We really need to talk about the term “gatekeeping” in #socialwork #fieldeducation. @CSocialWorkEd @SWCARES2

I had never heard this term prior to when I started working in field education. When I did hear this term, it was also discussed as a core part of our role. It was spoken of in a positive way.

It was linked to professionalism and community safety. Making sure students who graduate to become social workers are professional, competent & won’t do harm.

It was never questioned. It seems widely embraced in social work field education literature. There would be conversations about nuances of this, being inclusive but never a critique of the entire concept.

I first heard gatekeeping in a negative way by @LauraHoge of @SWCARES2. She explained to me how gatekeeping is a function of white supremacy culture & serves to maintain inequity. It perpetuates systemic oppression.

I believe in equity & racial justice. I work to be antiracist & anti-oppressive in my teaching, practice & life. These two ideas of gatekeeping cannot both work.

The reality is that in social work field education and social work education we do act as gatekeepers. Students have to literally get through us to become social workers. But it doesn’t have to be viewed this way.

Ending white supremacy in social work means not being gatekeepers. It means we acknowledge power imbalances & view our educational process with students as collaborative, not a series of gates to pass through. It means having a true trauma-informed racial justice approach.

It means practicing what we teach! Cultural humility, systemic oppression, social justice, policy advocacy. How are we practicing these in our work?!?

I’m not an expert on this at all. I’m sharing some thoughts on how I’ve been thinking about this for some time, ever since that talk with @LauraHoge years ago. I just haven’t written this down anywhere.

I’m open to any feedback. I also need to give credit to @UndoingRacism for their work on this.

Also: FIELD IS NOT THE SAME AS WORK. IT IS SCHOOL. THEY DON’T GET PAID. It is about learning and making mistakes. Not getting fired!

Thanks to @profmjmack for promoting me to add: Another important part: Certain beliefs & behaviors are “accepted” and others are not. Usually rooted in white supremacist hetero-normative patriarchy. Are we not graduating students who hold racist beliefs? Homophobic beliefs?