Social Work Practices under the Epidemic: E-administration and Online School Social Work

The outbreak of the COVID-19 has led to different dilemmas for different professions, especially for students and staff. There are two lectures held on February 13, 2021. One of them is about the Social work through e-administration under the epidemic. And the ways of school Social workers are helping students during the epidemic.

With the development of the electronic information age, information technology has penetrated all aspects of life. The most apparent change of electronic information technology for social administration is the birth of e-administration. Prof. Jean-François explained the development of digital services for public administration and social services users systematically through four parts. The Professor introduced us to the developed background of e-administration using diagrams. Based on the history of development, the Professor explained to us three different models of e-administration. After a general presentation of that development and how to conceptualize it, Professor turned to its consequences both for ordinary people – not least exacerbate/emerging forms of inequalities and exclusion – and social work practices and organizations.

In the part of researching strategy and methods, the Professor introduced us to four purposes and six methods to achieve them. At the same time, the Professor cited survey data to get a conclusion. A justification by the fact that most of the population is connected (93% according to the Omnibus Survey 2017). An assumption that e-administration makes life easier for citizens.

Resulting from these processes, two main developments in social work will be then highlighted: on one side, a new territory for professional interventions; on the other side, new tools and ways of doing in addressing “traditional” social problems. The Professor used vivid images and personal experiences to show us the future challenges of e-administration in social work. These developments are certainly a necessity and a chance, but they are also challenging for the social work profession as well as from political and moral points of view. Finally, the Professor and the students discussed“the role of advocacy of social work, From technology-lead to practice lead”, etc.

We are no stranger to the development of e-administration, especially since we visited the government center in Jinan, which is the 12345 hot-line, during a culture tour of the ISUSW 2021. We have personally experienced the current development of e-administration in our country. Through the Professor's explanation of the recent development of digital services in their countries, I have a clearer picture of the development of e-administration abroad. After the Professor gained a deeper understanding of the new ethical dilemmas arising from social work in the context of the information age. It also prompted me to reflect on the ethics of conducting work in the context of the electronic information age.

Professor Ron Avi Astor from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Professor Rami Benbenishty from the Hebrew University in Israel and their team with their team of Dr. Kate and Chaoyue shared with us how online school social work was conducted during the epidemic. During the COVID-19 pandemic, all schools from elementary to high school levels were closed as part of a national public health policy, and in many places, schools remained closed for up to a year.

Because of this, students, educators, and parents are under tremendous pressure and trauma. Students are moving from campus life across the street to the virtual space of the internet. Social isolation, personal health, and family relationship issues make the student's need for a social worker exact. Faced with this situation, two professors showed USA practical experience. A social work research team with representatives from UCLA, Hebrew University, and the Loyola University of Chicago worked together to understand the needs of students better, parents, teachers, and schools during this crisis where most services and teaching moved online. Professor Astor even introduced online data collection instruments. It was created and shared free of cost for social workers in schools. In cooperation with all the national organizations of school social work, a national survey was done to ascertain school social workers' needs and the needs of their schools. In Israel, a consortium of more than 40 schools met with Rami Benbenishty, Professor of social work, to help principals better understand and serve the social needs of students during the pandemic when all activities were being conducted online.

The presentation by the three professors and their team on the development of online school social work in the context of the epidemic abroad allowed us to look at the current development of school social work abroad from an international perspective. This also points out the direction we need to study hard as students on now. These two lectures provide good practical experience on better carrying out social work services during the post-epidemic era.

Written by Zhijie Cui (MSW student at SDU)

On July 15th, 2021