Feminist Egalitarian Discourse in Social Work Education for Practice: Theoretical Exposition from the Irish Perspective

Abstract

Using the pedagogic lens this article presents theoretical exposition of feminist egalitarian discourse for social work education. The Masters in Social Work is a professional qualification, which has as its primary goal the promotion of human rights and social justice. In theory, feminist egalitarian discourse aligns succinctly with this overall goal. However, in reality feminist egalitarian discourse is often overlooked and is rarely considered mainstream in many social work programmes. The paper is divided into three sections (1) An Irish context, which provides a brief overview of social work in Ireland, while linking it to the way social work programmes have developed within such a context; (2) The status of feminist egalitarian discourse in social work education, whereby critical theorisation in this paper interrogates the literature on feminist egalitarian discourse in social work education (particularly Masters in Social Work curricula), and in doing so, and; (3) Embraces feminist egalitarian discourse in social work education, which highlights the significance of critical perspectives in contemporary social work education and practice. Theorisation through uptake of feminist egalitarian discourse argues that through such discourse in social work masters programmes, coherence with universal humanistic ideology is heightened, challenging both neoliberal ideologies and statutory led practices.