The School of Social Work is a leader in progressive education for critically-engaged social work practice. We integrate anti-oppression and social justice into our teaching, with attention to marginalized populations and communities.
We provide outstanding classroom and field learning opportunities to our students. Under the guidance of qualified field instructors, you spend a significant amount of your time with us — 840 hours — linking theory with practice in a variety of community-based, child welfare, social research, mental health and residential settings.
Our faculty members take a collaborative and passionate approach. They continually adapt their teaching to equip you with the knowledge and experiences to pursue a meaningful career and create positive change.
School of Social Work Commitment to Truth and Reconciliation
No specific School of Social Work Commitment to Truth and Reconciliation
Mission, Vision and Values
The Mission, Vision and Values in the “About” section on the The School of Social Work site does make some generic statements:
Vision
The School of Social Work’s mission is to prepare graduates for critically engaged social work practice with marginalized populations and communities; and to develop leadership and innovation in social work education, at the undergraduate and graduate level, through teaching, scholarship, research and community service. (Under Review)
Core Values
We support the struggles of Indigenous populations, nationally and globally, for Indigenous sovereignty and their collective rights.
We affirm human dignity and human rights and value equity among all people.
We are committed to the implementation of social work values in our curriculum and in the delivery of our programs.
We are committed to learning about communities that foster respect for social diversity, and critical reflexivity in our students and faculty.
We educate about the intersectionality and interlocking of oppressions and seek to address their causes.
Our program reflects ongoing attention to the rigor and relevance of our undergraduate and graduate degree programs which prepares our graduates with the requisite knowledge, skills and values to work with marginalized populations in a constantly evolving global context.
We foster student-centered learning environments that engage and challenge students, and which are responsive to life circumstances and societal forces that create barriers to the student experience.
We build relationships with communities, expressed in our collaborative community-based research, community service and in educational relationships with field placement settings.
We stand with communities and populations that experience oppression and marginalization, including poverty, exploitation and domination, and seek to work with all those committed to the advancement of anti-oppression/anti-racism, anti-Black racism, anti-colonialism/decolonization, Aboriginal reconciliation, feminism, anti-capitalism, queer and trans liberation struggles, issues in disability and Madness, among other social justice struggles.
Our program reflects ongoing attention to the rigor and relevance of our undergraduate and graduate degree programs which prepares our graduates with the requisite knowledge, skills and values to work with marginalized populations in a constantly evolving global context.
TRC Call to Action # 1
We call upon the federal, provincial, territorial, and Aboriginal governments to commit to reducing the number of Aboriginal children in care by:
- Monitoring and assessing neglect investigations
- Providing adequate resources to enable Aboriginal communities and child-welfare organizations to keep Aboriginal families together where it is safe to do so, and to keep children in culturally appropriate environments, regardless of where they reside.
- Ensuring that social workers and others who conduct child-welfare investigations are properly educated and trained about the history and impacts of residential schools.
- Ensuring that social workers and others who conduct child-welfare investigations are properly educated and trained about the potential for Aboriginal communities and families to provide more appropriate solutions to family healing.
Requiring that all child-welfare decision makers consider the impact of the residential school experience on children and their caregivers
Mandatory Course: yes (2)
SWP 435 Indigenous Approaches to Social Work
The course introduces students to challenges confronted by contemporary Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Indigenous perspectives on the origins of these challenges and their resolution will be examined in the context of Indigenous self-determination. Students will examine the importance of worldviews, identity, and values of Indigenous Peoples and themselves in the provision of services. Indigenous perspectives on the role of “helper”, “healer”, and “ally” will also be addressed.
SWP 301 Decolonizing and Anti-Oppression Practice
This course is designed to increase the capacity of students to understand and apply decolonizing anti-oppression principles and approaches to a range of different social work settings. Students will develop analytical and conceptual skills and will deepen their knowledge and understanding of power, colonization, and transformation, as these relate to working within marginalized populations. The integration and application of social work theory and knowledge to practice situations are emphasized.
Faculty of Social Work Commitment to Call to Action 1 # 3, 4 and 5: 3 out of 3 = 100%
| 3 | History and impact of residential schools (theory) |
| Yes. See mandatory course descriptions | |
| 4 | Potential for Aboriginal communities and families to provide more appropriate solutions to family healing (practice) |
| Yes. See mandatory course descriptions | |
| 5 | All child welfare decision makers consider the impact of the residential school experience on children and their caregivers |
| Yes. See mandatory course descriptions |
Compliance with CASWE/ACFTS Statement of Complicity and Commitment to Change
| At the May 27th, 2017 Board meeting, the Board of Directors of CASWE-ACFTS committed to ensuring that social work education in Canada contributes to transforming Canada’s colonial reality and approved a “Statement of Complicity and Commitment to Change”. “This is an important step in engaging social work education in the reconciliation process and supporting the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action” affirms CASWE-ACFTS President, Dr. Susan Cadel. Of the 12 actions articulated in the “Statement of Complicity and Commitment to Change, the following two are directed at Schools of Social Work |
| 7 | Will encourage institutional members to post a territorial acknowledgement on their School’s website and post a link to the CAUT guide to territorial acknowledgement on the CASWE-ACFTS website to assist Schools with this task |
| Toronto is in the ‘Dish With One Spoon Territory’. The Dish With One Spoon is a treaty between the Anishinaabe, Mississaugas and Haudenosaunee that bound them to share the territory and protect the land. Subsequent Indigenous Nations and peoples, Europeans and all newcomers have been invited into this treaty in the spirit of peace, friendship and respect.Land Acknowledgment – Indigenous Education Council – Toronto Metropolitan University (torontomu.ca) | |
| 8 | Will encourage and support Canadian schools of social work in revising mission statements, governance processes, curriculum, and pedagogy in ways that both advance the TRC recommendations and the overall indigenization of social work education |
| Not specifically addressed. |
| NOTE: All content has been submitted to the respective faculty for validation to ensure accuracy and currency as of the time of posting. Toronto Metropolitan University School of Social Work reviewed and approved the document. Managing Editor: Douglas Sinclair: Publisher, Indigenous Watchdog Lead Researcher, Julia Dubé |