Description of the department
The Department of Social Work, established in 1973, belongs to the School of Health and Social Welfare of the TEI of Crete and is one of the oldest public Social Work Courses in Greece. The Department has a long and successful tradition of teaching and practical experience in the field of social work and its primary goal is to prepare students for responsible, advanced and creative practice in social work. Our graduates are trained to work in health and social care services in Greece.
Social work education in the Department combines theoretical courses in applied social sciences with practice experience acquired through field placements in various social agencies in the region. Theoretical courses focus both on more specialized courses in the subject and methods of social work and extend over a wide range of academic subjects related to social sciences.
Field education constitutes an integral part of the curriculum and represents a significant portion of the educational experience in the Department. The goal of the field practice course is for the student to have an educational experience in direct social work practice. Unlike many other academic programs that students may successfully complete by performing well in the classroom and in the laboratory, social work education requires application of knowledge and skills in the field. Field Education is the portion of the social work curriculum that most directly prepares students for professional practice.
Field work at agencies throughout the region exposes students to a variety of work settings, populations and users? needs that characterize social work today. To that end the Department of Social Work has created through the years strong ties with many social agencies of the region which provide students with rich field placements in a variety of practice areas. Qualified agency staff serves as student field instructors. The network of agencies has been carefully developed to provide appropriate placements and to ensure a level of support that maximizes the learning experience. All field instructors are experienced, agency-based social workers with special training in supervision. Students take 41 hours of Practice Learning per week between the 4th and the 7th semester applying their knowledge and skills in the field, plus 10 hours per week during their Practicum of 6 months during the 8th semester. Field placements settings offer the student clinical practice, community intervention, administration/policy development and/or research methods.
The permanent academic staff of the Department numbers today 10 faculty members and a number of collaborators belonging to the non permanent academic personnel. Overall our staff consists mainly of social workers with many years of experience in social work practice, and other scientists from relevant fields such as sociology, political science, psychology, law, and/or statistics. Also the Department receives each academic year approximately 100 new students.