The annual SAGE/CSWE Award for Innovative Teaching in Social Work Education is presented by SAGE, working in collaboration with the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). This award was established in February 2012 to honor and recognize innovative teaching in social work education. The award's purpose is to
- promote innovative teaching in social work by highlighting it as it emerges, and
- recognize the individuals who have played significant roles in bringing it about.
The three themes identified for the 2016 awards included:
- Educating Social Work Students for Macro Practice
- Educating Social Work Students for Group Practice
- Educating Students for Working with Diverse Populations
- Innovation in Teaching Social Work Students to Be Effective Researchers
The 2016 recipients, Moshoula Capous-Desyllas (California State University Northridge), and Tory Cox, Nadia Islam, Melissa Singh, Diamond Lee, and Mayra Ramirez (University of Southern California) will be recognized on Sunday, November 6 from 11:30 am–1:00 pm during the 2016 APM Awards Luncheon. Learn more about the 2016 recipients and their innovations at the workshops each of them will present at the 2016 APM. Details about each workshop follow.
Moushoula Capous-Desyllas, California State University Northridge
Workshop Title: ‘Zine-Making as a Pedagogical Tool for Transformative Learning in Diversity and Social Justice Courses in Social Work
Overview: This interactive workshop will begin with a brief presentation the origin of zines, their purpose in social work education, and the process of making them. Strategies for incorporating zine-making as a pedagogical tool for transformative learning in diversity and social justice (as known as multi-cultural practice) undergraduate and graduate courses will be shared. Participants will also have the opportunity to engage in zine-making in order to support experiential and embodied ways of knowing and co-creating knowledge through art. Having the opportunity to engage in zine-making themselves, participants of this workshop will learn how to incorporate this activity within their classrooms and social service agencies in their direct practice work with individuals, families, groups, and communities.
Award Theme Category: Educating Students for Working with Diverse Populations
Tory Cox, Nadia Islam, Melissa Singh, Diamond Lee, and Mayra Ramirez (University of Southern California)
Workshop Title: Social Work Innovation: Teaching MSW Students to Positively Disrupt Organizations
Overview: This workshop introduces a new fellowship program in social innovation at the USC School of Social Work, provides a framework for infusing innovative practices in organizations, and engages participants in an interactive experience designed to drive change in social service organizations. The primary methodology utilized will be the application of seven problem dynamics developed by the USC School of Social Work’s Innovators-in-Residence. Two graduate student fellows will present along with members of their faculty leadership team. Participants will identify strategies to connect innovative teaching methods to macro practice through the experiences of the COBI Fellows. Participants will also engage in exercises focused on specific problem dynamics that broaden participants’ traditional means of approaching problems and create a foundation for new ways of thinking that give way to innovative responses to them. Finally, the presenters will take the participants through exercises that will help them tackle specific problems at their organizations.
Award Theme Category: Educating Social Work Students for Macro Practice




