Social workers understand that every person regardless of position in society has fundamental human rights. Social workers are knowledgeable about the global intersecting and ongoing injustices throughout history that result in oppression and racism, including social work’s role and response. Social workers critically evaluate the distribution of power and privilege in society in order to promote social, racial, economic, and environmental justice by reducing inequities and ensuring dignity and respect for all. Social workers advocate for and engage in strategies to eliminate oppressive structural barriers to ensure that social resources, rights, and responsibilities are distributed equitably and that civil, political, economic, social, and cultural human rights are protected.

The meaning of this competency for social work practice is to be the advocate for those that are being pushed to margins.  We as social workers are tasked to advance each and every individual and community we encounter.  The importance of building relationships with individuals and communities is what gives us social workers the ability to achieve this competency.  This competency engages me because when interacting with individuals and communities, we do not solely look for the immediate and obvious obstacles that lie in the path of who we work with.  We are also to look at systemic barriers that could be affecting who we work with.  This is why the competency challenges us because it forces us to look more closely at what may be truly adding to one’s experience.  I will remain committed to practicing this by becoming involved in my local offices and boards that can allow and/ or deny advocacy of public policies.

Evidences

Coursework:

Single Systems Design Paper

I chose this assignment because I was tasked to ask my supervisor how exactly we would go about advocating for a very common issue that we see in our agency.  I learned through best practices what the best methods were to advocate for this student that was struggling with self-esteem.  Those being offering a self-esteem assessment to students that report low levels.  Another example of best practices is to not have too many sources of support reaching out to students that struggle with self-esteem.  It can be overwhelming to students.  I developed knowledge into what career services offered, what counseling offers to students with low self-esteem, and techniques in my role that could better help this student make steps towards progress.  This paper is an assignment that details how I would advocate for a student facing hardship in their academic journey in the class of Research Methods I.  Using research informed practice, I detailed what they client/ student was having issues with, why they sought assistance from us, what measurement I would use to assist the student, the intervention, and the type of design that would be used for this student’s needs.  

This assignment helped me develop further knowledge about how I would specifically advocate for this student by becoming familiar with what resources would be the best, given the scenario in the assignment.  

Field:

Advocating for Student Schedule

This was an email that was sent to records to advocate for a students schedule that could not register for fall classes since they were waitlisted for their SmartStart class for my practicum.  The student was unsure of what to do and I advocated for his schedule and sought clarity as to why our degree audit system would not allow them to register any fall classes. 

This advocacy helped me develop knowledge and skills because not only was I advocating for this student to enter this class but I also was simultaneously advocating for the class to be expanded overall.  I learned what capabilities the Records department has to expand classes with large enrollment.  This is important because I used my knowledge of who to contact to further this student’s schedule when they did not know themselves.   

I chose this assignment because it is a very regular part of my responsibilities to communicate with records to advocate for a student to be placed in a class that they may not have the means to advocate for themselves.  

Further Evidence:

Listen and Learn Town Hall 

This was an event that I was invited to last year in February.  It was a town hall that was for male students at Southern to attend and voice what belonging meant to us, as well as what components at Southern lead to student success as males.  However, it was also asked of us what Southern could do better in making more students feel a sense of belonging.  This is where I advocated for there to be some sort of club that the men’s dorm could have to create a space for male students to express themselves and hold each other accountable.  Much of this came from my experience from Lifegroups but I feel that it was necessary to advocate for such an idea as it promotes a sense of vulnerability and visibility that I have noticed can lack with males students at Southern. 

From this experience I gained immense knowledge of how some male students can feel while at Southern.  However, I learned most how to formulate what I have seen as a need, to advocate for a safe space for men to share their hardships and triumphs. 

I chose this as a mastery of this competency because this was an event where ideas could become real action and I spoke up for advancing the betterment of male students as they experience college.