Social Work Education in the USA: Lessons Learned from the Pandemic (and Beyond)

The COVID-19 pandemic required social work education in the United States of America (USA) to stretch in ways it had never previously stretched. Creating a culture of inquiry and engagement in virtual classrooms on such a large scale created opportunities for unprecedented innovation and learning that will surely impact social work education moving forward. Attending to the health and well-being of students during this very challenging time helped educators see more clearly the need to attend to these factors as part of teaching and learning in general. Perhaps the greatest challenges—and innovations—occurred within the field education component of social work education. Ensuring quality learning opportunities in settings that were simultaneously experiencing significant pandemic-related trials was a great challenge met with innovation by educators and students. This chapter examines the impact of the pandemic on social work education in the USA and discusses the “lessons learned” that are positioning social work education for the future.