Congratulations to Dr Reineth Prinsloo from the Department of Social Work and Criminology,  who received an Award Certificate for her innovative approach to teaching at the Education Innovation Awards gala evening, held on 18 October 2012.

To qualify for an Education Innovation Award, staff members should be responsible for an innovative development that has resulted in improvements to the quality of the student learning environment. Standard expected good teaching practice should convincingly be exceeded and evidence of sustainability, positive impact and acceptance should be provided in the form of student feedback or appraisal by peers.

In 2006 Dr Prinsloo included a unit on self-development in the MWP 261-module in the BSW programme to address the personal and professional growth of students. The unit encourages students to confront own prejudices, enhance self-awareness, and obtain knowledge on diverse client populations. In 2008, she initiated a community engagement project in a local Detention Centre to integrate the learning outcomes.

In 2008, students did a need assessment in the centre. From 2009 onwards, based on the identified needs, students presented activities to build self-esteem, relationships and trust, and manage stress and anger. Students integrate intervention with communities, groups and individuals in the centre and their involvement is assessed continuously. Practice lecturers of the MWP 261-module currently manage the module and the project. The growth of the project since 2008 is evident of sustainability

In 2011, Dr Prinsloo conducted a qualitative research study to explore the integration of social work values and principles. Research results indicated that exposure to and experience of an extremely challenging setting within the South African context has resulted in deeper learning.

The global impact of the project is evident: Dr Prinsloo presented the project and research results at an international workshop and it was published in an accredited international journal. She was invited as guest lecturer (University College Cork in Ireland) and received two invitations as international keynote speaker.