Creative journaling helps social work students process crisis and build professional identity
A seven-country study found that guided journaling during COVID-19 enabled social work students to navigate remote learning, manage stress, and develop professional identity more effectively than traditional methods alone. The finding suggests creative writing practices could reduce professional burnout and improve retention in high-stress helping professions—with implications for workforce development and curriculum design.
Originaltitel: “Its not a book; it’s a Bok”: social work students’ experience of using creative journaling practices as a pedagogical tool to develop transformative learning during the COVID-19 pandemic
<p>This paper reports on an international research project designed to explore the relevance and impact of creative journaling as a pedagogical tool during the COVID-19 pandemic. The project involved seven social work and social policy educators from eight countries: namely, Canada, India, Israel, Jersey Island, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and United States of America. Our work comes out of a larger mixed-method project that aimed to understand how creative journaling may help to facilitate transformative learning experiences and professional socialization processes of social work students. The data used for this article explicitly interpret conversations from two transnational focus groups, comprising 15 students from six participating countries (Canada, Spain, Jersey, India, UK, United States of America) in 2020–2021. Five significant themes emerged: Remote Learning during COVID-19, Self-care during COVID-19, Learning through the use of the Bok, Personal and Professional Identities, and Pathways toward Transformative learning. The findings revealed that creative journaling practices were important components of students’ professional development processes. Our intention with this paper is to contribute conceptual and practical insights into the implementation and impact of creative journaling practices. </p>