Social Work Students’ Opinions about Social Work Education: A Focus Group Study

This study aims to present an assessment of social work education from the student’s perspective. In this sense, four semi-structured focus group interviews were held with a total of 23 students from two universities. Nine of the 23 students who participated in the study are male and fourteen are girls. Two of the students are in the second class and others are in the third class. The average age of the students is 22.3. MAXQDA was used for the analysis. According to analysis, two themes were found. These are current status of social work education and expectations from the social work education and suggestions. Students were found to be willing to participate actively in the courses, criticizing rote-learning and emphasizing that social work educators play an important role. In this context, the suggestions of the students is that the education given is sensitive to current events, is oriented towards providing practical skills and supports active learning. They also pointed out that educators should have role models, warm, sincere, egalitarian relationships with the students. The results of the study are thought to contribute to the planning and implementation of social work education.