The Mobilization Course

The Swedish representatives in PowerUs have had their base in a development project that has been realized in cooperation with over 50 different service user organizations. In 2005, the first mobilization course was held in a EU-funded project between the School of Social Work at Lund university and the service user driven organization Basta (www.basta.se). The course has been given at 29 occasions and have trained over 650 social work students and over 250 service user students. The five week long course is characterized by:

  • Three sources of knowledge: scientific knowledge, knowledge that comes from service user experiences and knowledge from social work practice.
  • An equal platform for students from service user organizations and social work students that learns from each other as they take the course together.
  • The students develop project ideas in order to improve social work practice.

The course has been developed by a partnership that have shared an understanding about the need for social work practice to be developed in cooperation with the people with experiences of discrimination and marginalization. The theoretical basis for the course is therefore focusing on power issues, social inclusion, social mobilization, empowerment and social change.

A lot of work has been spent trying to mobilize resources to run the course. The students coming from different service user organizations are taking the course as a commission course financed by different sponsors. The mobilization course has given spin-off effects both on other courses in Lund and on other universities. Similar courses has been developed in Lillehammer, in Copenhagen, in Utrecht, in London, and in Durham.

Here are references to some more readings about the course:

2006

Denvall, Verner, Heule, Cecilia och Kristiansen, Arne. Estudiando en igualdad de condiciones: curso universitario para estudiantes de trabajo social y usuarios de servicios. Perspectivas Notas Sobre Intervention y Accion Social, nr 17. 2006, sid. 143-151.

Denvall, Verner, Heule, Cecilia och Arne Kristiansen. On Equal Terms – a University Course for Social Work Students and Service Users. Lund: Lund University, School of Social Work. Working-paper serien 2006:8.

2007

Denvall, Verner, Heule, Cecilia och Kristiansen, Arne. Pedagogik mot marginalisering. Om att utveckla brukarinflytande i socionomutbildningen. Paper skrivet för Utvecklingskonferensen ”Att tänka om – ett kvalificerat akademiskt lärarskap” vid Lunds universitet den 27 september 2007.

Denvall, Verner, Heule, Cecilia och Kristiansen, Arne. Brukaren och socialarbetarutbildningen. I Svensson, Kerstin (red) Normer och normalitet i socialt arbete. Lund: Studentlitteratur. 2007, s 289-306.

Denvall, Verner, Heule, Cecilia och Kristiansen, Arne. Taking the next step – service users and the training of social-work students. Paper presented at the EASSW conference in Parma 15-17 March, 2007.

Heule, Cecilia, Denvall, Verner och Kristiansen, Arne. Att bjuda in ”de andra” till akademin. Om konsten att överbrygga strukturella hinder. Paper presenterat på den 22:a NSHK-konferensen i Stockholm 16-18 augusti 2007.

Kristiansen, Arne, Denvall, Verner & Heule, Cecilia. Outside the Comfort Zone. Erfarenheter från ett projekt för att utveckla brukarinflytande i socionomutbildningen. Lund: Lund University, School of Social Work. Working paper serien 2007:1.

2008

Denvall, Verner, Heule, Cecilia & Kristiansen, Arne. Nothing about us without us. Pedagogics for Diversity and Empowerment in Social Work Education. Paper presented at the IASSW conference, Durban, South Africa, July 2008.

2009

Blomquist, Urban, Denvall Verner, Heule, Cecilia; Kristiansen, Arne. Chaos or a learning community? Social Work students study together with people from service user organizations. Paper presenterat 25 februari 2009 på konferensen ”Social Work; Sharing Good Practice in Service User Involvement in Social Work Education” på London South Bank University.

Börjeson, Bengt, Denvall, Verner, Heule, Cecilia och Kristiansen, Arne. Vi och dom. Om att ifrågasätta en gränssättning. Ersta Sköndal högskola arbetsrapportserie nr 64. Stockholm: Ersta Sköndal högskola. 2009.

2011

Denvall, Verner, Heule, Cecilia och Kristiansen, Arne. Mobilisering inom socialarbetarutbildningen. I Denvall, Verner & Cecilia Heule & Arne Kristiansen (red) Social mobilisering. En utmaning för socialt arbete. Lund: Gleerups. 2011.

Heule, Cecilia och Kristiansen, Arne Språk och begrepp som mobiliserande eller stigmatiserande faktorer. I Denvall, Verner, Cecilia Heule & Arne Kristiansen (red) Social mobilisering. En utmaning för socialt arbete. Lund: Gleerups. 2011.

Kjellberg, Gun och French, Robert. A New Pedagogical Approach for Integrating Social Work Students and Service Users. Social Work Education, vol. 30 (8). 2011, s. 948-963.

2012

Heule, Cecilia & Kristiansen, Arne (2012) Durable inequality? An enquiry of the effects of academic knowledge and networking for the marginalized. Abstract. Presentation at IASSW Joint World Conference on Social Work and Social Development: Action and Impact Stockholm 8-12 July 2012.

2013

Heule, Cecilia och Kristiansen, Arne. Mend the gap – a teaching method for a mobilising social work. Lund: School of Social Work, Lund University. 2013

Heule, Cecilia och Kristiansen, Arne. Gap mending Pedagogy – for an inclusive and emancipatory Social Work. Abstract. Presentation at ENSACT Joint European Conference, Istanbul, april 2013.

Heule, Cecilia och Kristiansen, Arne. Ny pedagogik utmanar synen på socialt arbete. Socialpolitik nr 1/2013 (sid. 38-39). 2013.

Heule, Cecilia och Kristiansen, Arne. Vem är brukare? Kan en brukare representera andra brukare än sig själv? Socialpolitik nr 1/2013, s 36-38.

2014

Heule, Cecilia och Kristiansen, Arne. Gapmending methods – challenging professional social workers conceptions of weakness. Abstract. Presentation at IASSW Joint World Conference on Social Work, Education and Social Development 2014, Melbourne, Australia. July 2014.

2015

Angelin, Anna.  Service User Integration Into Social Work Education: Lessons Learned From Nordic Participatory Action Projects. Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work, vol. 12 (1), 2015, s. 124-138.

Altmann, Liv och Hasvold, Tove. Brukerinvolvering i sosialfaglig utdanning Hva kan «gap-mending» pedagogikk bidra til?, Fontene Forskning, Volume 8 nr 2 2015, s 77-89.

Heule, Cecilia och Kristiansen, Arne. Mend the GapA Paradigm shift of the Roles in Social Work Practice. Abstract. Presentation at EASSW, Social Work Education in Europe: towards 2025, Milan, July 2015.

2016

Askheim, Ole Petter, Beresford, Peter och Heule, Cecilia. Mend the gap – strategies for user involvement in social work education, Social Work Education, DOI: 10.1080/02615479.2016.1248930.

Chiapparini, Emanuela. Teaching Social Work by Involving Service Users: Concepts and Evaluations of Courses with Gap Mending Approaches in Europe. Opladen, Berlin & Toronto: Budrich. 2016

Denvall, Verner, Heule, Cecilia och Kristiansen, Arne. Social mobilisering i dåtid och nutid. I Denvall, Verner & Cecilia Heule och Arne Kristiansen (red) Social mobilisering. En utmaning för socialt arbete. Lund: Gleerups. 2:a upplagan. 2016.

Denvall, Verner, Heule, Cecilia och Kristiansen, Arne. Mobilisering inom socialarbetarutbildningen. I Denvall, Verner & Cecilia Heule & Arne Kristiansen (red) Social mobilisering. En utmaning för socialt arbete. Lund: Gleerups. 2:a upplagan 2016, s 165-178.

Heule, Cecilia och Kristiansen, Arne. Vem är vem i socialt arbete? I

   Denvall, Verner & Cecilia Heule och Arne Kristiansen (red) Social mobilisering. En utmaning för socialt arbete. Lund: Gleerups. 2:a upplagan. 2016, s 37-48.

Kristiansen, Arne och Heule, Cecilia. Power, Experiences and Mutual Development. Using The Concept of Gap-mending in Social Work Education. I Chiapparini, Emanuela (2016) (ed.): Teaching Social Work by Involving Service Users: Concepts and Evaluations of Courses with Gap Mending Approaches in Europe. Opladen, Berlin & Toronto: Budrich. 2016, s 37-53.

2017

Heule, Cecilia och Kristiansen, Arne. Gapmending strategies: Impact on social workers occupational practice. Abstract. Presentation at EASSW/UNAFORIS European Conference – Social Work Education in Europé: Challenging Boundaris, Promoting a Sustainable Future. Paris, juni 2017.

Heule, Cecilia, Knutagård, Marcus och Kristiansen, Arne.  Mending the Gaps in Social Work Education and Research – Two examples from a Swedish context. European Journal of Social Work, Volume 20 nr 3, 2017, s 396-408.

2018

Heule, Cecilia och Kristiansen, Arne. Vem är brukare? Alkohol och Narkotika nr 6/2018, s 17-19.

Heule, Cecilia, Knutagård, Marcus och Kristiansen, Arne . Gap-mending niches in institutionalized social work practice and education. Abstract. Presentation at Nordic Social Work Conference, FORSA/NOUSA, University of Helsinki, Finland, November 2018.

Heule, Cecilia och Kristiansen, Arne. Gap-mending as an additional concept in analytical reflections about service user involvement. In Spatscheck, Christian, Ashencaen Crabtree, Sara & Parker, Jonathan (eds.) (2018) Methods and Methodologies of Social Work: Reflecting Professional Interventions. London: Whiting & Birch. 2018, s 56-68.

Kristiansen, Arne. Mobiliseringskursen – ett möte mellan utbildning, praktik och forskning. I Harrysson & Olsson, Eric (red) Årsbok 2017: Socialhögskolan, Lunds universitet. Lund: School of Social Work, Lund University. 2018.

2019

Morin, Paul & Lambert, Annie. L’apport du savoir expérientiel des personnes usagères des services sociaux au sein de la formation en travail social. Vie sociale, 25-26. 2019, s 193-207. https://doi.org/10.3917/vsoc.191.0193.

2020

Casey, Helen, Heule, Cecilia och Kristiansen, Arne. Talking Heads: Reflections on Learning from Gap Mending Participants: Experiences Matter. In McLaughlin, Hugh, Peter Beresford, Colin Cameron, Helen Casey & Joe Duffy (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Service User Involvement in Human Services Research and Education. London: Routledge. 2020, s 495-503. ISBN: 9781138360143. ISBN (e-bok): 9780429781599.

Heule, Cecilia, Knutagård, Marcus och Kristiansen, Arne. Service User Involvement & Gap-mending Practices in Sweden. In McLaughlin, Hugh, Peter Beresford, Colin Cameron, Helen Casey & Joe Duffy (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Service User Involvement in Human Services Research and Education. London: Routledge. 2020, s 142-150. ISBN: 9781138360143. ISBN (e-bok) :9780429781599.

2021

Knutagård, Marcus, Heule, Cecilia och Kristiansen, Arne. Missing Hero: Coproducing Change in Social Housing Programmes. Social Inclusion(ISSN: 2183-2803) 2021, Volume, Issue, Pages X–X, DOI: 10.17645/si.vXiX.4312.