Military Social Work as an Exemplar in Teaching Social Work Competencies

This article is for social work educators unfamiliar with military social work and receptive to a number of exemplars to enhance teaching strategies within their courses. Because examples of military social work are directly tied to the Council on Social Work Education competencies, this article offers a number of suggested teaching strategies regarding those competencies. By incorporating the exemplars into a range of courses as discussion points, students and faculty will become more aware of issues faced by military service members, veterans, and their families. The goal of this article is to alert social work faculty to the actuality that military social work is a rich teaching resource that can be mined to assist in most social work classes.