Learning Cautious Pragmatism from American Social Work Education. Commentary on Lessons from American Social Work Education: Caution Ahead (Karger, 2012)

Abstract

There is much in Karger's (2012) article with which to agree. Australian admission standards to qualifying social work programs have lowered over the past two decades and clearly "marketisation shapes social work education in manifold ways" (Karger, 2012, p. 311). Karger's (2012) paper is important in that it lays out some of the structural factors shaping our discipline. He does this in a manner urging engaged thought and dialogue by all involved in Australian social work. In my commentary, I focus on how marketisation and broader cultural changes impact on social work education and practice, and detail how the West Australian "marketised" situation is playing out somewhat differently from the situation Karger (2012) described for south-east Queensland.