service-user involvement at the Institute of Sociology of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. We emphasise that its indisputable strength is the involvement and cooperation of various actors – academic teachers, people with experience of the diseases, students, social welfare practitioners and therapists. It is necessary to highlight at this point the particular importance of the participation of students with experience of emotional difficulties in the educational process.
The activities described in this chapter are undertaken by a team of lecturers professionally associated with the Institute of Sociology of the Jagiellonian University and social practitioners involved in various activities for people with mental health problems. From the very beginning, the project was based on close cooperation between both groups.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents vii
- List of figures and tables ix
- Notes on contributors x
- Acknowledgements xix
- Introduction 1
-
Collaborative models in social work education
- The gap-mending concept: theory and practice 11
- Mending gaps in social work education in the UK 23
- Service users as tandem partners in social work education 35
- Service users as supervisors in social work education: mending the gap of power relations 49
- Involving students with mental health experience in social work education 61
- The Living Library in social work education 73
- Creating a platform together for the voice of the service user: inspiration for organising an event together with service users 85
- Reflections on inspiring conversations in social work education: the voices of Scottish experts by experience and Italian students 97
- Joint workshops with students and service users in social work education: experiences from Esslingen, Germany 109
- Service users, students and staff: co-producing creative educational activities on a social work programme in the UK 117
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Collaborative models in research and policy
- The co-researcher role in the tension between recognition, co-option and tokenism 133
- Community of development: a model for inclusive learning, research and innovation 145
- Dialogue, skills and trust: some lessons learned from co-writing with service users 158
- Participatory pathways in social policymaking: between rhetoric and reality 170
- Experiential knowledge as a driver of change 183
-
Reflective chapters
- Experiences matter equally 199
- Ethical issues in the meaningful involvement of service users as co-researchers 209
- Involving service users in social work education and research: is this structural social work? 224
- Index 238
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents vii
- List of figures and tables ix
- Notes on contributors x
- Acknowledgements xix
- Introduction 1
-
Collaborative models in social work education
- The gap-mending concept: theory and practice 11
- Mending gaps in social work education in the UK 23
- Service users as tandem partners in social work education 35
- Service users as supervisors in social work education: mending the gap of power relations 49
- Involving students with mental health experience in social work education 61
- The Living Library in social work education 73
- Creating a platform together for the voice of the service user: inspiration for organising an event together with service users 85
- Reflections on inspiring conversations in social work education: the voices of Scottish experts by experience and Italian students 97
- Joint workshops with students and service users in social work education: experiences from Esslingen, Germany 109
- Service users, students and staff: co-producing creative educational activities on a social work programme in the UK 117
-
Collaborative models in research and policy
- The co-researcher role in the tension between recognition, co-option and tokenism 133
- Community of development: a model for inclusive learning, research and innovation 145
- Dialogue, skills and trust: some lessons learned from co-writing with service users 158
- Participatory pathways in social policymaking: between rhetoric and reality 170
- Experiential knowledge as a driver of change 183
-
Reflective chapters
- Experiences matter equally 199
- Ethical issues in the meaningful involvement of service users as co-researchers 209
- Involving service users in social work education and research: is this structural social work? 224
- Index 238
