Reflecting oppression: Symmetrical experiences of social work students and service users

The role of education and discourses of participation are often determined by those who provide, rather than use, such services. The educational institution mirrors the social work agency in this respect. Social work students participate in their courses, yet frequently experience similar feelings of powerlessness to welfare service users, who are often consulted after policies are developed. For both groups of people, this is at best a restricted form of participation. This paper seeks to consider these issues and suggests that just as active participation by service users poses a challenge to the hegemony of welfare professionals, so active participation by students asks profound questions of social work education.