Exploring educators’ and students’ perspectives on harnessing indigenous knowledge and practices in social work education modules development in Nigerian universities

Abstract

Social work education modules are contested to be dominated by Western pedagogy and perspectives. Recent discourses on indigenizing social work education in Africa focused on promoting social work education curricula that will be context-specific and largely reflect indigenous knowledge and practices. This study explored the views of social work educators and students on how indigenous knowledge and cultural practices can be utilized in developing social work education modules to achieve effective education that will be responsive to the peculiar needs and social problems of contemporary Nigeria. We interviewed eight social work educators and 12 social work students from two universities in Nigeria. Findings reveal the ongoing integration of local content into social work modules and the non-inclusion of local stakeholders in the modules' review processes. Also revealed was a lack of Nigerian research-informed module development. The students voiced concern about the nonuse of information from their fieldwork reports and experiences in the curricula informing their learning. We recommend using responsive local content and learnings from Nigerian social work research and students' fieldwork reports in social work curricula, engaging local stakeholders, and including students' representatives in curriculum development/review processes for more efficient education and training.