Abstract:
The South African experience in internationalising of social work education is contextualised
within the broader African perspective. At its inception, social work was primarily
a white profession and developed according racial lines. The White paper for
Social Welfare (1997) marked a turning point in the racially divided Apartheid welfare
system by adopting a developmental social welfare policy for South Africa. The BSW
programme was transformed accordingly by developing minimum standards for social
work education and training. However, these did not sufficiently bridge the gap in
minimum standards for field placement practice training and hence the development of
professional standards for social work are ongoing. Lessons for internationalising social
work education from the South African experience is embedded in a regulated profession;
programme accreditation within a developmental approach; active engagement of
schools of social work on a national, regional and international level, and continuous
learning for professional development.