Theatre for Liberating Social Work Education

Abstract

Four graduate students (“company”) explored the use of applied theatre to facilitate liberation-based social work education. This paper is an anecdotal, critical reflection on the authors’ work and experience providing a forum for social work students to explore social and racial justice and innovative strategies for using drama to stimulate dialogue, interaction and change at this time. Within the devising process, the company, occupying multiple intersecting identities, reflected on our lived experiences of inconsistencies between the intended purposes of social work practice and the actual process and effects of the services provided; all of which connect to social work education. The central questions that the company and participants (i.e., social work students) explored through the Theatre in Education (TIE) project were: What is Freirian praxis (i.e., critical reflection and critical action) in clinical social work and what are its implications for social workers and their clients? These questions investigated how siloed processes can lead to oppressive practices and outcomes. By integrating applied theatre with social work’s Transformative Potential Development Model, a philosophical and practice-based framework, the company invited participants to engage in praxis on multiple levels. The intrapersonal level requires self-awareness and assessment, entailing reflection on individual identities and lived experiences. The interpersonal/relational level requires an intersectional approach, cultural competency, empathy, and humility. The macro/systemic level requires analysis of how dynamics of power (such as racism and transphobia) transpire; and, an understanding that individuals’ behaviors do not exist in a vacuum of personal responsibility, but are informed by systemic and structural oppressions (i.e. macro processes have micro consequences). The bridging of reflection and action at these multiple levels of analysis comprises a liberatory pedagogy, a more holistic approach to social work education and practice in the field.