Advanced Macro Practice (MACRO)
The Advanced Macro Practice concentration builds on the foundation year and provides advanced learning opportunities that are grounded in community and organizational practices and perspectives, values and ethics. Students are prepared for working with individuals, communities and organizations in various settings which are focused on addressing disparities, community responses to social problems, policy practice and leadership. The theoretical models put forth will be grounded in strength-based, critical race theory, structural social work, anti-oppressive, feminist, empowerment and collaborative perspectives. Engagement in multi-dimensional assessment processes such as racial equity, community and organizational assessment will be explored, with specific attention to community voice, hierarchical structures, and cultural humility and responsiveness. The three-term sequence will familiarize students with intervention modalities that make use of evidence-based practice and practice-based evidence. The approaches explored and enacted in this concentration will be grounded in the principles of racial, economic and social justice practices and will include policy practice, advocacy, activating community members and community and organizational leadership practices.
The focus of this concentration is to support student learning at multiple levels of organizations and with communities and their members. For advanced MACRO students, it is critical that the majority of activities focus on work with groups, organizations and communities. Exposure to direct practice is beneficial and welcomed within the context of increasing social work competencies and well rounded learning. These settings include but are not limited to:
- Community practices that mobilize empowering community responses to individual and social problems
- Individual- and group-level interventions that adhere to community practice and anti-oppressive practice principles
- Fiscal Assessment
- Classic leadership, organizational, and community theories, ethical frameworks, and skills, in the context of deep commitment to operating in empowering and just relationship to the communities served
- Group work
- Organizational and community assessments
- Organizational and community action planning, including building coalitions, popular education, increasing equity, and reducing disparities
- Strategic action planning to address community/organizational needs and strengths
- Culturally responsive practices, and the meaningful inclusion of marginalized/colonized staff, clients and communities
- Social transformation, at both the organizational and community level, with heightened focus on improving public policy
- Skills for practicing policy advocacy from inside and outside the system
Required Elective
All students are required to complete one advanced research elective.
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