Educating

Abstract

Education is obviously the responsibility of teachers. Most other welfare professionals seem reluctant to label even a small part of their work as teaching. Youth and community workers, most health professionals and social workers all appear to shy away from being described as teachers; perhaps because it is viewed as authoritarian, patronizing and classroom based. Yet social workers, whatever the setting, frequently engage in what might be seen as educational dialogue with individuals and groups. Reluctance to acknowledge that social workers are educators has led to a failure to consider the value of teaching as a mode of intervention.