The MSW curriculum has been developed to enhance both breadth and depth in professional education and to respond to changing social work practice needs.

The curriculum reflects the faculty’s commitment to a set of core MSW curriculum values and principles, which flow directly from its mission. Primary among these is the School’s commitment to social justice. Corollary values include a commitment to multiculturalism, to social change, and to collaboration and empowerment. Further, the School is dedicated to bringing these commitments to life in its curriculum through pedagogical strategies that recognize the essential synergy between knowledge and action, and that provide opportunities for generative learning.

The MSW program has two overarching goals for its foundation and advanced years:  

• To prepare students for generalist practice including basic knowledge and skills for understanding and solving complex social problems within the values of professional social work
• To prepare students for advanced professional practice in an area of concentration in a way that fosters social work leadership, effective social interventions, a commitment to a just and diverse society, and a commitment to public service.

Foundation Curriculum Objectives

The MSW foundation curriculum builds on an undergraduate liberal arts degree and prepares students to enter into a concentrated area of social work practice. Through successful completion of the foundation curriculum, students of the University of Washington School of Social Work will be able to complete the following objectives, which specify the knowledge and skills required for accomplishing our program goal of preparing students for generalist practice:

1. Understand the values and ethics of the social work profession and practice accordingly, including mindful use of self and ongoing development of professional skills and knowledge
   
2. Understand the forms and mechanisms of discrimination, and apply strategies of advocacy and social change that advance social and economic justice and are nondiscriminatory and respectful of client and community diversity
   
3. Understand and interpret the history of social welfare and its contemporary structures and issues
   
4. Apply the knowledge and skills of a generalist perspective to practice with systems of all sizes
   
5. Acquire and critically apply theoretical frameworks supported by empirical evidence to understand individual development and behavior across the life span and/or the interactions among individuals and between individuals and families, groups, organizations, and communities
   
6. Articulate the role of policy in framing social work practice, understand the impact of major social welfare policies on those who are served by social workers, workers themselves, agencies, and welfare systems, and be able to advocate for just, effective, and humane policies and policy implementation processes
   
7. Understand and critically analyze current systems of social service organization and delivery and be able both to practice within them and to seek necessary organizational change
   
8. Engender the empowerment of diverse and disadvantaged individuals, groups, and communities through effective, culturally and linguistically appropriate assessment, treatment/intervention, and outcomes evaluation
   
9. Make well-reasoned and well-informed judgments based on professional values and ethics, critical self-reflection, evidence, and the appropriate use of supervision and consultation
   
10. Apply critical thinking skills within the context of professional social work practice, including the ability to critically evaluate major practice frameworks, research evidence, and their own practice
    
11. Contribute to the profession’s knowledge base and practice through disciplined inquiry, dissemination, and institutionalization of evidence-based practice and policy models.

Concentration Objectives

The MSW advanced curriculum builds on, broadens, and deepens the generalist foundation and prepares students for competent and effective social work practice in an area of concentration. Graduates will accomplish the following objectives:

1. Demonstrate a commitment to the promotion of social justice, through their own work and that of the larger social work profession, and apply principles of multiculturalism and empowerment to social change efforts in their practice
   
2. Demonstrate the knowledge and skills required to assess the differential needs of diverse constituents, plan and implement evidence-based interventions in collaboration with constituents, and critically evaluate, monitor, and continuously refine their practice using appropriate research and evaluation methods
   
3. Articulate the theories, knowledge of human behavior, and research evidence that inform their practice, apply these mindfully in their work with diverse constituents, and be committed to maintaining the currency of their practice knowledge through lifelong learning
   
4. Demonstrate knowledge and skills in critical analysis of the sociopolitical factors that shape policy and services formation in their area of practice or setting, in analyzing and influencing existing policies and services, and in advocating for change in policies, services, and practices locally, nationally, and globally
   
5. Demonstrate professional values, skills, and behavior through a self-reflective understanding of and adherence to the NASW Code of Ethics and other relevant professional standards
   
6. Achieve a level of competency such that, with self-monitoring and use of informed consultation, they can practice autonomously in their area of concentration.