Welcome to the Social Policy Lab!
This Social Policy Teaching and Learning Lab is a project of the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Manitoba.
The Lab is designed as teaching and learning resource for instructors and students in the Faculty, especially in those courses that focus on aspects of social policy. The Lab is a open educational resource that can be accessed freely by anyone online. It is our hope that the Lab will also be of interest and use to community members, social policy advocates and activists, and students and instructors at other academic institutions.
In constructing the Lab, we have endeavored to follow these principles:
1. The centrality of Indigenous and non-Western models of policy analysis and development, including those using Indigeneity-Grounded Analysis
2. Social policy development that moves us toward equity, diversity, and inclusion. We must strive for social policy that challenges economic marginalization, colonialism, racism and white privilege, patriarchy, heteronormativity, ableism, and anthropocentrism
3. Best practices for the inclusion of the voices of oppressed communities and service users in social policy development
4. Content and sources that address Canadian social policy questions and needs, while at the same time situating Canadian social policy in the broader global context
5. Forecasting of probable and possible future environments, with a focus on Futurist Social Work and macro-level policy interventions that can help achieve equitable and sustainable future outcomes
6. Best practices for engaged learning using digital resources in a lab environment
The Project Team for the Social Policy Teaching and Learning Lab:
Project Lead: Dr. James Mulvale
Project Co-Leads: Dr. Sid Frankel, Prof. Deana Halonen, Prof. Leona Huntinghawk, Dr. Mohammad Khan, Dr. Lindsay Larios, Dr. Christine Mayor, and Dr. Kendra Nixon
Project Advisors: Ms. Lynette Phyfe, Curriculum and Instructional Technology Facilitator, Distance Delivery; Mr. Don Robinson, Inner City Social Work Program
MSW Advanced Placement Student: Ms. Melanie Leslie-Bernard
Technical Assistance: Mr. Dave Nicholls, Educational Technology Programmer, Distance Delivery
The Project Team gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the University of Manitoba fund for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and the Office of the Dean of Social Work. We also are grateful for the advice and assistance of UM Libraries and Campus Manitoba (PressbooksEDU Network).