International Social Work and internationalised Social Work. The analysis of the interview data of the present case indicates that the concepts of International

Social Work and the internationalisation of the Social Work curriculum or profession, are sometimes used interchangeably. It is therefore important to make a distinction between the two concepts by taking a closer look at both the Social Work literature and international education literature. It seems that the difficulty to separate between the two terms may stem from the fact that they are closely related. Rather than placing them in two isolated

compartments, it is perhaps more useful to look at International Social Work as having the potential to lead towards the internationalisation of Social Work.

International Social Work is a branch of expertise in Social Work, which is defined in several ways in the Social Work literature. According to Akimoto for example, International Social Work deals with “problems caused between nations or across national boundaries or efforts beyond national boundaries to solve those problems” (2008, p. 1). As such, it is concerned with the well-being of all people in the world regardless of their country of origin.

Another perspective of international Social Work was provided by one of the study interviewees, Odilia, who claimed that international Social Work has three dimensions:

international, global and transnational. According to Odilia, the international refers to “issues which are beyond [the] immediate region and are connected to different areas in the world”, the global refers to “issues concerning foreigners in the local context, … like immigrants or refugees, or even social conflict like we have, where we are right next to the border. But it is essentially concerned with local work which takes into consideration an understanding of other places”, and finally the transnational refers to Social Work issues which are common to several countries. Examples of content areas which are addressed by international Social Work include issues like calamities or the power struggle between the ‘south’ and ‘north’.

According to the Social Work literature, internationalisation of Social Work is not the same as international Social Work and is more closely related to the globalisation of the Social Work profession. As the Social Work profession faces an increasing number of complex global issues, it necessitates an internationalised curriculum which employs a more global and holistic perspective of the nature of the Social Work profession (Rotabi Smith, Gammonley, Gamble, & Weil, 2007). The aims of such a curriculum are to prepare students for the globalised practice of Social Work, improve their learning processes through cultural exchanges and ultimately improve the practice of the profession itself (Hendriks &

Kloppenburg, 2016). Moreover, the Social Workers of the future should be savvy in complex and differentiated social environments and contribute to the promotion of inclusive and culturally sensitive practices, and this could be achieved successfully through student mobility programmes (Nuttman-Shwartz & Fargion, 2019).

Internationalisation of the Social Work curriculum can also challenge mainstream Social Work education through the comparison of approaches and theories in different contexts and strive to include more international and cross-border cultural content (Christensen, 2016).

International Social Work and the internationalisation of Social Work indeed go hand in hand. Issues addressed by international Social Work necessitate the support of an

internationalised curriculum, in order to better quip future professionals to handle such issues.

7.1.5 The genesis of the Israeli Social Work curriculum: American and European influences. From its very first moment of inception in 1931, when an

executive body of the Jewish community under the British mandate opened the first Social Work training programme, headed by Henrietta Szold, president of the Hadassah women’s Zionist organisation of America, the Social Work educational curriculum was well grounded in an American context (Azaiza, Soffer, & Taubman, 2015; Weiss-Gal & Gal, 2011) and

“based on principles dominant in American Social Work” (Weiss, Spiro, Sherer, & Korin-Langer, 2004, p. 289). Moreover, many of the first-generation Social Work professionals in Israel were educated in the United States and until today, the curriculum is largely based on the North American perspective (Azaiza, Soffer, & Taubman, 2015; Gal & Weiss, 2000). It is claimed, that even though there is a new generation of social workers who completed their PhD education in Israel, and are showing a tendency to work with individuals or small groups rather than at the society level, they still largely rely on North American theories and

practices and benefit from collaborative research, publications and conferences with American scholars (Azaiza, Soffer, & Taubman, 2015).

One of the study participants also highlights the strong European influences on the Israeli Social Work curriculum and positions them even before the American impact:

And in Israel, the original Social Work curriculum in general is not Israeli, it’s mostly European, and then American, and also a little bit of Australian influences. As time went by this model is actually documented as the building blocks of the profession, which are very much based on traditional European Social Work approaches. You study Freud, etc. And then there was a move towards clinical Social Work, which is very American. And don’t forget that the pioneers of the profession in Israel, were not Israeli, they came from the Sates or Europe. And even if they were Israeli, that’s where they studied. (Odilia)

It is further claimed that the European and American influences on the Social Work curriculum may be limiting the development of the profession in Israel, as more localised paradigms and approaches are needed to address cases which are unique to the Israeli

context, and which may be better informed by opening up to other parts of the world (Azaiza, Soffer, & Taubman, 2015; Spiro, 2001). Odilia notes that even though the present generation

“brings a different kind of spirit to the profession, like activist Social Work”, it is still very much marginalised, and the traditional Social Work paradigms remain dominant.

7.1.6 Establishing an international curriculum: Introducing an International