Decolonising Social Work Education

“Decolonising Social Work Education is a profoundly insightful and timely contribution that challenges entrenched colonial logics within our curricula. Clarke, Wallengren-Lynch and Yellow Bird weave together haunting histories, collective memory and critical hope to offer concrete pathways towards a genuinely plural, justice-centred pedagogy. Their lucid prose and compelling case studies not only unsettle complacency but inspire educators and practitioners alike to reimagine social work as a truly decolonial practice. This book is indispensable for anyone committed to equity, solidarity and transformative change in social work education.”

Professor Vasilios Ioakimidis, Global Education Commissioner IFSW, Head of Department (Social Work), University of West Attica

“In Decolonising Social Work Education, educators and practitioners will find a powerful and timely resource addressing social work's historical complicity with colonialism. Through insightful explorations of memory, haunting, and critical hope, Clarke, Wallengren-Lynch and Yellow Bird provide practical strategies for dismantling exclusionary structures, broadening epistemologies, and fostering community-driven knowledge. This is an invaluable gift for all of us seeking to decolonize our curricula, our academic fields and ourselves as preconditions for more just and relational practices that could birth a world in which many worlds can fit.”

Rosalba Icaza Garcia, PhD, Chair of International Relations, Scientific Director at the Institute of Political Science at Leiden University

“I have always believed that the subject of decolonization in social work education was only the purview of African social workers until this book introduced me to new knowledge that had never been previously shared by anyone. A groundbreaking work in the field of decolonization, and a must-read for international social work instructors and students.”

Uzoma Odera Okoye Ph.D, Professor of Social Work, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State

“Hidden agendas and their uncanny revenants are a key driver in this important book from Kris Clarke and Michael Wallengren-Lynch. Foregrounding their positionality in a strategy of decolonial becoming, they lay out the historic, ingrained methods through which the endeavour of social work has functioned and thrived. From the margins, Michael Yellow Bird’s poignant narrative of survival and flourishing in the face of ingrained, unrelenting, tacit, oppression underpins this endeavour to realign social work with a decisive shift towards pluriversal equality. The authors’ blueprint for new curricula will provide every emerging graduate in social work with the tools to address the intractable challenges of systemic injustice with courage, persistence and ‘critical hope’.”

Lillis Ó Laoire, Emeritus Professor of Irish Language, Folklore and Celtic Civilisation, University of Galway, Ireland