The 2003 ~FAST Tex projects
School of Social Work

Title:
Teaching Social Work Students to Meet Adversity and Promote Resilience

Faculty Client:
Roberta Greene, rgreene@mail.utexas.edu

Student Developer:
Alex Gomes

Project Description:
This ~FAST Tex team worked to develop curriculum, text, and distributive learning materials based on the risk and resilience model of human behavior theory. An increasingly important area of study influencing social work practice, the concepts of risk and resilience are used to examine health-promoting behaviors across the life course. The theory also focuses on multisystemic environments that promote personal, family, and community well-being. The team created modules on a Web site that teach social work students how to work with clients who have undergone traumatic events. These include practice methods for assisting children who have experienced fetal alcohol syndrome or survivors of natural calamities, school violence, forced and voluntary immigration, or civil strife.

The Council on Social Work Education, the accrediting body for the profession, has issued a new educational policy statement, allowing for greater flexibility in course design. The team has produced learning materials with the potential for national distribution, providing student-centered learning materials for class meetings, community-based activities, and Web-based and video opportunities.
https://webspace.utexas.edu/rg7637/www/