This Year's Theme
Social Work Week 2013
The theme of the upcoming Social Work Week 2013 is: "Restoring
Hope: The Power of Social Work", a theme and poster graphic adapted
with permission from the National Association of Social Workers
(NASW) in the United States. This theme was adopted because
of the pivotal role that social workers play in helping clients,
communities and society restore (and in other instances, maintain
and build) a sense of hope. Social Work Week is being celebrated
March 4-10 in 2013.
Hopefulness is a crucial way of thinking, feeling and behaving
because it enables people to cope with often very complex and
challenging issues in their lives. Dr. Elizabeth J. (Betsy)
Clarke, Executive Director of NASW, in her keynote address at
OASW's 2012 Provincial Conference, observed that hope helps guard
against despair. Conversely, she noted that in the absence of
hope, inaction occurs which undermines social, emotional, physical
and spiritual health. In other words, a lack of hope has a
corrosive impact on one's overall quality of life. Clearly,
helping a person ward off a sense of hopelessness is critically
important, and is much easier than helping a "hope-lost" person
regain or find hope.
In terms of the tagline "The Power of Social Work", OASW
recognizes that some social workers may have a negative association
with the word "power", equating it with having "power over", as
opposed to having "power to" help people and communities enact
positive changes in their lives or conditions. OASW agrees
with Dr. Clarke that, while social workers should always be highly
attuned to the potential for the abuse of power, they should not
shy away from recognizing and celebrating the profession's power
"to" help people reignite a sense of hope that enables them to deal
with challenges in their life and pursue their
goals.
Dr. Clarke would argue that many social workers are drawn to the
profession because of the concept of hope; and, as a profession, we
have become "the holders of hope" for a vast number of people and
communities. The concept of hope is reflected in the
social work profession's strong belief in, and commitment to, the
human potential for growth and change, and our enduring commitment
to building more equitable societies.
Social workers offer hope, rooted in practical problem-solving
expertise. Recognizing that people are experts about their
own lives, and that hope and expectations take many forms, social
workers help people find solutions that are tailored to meet their
unique needs and concerns.
Social Work Week provides an opportunity each year for social
workers to promote and celebrate their profession and the
life-changing work that they do in every community.
As social workers in Ontario prepare for Social Work Week 2013,
OASW encourages you to:
- reflect on the ways you and/or your agency/organization provide
hope and make a difference in the lives of the client populations
you serve
- identify ways to tell this story, and
- let others know that when client groups need help, social
workers should be considered because our interventions provide a
catalyst for positive change.
Social workers have the right education, experience and
dedication to help people build and restore hope when they most
need it!
"Restoring Hope: The Power of Social Work".
Ordering Social Work
Week Items
As in previous years, a wide variety of materials are
available to order, including colourful posters, bookmarks, pens,
notepads, journals, T-shirts, mugs, foldable water bottles, USB
hubs, display materials, etc. (Visit Shop OASW online to see
photos of all these items.)
Three easy ways to order:
Please note that HST is payable on both the
order sub-total and shipping charges.
We have changed and simplified our pricing structure to
incorporate any administrative costs that were previously charged
separately. If you have any questions, please let us
know.
Happy Social Work
Week!
Dr. Clarke's Keynote Address at OASW's 2012
Provincial Conference (Videos)
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
The Face of Social Work in Ontario (Videos)
In March 2012, OASW released three 46-second
videos to convey the importance of our work, to educate
people about what we do, and to inspire pride in social workers
everywhere. We encourage you to distribute the links to the videos
widely - to colleagues, managers, employers, family and
friends.
Hope
Audrey
Emily