Teaching and Practice of Community Organization and Development in South Asia: Evidence from Pakistan and Nepal

Abstract

Community Organization and Development (COD) is one of the core methods of social work and is taught in schools of social work across South Asia. This study is based on the semi structured interviews with social work educators in Nepal and Pakistan, and the personnel narratives of the authors. It provides a background of teaching Community Organization and Development, with its practices and methods in South Asian region (particularly in Pakistan and Nepal). The study discusses the nature and challenges for community work and its relationship to social work teaching and practice. Its main theme is to find out the answer that, how to teach and nurture students of social work to gain perspectives and skills of community organizing? The study concludes that social work educators specializing in teaching and practice will have to (un)learn and refocus. The teaching strategies to engage students need to be revised and re-interpret with the new social work curriculum teaching methodologies.