Empowering social workers through feminist training curriculum

Abstract

This research aims to study three objectives. Firstly, it aims to study the curriculum of training programs on empowerment for social workers in the field of strengthening power. Secondly, it aims to study the process of training programs on empowerment for social workers in the field of strengthening power. Lastly, it aims to study the impact of empowerment in the curriculum of training programs on social awareness and social action, using qualitative research methods for data collection and analysis. The findings reveal that the development of the empowerment curriculum for Ban Sai (alias) is related to the movement of feminist ideals in Thailand, which seeks to cultivate social workers and social activists with a mindset, process, and knowledge of feminist empowerment. This will create changes in both individual consciousness and social action. The curriculum for enhancing the power of feminine ideology at Ban Sai aims to enable learners to understand and perceive their own power through a comprehensive understanding of the concept of feminine power. This includes two main concepts: the first being gender equality and the second being process-oriented thinking. The curriculum focuses on learning about moral psychology, learning about power and injustice, particularly related to gender. The learning process in the curriculum includes important activities such as initial deconstruction, exploration, and adjustment of life perspectives, as well as the second activity of deconstruction, exploration, and adjustment of knowledge, and the third activity of reforming power and life. Through the empowerment curriculum of feminist ideology, it is found that there are changes both in the level of consciousness and social actions of social workers. At the level of building consciousness, it involves setting goals by creating a sense of empowerment related to "Recovery," "Management," "Overcoming," and "Transformation" that will determine one's own abilities. Reflecting and drawing on foundational knowledge and experiences, skills and competencies are applied in the process of reforming the lives of social workers. It is found that the creation of internal power (power within) occurs at two levels: the creation of a safe space and a comfort space. In terms of social actions, there are three forms observed from the participation of the empowerment curriculum of feminist ideology: the first form concerns the development of social service systems, the second form involves social change, and the third form focuses on social development. The challenge of this research is how this process can be replicated in an environment filled with unjust power structures. Although the operations of the curriculum reinforce the empowerment of practitioners, in this case, social activists who act to expand power, it still relies on a dense operational space combined with the internal empowerment to become a psychological empowerment. Therefore, it remains a challenge to generate a continuous process of driving feminist movements forward.