ABSTRACT

Many ‘non-professional’ and ‘non-certified’ social workers seem to conduct indigenous social work practices in low- and middle-income countries in Asia. From the perspective of international developmental social work, this case study explores the education and training opportunities for local and indigenous social workers in disability related fields. The data was mainly obtained through field work and practice conducted by the author, whose positionality was considered an international social worker in Sri Lanka and Mongolia. The field data was supplemented by literature. The findings reveal that some local workers in government and non-government sectors, who might not have received professional social work education, engage in practices that can be considered a part of social work using their indigenous and local knowledge and skills. In some cases, these workers also use their knowledge of international concepts and frameworks. Additionally, this study presents some instances of knowledge exchange between domestic and international stakeholders through dialogue-based practices and training in the field. The findings suggest that international social workers are required to explore reflective practice and collaborative knowledge creation with domestic stakeholders, including indigenous social workers and disabled people, through dialogue in the field.

摘要

许多“非专业”和“非认证”社会工作者似乎在亚洲中低收入国家进行本土社会工作实践。本案例研究从国际发展社会工作的角度出发，探讨了当地和土著社会工作者在残疾相关领域的教育和培训机会。这些数据主要是通过作者的实地工作和实践获得的，作者的身份被认为是斯里兰卡和蒙古的国际社会工作者。现场数据由文献补充。调查结果显示，政府和非政府部门的一些当地工人可能没有接受过专业社会工作教育，但他们利用其本土和当地知识和技能从事可被视为社会工作一部分的实践。在某些情况下，这些工作人员还利用他们的国际概念和框架知识。此外，本研究还介绍了国内和国际利益相关者之间通过基于对话的实践和实地培训进行知识交流的一些实例。研究结果表明，国际社会工作者需要通过实地对话，与国内利益相关者（包括土著社会工作者和残疾人）探索反思性实践和协作知识创造。