An argument for transnational learning in social work programmes: experiences from the Erasmus+ ‘Urban Diversities’ course

Schrooten, Mieke, Evans, Ffion, Kloppenburg, Raymond, Csoba, Judit and Kinos, Sirppa (2024) An argument for transnational learning in social work programmes: experiences from the Erasmus+ ‘Urban Diversities’ course. Social Work Education, 43 (6). pp. 1650-1669. ISSN 0261-5479

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Abstract

Internationalization has steadily grown in importance and scope in tertiary education. In addition to exchange and scholarship programmes that encourage student mobility, curricular internationalization or ‘internationalization at home’ has broadened opportunities to integrate international dimensions into the curriculum. Despite the value of ‘transnational awareness’ for future social workers, the degree to which educators in social work invest in international and intercultural competences still varies greatly. In this article, we argue for an explicit commitment to internationalization in social work education. Based on our joint experience of developing and implementing an Erasmus+ funded multimodal, blended, transnational social work course for undergraduate students, we highlight the power and potential of transnational learning for future social workers. At the same time, the development of such an international course is not without its pitfalls. Therefore, we discuss the structural, organizational, technological, and cultural factors we struggled with when implementing our course. This discussion is based on the evaluation of two editions of our course, collecting the experiences and feedback of the students, lecturers and practitioners involved.