Student Article on Advocacy Skills Competition

The Advocacy Circle of BCASW is calling for short articles written by social work students on what skills they believe social workers need in order to practise effectively as change agents in social justice advocacy. Students should be in their 3rd or 4th year of social work studies and live or be studying in BC.
Articles should be a maximum of 1500 words for consideration for publication in Perspectives newsmagazine. The type(s) of advocacy and the fields of practise are open. Credit will be given for examples of how the skills were or would be used in practise, and how advocacy skills are or not taught in the student’s School of Social Work.
The student writing the most practical, interesting, and creative article will have it published in Perspectives (subject to Editorial review) and be awarded a prize of $250 by BCASW and the Advocacy Circle.
Articles should be submitted by December 31st, 2024 for review by the Advocacy Circle and Perspectives Editorial Board. 
Note:  Perspectives does not publish bibliographies and references. These are available at reader request. Perspectives also requires that if photos, charts, or illustrations are included, credits for photographers and captions are needed as well as written permission from anyone in the picture. Pictures need to be sent as separate jpegs and in as high a resolution as possible. 
Use of Artificial Intelligence aids and generative tools such as AI Chatbots is allowed but in the interests of transparency, the student should indicate, at the end of the article, the parts that the AI tools were used for.
Please email your submissions to David Turner RSW of the Advocacy Circle at dturner@uvic.ca

So many reasons for students to join BCASW!  Here are just a few.

Students have an important role in the BCASW.

The purpose of the Students Committee is to provide:

a) Connection between social work students and the BCASW

b) Representation of social work students within BCASW governance

c) Access to resources specific to social work students

d) Connection between social work students across BC

e) Opportunities to practice social work skills, such as social work leadership and organization, among other social work-related skills

f) Support BCASW to accomplish 4 main goals: providing service to members; promotion of the profession; social advocacy; strengthening the association with student members.

Read the full terms of reference here.

Mentoring for Members

Thanks to the generosity of our members, BCASW has a roster of mentors willing to contribute their time to assist other members. Whether you need help preparing a resume, discussing a practice issue, exploring an ethical dilemma, checking out a new area of specialty, or assistance with career decisions, a BCASW mentor will be there for you. Making the Transition from School to Practice is a longer-term mentoring program for new grads entering the workforce.

To learn more, read About the BCASW Mentoring Program. View applications for mentorship.