The ‘revolution’ on teaching and learning: Implications of COVID-19 on social work education in Institutions of Higher Learning in Africa

Abstract

Painstakingly, the outbreak of SARS-COV2 (COVID-19) pandemic has grossly disrupted the global health, economic, social and education systems. The World Health Organization projections indicate that Africa as a continent is likely to suffer the most in all spheres of development. By implication, new social challenges have and shall continue to emerge. These challenges will test the preparedness and training of social workers in Africa in responding to new and unprecedented crisis. Through qualitative research approach the paper explored the dynamics of remote online teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The key findings revealed that resources such as internet connectivity, availability of electricity, and devices were lacking among the ruralbased students. Further, both the students, lecturers and the institutions’ management were not well prepared in implementing a fully pledged online learning system. Moreover, the institutional traditional models, and students’ and lecturers’ negative attitudes towards online learning was evident. These inadequacies hampered effective response to new teaching and learning needs. The paper concludes that the remote online teaching and learning has serious implications for social work education and practice, as set of new skills is required. The opportunity to redesign training and assessment of social work trainees has been presented by COVID-19 learning crisis.

Key Terms: COVID-19, institutions of higher learning, online teaching, preparedness, remote learning, social work, South Africa