Master of Social Work students head to the United Kingdom
May 16, 2017
Earlier this month, Dr. Laura Béres departed to England with two Master of Social Work (MSW) students, Tonya Salomons and Nate Meidinger, to travel to our partner university, Leeds Trinity University.
They began their journey in London, England and later traveled to Leeds. Salomons and Meidinger are both in their third term of the MSW program and participated in two seminars as part of this international experiential independent study. The first seminar on narrative practice contributions to critical reflection of practice was offered to academics at Leeds Trinity University. The second seminar took place in London, and a group of UK social work practitioners and a visiting group of social work students from Calgary participated. They looked at the critical reflection of practice from the learner's perspective.
Although the trip was brief, from April 29th to May 6th, the trio made time for sight-seeing. The students seemed to enjoy this but the highlight of the trip was meeting colleagues of Dr. Béres’ in the UK. They were introduced to Dr. Jan Fook, an internationally respected scholar in critical reflection of practice, and Dr. Allan Kellehear, an internationally acclaimed scholar in the area of death and dying.
Dr. Fook is working with Dr. Béres as a co-researcher on a project conducted here at King's on teaching and learning critical reflection of practice within an academic setting. The two will be editors of the proposed book and Dr. Béres has asked both Salomons and Meidinger to contribute chapters along with a handful of their fellow students from King's. Other students from the UK and Australia will also be invited to contribute chapters.
When asked on the experience, Salomons said “the experience in England, while brief, has been a highlight of my graduate studies. The opportunity to be part of the two seminars was an honour. Meeting Dr. Jan Fook and Dr. Allan Kellehear was an amazing experience”.
The students came home on May 6th to return to their classes and practicum while Dr. Béres is still currently in England attending other conferences.
You can learn more about the MSW program here.