“Real People with Real Stories” - Social Work Students’ Perspectives about Involving Community Members in Classroom Simulations

PURPOSE: Involving community members with lived experience of social issues or services is crucial to improve social work education, however no published studies have examined this specifically within simulated learning environments. This study examined student perspectives on community member involvement in simulations. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This quantitative and qualitative study surveyed current and alumni Bachelor of Social Work students about their perspectives of engaging in simulations with community members through an online questionnaire. Sampling was purposive from a target of 200 students reached through online advertisement. Fifty-eight responses were received. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data, inferential statistics (t-test and ANOVA) to compare groups, and Cohen's d to assess effect size, while thematic analysis was applied to qualitative data. RESULT: High mean scores indicate that simulations were perceived as effective in preparing students for real practice (M = 8.34), more impactful than role plays (M = 8.54), and increased awareness of diversity and difference (M = 7.64), cultural sensitivity (M = 7.53), and comfort working with the community (M = 7.16). Themes reflect the benefits and challenges of having real-life situations in the classroom. DISCUSSION: Students valued the authenticity of lived experience knowledge as central to their learning. Read through a decolonial lens, results represent a challenge to the epistemic hierarchies that have historically determined whose knowledge counts in education. CONCLUSION: Social work programs must move toward building sustained, equitable, accountable and reciprocal partnerships with communities. Future research could target a larger sample to increase generalizability of findings.