User involvement in social work education: Macedonian perspective

Involving service users and carers in the education and training of social workers is higher on the agenda in developed countries than ever before. Higher education institutions that run these programmes are required to involve service users and carers at all levels of the design and delivery of the programmes. The experiences of user involvement in social work education in the countries of transition, such as Macedonia, are however lacking. This article discusses the modalities, principles and benefits of user involvement in social work education based on the Anglo-Saxon experiences and make a reference to their applicability within the Macedonian context where relevant. The author focuses initially on the modalities in which user involvement may take place: teaching and learning, practice assignments, curricula development, student’s assessments, planning management and evaluation of courses etc. Further, it briefly explores core principles, as well as issues related to participation planning and payment.