The original mandate of the Commission on Group Work in Social Work Education focused on the strengthening of the teaching of social work practice with groups in social work schools and programs in the United States. Through joint efforts with the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), two texts devoted to teaching social work with groups in the advanced practice curriculum and in the field were published. Work with CSWE and the Baccalaureate Program Directors (BPD) in the USA ensured that workshops on teaching social group work are available at each of these organization’s annual conferences.

The work of the Commission, chaired by Dr. Ellen Sue Mesbur, was expanded in 2002 to Canada. Outreach was made to all the Canadian Schools of Social Work, inviting schools to developing relationships and working cooperatively to enhance students’ preparation for social work practice with groups. The Commission is continuing to explore possible relationships with CSWE, BPD, and Canadian Association for Social Work Education (CASWE). We will also focus on ways to develop stronger relationships with other international social work education organizations and schools.

An ongoing project of the Commission has been the exemplar group work course syllabi exchange, available to AASWG members. The syllabi exchange features syllabi for undergraduate, masters and doctoral level coursework and can be found in the Members' Only Section of our website. Currently, we are focusing our efforts on enhancing the teaching resources section on the AASWG website. If you have a course syllabus or other teaching resources for consideration for posting on our website, please forward it to Dr. Ellen Sue Mesbur at: esmesbur@sympatico.ca.

For more information about the Commission, contact Dr. Ellen Sue Mesbur, Chair
esmesbur@sympatico.ca