Training for Community Work

Training for community work only began in the mid-1960s. In 1967 a questionnaire asking for information about community work teaching was sent to university social studies and adult education departments and colleges of further education with social work courses. This information was published in Community Work and Social Change (Gulbenkian Foundation, 1968 , pp. 48-59). Many respondents did not understand the term or thought that any discussion of the community implications of the workers’ professional task was community work. Theoretical teaching in social studies departments ranged from short optional courses or occasional lectures by visiting lecturers to a 220-hour course of lectures and seminars. Nine applied social studies courses had some teaching on community work. In seven departments field placements in community work were compulsory for students taking a community work option and were optional in some others. The length varied from six to eight weeks.