Developmental Social Work：Dialogue with Social Innovation

Preface

Eden Social Welfare Foundation first held the International Symposiumon “Developmental Social Work: Theory and Practices” in 2014. Back then theconcept of “Developmental Social Work” was a groundbreaking initiative whichhas drawn immense attentions. In 2016, it was held once again with the theme of“Global Application, Dialogue Development “, followed by the third internationalconference when it proposed the theme of “Social Innovation” in 2019. Thesethree international conferences have gradually accumulated a broader scope ofconcepts and practical fields. Nevertheless, the core spirit of developmental socialwork has always been focused around “dialogue”, “symbiosis and integration”,“in-depth localization “ and “transformation of perpetual innovation”.

What’s more commendable is that the presentations of these threeconferences were all officially published in the form of a collection of theseswith the highly professional assistance of colleagues from the foundation. As aresult, this album can be referred and quoted while the insightful speeches inthe conference were not in vain. This is really a very immense project, and caneven be claimed to be the only major production in the social work communityat Taiwan in recent years. Hence I would like to take this opportunity to giveall colleagues in Eden Social Welfare Foundation a big applause and a warmhug, you are awesome! For many years, Department of Social Work of NationalTaiwan University is very honored to be a loyal partner of Eden Social WelfareFoundation. Professor Yunwen Gu and Professor Lizhen Zheng from thisdepartment, and my long-time friend Professor Julian Chow from School ofSocial Welfare, University of California, Berkeley, who have worked on the themeof “Developmental Social Work” and accompanied colleagues in the foundationas a mentor and friend for a long time. In 2019, I was very privileged to take overthe baton from my fellow senior professors and chairmen to host the internationalconference at Tsai Lecture Hall, College of Law, National Taiwan University.In the meantime, I am also very honored to serve as Editor-in-chief of the 2019Symposium Proceedings. I will continue to carry over the endeavors to fulfillthis meaningful task and further enrich the literature and database of Taiwan’sdevelopmental social work.

We have invited experts and scholars on developmental social work athome and abroad to participate in the 2019 conference. The contents werebrilliant. I participated in the whole process and witnessed the warm atmosphereat the conference in addition to the visions and goals shared by social workersof different generations, namely: changing the social structural poverty, thepromotion of personal development and well-being, and the continuousapplication of social innovation to respond to the changing economic and socialchallenges in Asian countries as well as globally. These excellent reports not onlypropelled social workers to sprint forward, but also inspired each of us to returnback to the original passion of social work. No matter for children, the elderly,the mentally challenged, the intellectually disabled, the empowerment of thedisadvantaged, work in remote communities under insufficient resources, andemerging social enterprises, etc., people can always apply the pivotal spirit ofthis conference to continuously improve and adjust service content and servicedelivery under the standards of sustainability and appropriateness.

This collection of essays is consisted of three main sections of concept,local and overseas practice, and integrated dialogue. Conference speakers havemeticulously compiled their respective deliveries into papers. With a total of 12articles, it not only explains core concepts of developmental social work onceagain, but also shares practical

Last but not least, I would like to reiterate that the nature of social work isalways “progressive” and radical. We are committed to challenge the existingframeworks and components of inequality, injustice, and restrictions on humandevelopment and liberation. According to the interpretation of Merriam-Websterdictionary,“progressive” must be advanced. Therefore, social workers mustalways preserve keen agility and vigilance. We are not supposed to spend time indaily repetitive work as long as the claimed reimbursement for the project can bewritten-off smoothly. As one of the speakers Marie Lisa M. Dacanay, foundingPresident of Institute for Social Entrepreneurship in Asia, emphasized: “Socialinnovation should be obliged to actualize revolution or transformation in thesociety.” The said revolution or transformation refers directly to the mainstreamsociety, not just within the social worker’s own unit or circle.

Moreover, “progressive” must mean to apply new concepts, new knowledge,and new opportunities. Social workers are always responding to the needs anddreams of the underprivileged, scanty, and concealed groups in the society.Consequently, it is very critical that we should focus on how to keep learning,to challenge ourselves and our profession, so as to facilitate superior serviceperformances. If not, we will end up chasing the ever-changing social issues invain and never be free from the cycle of poverty, discrimination, trauma, andloneliness. As Professor Ping-Der Huang, member of Board of Directors of EdenSocial Welfare Foundation, has observed, the current investment scale in socialinnovation is far behind enough. Professor Sheng-Tsun Hou from the Instituteof Public Affairs and Social Innovation of Feng Chia University, has experiencedthe scarcity of momentum in the process of transition from old to innovativeparadigms, plus the difficulty of cooperation between different agencies. All ofthese critiques have challenged us to verify whether we have achieved an authenticsuccessful conversion regarding the consequences of structural oppression inthe mainstream society, namely “the underprivileged population” and “socialproblems”, at this moment and in the coming years.

As the keynote speaker at the conference, Manohar Pawar who is thePresident of the International Consortium for Social Development, advocated:“Developmental social work is the social innovation of our time; when the breezeof social innovation emerged, please grasp the opportunity to soar with the wind.“ My dear fellow social workers and partners, I hope this album can become thewind under your wings when you soar into the sky!

Pei-Shan Yang
Chair (2017-2020)
Department of Social Work
National Taiwan University, Taiwan