Reimagining Community Development in Undergraduate Social Work Education: Student Perspectives from Northern Ireland

This paper draws on survey data from 54 undergraduate social work students at Queen’s University Belfast to explore their perceptions of community development teaching within social work education and their preparedness for community development practice. It examines student views on curriculum provision and considers how learning could be reimagined to better prepare future practitioners for community development practice. The findings reveal that 89% of students see community development as pertinent to social work practice and that 70% reported confidence in defining it. In contrast, only 30% feel they are prepared or very well prepared for the placement requirement, with 48% feeling inadequately prepared. Their confidence is lower in community organisation than in casework or group work. The findings suggest that community development needs both a clearly identifiable place within the programme and greater visibility across the wider curriculum, alongside practical teaching and structured opportunities for students to apply their learning before and during placement.