S9B Who am I and Why Do I Do What I Do?: Helping Students
Understand the Importance of Positionality

Presenters

Dr. Amanda Hill, School of Social Work
Emma Simpson, Secondary and Physical Education

Abstract

Exploring one's values and positionality is an ongoing process that fosters personal growth and self-improvement. It encourages a critical self-examination of beliefs, challenges assumptions, and embraces lifelong learning. Within the field of social work, understanding one's own values and positionality is an essential foundation for ethical and effective practice. It enables social workers to provide culturally sensitive and client-centered services.

This presentation will provide an overview of the ways in which students in a generalist practice social work course engaged in developing a greater understanding of their own values, beliefs, biases, and cultural background. Through this process, students in the course increased their self-awareness and began to recognize how their unique positionality might influence their perceptions, decisions, and interactions with future clients. The purpose of guiding students through the process of developing an understanding of their own positionality, is to better prepare them to identify potential cultural gaps and biases, enabling them to approach clients with sensitivity and respect for their unique perspectives. While this presentation focuses on the experiences of students in a social work course, the lessons learned are applicable for teaching positionality to students in other areas of study.

Session Recording