Abstract:
Because social work clients are often members of oppressed, vulnerable and
disempowered groups, teaching sensitivity to diversity and empowering social work
students to be culturally competent is of the utmost importance. South Africa’s history
of apartheid has had detrimental effects on personal, social, economic, and political
development. A department of social work at a university in South Africa introduced
specific study units within its Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) programme to address the
influence of this particularly vicious form of discrimination. The units help students to
confront their own prejudices, enhance their self-awareness, and obtain knowledge of
and exposure to diverse client populations. This paper discusses the need for coursework
in this area, and describes the process of teaching these study units.
