University collaboration to strengthen social work in China

13 December 2012

Dr Louise Brown recently visited Sun Yat-sen University in southern China where she has been establishing a formal teaching and research collaboration with their Department of Social Work.

Although social work services are currently in their infancy in China, the Chinese government has announced a drive to professionalise social work, with large scale funding attached. This national policy initiative aim of training up to three million social workers over the next 20 years. China is looking to countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore and the UK for ideas and support in the development process.

Sun Yat-sen University invited Dr Brown to deliver lectures to undergraduate and master’s students, as well as presenting her research to academic staff. During the visit she also met local NGOs and the government’s Director of Social Work Services in Guangzhou province, who are investing £40 million in social work provision in the next two years.

Dr Brown plans to host a workshop for government officers and academics from Guangzhou at the University of Bath early next year to showcase services in the UK from which lessons can be taken back to China.

Speaking about the collaboration, she commented: “this is a very exciting time to be involved in this groundbreaking work and what a privilege it is to be invited to play a part in the development of social work services in China. We were approached because of the international reputation that social work has at the University of Bath.

“A programme of activities is planned which include student exchange visits from 2014, leading to a joint undergraduate programme in subsequent years and a summer school preparing students for their time at Bath.

“In addition, we hope to secure funding by next summer to undertake collaborative research identifying the needs of the children of migrant workers in Southern China where very few services currently exist. Our aim is to learn from this work about the Chinese context and to be able to adapt our own teaching materials so that they can be delivered through the MSW programme at Sun Yat-sen University. This programme of activities could have a major impact on shaping their services and practice in the future”.