Building a mutual-help community: Young social work teachers' self-rescue action. Issue 1 (March 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Xiang, Yu; Yan, Guowei
• Other Names: Ku Hok Bun guest-editor.; Kwok-leung Ho Denny guest-editor.; Chan Yuk-chun guest-editor.; Deng Suo guest-editor.; Sin Rick guest-editor.; Wang Frank TY guest-editor.; Wong Renita YL guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Action research. Volume 18:Issue 1(2020:Mar.)
• Page Start: 69
• Page End: 101
• Publication Date: 2020-03
• Subjects: Young social work educators -- mutual-help community -- self-rescue actions; Action research -- Periodicals; 300.72
• DOI: 10.1177/1476750319892314
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1476-7503

Abstract

The higher education system has marginalized the young educators. Young educators in the field of social work are in a much worse situation. Research indicates that young social work educators are facing three types of significant challenges: lacking teaching experience and social support; lacking academic research skills and facing great pressure from getting paper published; lacking professional knowledge and practical experience. This paper adopts action research to explore how to build a mutual self-help community among young social work educators who are experiencing similar challenges. Also, the process of the authors' experience of building a mutual-help community will be elaborated in detail: forming the initial idea of building a mutual-help group based on past experience, upgrading the occasional gatherings to a book club, facilitating mutual-help actions, facilitating collective actions, expanding a small team to a big community. Although the young social work educator mutual-help community has brought about some positive changes and helped mitigate distress temporarily, it doesn't solve the problem permanently. Building a mutual-help community for self-help is, in fact, our last-ditch move. So, we are looking forward to embracing a bright future when there will be a structural improvement in China's social work education.