The 6th MSW Education Symposium and the 4th Lam Woo Distinguished Social Work Awards Presentation Ceremony was held.
On March 11th and 12th, 2016, the 6th MSW Education Symposium and the 4th Lam Woo Distinguished Social Work Awards Presentation Ceremony was held successfully at Peking University. The symposium was co-organized by Social Work Postgraduate Education Guidance Committee of the Ministry of Education, China Association for Social Work and Peking University-The Hong Kong Polytechnic University China Social Work Research Center. More than 260 participants, including the president of International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW), scholars and experts on child protection, family social work, and social work education from countries and regions such as India, Singapore, South Korea, Italy, China Mainland, China Hong Kong and China Taiwan, as well as government officials, faculties and college students have been involved in the symposium.
The opening ceremony was hosted by Professor Wang Sibin, the vice director of Social Work Postgraduate Education Guidance Committee and president of China Association for Social Work. Lv Xiaoli, the director of Social Work Department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Li Yansong, vice president of Peking Univerisity, and Professor Yuen-Tsang Woon Ki, vice president of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, gave speeches and expressed their congratulations to the symposium. They also expounded the realistic significance of the symposium’s theme.
Figure 1. The Conference
The core topics of the conference include family, social changes and social work education, family change and child development in social transformation, social work practice for child and youth.
Professor Vimla Nadkarni, the president of IASSW, gave a keynote lecture on the importance of family and the influences of different forms of family on family life and society. She indicated that social transformation brought the diversification of family types, and had a significant impact on the normal life of family members. Thus there social work education needs to give a positive response on that. Professor Hua-Yuan Tseng from Tunghai University in Taiwan introduced the development of Taiwan’s child and family social work from the perspective of Chinese social culture.
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University professor Chan Yuk-chung analyzed the Asian family’s harmony and conflict, as well as the strategies to prevent domestic violence through family education. Singapore scholars analyzed the mental health problems of Asian adolescents. Scholars from South Korea and Bangladesh introduced their country’s family and children’s status as well as social work intervention experience. Scholars from Italy systematically expounded the theories and practices of family social work. The scholars’ introductions and analysis had rich inspirations in the analysis of China’s current issues.
The care and protection of the rural left-behind children and the service for children in special needs has become the core topic of domestic scholar. At the beginning of the year, the State Council issued the “opinions of the State Council on strengthening the work of caring for the left-behind children in rural areas”. The “opinions” pointed out that the professional social workers and other social forces should play a positive role to solve the difficulties and problems encountered by the rural left-behind children in their life, care and growth process.
Combining with our country’s actual situation, the participated domestic scholars made full analysis on current situations of left-behind children and children in special needs, family’s responsibility and default, as well as the roles social work should play in providing service to those children. Professor Lu Shizhen pointed out the issues related to left-behind children’s survival and development. Professor Xu Yongxiang systematically reviewed the evolution of China’s family policy and pointed out that we should support child care through scientific family policy. Professor Ma Fengzhi and Professor Gao Wanhong stated the experience of child and adolescent social work from the perspective of resilience. From the perspective of juvenile justice social work practice and adolescent social work service supervision, Professor Pong Huamin and Professor Fei Meiping expounded the experience of youth social work and the problems need to be further solved.
In fact, the care and protection for rural left-behind children needs the government, society and family’s participation and coordination together. The participants stressed family’s important role in rural left-behind child’s care and protection. However, they also pointed out that in the realistic background of urban and rural social division as well as the gap between the rich and the poor, it is a must to set policies that are in favor of family’s care and protection for their children. So that families can take their responsibilities. The PKU Professor Wang Sibin put forward the concept of “feasible responsibility”, indicating that family must have practical responsibilities that can be really assumed by the family. He also stressed the importance to develop family social work. While the family cannot fulfill the responsibility of caring for children because of various reasons, the government, schools, village self-government organizations and other social forces should fill in the gap and take the responsibility.
Sub forums were also held on the topics of child social work, adolescent social work, family social work and social work education. Thorough and detailed discussions were launched on those topics.
During the conference, the 4th Lam Woo Distinguished Social Work Awards Presentation Ceremony, supported by Hong Kong Lam Woo Fund was also held to give commend to the outstanding social work students, social work practice projects, social work service projects and outstanding social work scholars. Professor Shi Bonian of China Youth University for Political Sciences, Vice president and Secretary General of China Social Work Education Association was issued the distinguished scholar award. The students Song Xianhua, Huang Mingzhu, Xie Minli and Gaoli won the distinguished social work student award. The awarded four internship projects and two service projects were The Rural Social Work Practice from the Perspective of Empowerment: the Village Le Ming’s Sustainable Living from Group to Community, The City Ya’an’s Post Disaster Whole People’s Health Education for Children, A Community Service Project for Resilience Building and The Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency, etc.
The Lam Woo Foundation has supported the PKU Department of Sociology and HKPU Department of Applied Social Science since the establishment of “Lam Woo Social Work Training and Development Fund in 2009. It has held a number of social work related activities in China Social Work Research Center in response to the manpower needs due to the rapid development of social work.
Figure 2. The Representative of Lam Woo Foundation Dr. Lin Bonian, The Review Committee and The Winners.
During the conference, the opening ceremony of the IASSW Regional Resource Centre was also held. The IASSW Regional Resource Centre will promote social work’s further development in the mainland and also will provide a good platform.
Firgure 3. The Opening Ceremony of the IASSW China and South East Asian Regional Resource Centre
Participants agreed that the conference was held timely and the explored issues had theoretical depth and practical concern. They also stated that China should actively develop family social work and child social work. The Party Central Committee and the State Council’s strategic deployment related to left-behind children, women and the elderly should be actively implemented in response to the challenge of family change and children in special needs. We should promote child protection and family rehabilitation for the construction and development of a harmonious society.
Figure 4. Conference Participants
The 4th Lam Woo Distinguished Social Work Awards Winners
The Scholar Award
Shi Bonian, Professor of China Youth University for Political Sciences, Vice president and Secretary General of China Social Work Education Association
Service Project Award
A Community Service Project for Resilience Building and The Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency
The 2014 Central Financial Support Project in Huainan Branch: The Yiyang Homes’ Social Work Care and Service for the Old Who Has Lost the Only Child
Xuri Social Work Service Center in Huainan
Student Award
Song Xianhua, Peking University
Huang Mingzhu, China Youth University for Political Science
Xie Minli, Beijing Normal University
Gao Li, East China University of Science and Technology
Internship Project Award
The Rural Social Work Practice from the Perspective of Empowerment: the Village Le Ming’s Sustainable Living from Group to Community, Zhongshan University
The City Ya’an’s Post Disaster Whole People’s Health Education for Children, Sichuan Agricultural University
Safe Qingyang: A Child Self-Protection Practice Project, Shenyang Normal University
A Project for Supporting Severe Mental Illness, Changsha Academy of Civil Affairs
